Caywood's first class firelocks

Guns Magazine, Nov, 2003 by Jim Gardner

With a clack flint strikes frizzen, whoosh the priming charge leaps to life and almost immediately the gun responds with a throaty boom, filling the air with pungent white smoke. You may be standing on a concrete firing line, dressed in modern jeans and boots, but just for a moment, you are other people in other places as well.

Maybe you're a French/Canadian voyageur in the stern of a freighter canoe loaded to the gunwales with trade goods. Each paddle stroke inches you further upstream towards the Abenaki encampment that should lie perhaps a league ahead. Beside you, wrapped in your capote against the dampness, is your fusil. You loaded it with patched ball this morning, hoping to catch sight of a moose in the gray light. Your fusil feeds and defends you--it's your lifeline in this beautiful but treacherous new country.

Or perhaps you're a prosperous Virginia planter. The rich, dark soil has rewarded you with fine tobacco crops and you've indulged yourself by ordering a fowling piece from the local gunmaker. She's light as a feather, sporting a good English lock and barrel mounted to a fine piece of maple. She's your pride and joy, and as you ride toward the marshes, yon can almost taste the roast goose Molly will prepare.

And what's wrong with indulging in a little mental time travel? We shoot for fun, don't we? Perhaps that's one reason why shooting a muzzle-loading firearm Call be so enjoyable--you operate at a slower pace, and thus there's lots of time liar quiet introspection.

A Reputation For Quality

I first heard of Caywood Gunmakers some years ago. I was interested in a flintlock smoothbore typical of the French and Indian War period. Caywood was recommended as producing some of the very best of the type. I ordered a catalog, but never managed to get the funds together. You know how it goes.

Last year, while attending the International Sporting Arms Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nev., I rounded a corner and was delighted to find Caywood's booth, An arsenal of fine muzzle-loading guns in several different styles adorned the walls. I hadn't been in the booth for a minute before a tall gent wearing a broad smile thrust one of these sleek front stuffers in my hands and introduced himself.

Danny Caywood is a likeable fellow. He's a fountain of knowledge on the subject and he's more than willing to share it. Nor is his experience simply "book learning." He has hunted extensively with his period guns, and finds the added challenge of hunting with a firelock adds zest to his hunting like tossing red chili into the stew pot.

I happen to know he recently look an Arkansas elk with one of his flint guns. becoming the first man to do so in perhaps 200 years. This challenging hunt took place in the middle of a downpour, and I asked Danny what the secret was to keeping a flint gun functioning in wet weather. He generously offered to share stone pointers, and you'll find them in the attached sidebar.

Strange And Pleasant Event

Not long after the Las Vegas show, a heavy package arrived at the office with not one, but two of Caywood's fine handmade guns enclosed. It was rather like Christmas in April. And then, as I unpacked the guns and admired the fine workmanship, the strangest thing occurred.

One by one, several of the young ladies from our offices came over to inquire about these 18th century arms. Some had questions about how they functioned, while others simply remarked on how "pretty" the guns were. The GUNS and American Handgunner offices just happen to be staffed with a large number of very attractive and lovely young ladies. Having a variety of guns come through the office isn't at all unusual, but never before has a package bad such an effect. I learned two things that day: The first is that I really like my job, the second was that I must find a way to get more such packages shipped in.

I can't blame the girls--these two Caywood guns really are handsome. Danny had shipped both an English fowler and a French "Type C" fusil. Both were fitted with .62-caliber (20-gauge) smoothbore barrels. The first thing you'll notice is how incredibly light these guns are. Despite their lengthy, 41 1/2-inch barrels, they weigh only about six pounds.

The reason for this is twofold. First, the barrel is made heavy and strong where it needs to be, but light elsewhere (as were best-grade originals). The barrel's breech is octagonal, tapering to a point 13 inches up the tube where it transitions to round with an attractive "wedding ring" design. The barrel's round section is not uniform in diameter, but tapers to a waist about a foot from the muzzle, after which it flares slightly. This puts a little extra weight at the muzzle, making it more durable and giving a better feel in offhand shooting.

The second reason these guns are so light is because they are built correctly. That's to say they carry no excess wood at all. The entire stock is delicately shaped, with the long friend especially light and slim. I've handed these guns to several shooters, and all have commented on the light weight and very pleasant feel al the shoulder.