I build Custom MLs for a living. Thanks to Paul’s Craft site I can put them out for your enjoyment and sale.
This is a Tulle de Chasse smoothbore. It is new and unfired. Price for T-man members is $1700.00….these are normally priced at $1900.00 All parts are the finest USA made and carry their respective manufacturers warranty.
History of the TulleThe Tulle was introduced by the French fur trade in the early1670s. This gun was not traded to the Indians. It was a prized possession and built with far greater quality and care than anything traded to the Indians by either the French or English. It was the weapon of the voyageur, the French fur traders and was also used by Americas 1st special forces….Rodgers Rangers…the forerunner to the US Rangers.
The Tulle has cleaner lines, handles better and is better balanced than the military rifles of the time and anything that was traded to the Indians. Famed for their accuracy, ruggedness and reliability. The Tulle was “the” gun for about a 250 year time span. It became firmly entrenched anywhere the French traded or trapped. Canada and the Mississippi River drainage saw many Tulles.
This gun is built historically accurate with pinned hardware. This gun can shoot in the NMLRA tradegun class and will pass historical muster.
It is a 20 gauge and will shoot both patched round ball and shot (see loading info below). The barrel is a tapered octagon to round and balances very nicely. I polish the barrel interior to gain the most in velocity and easy loading. Barrel length is 38”
Total Weight of this gun is about 7-3/4 pounds
All hardware is iron or steel and finished in my slow rust browning. This is a very tough finish and far outperforms blued steel and hot browning which never looks good.
Here is a closeup of the entry ramrod thimble
The trigger guard is also browned and has ample room for a gloved hand to use. It is inlet for a nice appearance and not simply screwed on (another shortcut taken by some builders).
Here is a closeup of that
I put another picture of the same gun on a different background for color comparison.
The lock’s starting point is an L&R Trade Gun Flintlock. This style of lock was manufactured by both the French and English and was prized for it’s ruggedness and simplicity. It has an unbridled frizzen as did the early locks of the time. This is the historically correct lock for this gun. Then I get to work on it and polish all the interior surfaces, tune all points of contact and finally jewel the interior for speed. These extra steps insure the lock will be the fastest and smoothest operating it can be.
Lock and tang inletting closeup
The trigger is copied from an original Tulle. The geometry is very important for a good trigger pull. Many “trade guns” are famous for a 3 finger pull of about 12 pounds. This gun has a trigger pull of 2 pounds, 8 ounces as measured on a Lyman digital trigger pull scale. As this gun is also used as a shotgun…it is unsafe to make a trigger any lighter. At any rate….for this style of trigger…this is excellent.
The lock is retained by two through the stock bolts. I use the Fancy French Tulle sideplate. This is more difficult to install so often builders simply cut off the fancy “tail” and take the easy way out.
The wood is a nice grade of fiddleback maple and is finished with my special handrubbed linseed formula. This finish is tough, waterproof and can be touched up if needed.
The front sight is a traditional brass “turtle”.
In every gun I make the front sight is left “tall”. This is so you can sight it in to your preference. All will shoot low as I provide a "tall" front sight….so you will file the front sight down to raise the point of impact.
You’ll hear stories of bending barrels etc to get them to shoot to point of aim. Here…I take the more scientific approach and use a laser bore sight to set each front sight to where the barrel shoots.
The stock is graceful and well balanced.
This gun will work equally as well as a shotgun or rifle. The Tulle is my preferred tradegun as the stock has the most heel drop so it fits modern shooters much better than the straighter English stocks.
The buttplate is wide (2”) and smooth so shooting heavy loads is comfortable.
I custom machine the touchholes in all my flintlocks. I use ampco which will outlast steel, stainless steel or other materials. Because of the care taken in making this part and paying close attention to correct pan alignment and internal geometry…these flintlocks will fire as fast as a percussion gun and are extremely reliable. Ignition is virtually instantaneous. These flintlocks perform….rather than the slow and poor ignition you’ve heard about in factory made guns or poorly made flintlocks.
Here’s a video link of my son and I shooting two different Tulles on a trail walk.
Check out the speed and performance! Target in the first two videos is about 65 yards….remember there is only a front sight!
Here's a video of a longer shot. About 135-145 yards. Target is the yellow "banana" clanger.
Recommended load is .600 round ball with .015 vegetable shortening patch
Powder charge range is 60-90 3F .
For shotgun use….equal volume loadings of 65 grains powder 3F and shot is a good starting point.
I include full instructions on cleaning, loads, sight in, flint selection etc with every gun I sell.
If you want any questions answered or would like to see any other pictures on this gun….just let me know.
I ship fully insured by UPS with tracking number and crate all guns in a custom built wooden crate. Shipping is at your expense…the wooden crate is on me. Figure about 50 dollars for shipping.
