Hi Robert. Thanks for your reply. The Engraver that would do this has had over 20 years experience engraving firearms. Primarily muzzle loading firearms. He mentioned that it would not make any difference if the trigger guard was mounted on the gun, or not. So, that left me the option of having it engraved latter should I decide to. Of course having the original guard finials makes the engraving job much easier since he knows what it is supposed to look like. This way he does not have to surf through all kinds of reference books searching for the right look.
Here are pics of the original engraved guard finials. Note on one end of the rear finial is a piece of solder. Hmmmmm. This leads me to believe that at some point in the past someone tried to fix - the rest of the missing guard?? But the guy I bought the gun from said he has never seen the rest of the guard. Even as a young boy. By coincidence the guy I bought the gun from was in the process of moving. So I offered him a reward if he found the missing piece.
Well, that's the story.
Rick.