by Mike Nesbitt
Contributing Editor
North Star West makes a variety of Trade Guns, the flintlock smoothbores that were traded to the Indians by English and American fur companies during the great Fur Trade that opened up the West. Those Trade Guns have just as much of a “historical grab” on our American background as the rifles used by the mountain men or the guns issued to our soldiers. My favorite, personally, is the famous and plain Northwest Gun, but for shooters who prefer something fancier yet still very historic, the Chief’s Grade is certainly the one to have.
A quick comparison can be made between the Chief’s Grade and the more common Northwest Gun. The Chief’s Grade guns were stocked trimmer so those guns had more grace and style. They usually had about one inch more drop at the heel, and all of the furniture is brass and lightly engraved. The buttplates on the Chief’s Grade guns were contoured and inlayed into the stock while the Northwest Gun’s buttplates were, on the guns by Barnett, simply flat pieces of brass that were nailed to the stock with the heelplate inlet into the wood. Another difference is found in the lockbolt plate; the Northwest Guns had their famous dragon on the left side, but the Chief’s Grade guns have a flat side plate, which is engraved.
The Chief’s Grade guns were one of a very few Trade Guns that had an entry pipe, where the ramrod goes into the stock. The entry pipe on the North Star West Chief’s Grade is made in two pieces, a thimble with a skirt soldered on it. That’s the same way the entry pipes on the original Chief’s Grade guns were made.
Those are just examples of how the Chief’s Grade guns were different from the standard Northwest Guns and, of course, they followed a completely different profile and style. Several of today’s blackpowder shooters prefer the Chief’s Grade because it is more like the fowlers that were in use during the same time era. To put that into technical terms, admirers of the Chief’s Grade say it is a more graceful gun, one that shoulders easier and seems to be more comfortable for every shot.
Another example of a little extra addition to the Chief’s Grade is the medallion that rides the stock just behind the tang. To the best of my knowledge, that medallion was copied from the medallion on the original Chief’s Grade that was copied to make the North Star gun. The medallion is made of either brass or German silver and it is inlet into the top of the grip on the stock, and held in place with small brass nails.
My introduction to the North Star Chief’s Grade came about back in 1980; that’s more than just a few moons ago. That Summer I headed back to Arkansas to be at the first of the Mid America Rendezvous put on by Muzzleloader magazine. Curly Gostomski was there and he had the first of the North Star Chief’s Grade guns with him. While I didn’t shoot the gun at that doin’s, I did get a real good look at it as well as some photos of the gun being held by Curly himself.
There is some confusion about the dates when the old Chief’s Grade guns were made and a little bit of that misunderstanding is being carried on by North Star West. The original Chief’s Grade guns were made for many years, from about 1790 up to and maybe beyond 1850. Some of the last Chief’s Grade guns were made as percussions using back-action locks. Those very late guns were in 14 gauge, which is about .68 caliber. A part of the confusion I mentioned can be found right in the North Star West brochure where it is said that the Chief’s Grade guns were made only from 1790 to 1810. That statement will be corrected with their next printing of brochures.
And, especially for left-handed shooters, the Chief’s Grade guns can be ordered left-handed and still be regarded as authentic. Curly Gostomski looked into the existence of original left-handed guns. In a conversation with Charles Hanson Jr., (author of The Northwest Gun) Gostomski was told that the only trade gun Hanson knew of that was ever made left-handed was the Chief’s Grade. We have no photos or formal documentation of those left-handed guns but we should be able to accept Hanson’s word on it.
For some shooting with a Chief’s Grade, I’ve had Matt Denison’s (now the top dog at North Star West) personal gun with me at our last two club shoots. I shot it at both of those shoots, with round ball in the match at our December doin’s and with one load of birdshot at our January shoot. Now that gun has already gone back to Denison in Montana and my sincere thanks go to him for lending it to me because now I can tell you about how much fun I had shooting it.
The gun I was shooting was not left-handed but it was Denison’s personal 20-gauge Chief’s Grade, the one he had made for himself. Let me say, that gun shoots quite well. While my testing was not really formal at all, not done where any group sizes were measured, I did use it to win the Trade Gun match at our December shoot. My first shot in that match was my very first shot with that gun and it showed me that I needed to hold a bit higher on the target. In other words, I needed to cut the “X” in half with the front blade rather than center the top of the blade in the “X”. My other four shots were pretty good ones and those are what gave me the win with a score of 45X. The loads for those shots used 60 grains of GOEX FFg under a .600-inch ball wrapped in a .010-inch lubricated patch from Bridger’s Best.
Then at the January shoot I fired one shot with 1-1/8 ounces of #7˚ birdshot loaded over 60 grains of FFg again, just to see how the gun patterned. That shot was fired at one of our rifle targets while it was posted at 25 yards. The large bullseye was my aiming point and the resulting pattern was very good. The pattern certainly would have covered a grouse at the same distance. I had used a pre-measured shot load that was rolled in brown paper and it was seated in the barrel between Wonder Wads from Ox-Yoke.
My conclusion certainly must be that the Chief’s Grade from North Star West is a very good shooting gun. For anyone looking for a good muzzleloading smoothbore, the Chief’s Grade should certainly get some top consideration, especially if you’re a left-handed and shoot from the left shoulder. The options available on the Chief’s Grade are very much like the choices you can pick from with the North Star West’s Northwest Gun and I’ll list those here.
The North Star West Chief’s Grade is available in 28, 24, and 20 gauges. Those are equivalent to .54, .58, and .62 caliber bores. The barrel lengths available are 30, 36, and 41 inches. Considering the general time era for most of the original Chief’s Grades, the 41-inch barrel might be thought as the most common or even the most authentic. By the same token, the 36-inch barrel would probably be the most appealing. And, if it is wanted, the Chief’s Grade can be ordered in 16 gauge, and that might be the most popular for shooters who are considering the gun primarily for turkey hunting.
As North Star West says, “The gun we produce uses hardware that is a direct copy from an original gun. The only difference is the fact that these new guns are made of modern materials. We have the brass parts cast especially for us; they are of the finest ‘Yellow Brass’ which has a high silver content. We also produce this gun in a left hand ‘mirror image’ version. To our knowledge this is the only ‘Trade Gun’ originally produced as a left hand gun. If our Chief’s Grade is ordered as a kit, the stock is inlet for the barrel, lock, trigger, trigger guard and butt plate. The ram-rod hole is pre-drilled and the forearm is machined close to the final configuration.”
Prices for the Chief’s Grade from North Star West are listed for the version with the 30-inch barrel and those are; $635 for the kit, $915 for in-the-white, and $1035 for the finished gun. For a gun with a 36-inch barrel, add $12 to those prices and for a 41-inch tube add $22. For a left-handed gun, add $50 to those prices. To place an order or to just get more information, contact Matt Denison, North Star West Inc., PO Box 487, Dept. GWK, Superior, Montana 59872; phone: 406-822-8778; on-line: www.northstarwest.com.
Return to Archive Index