I realize this will come down to much opinion, but thats what I want. "In your opinion" who builds the "best" fusil de chasse. I define "best" as most authentic, most accurate, best wood to metal fit, just highest quality overall. thanks for you opinions.
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Who builds the best Tulle fusil de chasse
- Thread starter pharmvet
- Start date
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The Rifle Shoppe has the closest to original parts, TOW has a parts set that can be very close if tinkered, with as for a ready made gun.....no one is very close at all unless they use the above parts and take off a lot of wood, and have put some time into researching these guns which judgeing from most promo blurbs none have.
Here's one I can recommend. Based on his examination of originals and an honest value in a custom fusil. May not be "the best" but it is darned nice. ("The Best" grade Fusil de Chasse would be a Fusil Fin, wouldn't it?)
John Donelson - Longarms.
French Tulle Fusil De Chasse Ca. 1691-1741
Fusil de Chasse (hunting gun) and the Fusil Fin (Fine gun).
The eye pleasing lines of the French Fusils look great even on the plainest of guns. This example would be considered a Fusil Fin since it has very fancy curly Maple wood and raised carving.
These "Chief grade" guns also came mounted in brass and sometimes with silver medallions or inlays. The plainer Fusil de Chasse was usually iron mounted and stocked in plain walnut or maple with little ornamentation.
Just good clean elegant lines! Original French Fusils exhibit an unusual undercut treatment on the comb where it meets the wrist, not often seen on recreated Fusils today.
Barrels usually 44" Octagon to round and .20 gauge. Prior to 1720 the Octagon generally faded into the round with no boundary.
After 1720 the Octagon transitions to 16 flats for an inch or two then a wedding band transition to round, see Bouchard's "The Fusil de Tulle in New France 1691-1741".
To build a Fusil de Chasse from available parts ... $1,495.00
John Donelson - Longarms.
Fusil de Chasse (hunting gun) and the Fusil Fin (Fine gun).
The eye pleasing lines of the French Fusils look great even on the plainest of guns. This example would be considered a Fusil Fin since it has very fancy curly Maple wood and raised carving.
These "Chief grade" guns also came mounted in brass and sometimes with silver medallions or inlays. The plainer Fusil de Chasse was usually iron mounted and stocked in plain walnut or maple with little ornamentation.
Just good clean elegant lines! Original French Fusils exhibit an unusual undercut treatment on the comb where it meets the wrist, not often seen on recreated Fusils today.
Barrels usually 44" Octagon to round and .20 gauge. Prior to 1720 the Octagon generally faded into the round with no boundary.
After 1720 the Octagon transitions to 16 flats for an inch or two then a wedding band transition to round, see Bouchard's "The Fusil de Tulle in New France 1691-1741".
To build a Fusil de Chasse from available parts ... $1,495.00
Aaaahhh!!!! ( I take a deep breath ... )
Popular historical misconceptions : the Tulle gun .
The average Tulle " fusil de chasse et de service "
owned by the average " habitant " ( farmer , land owner )
for hunting and militia service would be plain but well made.
The lock is similar to the one sold by The Rifle Shoppe "
wich , by the way is copied from an original from
St
Popular historical misconceptions : the Tulle gun .
The average Tulle " fusil de chasse et de service "
owned by the average " habitant " ( farmer , land owner )
for hunting and militia service would be plain but well made.
The lock is similar to the one sold by The Rifle Shoppe "
wich , by the way is copied from an original from
St
Good post Henry, as noted few of the builders know much about these guns from their little write-ups they offer, I think a Barley corn front sight might be better than the turtle, one of the problems with those who try to make replicas of these guns is the use of existing parts to make many differnt types of guns this is also a problem when they try to earlyize(is that a word?) later period guns to fit the F&I period.BTW don't forget to exhale....
