Very interesting: A 30" barreled, flintlock Fowler would fit in very well with this later period ( 1775-1807) period of guns. With the addition of a muzzle cap, a patch box, and brass furniture, a Fowler of English-style would look very much the same from a distance. Since these guns seemed to come in ,62 caliber, both rifles and smoothbores( 15.2 mm) you could own such a Fowler, use it in re-enacting, if that is your interest, but then also use it to hunt deer, and shoot shot loads at small game and waterfowl. That .62 cal. round ball weighs 3/4 oz. and that is a lot of lead to send into any deer. Very few balls are ever recovered from the game, as the heavy balls sails right through the chest cavity, and exits on the other side.
For example, a friend shot a wild boar that weighed more than 250 lbs. in the chest using a .62 cal. rifle, at about 20 yards. The ball entered just to the left of the hog's windpipe, went through both lungs, the hear, liver, kidney, spleen, and through the rear right upper leg, lodging under the hide at the back of the ham. It penetrated more than 30 inches in length. It flattened to about 1+ inches in diameter, but retained about 95% of hits original weight. The stood its ground where it was standing when hit with the first shot. My friend reloaded his rifle, primed the pan on his flintlock, and mounted the gun to his shoulder, only to see the boar lower its head, and sink to the ground, DEAD.
The width of the average American Whitetail deer's chest is usually less than 8 inches, by comparison. On smaller does, and yearlings, it can be as narrow as 4" at the lower chest where the heart is located, just behind the front legs, and just above the sternum.
The shorter barrel is long enough to allow the use of good powder charges for Deer hunting, but short enough to allow you to ski with it slung over your shoulder, or walk with it carried in your hands, through the woods.
I have a 30" barreled Fowler custom made for me, in .20 gauge( smoothbore) with a Left handed flintlock action. I stand over 6 feet tall, and I would not want a shorter barrel on that or any muzzle loader. I once owned a .45 cal. "carbine", mler, with only a 25 inch barrel. I had to hold the gun between my knees, and bend over to work at pouring the powder down the muzzle, and fitting a RB on that patch on the muzzle to run it down the barrel. It was a lot of work, with that short barrel, and I was limited on how much powder it would burn to give me the velocity I wanted with that small ball. I sold the gun when I had a "semi-custom" made .50 caliber rifle made for me with a 39 inch barrel.
My Fowler was a gift from my twin brother. If I had my preference, I would have chosen a 36" barrel length on my 20 ga. Fowler. It would handle just as nicely, but that longer sight radius would be easier on my old eyes. :grin: Instead, he had a gunmaker make two identical guns, both in his chosen 30" barrel length. It does handle well, with the half-octagon, half-round barrel, and the weight is around 7 lbs. Shooting heavy RB loads( 80 grains of FFg ) is not hard on the shoulder. I believe the gun is more than adequate to hit deer out to 75 yards. Most of my shots at deer have been inside 40 yards, with one at about 3 yards!
There is no need to put sling swivels on such a gun unless you are in need of that to replicate a military arm. You can make a "hasty" sling, consisting of a loop over the barrel, and the other end tied around the wrist of the stock.
Just something to think about. There are plenty of skilled gunmakers here who can build you a Fowler for a reasonable price. Your choice- Straight octagon barrel, or half octagon, half-round, OR full round barrel, with a full-length stock.
Most fowlers don't have muzzle caps, but there is No reason Not to put one on if you want one. I don't particularly like the looks of most brass muzzle caps, preferring a contrasting dark wood cap with a Schnabel shape to it.
The same goes for patch boxes. I notice one of the later rifles still has a large, wood patch box lid, big enough to carry a ball mold in the stock! :shocked2: I prefer NO patch box on the butt stock.
The military guns shown have much straighter stocks than you see on most Fowlers, but that Tang-mounted rear sight also stands much taller than more traditional Fowler sights do on English-style, and American-style Fowlers. I could not see how tall those front sights are, but they seem to be taller than the short, close, slivers of silver, brass, or a simple bead on the barrel of American Fowlers. :hatsoff:
