Let's see some "Poor-boys".

[john wood]

I Really love the lines these rifles have. I have one in .40 cal. Not as pretty as these though. Just what time period are the "poor boys" from??

.......capgun

 

[Darkgael]

A poor boy fowler from TVM:

Pete

 

[lakota]

A poor boy fowler from TVM:

Pete

I like. I really want my next gun to be a smooth bore. I think I could really get into turkey hunting if I had one.

I recently had to go back to school to change professions due to injury and I have already decided a smoothie will be my graduation gift to myself!

 

[Okwaho]

I Really love the lines these rifles have. I have one in .40 cal. Not as pretty as these though. Just what time period are the "poor boys" from??

.......capgun

I have been studying Tennessee rifles for about 40 years and have owned quite a few. I never heard the expression,"poor boy" until sometime in the early 70's.Tennessee rifles became the rage about that time but weren't especially expensive.In about 1964 I bought a really nice upper East Tennessee percussion rifle,unsigned and without a patchbox for $85.00 and what I would consider a Southwest Va. "poor boy" rifle for $45.00.I passed up an Ambrose Lawing rifle for $300.00. Things changed in the mid to late 70's when people began to be more selective and prices for the better guns started going up and the crude extremely plain guns became harder to sell.In 1995 I sold my Virginia gun for $300.00 and was happy to get that much.The term "poor boy" is nothing more than a marketing ploy to enable sellers to get rid of cheap somewhat crude guns.

There!I said it so form up the posse and have at it.
Tom Patton

 

[Anders L]

I´m trying to understand the definition here, a poor boy is a plain, simple rifle without flashy decorations. Probably what most civil hunting rifles would look like. Guns owned by farmers and such.

Here in sweden there are alot of original guns, real funny homebuilds from the 19th C. Many of these are really simple in general. Homecarved stock and normally realy crude locks and percussion conversions. I will try to get some pics of swedish "poor-boys".

I recently bought a longgun that would fit within this category. All ornaments are really simple and its fitted with a converted percussion. The most interest thing is that the whole stock is painted to look lite a exclusive wood like walnut but it is birch.

The second must interesting thing is that the barrel has straight grooves which is kind of funny. The bore is hexagonal

Well, I get pics...

 

[Capt. Jas.]

This thing has a leather BP but I would call it a "poor boy". No SP, no entry thimble, mis-match thimbles, cut down musket TG.

 

[Anders L]

hum...how long is that gun? It looks like its taller than tree.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

7'4" IIRC

 

[Anders L]

Amazing, over 2 meters long, what the point of that? Does this gun have any special purpose?

 

[colmoultrie]

That must be fun to throw into the trunk of your Miata or Mini for a trip to the range! :grin:

It's amazing that some people today complain that a 44" barrel is too long for them to load. Also funny that some people today spend more on a "poor boy" than on a rifle with a buttplate and sideplate.

Love the gun, btw. Did you build it? Can you give more details?

 

[Okwaho]

This thing has a leather BP but I would call it a "poor boy". No SP, no entry thimble, mis-match thimbles, cut down musket TG.

Go back and read my post again. the term "POOR BOY" is a a modern term used to describe and sell ultra plain often somewhat crudely made rifles more easily than if you correctly described them. This term adds a certain mystique that otherwise wouldn't exist,just like canoe and blanket guns.Thge gun shown above should be correctly called a composite gun with mixed parts and very good architecture,hardly a "POOR BOY".The Virginia{?} gun I mentioned in my earlier post would be,I suppose,a good example of a poor boy. It had no butt piece,a piece of iron double bent for a trigger guard ,no entry thimble, two plain thimbles,two screws in lieu of a side plate, and about two inches broken off at the muzzle.It did have a hand forged .40 caliber barrel{likely from an earlier gun} and two grease holes. One took grease and the other took a .40 caliber ball.It was precussion,perhaps a conversion with a replacement lock,which I had reconverted to flint.It didn't have much grace but what the hell,I only paid $45.00,shot it for better than 30 years and sold it for a decent profit.
Tom Patton :bow: :v