See above.......... when I see any builder feature maple stocks and talk of the fusil ordinare as being of a particular date or any other inaccurate info on the gun bio I figure that if they don't know anything about the guns they probably cannot make an accurate replica. I think anyone wanting a French fusil of any type should first study the history of these guns to know exactly what it is they want or what is a de chase or fusil fin? you will not find this on any builders gun bio I have seen, look to Lenk, Bouchard or Hamilton.whoooooooosh I exhaled for ya Henry (VBG).... I one buys a reday made French gun from any of the makers I have seen and talked to one will compromise historical accuracy,but still have a quality gun if a good builder is chosen, if one picks the parts and builds or has someone familiar with these guns build it then one can have a pretty close replica.
About the only thing Henry didn't put in is the note that for a few years starting in 1712, "hunting fusils" were contracted with 48" barrels. This was soon changed though it would be an interesting barrel length for pass-shooting.
48 " oui monsieur !
This is a lenght hard to find these days , if I
was to order one I would go the extra mile ( er... inches )
and get a barrel to make a " fusil boucanier " , but this
is another story .
The best Tulle I saw was the military ones made
by Kit Ravensheer , years ago , for Park Canada
( I think that even Park Canada would not have the budget
to order these guns today... )
This would ( and will ) be my dream Tulle :
Lock by Rifle Shoppe , already assembled by them
Barrel by Getz
Furniture by Rifle Shoppe ( steel )
American walnut from Dunlap
A good second choice for a limited budget :
( and the well know time factor at Rifle Shoppe )
Track of the Wolf kit , 44 " barrel and walnut stock
Cosmetic changes on the lock so it looks more like
the original.
Replace the ramrod guides ( to big ) by Rifle Shoppe
ones ( order them NOW! by phone )
Most people ( myself included ) do not see
the difference at 30 feet ( unless using binoculars )
If I wanted something even more fancy , I would not
choose the fusil fin but an officer 's fusil
copy of a Paris or Lisieux made gun , with silver
back plate , chiseled decoration instead of cast ones .
Exhaling now.....
Henry
This is a lenght hard to find these days , if I
was to order one I would go the extra mile ( er... inches )
and get a barrel to make a " fusil boucanier " , but this
is another story .
The best Tulle I saw was the military ones made
by Kit Ravensheer , years ago , for Park Canada
( I think that even Park Canada would not have the budget
to order these guns today... )
This would ( and will ) be my dream Tulle :
Lock by Rifle Shoppe , already assembled by them
Barrel by Getz
Furniture by Rifle Shoppe ( steel )
American walnut from Dunlap
A good second choice for a limited budget :
( and the well know time factor at Rifle Shoppe )
Track of the Wolf kit , 44 " barrel and walnut stock
Cosmetic changes on the lock so it looks more like
the original.
Replace the ramrod guides ( to big ) by Rifle Shoppe
ones ( order them NOW! by phone )
Most people ( myself included ) do not see
the difference at 30 feet ( unless using binoculars )
If I wanted something even more fancy , I would not
choose the fusil fin but an officer 's fusil
copy of a Paris or Lisieux made gun , with silver
back plate , chiseled decoration instead of cast ones .
Exhaling now.....
Henry
Another thing ,
A 1712 , 48" barrel would be round , not octogon to round
Earlier type , let's say for 1704 , would have a round
lock plate , it is generally called " fusil ordinaire "
( ordinary gun ) because there were no difference between
civilian hunting and military guns .
The first " real " french military ordonance gun
is the 1717 .
Henry
A 1712 , 48" barrel would be round , not octogon to round
Earlier type , let's say for 1704 , would have a round
lock plate , it is generally called " fusil ordinaire "
( ordinary gun ) because there were no difference between
civilian hunting and military guns .
The first " real " french military ordonance gun
is the 1717 .
Henry
Russ T Frizzen
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Henry-your observation about the modern Tulle guns tending to be over-built strikes me as very true. I've been fortunate enough to handle a couple of originals and what stuck in my mind was how slim the fore ends were. The barrels were quite light, too, as I recall. Not the rather heavy ones used today. I suppose fear of litigation is a concern nowadays.
