New shipment is on the ground!
I just checked the tracking numbers at British Airways and found that the new shipments of muskets, pistols and (some) bayonets landed in Boston at Logan Airport tonight.
How will I be able to sleep?
This is our largest shipment ever. It includes Long Land Besses, 3rd models, ship's carbines, Bakers, Charlevilles, 1717s, blunderbusses, Murdochs, Sea Service pistols, Heavy Dragoons, and of course the three new models!
The three new ones are: the Ketland Trade Pistol, the French pattern 1773 pistol and the Cookson Fowler.
OFr years people have been asking for a "trade pistol". These will be our first civillian type guns. My only fear is that people will assume a "trade pistol" is a generic flint pistol with a serpent sideplate sort of like a Northwest "trade gun".
Nope.
In the vernacular of the times, a trade pistol was any pistol meant for the "trade" (commercial sales) as opposed to a military contract. One of the most prolific makers of them was the Ketland family of gunmakers from Birmingham. I have a particular affinity for Ketland made guns since I own an original Ketland fowler (suspected to be an officer's fusil). I've had the chance to examine many original Ketland guns in private collections and museums. They are the '57 Chevys of flintlocks. Lots of them around, and easy to spot at a distance. The "trade pistol" type evolved into a specific pattern that several gunmakers copied. Many were Birmingham made, but spuriously marked "London" on the barrel. Our reproduction is supposed to be marked as such, but I won't know for sure until I open the crates and see the finished product. I have seen photos of the prototype and it looks great! It has a swamped brass barrel, very cool.
People have been asking for a French pistol as well. So we did it. I picked the 1773 pattern as shown in Neumann's "Battle Weapons of the American Revolution" since it predates the revolution and has a belt hook. People love belt hooks! We got in a sample of this pistol earlier this winter and it looked great. The sample was snapped up by Steve L. for a NPS program in NYC. The lock is marked "St. Etienne" and it is brass mounted. I was going to keep the sample, but ended up selling it.
Pedersoli came out with a French pistol last year, it is not a RevWar period gun, it is Napoleanic, and typically overpriced. Ours is more correct for RevWar, has a better lock and almost half the price!
The last new model is the one I expect to make the biggest waves. The Cookson Fowler!
This is a New England style fowling piece, the original being made by a Boston gunmaker named Cookson in the mid 18th century. the cool thing is that he built it using recycled parts from an earlier gun. It has the typical sharply cuvred stock as copied by yankee gunmiths from the French fusils. The barrel is three staged and a whopping 51" long! The lock is a Queen Anne style flat doglock with a flat topped frizzen. The sideplate is a flat serpent (engraved) which is the early type. There is decorative carving around the barrel tang and a brass thumbpiece. As a fowler, it is not cut for a bayonet and there is no stud. It has a thin blade front sight, typical of a New England gun. The prototype weighed in at 9 1/2 lbs, not bad for a gun this big!
There are 10 pieces in the first production run, I get to keep the first one. All together 7 of the first 10 are spoken for and nobody has actually seen one yet. Finally an alternative to military muskets for those of us who do a civillian impression! The gun will retail for $595, which is what I paid last year for a fusil de chasse kit. I am currently researching a correct plug bayonet that would fit the time period. These cost me $30 more than a Long Land, and will therefore not come with a free bayonet like the military guns.
Now comes the rest of the process. My brokers will submit a stack of paperwork nearly 1/4" thick to US Customs. Customs and possibly the US Agricultural Dept. will probably want to inspect them, they will read "muzzleloading guns" on the invoice and check with the BATFE. In short, a whole assortment of people with badges gets to see them before I do! Some people would get frustrated, I know they are just doing their job. Their job is to keep contraband out of the US.
Once they all give an OK to the shipment, my Customs broker will arrange for the crates to be shipped here via truck. When we were located in Massachusetts, I would go into the airport myself to pick up the crates with my pickup truck. Now it's a 6 hour round trip. With gas hovering around $2 a gallon, and considering it would take a whole day out of my time and probably two meals on the road (not to mention wear and tear to my old truck) it works out pretty much the same to have them trucked here.
The ironic part is that the delivery truck can't come right up to the shop like we planned since the road is posted with a 6 ton limit for the duration of "mud season". I'll give a better description of "mud season" once the snow melts and the road turns to pudding. Now what happens is that the truck driver pulls in to the "Jiffy Mart" parking lot and calls me on the phone. I drive my pickup down to town and we transfer the crates to my truck for the trip back up the hill. It's exciting every single time, and I hope it always will be!
