I just finished up my buttplate and now I'm gonna move on to the toe plate. The way I am planning to set this combo up is the bottom of the buttplate is gonna wrap around onto/ over the toe plate for the first half inch or so. Normally is the toe plate inlet flush with the wood or does it just mount right on the surface ?
Thanks,Tim
Toeplates are normally inletted flush with the wood.
thanks, I just finished this up this morning after spending quite a few hours with a hammer and files. Im glad I had this to tinker around with its been a real help taking my mind of of loosing my friend and co worker this past monday .
Looks good. thmbsup
I got the barrel in and the lock all in . This was a pre inlet stock so after I sanded down the extra wood heres what I got to work with. Now Ive seen some pictures of guns with beaver tails flowing from the tail of the lock and also a simple point form. judging from my poor quality picture what would you all recomend would look good. the rifle is gonna be a nothing fancy working mans Lancaster style .
Thanks,Tim
Beavertails can be a pain to do and do right. Consider that you're working with the grain, across the grain, and against the grain, carving them out, and they need to match as perfectly as possible. They're one of the numerous small details that have caused me to stick to building plain guns only -- I can do them and do them well but I find them time-consuming and aggravating not only to shape but to sand. If you decide to go for it, keep your cutting tools sharp and take your time, paying VERY close attention to what the wood is trying to tell you as you cut.
A piece of advice written a long time back, in "Muzzle Blasts", that is pretty much posted in my mind -- it's far more satisfying to do a good job of a simple gun than to do a so-so job of a fancier one. Early on in my building I was determined to include every trick, bell, and whistle on my guns, and the results of a couple of details that didn't turn out cause me to recall a line from the movie "The Wild Bunch", in which a railroad manager is reaming an employee a new one: "I don't CARE what you MEANT to do! It's what you DID that I don't like!"
However, the nice thing about details like beavertails and relief carving is that, as long as you don't get too carried away as to how deep you cut and gouge while trying to shape things -- if they don't turn out well they can simply be removed, since done properly they're raised UP from the wood rather than cut down into it.
Getting ready to cut the dovetails for the barrel lugs/ tenons I am going to put three on equally spaced one question I have is how far from the muzzle should the first one be?
Thanks,Tim
There is no set dimension -- I place that lug about 3" back from the muzzle. This keeps it well away from the area that slims down to the nosecap.
I usually will locate the rear lug about 9" from the breech of the barrel, then center the remaining lug between front and rear -- but this can vary somewhat according to barrel length and the placement of the ramrod pipes. Sometimes it's desireable that the rear lug is much nearer the breech of the barrel and the center one shifts in relation to it.
The location of the entry ramrod pipe is pretty much determined by where the rearmost, thickest portion of the forend terminates. Most new builders tend to place the uppermost pipe too far forward, too near the muzzle. I like the end of that pipe to be a good 6" from the muzzle and sometimes more. Once again, as with the forward and rear lugs, the placement of the forward and entry ramrod pipes determines where the center one is going to be situated.
The reason this is important in relation to the barrel lugs is that iit's surprisingly easy to wind up with the middle lug and middle ramrod pipe crowding one another, and since the ramrod pipes show much more than the pins holding the barrel to the stock, it's important that their location be established and please your sense of proportion at the same time you locate the lugs. If one thing or another needs to be shifted somewhat it ideally ought to be the lugs.
One other consideration:
If you ever need/want to shorten and recrown due to wear or simply want to shorten the piece due to loss of arm strength or other health changes the placement of hardware and sights will affect any cutting you are able to do.
Again many thanks , I got them cut in and lugs set in place and filed off nice and smooth . Gonna cut the slots in the wood tonight if I get enough time after painting the kids room whipping. Why can't the painting be as much fun as building this rifle! prty
If it were fun, everybody would be doing it!
Ok I'm almost done bing a pain in the rear for these questions ! I cut the slots for the thimbles and have them in place for the most part my question is how deep do I set them in the channel ? Should the ID of the thimble be flush with the bottom if the RR channel like I'm thinking it should so the rod is fully in the channel ?
Thanks again , Tim
You have it right.
