3554 EARLY SOUTHERN NATIVE AMERICAN TRADE GUN.

Category Firearms & Military
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 1,000.00 USD
Estimated at 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Cal. .60 caliber. NSN. 61.5" overall. 46.5" round barrel. "This gun is an interesting example of how cheaply made and primitive some of the early trade guns must have been. The buttplate is a plain sheet of brass attached with square nails, the trigger guard is also a thin strip of brass and the barrel is thinner than the better quality Indian Trade Fusils. The lock is marked SHARPE and is a working life replacement that has been crudely converted from flintlock to percussion. There is no sideplate. The stock is slender with a triangle butt containing an extension of the rounded wrist. This is an 18th century stock style. The stock hs been cut back from the muzzle and a lug for a bayonet has been added to the barrel. The wood in the stock is soft and has wide grains and the broken wrist has been repaired with a piece of brass, probably from a trade kettle. CONDITION: good to very good, appears "as found". Tacked sheet copper repair at wrist is well patinaed as is other metal. The most unusual blacksmith made hammer still functions though nipple is missing and bolster is turned down. The bore is filled by dirt and ancient insect nest. PROVENANCE: Jim Dresslar Collection; Cowan's Auction 2005; Lifelong Collection of author Milton Von Damm. ANTIQUE. (01-24783/JS). $2,000-3,000.