It was a long time ago, maybe forty years now, but they impressed me with their lightness and balance. I don't remember the barrel length, but it was certainly over forty inches.
It was a long time ago, maybe forty years now, but they impressed me with their lightness and balance. I don't remember the barrel length, but it was certainly over forty inches.
Say Henry, I'd like to pick your mind about something else in the French fusil line. Track has this really "spiffy" fusil, item #AAA-383, with a 48" barrel made by Terry McClain of Narragansett Armes, barrel by Ed Rayl. I realize there were no fusils in curly maple from Tulle or any other French maker but is it possible that a long barreled could have been re-stocked in Canada or Louisiana after-the-fact? Suppose the Ed Rayl barrel isn't exactly kosher either, but it'd certainly be a good pass shooter and probably a descent ball shooter for old eyes...speaking for myself. Only problem would be saving my extra lunch money for what would be about 10 years! Oh well, I didn't want it anyway!!
Guest
Right-on- my bro re-stocked an original, many years ago, following the original forewood exactly. With the barrel off, it is a fragile piece of wood for sure. The butt, of course, is TULLE'.
: There's an incredible amount of drop in the stock, and the head must be held high and neck straight to get any elevation of the barrel, otherwise all you see is the tang screw.(if you cheek it at all)
: The original barrel, while shootable, takes a LOT of cleaning. It is slightly oval at the muzzle from wear or misuse, is 18 bore and so marked on the underside of the breech along with the gvt. marks.
: There's an incredible amount of drop in the stock, and the head must be held high and neck straight to get any elevation of the barrel, otherwise all you see is the tang screw.(if you cheek it at all)
: The original barrel, while shootable, takes a LOT of cleaning. It is slightly oval at the muzzle from wear or misuse, is 18 bore and so marked on the underside of the breech along with the gvt. marks.
I think most of the restocked French guns were probably done in maple but plain rather than fancy curly would be the likely choice for a utilitarian gun...and that buttstock profile (cows foot) is not a unique trait of the Tulle made guns though modern builders tend to imply such.
Guest
Could be annomolies out there - however every one I've seen (perhaps 1/2 dozen) all had that same stock butt profile. I've always thought it to be a trademark for that period of guns.
: All were walnut stocked, not maple, except for the one my bro re-stocked in plain maple.
: All were walnut stocked, not maple, except for the one my bro re-stocked in plain maple.
There were guns fron St. Etienne with the radical shaped stock and guns from Tulle with stocks shaped more like what we now call C or D. Bouchard shows two of the Tulle guns with rather straight stocks when compared to the "standard" cows foot shape.
The Royal Factories just filled the orders they
contracted (military and navy , de chasse and boucaniers guns )
The cowleg shape was not a trademark but a trend ,
a fashion of the time that copied the creation of famous
Parisian gun makers .
The fashionable gun shop started the trend wich was
later copied by smaller smaller shops and factories .
I think that this style was created by B
contracted (military and navy , de chasse and boucaniers guns )
The cowleg shape was not a trademark but a trend ,
a fashion of the time that copied the creation of famous
Parisian gun makers .
The fashionable gun shop started the trend wich was
later copied by smaller smaller shops and factories .
I think that this style was created by B
I know that this is an old thread... but I am kinda dying to hear this story. I re-enact golden age of pirace (1690ish-1720ish) and have thought that the fusil boucanier would be a great gun to use for this impression.
My thinking is that if a lot of merchant ships were bringing this gun into the Caribbean/Americas, there might be a good chance that they would be captured and liberated as prize.
Could I get your take on making a good one? Where to get which parts that is.
Historical accuracy is my most important goal... I doubt I will get out to the range to shoot it live more than once a year soI am more concerned with obtaining an authentic piece than a shooting competition winner.
Thanks.... in advance
GoF