Watch the grain of the wood, cutting the inlets for the thimbles. It's MUCH easier than you would imagine to end up with one end of a thimble sitting too deeply in the groove. This can be fixed with a filler patch of either epoxy or a tiny bit of wood (of which you likely have plenty from working the stock) and it won't show, but it's easiest and best to try to avoid the grain direction of the forend causing excess wood removal.
Before drilling for the thimble retaining pins, use a clamp of some sort to anchor the thimbles in their grooves and then verify that your ramrod will slide freely through them. If it won't, you will need to patch in some thin bits of wood or an epoxy bed so that the thimbles don't sit so deeply in their grooves. If they're not fully-seated in their grooves, when the ramrod is removed they will wobble slightly, which will torment you from now till Doomsday -- and it's hard to change the depth of their inletting after they and the forend have been drilled.
What mike says. On long pipes say over 1 1/4" I use 2 1/16" or 5/64" pins in each one to stop the wobblies. Sometimes if the pipes are thick enough I drill & tap 'em & screw them in from bbl. chn'l. 6-40 thd. Less holes in forearm that a way. Where are the Pic's ??? ....Tom
Quote from: gunmaker on March 10, 2013
What mike says. On long pipes say over 1 1/4" I use 2 1/16" or 5/64" pins in each one to stop the wobblies. Sometimes if the pipes are thick enough I drill & tap 'em & screw them in from bbl. chn'l. 6-40 thd. Less holes in forearm that a way. Where are the Pic's ??? ....Tom
Well I got two of them in. still cant decide if I want to use the wrong skirted entry thimble I ordered, needed 5/16 but ended up with a 3/8 I could sleeve it to make it work but it might look odd? just go plain with it and use none ? or fit a thimble unskirted and make it slightly shorter? Tom I got pictures taken I bolted it all back together just for you and took a few this afternoon. My laptop has no way to size them so I'll have to re send them from my phone at a smaller size as each one was over 1 MB . But ya have to promise not to point and giggle at my first debacle.
Tim anyone that giggles has not built his first gun. If some one points something out to you, remember it's because there are details and fine points that are not obvious but rather somewhat obtuse. ever see a gun that just looked a little off?? Couldn't put your finger on it? Accept critiques and don't worry about those that might poke fun. The ones that poke fun either don't know or forgot what it's like!!
Tim as a true artist my work shines, Why I even amaze myself. O.K. Reality time-- my 1st rifle had so many mistakes I had to re-stock AND re-lock it !!! Anyone who says" he-he" or you should a done it this way. Let them do it. Just do your best & you will prevail ....Tom
My first rifle was an abomination. I wish I had taken pictures. Being too cheap to buy an actual stock blank, I epoxied two 1" thick maple planks together and proceeded from there.
The second effort wasn't much better. New stock, everything else recycled from Abomination #1.
I will say that it worked. I never got to shoot either version, since I was living in northern Arizona and my plan to FINALLY have a gun like Fess Parker's in "Davy Crockett" hadn't been worked out to the point of actually locating black powder and other minor necessities.
It wasn't until rifle #5, maybe #6, that I produced something that didn't make people wince when they looked at it.
I'm still learning, still improving, and though I haven't even remotely kept count I don't think I'd be too far off to say I may have built over a hundred guns at this point. A gut feeling says the number is actually quite a bit higher than that.
Those who would laugh are either arrogant twits who aren't worthy of a response, or the kind who buy their guns from builders (who had to learn the hard way, like all of us) and behave as though plunking down large chunks of cash has suddenly put them in a position to judge others, or so-called "builders" who are careful to start with their projects pre-fabbed to the point that they don't construct or craft anything -- they just assemble.
Even starting with a somewhat pre-carved stock, as you did, and ending with a working gun, is a great challenge, a valuable learning experience, and an accomplishment to be proud of. So post your pictures, and those of us who've been where you are now will smile in appreciation and give your work a hearty thmbsup.
I will never "laugh" at ANYONES attempt at gun making. Even Tom's when I visited him! LOL(he know's I'm kidding!) I still have and shoot regularly my first gun. Pox,my .50 southern gun.
(http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss42/pathfinder_01/th_guns011.jpg) (http://s560.beta.photobucket.com/user/pathfinder_01/media/guns011.jpg.html)Anyway,back on topic, I file a notch in the tab of the thimble for the position in the forearm it is,#1 has 1 file notch,#2,2 file notches and so on. And the notches are at the FRONT of the thimble,facing forward.
