Flintlock Fowling Piece
Various British Gunmakers · Shotgun · Discontinued · 1700
Also known as: Fowler, Flintlock Fowler, Bird Gun, Smoothbore Fowling Gun
Overview
The Flintlock Fowling Piece is a long-barrelled smoothbore muzzleloading shotgun of the flintlock era, developed for hunting birds and small game ('fowling'). Chambered as a roughly 20-bore (.62 calibre) smoothbore and typically fitted with a 42-inch or longer barrel and a full-length walnut stock, it fired loose shot ignited by a flint striking a steel frizzen. Light and fast-handling compared with a military musket, the fowler was the direct ancestor of the modern sporting shotgun and was carried by sporting gentry and colonial settlers throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3200 g (112.9 oz) |
| Weight (loaded) | 3260 g (115.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1448 mm (57.01") |
| Barrel Length | 1067 mm (42.01") |
| Action Type | Muzzleloader |
| Firing Mechanism | Flintlock |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 1 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 300 m/s (984 fps) |
| Effective Range | 35 m (38 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 180 m (197 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 2 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | None |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Iron |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Browned |
Calibers
- 20 Gauge · primary — also known as 20GA, 20 Bore, 20-bore smoothbore
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Muzzle Loaded
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock Notch
- Features: Smoothbore Barrel, Flintlock Ignition, Full Length Wooden Stock, Single Frizzen, Ramrod
Service history
Operators
- British Sporting Gentry
- Colonial American Settlers
Production
Production years: c.1700-1840
Produced in large numbers by numerous individual gunmakers across Britain, Europe and colonial America; no consolidated production figures exist.
Origin
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Discontinued: 1840
Notes
'Fowling piece' is a generic type rather than a single model; examples were built by countless British, French, Belgian and American gunmakers. Barrel lengths ranged widely from about 24 to over 60 inches, with the majority of fowlers made with 42-inch or longer barrels. Captain James Cook famously carried a double-barrelled flintlock fowling piece.
Background
Before the age of the percussion cap, the flintlock fowling piece was the sportsman's gun of choice. Its long, slender smoothbore barrel threw a spreading pattern of small shot ideal for birds on the wing, and finely finished examples by makers such as Ketland became prized possessions among the landed gentry. Captain James Cook was carrying a double-barrelled fowling piece when he was killed in Hawaii in 1779.