sitting fox smoothie?

[Lonegun1894]

I finally have my money saved up for a smoothie kit and am thinking about the Sitting Fox Colonial Fowler. I have read some post here that most here seem to like these guns. Am i correct or am i confusing this with another makers smoothbores? Any advice would be very appreciated as I have never fired a smooth ML before. I am thinking a 42 inch long .62 mounted in iron. But as i said, any advice would be very appreciated. Edumacate me please? :hatsoff:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The Siler lock isn't right for this gun. The L&R is better in style but can need tuning to make it work well. I have one on a fowler and it is O.K., but I'd much rather have one of Jim Chamber's English locks. If it were me, I think I would try to come up with the money for one of Jim's parts sets. They are more historically correct and have great barrel options.

 

[tg]

I would question the iron furniture also if it Colonial made.Unless it is scavanged from European guns.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

That's a good point.

 

[tg]

Just trying to keep up the image of the PC Nazi, Sitting Fox does have a good price on kits I have never seen a complete gun from them but they don't look to bad, as with most their French guns are pretty mucked up as is the writeups on them, one couldprobably come up with a fair gun in many styles with some changes in parts from what their basic kits have.I have heard several praise the quality of parts and finished guns so they must be a decent gun.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

One other consideration is to verify if the barrel on the gun is a made of tubing or Colerain, Long Hammock, etc.,

I know that early rustic advertises they use tubing but will use a Colrain fowler barrel for a 100.00 upgrade.

 

[PvtC]

Several of the locks on the KY fowlers in the Grinslade book are strikingly similar to the Siler. I do agree that a Chambers round face lock would be a better choice for a fowler.

 

[tg]

This gun looks to be of English influence and furniture making the English flavored lock probably the best choice, sometimes the size of the lock panel dictates how large of a lock you can use,I like the looks of the Sitting Fox guns but would rely on personal research to tweek the PC factor in many cases, though this may not be an issue to the original poster if we have not chased him off by now, I hope the input has been recieved as a positive exchange of thoughts.

 

[hawk]

lonegun, I have two kits from Ray a .62 cal/20ga fowler and a lehigh .54 smoothrifle
I wanted a few things different than the list kit and he found me what I wanted ,very good man to deal with I would buy from him again.

:thumbsup:
very hard to beat his prices and service.

 

[jimmytheshank]

Yeah, I just ordered 2 custom Lehigh rifles from him myself. Very easy to talk to and willing to accomodate whatever the customers wants may be. And his prices are very reasonable. Have you finished your guns yet? Post some pics if you can. That might make Lonegun's decision easier. :thumbsup:

 

[Lonegun1894]

yall cant chase me off that easy. Actually, i do appreciate the ideas and advice. what exactly isnt pc about? You people have taught me more than i would have thought possible when i first found this site. Thank you all.

So so far, we have a recommendation to replace the lock, and to doublecheck the barrel material. Also some praise for these MLs. I cant say i'm questioning this decision yet. Anything else i should keep in mind?

 

[jimmytheshank]

Just to help you out on your decision. Another member that goes by the name of two-bellys has pics of 2 of Ray's guns that he bought. An Early English Trade gun and a wheellock conversion. If you wanna see a good example of the quality of the kits that he sells, just do a forum search on that and you'll see what I mean. I respect the pc guys, and I dont mean you should'nt listen to their advice, because IT IS GOOD ADVICE, but if being pc aint that important to you, and it makes you happy, add or omit whatever parts you want. IT'S YOUR GUN. Thats the beauty of having a smoker in modern times. You can dress it up without worrying about anything except having it stolen. Personally, I wonder what your gun would look like in grade 4 curly maple. :grin:

 

[Rebel]

Unfortunately, two bellys is no longer a member.

 

[jimmytheshank]

True, but his postings are still up.

 

[Lonegun1894]

since Early Rustic Arms was mentioned, they seem to have similar gun kits, at similar prices. Are they about the same or is one a better gun than the other? Hope i didnt open another can of worms, but dont have much cash flow and might as well get the best i can for my money. Thanks yall.

 

[tg]

I have heard a lot of folks that are very happy with ERA guns, they may be a bit rough but so were many of the scraped originals, I don't know about what barrel options they have give them a holler and see what they have to say.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

FWIW I have a Fusil de Chasse kit from Ray Franks @ Sitting Fox and he was absolutely wonderful to deal with! All of my inquires and customization requests were replied to quickly and with patience, specially when it was 'me' who was confused with a fine point. Ray customized the kit for me to be as authentically correct as my research showed (plus I was helped along by Tg and Tom Patton, aka Okwaho).

Now to the kit. The quality of the parts are very good if not better. Now understand, I can't rate them as 'excellent' only because I haven't personally handled parts from a Chambers kit. But comparing them to parts from other makers, they are definately top-tier by my eyes, feel, and by actually cutting wood or metal.

The stock came from Jack's stock shop, drop-shipped directly to me, and although a 'plain' piece by what I paid for (stock item) it actually has quite a bit of nice grain to it. I give a hearty 'thumbs up' to Ray @ Sitting Fox :thumbsup: !

Now ... as to the progress of my kit ... I injured my forearm (muscle tear) and am forbidden to chisel, file or cut using it , so the build is on 'hold'. BTW ... did you ever try filing 1-handed using your off-hand ... :surrender: ??

 

[Lonegun1894]

thanks tor the good reports. I have talked to Ray, just didnt remember his name as its been a while. That man knows his stuff and was very helpful. I was told to get back to him if i had any more questions before i ordered something i was gonna regret, so i guess i know what i need to do tomorrow. :hatsoff: :thumbsup: :bow:

 

[nagant]

funny thing i was just looking at sitting fox's french tulle. could be had in a 95% inlet kit for around 650.

 

[tg]

That might be a fair example of a French fusil from the looks of the parsts

"Originals were stocked in a variety of hardwoods, but mostly walnut and maple"

Don't know where he got that from, Walnut is what they were made of, possibly some Beech, aside from a barrel that is a bit short his Tulle kit is probably pretty good with steel furniture, these would not have been Trade guns however, but guns for the Militia or hunting guns, possibly some alliance guns.