I'm just toss my 2 cents worth in here... I am not mechanicly inclined enough and my woodworking skill leave a lot to be desired so I will never laugh at anyones creation.... I am just now getting the nerve togather to start my first kit (Widgets pistol kit) and plan on taking my time and learning what I need to know... right now a scratch build is in a galaxy far, far, far, far, away... More power to those of you who can do them... I will be content to "toss down large amounts of cash" for those I see that strike my fancy until that galaxy gets a whole lot closer!
Having built a few from kits and scratch or nearly scratch with no help at first and only a little later on I will simply tell you that you will and should be proud of what you build. If there are mistakes that you notice now or later it is still your rifle and you SHOULD be proud of it.
Nothing I made was anywhere close to perfect, but they were mine and I shot them and was proud of them.
Pathfinder
Was looking at your photos. Haven't seen a REAL :o stichin horse, since the 70's depression put me out of the saddle business! I have an old Singer flat (Strap) machine from the U S Calvary, but did a lot of hand stichin' cause it just looked better, and it was! flwa Just kinda brought me back, Thanks for postin thmbsup
sweed's a sadlemaker, man that's an art. I've wanted an Oregon roper by Hamley out of Pendleton, Or. most a my life, made do with a Tex-tan in my real cowboy day's---memories---for sure. You sure your joshing path, you know I'm the sensitive sort. Kinda like a mack truck. ....Tom
well heres what I've been trying to do in between the honey do lists. whipping
still have to do some things like final shaping and sanding pin the thimbles, installing the FH liner and sights ect. I hand made just about all the small stuff except the barrel, lock and trigger guard. My first trigger worked out really well I added a set screw to take out any play and to take up a small amount of slack in the sear. breaks right at 4-5 lb on my calibrated Mk.1 finger . the lock and tang bolts are made out of nails I had in the drawer .Its a trim little thing that weights in at around 7 lb or less , 36 " colerain 45 cal. LR classic lock, stock I got from Mr Mongrel along with alot of helpful PM's when I got lost. thmbsup
Just cant figure out how you guys shoot these things with those pop rivets sticking out from the side of the wood??? [hmm] all your advice and critique is asked for and welcomed.
Tim
My pics are still too big so I'll have post more in another thread
heres another
and another
sorry I had to do it this way but I couldnt get them smaller, last one
I am NOT seeing anything that rates laughing at, Tim. Things are shaping up fine. I like the shaping and definition of your lock and sideplate panels. These are details that quite often spoil otherwise very nice rifles, so they're more important than they might seem.
One small thing, and I only mention this because you're still at a point where you can modify this detail IF you so wish. Cheekpieces on the original rifles tended to be more compact, in terms of their length. Looks like you have roughly 4 1/2" to 5" in length along the lower edge of the cheekpiece. IF you wanted to do so you could remove upwards of 3/4" to a full inch from the rear portion, maybe 1/4" or slightly more from the front, to shorten it to a length of roughly 3 1/2" and in the process shift it forward away from the buttplate.
HOWEVER -- a number of original cheekpieces were as long as yours, some longer, and this is a detail that's as much about what pleases your eye as what was most commonly done on the old guns. That's why I stress IF you wish to modify it. If you find the butt comfortable when the rifle is shouldered, and appealing to your eye, you should leave it just as it is.
You're making great progress. Look forward to seeing more and finally the finished gun. thmbsup
Wish I still had my stitching horse! I love doing hand stitching. My wife has a neck knife sheath made out of chaps from Hamley's.
Thank you ,The upper part is about 4.875 and the lower line of it is right at 3.5 my cheek actually falls slightly towards the rear half of it now when I throw it to my shoulder . How do you think it would look if I would carve a straight line or two about where I have those pencil lines drawn on the cheek piece? Or just leave well enough be?
try adjusting the pixels on the camera
by lowering the pixle resolution you will be able to post more pictures.
That will look good. A little simple molding work (which is what the lines will be) dresses up that area very well.
