Doglock New England Fowler Cookson India Made

[oreclan]

Hello,
Here in Germany we have a Gunshop that offers the India Made Doglock Fowler New England Cookson Style.
I have slso the Ketland Smoothbore Trage Gun it was not so bad ok the Finish and Stock MUST reworked but then it is ok.
But now the Fowler Stock was very massiv and thick and i want to slim it down.
Have anyone here do this before an can give me dome Information about this Idea?!

Please let me know if one of yours have this Fowler in use!
Thank you

I bought one many years ago( 16 or 18) from Middlesex Village Trading Company for re-enacting at F&I events.
I slimmed down the area around the triggerguard, lowered the height of the shell carving around the barrel tang, and carved "beaver tails" behind the lock and sideplate panels.
I refinished the fowler with common commercial maple colored woodstain finish.
Turned out great.

 

[German Jäger]

Hello thsnks have you Pictures from an modified India Gowler?

 

[German Jäger]

Fowler..

 

[Irishmusket]

I have been an active gunsmith since1970s specializing in Black powder guns of all types .Have vented and proofed many Indian made muskets never had one blow up or come back to the shop that had .I have seen guns that have failed a TC hawken barrel failure a double load powder patched on top of patched ball rifle ruined two less fingers. A armisport p1853 total breech failure minor injuries to shooter one bystander minor injuries cause very dirty bore heavily fouled firing blank charges of 100 grains ffffg he liked the noise .His first attempt to fire it failed so he loaded it again this time it blow up total breech failure the gun was a total loss he and a bystander a trip to the emergency room and a chat with the Police .The point I am making is its not just Indian made guns that have failed any muzzle loader can and will fail if not taken care of or loaded incorrectly modified or repaired unsafely or over loading.Indian muskets are rough around edges but properly set up they are safe to fire for sure .No matter who makes it or how much you spend You absolutely can blow up a black powder gun in many case its not gun thats the problem its the person behind the gun thats the problem

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Ah! The never ending debate on barrel safety. Please read my previous post. The barrel safety issue is a red herring but concerns about everything else on India-made guns is not.

dave

 

[Tumbledown]

Welding up the touch hole is about the best one.

Based on what?

 

[German Jäger]

Yes i not worry about safety, bit i search pictures or maintance for slimming the fat oversized stoch of the fowler to make him look like a fowlervand not like a giant anti tank gun

 

[Grenadier1758]

@dave_person, don't you have a thread on the building of your Cookson Fowling gun that you can provide a link to @German Jäger?

I have found cabinet scrapers, whether made of steel or from broken glass panes, to be very effective at removing excess wood from stocks. I have also used a high quality (Iwasaki) wood rasp to remove excess wood from a very clunky gun stock and in the shaping of a modestly precarved gun stock. The Iwasaki rasp and the cabinet scrapers really worked well to improve the shape of the stock and left a very smooth surface.

@German Jäger, the link I provided earlier contained a guitar maker's tutorial on the sharpening and use of cabinet scrapers that is directly applicable to stock removal on a gunstock. You may have to make some specialized contoured scrapers to match the curved surfaces of your stock. Get some hard wood to practice on before you get to removing wood on your fowling gun.

 

[nhmoose]

Remember NO USA made firearm has passed proof testing in the USA. There is no proof testing in the USA Period final.

Proof testing is done by Government Proof houses USA has NONE 0 NONE

Yet ML guys yap about proof testing every time an Indian made gun is asked about. Should have worried about some of the Euro made and proofed guns that got imported.

 

[Darto]

I bought the one mentioned as being for sale (traded for it), and am pleased although not shot it yet. MVTC works over the action before selling these which is why they cost more here and at Veteran arms than at for instance Military Herritage. MH does not tune up the guns first and ship within a week. Middlesex Villiage Trading Company modifies what is necessary and ships about a year later. These covid days the wait is even longer than a year. I was looking at this gun for 2 or 3 years on their site.

This is the second MVTC gun I bought used, very pleased with both. The other one is real hoot, the double barrel flintlock pistol.
I also have a Pedersoli Howdah (caplock). The MVTC flintlock is bigger bore, both are really fun. I like the flintlock better. The best Howdah Movie by far is The Ghost and the Darkness. Looking closely Michael Douglas is wearing a Howdah for a back up. He is going to need it. The actual historical man killers (Tsavo lions of Kenya / Uganda) that this movie is based on are now stuffed and displayed in a museum in the midwest.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Yes Grenadier1758, I posted a thread on building a fowler inspired by the famous Hawk fowler.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...gland-connecticut-river-valley-fowler.113074/
dave

 

[flembo]

I wish I had seen this post last week. I ordered a 1795 Springfield from Veteran Arms knowing that I would be getting just what I paid for so to speak. I knew that coming from India I would have plenty of work to do on it but felt I could deal with it. I didn't know that it would be a year and a half getting here thanks to the virus and shipping delays (ordered Sept. 2020 and arrived March 24- 2022). All the work was on the stock as could be expected it was much thicker and bulkier than it should be and the black finish was horrible almost like thick tar. I don't know what kind of wood it is but like Grenadier said scraping would have been a good method, I used a spoke shave and sharp chisels and had good results but sand paper filled up and clogged up in minutes due to the fact wood as well as the finish appeared to be oily. Long story short after a lot of wood shavings on the floor and a lot of clogged sand paper in the trash I ended up with a gun I am happy with, it isn't perfect by a long shot, but will look good on the wall along side my wife's original Charleville which sadly was shortened and converted to percussion years ago. The other issue I had was the flashpan was not well shaped and was way to shallow, a die grinder and a carbide round ended bur took care of that followed by polishing with a Dremel tool. I will shoot this gun and feel plenty safe doing so but mostly it will be a wall hanger. BTW I think a reenactor could have used this gun as it came with no problem.

 

[German Jäger]

First Impressions

 

[German Jäger]

Videos

 

[German Jäger]

 

[German Jäger]

Oops soo many or often sorry

 

[German Jäger]

What did you say to this New Fowler Piece?!

 

[Youngblood]

I think it looks good!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

What did you say to this New Fowler Piece?!

That's not bad at all.

QUESTIONS, does the "dog" on the outside of the lock actually work as the half-cock for the lock, or does the lock have an internal half-cock, and the dog is only cosmetic?

LD

 

[German Jäger]

It is a true dog lock fowler yes