Yes, the carving follows the taper of the wrist. But also
beware that the photo above by Eric Bye -
is not identified for what it is - and purely by architecture of the trigger guard and trigger ... as well as engraving on the lock itself ... I don't believe THAT to be a 'Trade Gun'. Trade Guns, less French, had bow/rounded trigger guards.
FYI, from Rob Miller, a noted builder of Trade Guns, emphasis added by me:
"The NW trade gun made and developed by the Hudson's Bay Co. was a very early gun. It probably was not seen in great numbers until the HBCo moved south into Old French territory after the F&I War, but even with a cast side plate the gun can still be early. The first year for cast serpent side plates was 1749. The earliest Known N.W. still in existence is an example made in 1751. The very large bow trigger guard is a post-1780 characteristic, not 1740 as uninformed folks like to tout ... See T.M. Hamilton for info. So ... an early N.W. Trade Gun will look a bit different than say a 1830 N.W. Trade Gun, by having a bit thinner profile, heel of buttplate is rounded, carving always present at tang and mortices, smaller bowed trigger guard, non-bridled frizzen, tombstone fox stamp on lock ... see if I can post a replica I made of an early example for my buddy."
Here's some pictures he's posted to follow, 2nd photo of a different fire lock. BTW, Rob has a Facebook page of 'Miller Muzzleloaders", but NOTHING is for sale there -
please don't even ask - due to FB's policies. You can reach him on FB Messenger or he hangs out The MZL'ing Forums (
if I'm allowed to say so).
If you haven't yet seen the 48" barreled 62-cal Carolina trade gun that Rob made for me - that
only weighs 6-pounds - see the link, she's a one-ragged-hole shooter offhand @ 25-yards, so schweet!
Well, if you haven’t heard of Rob Miller (posts on FaceBook under his name, or as ‘Rob M.’ on dedicated MZLding Forums) … and if you are into Trade Guns - you will hear of him. You will find that he is a very accomplished, yet maybe a tad too humble, builder of excellent trade guns, and does it...
www.thehighroad.org