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Picked up a Jackie Brown Canoe Gun Today

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Joined
Sep 25, 2006
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Location
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Today I took a drive to Dixon's Muzzleloading Shop and saw this canoe gun (I know it's not an historical term) on the shelf. I've been looking for a 20 gauge percussion smoothbore and the fact that it's a lefty is icing on the cake.

Some measurements I took:

Overall length 40"
Barrel: 24.5"
Length of pull 13.5"
Weight 6.5 lbs.
Width of buttplate 2"

The barrel has a slight flare at the muzzle end. The front and only sight is a trade gun-style turtle. It's a large Siler lock and the cone is sized for No.11 caps.

I'm hoping to develop good patterning shot loads and also a round ball load.


jb-canoe-gun-l.jpg



lock.jpg



swivel-ramrod.jpg


trigger-guard.jpg
 
That's a nice looking gun. Let us know how it handles and shoots. I built a similar flintlock gun using an old 20 gauge shotgun barrel. It's great for things on the ground but I went 0 for 10 on clay pigeons and gave up. Mine is too light and short to handle well enough for that sort of thing. I'm a lousy wing shot anyway.
 
Lefty precussin fowler? That's unique. BTW, JB has a habit of not checking inletting for the lock (DAMHIK). I suggest you pull the lock and look at the wood for shiny spots where moving parts might be rubbing. If they are, use a scraper or chisel to cut them down and free the lock movement.

I pulled the lock after I got it home and everything looks good. Everything moves freely.
 
Since the canoe gun came setup for a sling I made one last night.

I cut a length of cowhide ~1.25" wide by ~48" long. One the butt end I punched a hole and then made a slit so it fits over the sling mounting button. On the muzzle end I punched a series of holes for a leather thong to go through.

The leather was a light natural tan color, so I used some Fiebing's dark brown leather dye to darken it. After that dried I worked some neatsfoot oil into both sides of the leather to moisturize and soften it. The leather drank it up. Finally, I gave both sides a coat of Montana Pitch Blend dressing. This is a mix of pine pitch, mink oil, and beeswax. I also worked the leather back and forth to soften it a little since it was very stiff.

I'll probably punch a few more holes in it so I can let it out to go over a heavy coat.

It came out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself.

sling.jpg
 
Lefty precussin fowler? That's unique. BTW, JB has a habit of not checking inletting for the lock (DAMHIK). I suggest you pull the lock and look at the wood for shiny spots where moving parts might be rubbing. If they are, use a scraper or chisel to cut them down and free the lock movement.
I also have one of his rifles in flint. There is a gap of 0.022 between the pan and the barrel. On my To Do list to inlet the lock a bit more. Not the sort of fix you'd expect to have to repair given the price. I should have caught it when checking it over.
 
Although they never really existed … that barrel is too long for a ‘canoe gun’!

I like it … and I’m a lefty!
Chief Pontiac allegedly had some braves cut down the barrels on their smoothbores. Keeping them concealed under blankets they were able to surprise and capture a fort in the 1700's. Those guns were referred to as "Blanket Guns" which is similar to a "Canoe Gun".
 
During a couple breaks today I made up some loads to try in the Jackie Brown Canoe Gun. I should be able to shoot it on Sunday. I have them in a couple tins I bought from Amazon.

In shot loads, there are two each:

  • Buckshot consisting of 6 .380 round balls, which I use for my .36 caliber cap and ball revolvers. For reference, OOOO buckshot is .375. These are mainly for giggles. The balls weigh ~83 grains each so 6 of them are bit more than one ounce. Five balls would be a little under one ounce.
  • 1 oz. of #7.5 shot, useful for doves, quail, or clay targets.
  • 1 oz. of #5 shot, useful for larger birds like pheasant, or rabbits and squirrels.

I measured out six 65 grain loads of Scheutzen FFFg black powder and put them in 5ml flip-top sample vials. I could squeeze a little more powder into them, maybe 70 grains. I actually bought these for pre-measured revolver loads and have larger vials for rifle and shotgun loads.

The tin also has space for ziplock bags holding lubricated 1/8" thick x 5/8" diameter wool felt wads, and 17 gauge overshot cards. The felt wads are lubricated with neatsfoot oil.

The plan is to load the powder, then a felt wad, then the shot cup. For the birdshot loads I plan to tear off the top end of the cup and then seat an overshot card, to prevent them from turning into slugs. I may try that with one of the buckshot rounds, and one without tearing off the end, to see if there's a difference.

20-gauge-loads.jpg


I also made up a half dozen ball rounds with a .575 round ball and 65 grains of powder. I smeared some Wonder Lube on the ball end of the cartridges to help with ramming them down the bore, since they are a snug fit. Were I planning on extended shooting of ball ammo I'd go down to .570 or even .562 ball.

20-gauge-ball.jpg
 
I got a chance to shoot the canoe gun today over at a friend's place. He has some land and we can shoot safely in his yard. Unfortunately it was raining and the only place I could load while under overhead cover was his patio. I'd then step out to shoot and some tin cans we placed on a hillside.

My load of 1 oz. of #5 shot on top of 65 grains of Scheutzen 3Fg black powder penetrated both side of a #10 can from about 20 yards, so it's got enough power for hunting.

I also tried a couple varieties of ball loads. I shot a half dozen .570 balls loaded in paper cartridges on top of 65 grains of powder. I also tried a few shots with .575 balls loaded on top of a tow wad, with another tow wad over the ball to hold it in place. The balls loads shot high with how I was holding the gun.

I absolutely need to put both shot and ball loads on paper.

Everything went mostly well until the gun fell over onto the brick patio, landing on the hammer which was set to half c--k. That broke the half c--k notch on the tumbler. (Insert vast amounts of profanity here.)

When I was done I used tow wrapped around a worm to scrub the bore. This was the first time I've tried using tow for cleaning and it works pretty well, much like a bore brush. I'll be using it at least for my smoothbores in the future.

Tonight I ordered a replacement tumbler from Track of the Wolf and I paid extra for 2 day delivery. I may be going upstate next weekend and if so I'd really like to bring the gun with me to pattern shot loads and figure out how to hold it when shooting ball.
 
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