Lookin' good Tim. I can tell by the questions that you've been asking that your rifle will turn out very nicely. It's obvious that you're thinking this through and your finished product will reflect this fact. Keep up the good work.
Kevin
Looking good Tim, it is coming along nicely.
Quote from: mongrel on March 11, 2013
That will look good. A little simple molding work (which is what the lines will be) dresses up that area very well.
I'm assuming the lines that i cut in should be as deep as they are wide? What I was thinking about using since the area is flat is a simple hacksaw blade about .060 wide and made the cuts the same depth ?
One last thing about the thimbles would it look semi correct or ok to have an unskirted entry thimble? I have three options , I ordered too big a skirted one I need 5/16 I got a 3/8 I can sleeve it and put it in , go unskirted or none at all? Any advice. Really don't want to place an order for a 3 buck part and the shipping will be more than double that
Quote from: pilgrim on March 11, 2013
try adjusting the pixels on the camera
by lowering the pixle resolution you will be able to post more pictures.
. Is this possible to do on a I phone ? It's all I have at the moment ?
You can solder a "skirt" on the entry pipe if you have an "unskirted" one of the appropriate size. Here's one I did. Unfortunately it was not for the reason you need one 'shok'
(http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/bogie_bucket/100_2717-1.jpg)
I use my iphone for pics all the time, just download them on your pc, crop an resize them then post them on photobucket an then you can post them on here. Might be an easier way but this is how I do it.
Get the Photobucket app for your phone (free) and you can download directly to Photobucket and save yourself the step of downloading to your computer first.
very nice ! lookin forward to seeing it finished !
Give me a good close-up picture of your 5/16" pipes, Tim, else give me the name of the vendor you ordered them from and a part number. I have a number of 5/16" ramrod pipes, including several entries, and if one matches your forward pipes I'll send it to you. Won't run you the full cost of a new pipe and three times that for shipping, either.
I place orders with several vendors on a regular basis, so breaking up a set of pipes is no big deal -- next order I'll just add on the missing part.
That is a beautiful stock, looking forward to when the rifle is finished wtch
Great looking project Tim, love it! thmbsup
That's going to be a good looking gun. Keep the pics coming.
Thanks all for the complements it's ac tually turning out well suprisingly especially since I'm flying semi blind doing .it . As long as I don't screw things up with the finial bit of wood shaping and smoothing I'm home free. Got all the thimbles pinned last night so one more thing done.
Well I believe I getting close to the end . Have the pewter nose cap poured and all filed down and polished last weekend ,this week I sanded down the wood smooth and there's figure and stripes popping out the whole length of this piece of wood dntn Shes gonna look purtty I think.All I have to do is some of the final metal work on the barrel like install FH liner and cut the dovetails for the sights .
Now on the barrel browning should I apply the solution and brown with the sights and liner installed? or install after? .Im gonna be using Laurel Mt solution.
And the tricky part for for me finishing the wood. I have very little experience doing this so I dont want to mess it up . I have been playing around with my home brewed vinagar and iron solution then heat and tried it on a scrap pc. of the forend turned out very well I think after I just rubbed some mineral oil on it after I applied the heat to get a feel of what it will look like. Question I have is what finish to use ? I didnt order any when I got the rest of my parts,Just wasnt thinking that far down the line then. So all I really have to pick from is whats available at the hardware or Walmart or whatever ,Stuff like BLO or the Formby's oil finish, Ive also seen Teak oil or danish oil I might be able to find Tru Oil from BC at the gun shop but didnt really look yet , So will any of these be suitable? Im not looking for something dark Id prefer to have a honey or more natural color and have the stripes provide the darker contrast as theres alot of them. Any advice?
Thanks,Tim
Tung oil should be fine. Just remember that it is a "hardening" oil varnish and any runs or drips will set up hard. Little bit at a time and rub in well.
Several thin coats are better than a couple heavy coats. It's one of those "Don't ask me how I know" things. pnic
I've been using Tru-Oil for years with no complaints.
