THE NORTHWEST TRADE GUN : BY MILITARY HERITAGE
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- No gun in American history had such widespread use as the Northwest trade gun. This smooth bore, fowling piece, or single barrel shotgun was used more than all the Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Hawken rifles put together.
Firearms were brought to America by the first explorers, and some of these matchlocks fell into the hands of Indians. But for practical purposes, the Indian trade gun came about after the introduction of the flintlock in 1620-1635. These early Dutch and English smoothbore guns established the pattern for the Northwest trade guns.
By the mid-seventeen hundreds, the Indian trade gun was the most traded weapon in North America. the gun was called the Hudson’s Bay fuke, the North West gun, or the Mackinaw gun. The first use of the term Northwest gun appears in the journal of John Long. An independent Montreal merchant, Long traded with the Indians north of Lake Superior in 1777-1780.
I have this gun! The fur trade is a very cool era.
yes it is
How is the trigger pull?
That white shirt really stands out in the woods, Garret. Good thing they didn't wear them that way. Died with Tea was the Fashion.
Apocrypha. Tea was rare and used until it couldn't be used anymore and wouldn't dye much after. A common sye was walnut or oak nut shells and leaves. That's also how leather was vegetable tanned.
Such an awesome and practical rifle. Especially today with no primers or caps available.
that is exactly right ✅️
THIS. Prices of caps went absolutely bonkers so I got myself pennsylvania long flintlock from Pedersoli. Price of a single shot suddenly became reasonable again, even cheaper than when caps were affordable. Also figuring why this thing won't shoot every now and then is something I consider a hobby bonus :)
It is not a rifle. It is a smooth bore. They were known in the period as fowlers. The inlet brass plate opposite from the lock is called the side plate. The lock plate is the plate for the actual lock. As for the rain… coat the point of contact for the closed frizzen, pan and barrel with thin layer of tallow this will keep the charged pan dry and use a “calves knee”.
It really looks great w/the browned barrel and the stained wood!
thank you very much!
Thanks Fellers fer lotsa good Shootin! Many Blessings! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Thanks, you too!
I love what you guys did with the bluing and wood finish (the former was essentially a standard feature by the 1800s). I just placed an order for the "chief" model and I'm going have a go at touching it up as well. You're correct, the enlarged trigger guard is for use with mittens, as is evident in illustrations from the early 1800s. The North west company operated heavily in northern Ontario, particularly around lake Superior, and it gets mighty cold up there in the winter.
Great job showing off that rifle....even if it took a year to do it!
lol well you know how it goes. sometimes i think certain videos just dont want to be made
@@Real11BangBang Sometimes it's an uphill battle.
Nice... Really love the browning. When i ever get one i will do the same. Great video
Thanks 👍
@@Real11BangBang is there a video or plans to film one on how you did it because I just got mine from MH and I want to do it to.
i do plan on it soon but if you want to do it sooner then thst simply get a bottle of laurel mountain forge browning solution and follow the instructions. it will take about a week and 10 applications to get the color we have here. as for the wood i just striped the old stuff off with paint striper then applied a walnut stain and 5 coats of boiled linseed oil then a coat of wood wax. thanks for watching
@@Real11BangBang I'll do that thank you. Still looking forward to the video when you get time to make it though. It'll be a good one.
@@Real11BangBang I can't decide which one I want the 1795 Springfield or the Northwest trade gun. I am leaning towards the Springfield first. I might brown that as well to make it look older. But i am going to get some of that browning solution
Thanks for putting this one out! I have just about given up hope for the "Officer & Gentleman Fusil" EVER being available again from Military Heritage... sooo... a NW Trade Gun will be a good substitute! (The .62 caliber will also match the pair of French 1733 Cavalry Pistols that I have from them as well!) I have absolutely no doubt that the O&G Fusil will be available about two weeks after I order the Trade Gun! Ha, ha, ha, ouch, ha, ha! Heartfelt Sigh!
I have watched this video a couple of times. It has inspired me to add the trade gun to my collection. I truly enjoy watching you guys make something old in design worth owning. Keep going!!!
thank you we will
From a heritage standpoint, I prefer the French guns but this is a great example of one of the most prolific guns that build America. I've never been able to track down exactly when this pattern was fully embraced and dropped from a production standpoint.
i have read quit abit on them and give or take it is safe to say the guns start to appear in the 1760s. the term northwest patterned gun is first mentioned in a hudson bay letter in 1770. wr have records of the first percussion versions in the 1880s and hudson bay sold there last batch in the late 1910s
It's been along time coming(i think i posted that question a year ago) but man is the finished project worth the wait!
thank you. as caps have become so hard to come by you are going to start seeing more flintlock shooting on the channel again. anything you want to see we will attempt to get on.
@@Real11BangBang i bought a Rodgers Rangers carbine off of Military Heritage for my pops as a father's day gift. Old man loves the hell out of it. Now if only MH would get some of those fancy Prussian "Sharpshooter" flintlocks in then I'd be set.
some times if you let them know what you are looking for you can pre order one then when the shipment comes in your top of the list!
Looks nice! I was looking at getting a fowler, but now, I think the trade gun route may be the way to go.
