Antique BARNETT HUDSON BAY Co. Large Bore Flintlock NORTHWEST TRADE GUN With “HBC” Barrel and Lock Stamps & “BARNETT/1869”

Description:
Antique BARNETT HUDSON BAY Co. Large Bore Flintlock NORTHWEST TRADE GUN  
 
With “HBC” Barrel and Lock Stamps & “BARNETT/1869”

Here Ancestry Guns presents an antique Barnett Hudson Bay Company Large Bore Flintlock Northwest Trade gun, made by Barnett Snider in London, England. This Barnett musket is typical of the guns made available for trade by fur trading companies in northern North America during the early and mid-nineteenth century, most notably by the Northwest Fur Company and, after 1821, by the Hudson’s Bay Company. However, the American Fur Company, the Mackinaw Company, and the U.S. Indian Trade Office also traded Barnett muskets to Native Americans.

Trade guns like the Barnett musket were typically referred to as “Northwest guns,” “Mackinaw guns,” or “Hudson’s Bay fukes.”  Less expensive than guns destined for Europeans or American buyers, these Indian trade guns were normally of light weight with relatively short barrels, were usually designed to fire a shot weighing an ounce or less, and had a trigger guard large enough to allow the gun to be used with gloves or mittens during the coldest months of the year.  Typically, Barnett muskets were sold with a side-plate embossed with a dragon ornament, such as this one, that decorated the side of the gun opposite of the locking mechanism, offering Indians an easily recognizable mark of authenticity. Even before the first land-based fur traders arrived in the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans along the coast had already been acquiring firearms from maritime traders for more than a generation.  Because guns helped in the procurement of furs, it was advantageous for European and American fur traders to make them available for trade.

Additionally, since firearms required a continual trading relationship in order to keep the gun-buyer supplied with gun powder, shot, flint, and replacement parts, fur traders found the trade-based dependency to their advantage.  Native Americans, not blind to their dependency upon Euro-American traders for gun supplies, found value in their firearms as tools for territorial expansion, self-defense, and hunting. Even though the Hudson’s Bay Company and other traders passed tens of thousands of trade fusils to the Indians, the guns are quite scarce today. In the hands of the Indians, the guns suffered extensive use and abuse. When they were beyond repair, they were broken down for scrap. The buttplates were typically used as hide scrapers, and the barrels were flattened at the muzzle to serve as digging implements.

This is a great example of a Indian Wars era Hudson Bay Company Northwest Trade Gun. Faint HBC stamps on the barrel and lock with "BARNETT/1869" on the tail.

The overall condition is very good. Original smooth brown barrel patina. Strong action. The lock has been reconverted. Light splits are present on the stock with some chipping around the lock. Good bore for its age. Markings are legible. The side plate has been engraved with a serpentine design. Oversized trigger guard.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 36 inches.

Caliber: .62 Flintlock

Overall condition as seen in photos.

Very Fast. Very Safe. FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE. Delivered directly to your door by express mail!

Guaranteed AUTHENTIC & Includes CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY.

$5000

#259661
 

Antique: Yes

Price: $5,000.00
Buy Now