Last spring, when I was finishing up the last of the orders for North Star West and Matt Denison, I got a idea, and called Matt. I asked him if he would be willing to make me parts for an Early English Trade gun, in exchange for pay of the last couple projects.
I knew Matt was in poor health, but asked anyway. Happily, not only was he enthusiastic about the idea, he told me he had a dandy stock blank put away, and he wouldn't be able to build a gun from it considering his concerns.
He warned me that it would take some time to get the parts to me, as he could only do very short periods in the shop before exhaustion would set in. I was actually kind of surprised to see the parts show up so soon, just before Thanksgiving. That's faster than I have got parts from companies where they are healthy!
Anyway, once I got the parts in hand, I started thinking about converting the parts into an American fowler. All the altered parts used here were from North Star West, aside from the thumb piece, which I made. A little reshaping here, a little engraving there, turned it into something different.
This is sure a beautiful piece of wood. I'll hang on to this. I shot it at the club shoot yesterday. It's shooting a bit low, but the load seemed a bit light. I'll do some bench work to see if I can bring up POA with a powder increase. If not, I'll take it apart, and bend the barrel until it hits where I want.
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Originally Posted by RED333
