Fowler #4 completed at last.
Raised the red maple grain 3 times, heat gunned in the iron nitrate stain, 6 wipes of Tru-Oil applied with a swatch of 3M brown fine abrasive. Did one coat at 9am and the next coat at 8pm, hung up in my 70F+ shop to cure. Each wet coat of oil was wiped down with paper toweling to level the oil to the wood grain and offer a soft non glare finish that was typical of that era. Stuck on the bbl, lock and all the rest of the furniture. Bought as "plain maple" the stock's belly has some very nice flame that the stain brought out nicely.
Until I get a Kibler Bess this fowler will do well as a militia firelock. In fact, at less than 7lbs it's a joy to carry and aim offhand, which makes me ponder about having to lug around a 11-12lb Bess. Hmm.
The last image also shows the plug bayonet that was used at least early in in the AWI as smoothbores other than military muskets didn't have bayonet lugs, though some later on got their stock noses hacked off to install bayonet lugs.
Topic: I did it yet again ... (Read 423 times)