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Tom,

Fully aware on this end what a "poor boy" is and what is considered as such. We are in agreement in terminology. This is in fact a composite gun but as you state "poor boy" is a modern term and we are getting into semantics that cannot be delineated unless all agree to the terms. As you know that seems to never happen. Being that the the modern terms were created so loose it is impossible to get an across the board definition.
It's certainly easier to define by the original terms. :thumbsup:

My peeve is the use of the word "fowler" to describe the gun. :hatsoff:

Best regards,
James

 

[smoothy]

"Poor boy fowler"? Here's a rag tag smoothy in plain fashion. Mixed parts: Germanic, French and English. Made to look like an American gun made from parts of other overly used guns. Iron mounted. Cost about $300 in parts in '99 because I was "poor" and lacking gunsmithing abilities, but still wanting to get off the porch and go-a-hunting with a flintlock. No masterpiece here. http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af345/bknutson7/Fowler/IMG_3983.jpg http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af345/bknutson7/Fowler/IMG_3984.jpg

 

[lakota]

This thing has a leather BP but I would call it a "poor boy". No SP, no entry thimble, mis-match thimbles, cut down musket TG.

That gun brings new meaning to the term long rifle! If you miss the game you are shooting at you could just whack it with the barrel. :haha:

 

[Okwaho]

Tom,

Fully aware on this end what a "poor boy" is and what is considered as such. We are in agreement in terminology. This is in fact a composite gun but as you state "poor boy" is a modern term and we are getting into semantics that cannot be delineated unless all agree to the terms. As you know that seems to never happen. Being that the the modern terms were created so loose it is impossible to get an across the board definition.
It's certainly easier to define by the original terms. :thumbsup:

My peeve is the use of the word "fowler" to describe the gun. :hatsoff:

Best regards,
James

James,I share your comment as to term "fowler" which is a fairly modern {mid 19th century or later ?}. I believe the correct term {at least in the 18th century} would have been "fowling piece".

Now here's some comments on your gun which I really like. It's architecture is close to a rifle probably from the upper valley of Virginia Ca.the 1760's which I first saw some 20 years ago right after it came out of the Kindig collection and which have always referred to as "my little woods runner gun".Wallace Gusler illustrated and discussed this rifle in an article in the January 2003 edition of MUZZLE BLAST. Additionally the gun is illustrated and discussed by George Shumway in LONGRIFLE ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN MUZZLE BLASTS 1965-2001 Vol.II PP.113-115.As to your gun having mixed parts see RIFLES OF COLONIAL AMERICA Vol.I No.19 for a probably pre Revolutionary War rifle probably made in Reading. The gun shows European {probably French}influence in the mounts.Composite parts and influence are often found on very early Pennsylvania guns especially from the Lehigh Valley and neighboring areas where French butt architecture {pied de vache as seen on Fusils de chasse guns} is fairly common.Early longrifles were constantly evolving and gunsmiths were not averse to incorporating the best of European gun design and mounts in their guns
With these thoughts in mind one can hardly call your gun a "POOR BOY". It is a gun emblematic of this process in longrifle evolution.
I guess I have rambled on long enough but thought I ought to enlarge on my earlier comments on your gun which as I said,I really like, long barrel and all.
Tom Patton

 

[rdillion]

God Lord, don't get your panties in a wad. The man was just asking a question.

 

[tg]

This is amusing, you are gettting in the middle of a calm exchange between two of the most knowledgeabe gun students on the forum, do watch out when the pearls start to fly though :idunno:

 

[Mike Brooks]

God Lord, don't get your panties in a wad. The man was just asking a question.

:idunno:

 

[Okwaho]

This is amusing, you are gettting in the middle of a calm exchange between two of the most knowledgeabe gun students on the forum, do watch out when the pearls start to fly though :idunno:

TG and Mike, fear ye not old friends,I still have an ample supply of pearls and will not hesitate to cast them when need be :wink: :bow:

Tom Patton :v

 

[BillinOregon]

It would be somewhat of a challenge to load a gun with that barrel length, eh, Capt. Jas.? Set the butt down here and then walk over there where the muzzle is ...