Big Connecticuts

[Bridger]

First of all, I am a huge fan of the Connecticut pattern. That wide bit and long eye is hard not to love. I've gone through many vintage axe catalogs drooling over the selection offered in days past and noticed that most offer this and other felling patterns up to 6 pounds. I have a Collins and Collins Legitimus for myself and I scored a nice Plumb for my brother in this pattern. They are all between 3-3.5 pounds. I am always cruising eBay on my phone in my spare time looking for rusty gold. A couple of weeks ago I ran across this guy. It's a Kelly made in West Virginia so it's decently old. Lucky for me, it was listed with a "buy it now" of $40 and I jumped all over it. The seller had it listed at just under 5.5 pounds so I figured that it would end up around 5 with the handle remnants removed. I still need to knock out the last of the handle and weigh it, but it is clearly marked with a 5 amongst the dents and dings on the bottom of the poll so it could be a 5.5. The mushrooming on the poll is superficial with no warping of the eye and overall it's in pretty great shape. I was even more pleased to confirm that it is of two piece, overcoat method construction. I can't wait to get her tuned up and hung. This baby is going to be a beast of a chopper.

Here is the only crappy pic I have at the moment next to my 3.5# Kelly Perfect Jersey for scale. Like I said, this thing is huge!

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Anybody else have any more examples of these large Connecticuts? I find it hard to believe that more haven't survived.

 

[Double Ott]

My Kelly CTs



Collins
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Tom

 

[newsasquatch]

I too love connecticuts. I always check ebay and have a hard time finding them

 

[Square_peg]

I have a 4 pound Legitimus similar to the one Double Ott posted. I'd love to find a big 5 pounder. You were smart to jump on that one.

 

[Twoinch]

i wish i would have come across that listing!! cool find! id love to find a connecticut over 4lbs.

if it weighed 5.5lbs with that little bit of handle in the eye, you better bet it will still weight 5.5 when you get it out. youd be hard pressed to lose more than an ounce or so from a dried up eye sized piece of hickory.

 

[Bridger]

if it weighed 5.5lbs with that little bit of handle in the eye, you better bet it will still weight 5.5 when you get it out. youd be hard pressed to lose more than an ounce or so from a dried up eye sized piece of hickory.

That's what I was thinking. It ways in at 5.8, but that's on a digital bathroom scale subtracting my weight from my weight holding the axe. Either way it's big and I'll be happy to put it to the good use it was made for.