We sure enjoy ours!
Great video 😊
Thanks for the visit
Ahhhh yes their back, the wait was worth it.
well not quite... we were harvesting wheat when had a massive storm come through everything got muddy so i got to come home and figured i would edit this video. we are going to return full time on the 2nd of july
I need one of these
lol yes you do
Awesome videos just subscribe today. But I was wondering would it be possible for you to do a video on how to drill the touch hole on percussion rifle from military heritage? It would be much appreciated. Or if you would rather just give me any info on the comment section that would also be very much appreciated. Thank you.
here is one of our older videos on drilling vent holes for flintlocks as we do not have one of there percussion guns.hope it helps. ua-cam.com/video/taQTktYbEAA/v-deo.html
I love the way you seem to keep shooting without being seen reloading.
yes lol you tube dosent like 1 hour videos
Haha!, just like in the movies!😂
From what I’ve learned about Military heritage is everything you have said. The finish will get beat/scratched up during disassembly. The stock could be made of better wood. I’m gonna refinish mine after some use.
i have one, good quality for the price,,,,, lock times fairly quick did need to refinish it and replace the fragile ramrod.......
i think they are good guns
An awesome rifle. Thank you.
Salute. USAF '81-92.
Love the vids.
thank you very much
Very nice. So even in the 1870s and 80s there were frontiersman still using these things to take down grizzlies, buffalo and fight Indians?
They were still selling flintlocks to the Indians in western Canada in the 1870s from my understanding
from what i have read the hudson bay fur company didnt even start putting caplocks on them till the 1880s the last caplock versions were sold to natives in northern Canada in the late 1910s lol thats called a long lived firearm!
Great video! I've been saving up to but a military heritage musket and your videos have been very helpful. What size ball are you using? Military Heritage said that 58 caliber were used.
60 or 61 cal
The had a "cows knee" to protect the lock from water. Made from oiled leather, som with hair on. You ought to make one.
Thank you! Anyone saying the 1873 Colt or !873 Winchester "won the west" are ignoring over 50 years of history. Where the trappers, explorers and mountain men truly opened the west, the Rocky Mountains, and scouted for the army and wagon trains all the way to the Pacific Ocean. All this happened long before the Civil War and the advent of cartridge firearms. My family reached the west coast by wagon train in the 1840's. Clearly it was the Pennsylvania, Leman and Hawken rifles and Trade guns that won the west.
yes alot of history
Nice job on the gun!! It looks much better with the metal hardware finished either blue or brown,in my opinion. Can you convert one to caplock? How hard to do so?
Interesting! But why did you choose to film in the dark, where nothing much can be seen...?
not a matter of choosing it was literally the only time we could film
I have the shorter version of this. 100 grains of 1F powder and a unhistorical patched .60 ball hits whatever I aim at with very little recoil.
Klamath Falls Herald and News: Thursday, April 29th, 2010/Letters To The Editor. Updated on June 14th, 2012.
A piece of history wasn’t part of the photo display
The Monday Herald and News posted online the coverage of the “Mount Mazama Mountain Men re-enactment from the 1840s.” Unfortunately, I missed attending it. Be that as it may, the posted online photos didn’t depict the most commonly used firearm during this era: The Northwest Flintlock Trade Gun. Known also as Mackinaw Gun, Hudson’s Bay Fuke, fusee, Northwest Gun, London Musket, or simply Indian Musket this flintlock smooth-bore weapon was in common use in North America for 150 years. For too long the historic Northwest Flintlock Trade Gun has been ignored for the role in played in the development of the early America and Canada. In fact, contrary to popular myth, this primitive smoothbore flintlock fusil was the most commonly owned, used and carried firearms of not only native Americans, but fur trappers, French Canadian settlers, and mountain men. Appearing about 1750, these smoothbore trade guns were commonly .58 Caliber (24 gauge) and .62 caliber (20 gauge).
They were versatile as a foraging survival gun while loading both solid round ball for deer, elk, and bear, or smaller lead shot for small game, including birds and waterfowl. Even today, a skilled woodsman could still survive and forage off the land while utilizing a Northwest Flintlock Trade Gun in replica form. North Star West at www.northstarwest.com is a firm specializing in historical reproductions of early black powder muzzle loaders. In fact, I recall a former exhibit at the Klamath County Museum depicting the early fur trade era of our region. Pieces of an original Northwest Flintlock Trade Gun were displayed inside the glass. This fusil was discovered along the Sprague River in 1949.
The original serpentine side plate, flintlock cock, frizzen, iron barrel, buttplate, nails, screws, etc. remained as a history lesson for future generations of our bygone frontier past.
James A. Farmer, Ashland Effective October 2016: Once again a resident of Klamath County, Oregon Long Live The State of Jefferson!
Be sure to read the article in the November/December 2022 issue of The Backwoodsman (Magazine) on the Northwest Flintlock Trade Gun. Titled, "If You Could Only Have One Gun" by David Langerman, pages 68, 69.
this is the first 42 inch barrel review ive seen
btw how heavy is the gun, is it too cumbersome for hunting?
its not extremely heavy. i have not waighed it but i did take many squirrels in the last 2 years with it useing shot. not very combersome in my opinion it is a fast pointer.