How will I be able to sleep?
This is our largest shipment ever. It includes Long Land Besses, 3rd models, ship's carbines, Bakers, Charlevilles, 1717s, blunderbusses, Murdochs, Sea Service pistols, Heavy Dragoons, and of course the three new models!
The three new ones are: the Ketland Trade Pistol, the French pattern 1773 pistol and the Cookson Fowler.
OFr years people have been asking for a "trade pistol". These will be our first civillian type guns. My only fear is that people will assume a "trade pistol" is a generic flint pistol with a serpent sideplate sort of like a Northwest "trade gun".
Nope.
In the vernacular of the times, a trade pistol was any pistol meant for the "trade" (commercial sales) as opposed to a military contract. One of the most prolific makers of them was the Ketland family of gunmakers from Birmingham. I have a particular affinity for Ketland made guns since I own an original Ketland fowler (suspected to be an officer's fusil). I've had the chance to examine many original Ketland guns in private collections and museums. They are the '57 Chevys of flintlocks. Lots of them around, and easy to spot at a distance. The "trade pistol" type evolved into a specific pattern that several gunmakers copied. Many were Birmingham made, but spuriously marked "London" on the barrel. Our reproduction is supposed to be marked as such, but I won't know for sure until I open the crates and see the finished product. I have seen photos of the prototype and it looks great! It has a swamped brass barrel, very cool.
People have been asking for a French pistol as well. So we did it. I picked the 1773 pattern as shown in Neumann's "Battle Weapons of the American Revolution" since it predates the revolution and has a belt hook. People love belt hooks! We got in a sample of this pistol earlier this winter and it looked great. The sample was snapped up by Steve L. for a NPS program in NYC. The lock is marked "St. Etienne" and it is brass mounted. I was going to keep the sample, but ended up selling it.
Pedersoli came out with a French pistol last year, it is not a RevWar period gun, it is Napoleanic, and typically overpriced. Ours is more correct for RevWar, has a better lock and almost half the price!
The last new model is the one I expect to make the biggest waves. The Cookson Fowler!
This is a New England style fowling piece, the original being made by a Boston gunmaker named Cookson in the mid 18th century. the cool thing is that he built it using recycled parts from an earlier gun. It has the typical sharply cuvred stock as copied by yankee gunmiths from the French fusils. The barrel is three staged and a whopping 51" long! The lock is a Queen Anne style flat doglock with a flat topped frizzen. The sideplate is a flat serpent (engraved) which is the early type. There is decorative carving around the barrel tang and a brass thumbpiece. As a fowler, it is not cut for a bayonet and there is no stud. It has a thin blade front sight, typical of a New England gun. The prototype weighed in at 9 1/2 lbs, not bad for a gun this big!
There are 10 pieces in the first production run, I get to keep the first one. All together 7 of the first 10 are spoken for and nobody has actually seen one yet. Finally an alternative to military muskets for those of us who do a civillian impression! The gun will retail for $595, which is what I paid last year for a fusil de chasse kit. I am currently researching a correct plug bayonet that would fit the time period. These cost me $30 more than a Long Land, and will therefore not come with a free bayonet like the military guns.
Now comes the rest of the process. My brokers will submit a stack of paperwork nearly 1/4" thick to US Customs. Customs and possibly the US Agricultural Dept. will probably want to inspect them, they will read "muzzleloading guns" on the invoice and check with the BATFE. In short, a whole assortment of people with badges gets to see them before I do! Some people would get frustrated, I know they are just doing their job. Their job is to keep contraband out of the US.
Once they all give an OK to the shipment, my Customs broker will arrange for the crates to be shipped here via truck. When we were located in Massachusetts, I would go into the airport myself to pick up the crates with my pickup truck. Now it's a 6 hour round trip. With gas hovering around $2 a gallon, and considering it would take a whole day out of my time and probably two meals on the road (not to mention wear and tear to my old truck) it works out pretty much the same to have them trucked here.
The ironic part is that the delivery truck can't come right up to the shop like we planned since the road is posted with a 6 ton limit for the duration of "mud season". I'll give a better description of "mud season" once the snow melts and the road turns to pudding. Now what happens is that the truck driver pulls in to the "Jiffy Mart" parking lot and calls me on the phone. I drive my pickup down to town and we transfer the crates to my truck for the trip back up the hill. It's exciting every single time, and I hope it always will be!
posted by MVTCoPete | 1:07 AM
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