@@Real11BangBang thanks. In the video the stock just looks much thicker than say, a totw gun
@@andrewvu1752 it is slightly thicker then a few of the originals I have handled but not much. I compared it side by side with an original and it was a little thicker in the forearm however after pointing both I couldn't really tell the difference when pointing.
@@garrettfromsmokeinthewoods thanks,
How is the Lock holding up? Timing looks good! what load did work out to be most Accurate?
holding up good. we generally shoot a .60 roundball with 110 grains
You made the rifle look more authentic then?
yes the originals came with brown barrels
@@Real11BangBang I like that you are trying to stay historically accurate. It helps when showing someone something like this for the first time. They get to se it how it was, not how modern manufacturing made it look.
Question, I’m thinking of purchasing a flintlock from this company and I was wondering if u guys use touch hole liners or js drill the hole and that works fine?
mostly just driĺl the hole. We have used touch hole liners and they are nice But not a necessity
How do you brown the barrel? Do you remove the shiny finish that the barrel comes with or do you just leave it on when browning?
there is no finish on these milatary heritage muskets when they come they are polished steel so all you do is buff with 0000 steel wool then use laurel mountain forge browning solution. it will rust the barrel. after 8 or 9 coats and 3 or 4 days you will have a nice brown color. heat the barrel and soak it in oil for a day to kill the rust. after this the gun is browned and the dead rust prevents new rust. its the way it was done in history. thanks for watching.
@@Real11BangBang thank you for telling me about this method of browning. Good video 👍🔥
yes i have just recently browned a flintlock pistol useing just salt water. it worked but not as well as the solution
This is commonly known as a "Northwest" Trade Gun today but they have even been found as far South as Florida. The English Armed the Natchez, Biloxi, Chickasaw and other allied tribes with them and they all used then to great effect at the Battle of Ackia in 1736 in Northern Louisiana. This was a decisive victory for the Natives that were forced to ally with the englush because of the French genocide campaign against them (for all the willfully ignorant that like to parrot the nonsense that the French were the good guys and better colonial masters). French officers wrote of the the amazing marksmanship of the Chickasaws especially, and one source states - in French- that they patched their smoothbore with vuckskins (for all the willfully ignorant scholars who say smoothbores were never patched in any source - try reading French and Spanish sources). Further, the famous trader and beloved friend of the Chickasaw and Creek, James Adair, also lists "serpentine guns" in his fur trade manifests. But it's a lot like the Type G or whatever, scholars invent modern names for these items and it's taken as historical gospel, not modern scholarly nomenclature. For example, I sincerely doubt the ancient peoples of Europe called themselves and their items what we call them today.
well i do believe the first time these were referred to as the northwest guns was in the 1770s when the hudsons bay company asked for more guns of "the northwest pattern"
That's pretty fast ignition for a gun that you didn't spend $1200 for..
You spend much time tuning that lock?
Nope that's how she naturally shoots
Where do you even buy new ramrods? I've been looking awile and haven't found anything
figure out the size you need then order a hickory blank from track of the wolf they run about $5 i think if you dont have your old tip you can get those as well. just sand it put some linseedoil on it and your good to go. if its going in an india made gun you may have to sand it to a taper. a good hickory blank will last a very long time extreamly hard to break
@@Real11BangBang thanks for the information!
Is it normal to shoot without a patch? Just wandering because I don’t know lol
no not normal but has been done in history... generally the patch is what keeps the ball from rolling out the barrel if tilted down
Did you brown the barrel after the fact?
Yes the barrel had to be browned and the wood had to be refinished
Is the front sight integral to the barrel, or is it brass and dovetailed in like on the fusil-de-chasse?
these are soldered on
How was the wood stained and finished on this gun?
same as pretty much all india muskets bright steel and brown stain
@Real11BangBang sorry my question was not clear. I meant how was it refinished by you. Apologies.
Just a quick question. I have gotten the same gun what size flints work the best 7/8" or 1"
it has been a while but i believe it was 7/8s
Ty for the reply. Really enjoy your channel
Help: I bought a fusil de chasse from military heritage in the spring of last year. I got covid in July and spent 4 months in the hospital, almost died. I'm just now getting to where I can work on it. It seems to have a light hammer strike and the frizin spring kinda stiff. Got the frizin spring good. Had to re shape the main spring. Having trouble getting it tempered back right. Any help would be appreciated, tips, or where I could send it to get fixed. Thanks
There is a video on youtube called gunsmiths of Williamsburg you should check it out
They talk about spring steal
It does not impress me say the gun that won the west or the plane that won ww2 or any thing like that it takes a big effort from a lot of different things that won anything.
what cal?
62. Bore firing and undersized 60. Soft lead round ball
Where are you getting the replacement ramrods?I need one for a Loyalist Arms French Tulle.
we just figure out what size we need and order a hickory blank from track of the wolf. they do need to be shaped and resized with sand paper and order the tip you want. it takes a little work but it is well worth it.
@@Real11BangBang Thank you.I will give it a shot.