I will second on Tru-oil, it does a good job and is easy to apply, plus it's available. I will also second on the advice to go slow and apply thin coats only. Be patient, go slow and if it ends up being too shiny you can then just knock it down to a satin finish with some 4O steel wool. Be sure that when you are done sanding and before applying any finish that you use a tack cloth, which will remove most all of the dust and expose any areas that you may wish to further sand down. Be sure and let each coat dry thoroughly before the next application. Tru-oil doesn't contain any pigments or dyes if I remember correctly and should enhance the dark and light grain of the walnut very nicely. It will seem to darken the wood slightly but that is just how the light is reflecting off of it.
Picked up a bottle of Tru Oil so I will be working on it this week. About how many coats do you all usually put on?
The number of coats that will be needed is going to depend on a number of factors, not the least of which is your up-close and personal opinion of what it should look like. Since you aren't going to use any stain you are basically just letting the dark tones of the walnut shine through, so it's really your choice. I would plan on at least 3 coats, and be sure to put on each coat very lightly with adequate time in between for drying. You might even want to sand with a very fine grit paper or steel wool in between for a satin smooth finish. The directions will also help you a great deal, don't forget about those.
If you are getting drips and runs then you're using too much. Also, think about how you are going to place the stock to dry between coats as you want good air flow all the way around. Don't set it on it's side on some paper towels and not expect it to stick, just plan ahead.
Thread a small eye bolt or cup hook into the hole for the rear buttplate screw, and hang the stock from whatever's handy.
Tru-oil is a fine stock finish, but as has been said, apply it in thin coats.
My first coat of tung oil on bare wood goes against all instructions as to how to apply it, but it works extremely well. I pour some of the oil into a small container (I have a bad habit of eating cake frosting, minus the cake, so I have lots of those small white plastic cans, which work very well for most finishes as well as stashing small parts when I have a gun in progress), then use a 1" chip brush to slop the stuff on and into every surface of the stock, including as far into the ramrod hole as I can get. I give it a minute or two to pool and run and also soak into the wood, then wipe the whole stock down with a piece of clean cloth. The cloth goes into the can, with the oil, for the next coats. I keep an eye on the stock to be sure that no runs escape from areas like the lock inlet, where there are a lot of corners and holes the oil can build up in and then run out of if it's not monitored.
This guarantees deep penetration of the oil into the wood. All coats afterwards are wiped on, and I don't worry about getting the oil into the deeper inlets -- the first, thick coating seals them fine and everything after that is for the portions of the stock that will be seen when the gun is assembled.
One area to be sure to coat heavily is the end grain under the buttplate. End grain soaks up finish like you wouldn't believe, and has to be sealed completely, otherwise it will act as a form of door through which moisture can both enter and exit, resulting in slight shrinkage and swelling of the wood over time. It's easy to make the mistake of figuring, hey, it's under the buttplate and won't show, but this area does need to be sealed well.
Thanks again , the stick is a piece of Verrrrry striped maple though not walnut . I can not wait to get the finish on it and see that figure pop it's so holographic even now! Got the sights dovetailed and installed so all I have to do now is wait till tomorrow to get the tap at work for the FH liner . Should have some pics by next weekend .
One last thing when I apply my vinegar and iron stain would it be a good idea to neutralize it after I apply . It's not real aqua fortis(strength wise) but I ve read some have and some don't after applying it ?
Thanks again Tim
Oh gosh, I was thinking it was walnut for some reason! rdfce Sorry Tim, I had a BF but the previous advice to start slow with multiple think coats still stands.
I deleted my original post when I re-read and saw that Tim was fixing to use vinegar and steel wool, which when activated by heat creates a very nice and traditional stain for maple.
I had offered to send along a quantity of alcohol-based red-brown stain, sufficient for a couple of guns.
As far as neutralizing the vinegar-and-steel-wool blend, I never use aquafortis or anything similar to it, so I don't know the proper follow-up for it. That stuff (at least for me) raises the grain something awful and requires re-sanding even after a stock has been whiskered (wetted to raise the grain, then re-sanded to smooth it back down). My approach to building is to use finishes that can simply be applied with consistent results and minimal labor. I stick to alcohol-based stains or oil by itself, depending on the wood.
Incidentally, my approach to sights is to cut the dovetails and verify a good, snug fit, but leave the sights off till after the barrel is finished. It's easier to apply browning solution and card off excess rust for a more even finish, without the sights in the way. Even if you're using steel sights (which most rear and some front sights are), and want them browned, they can be done separately from the barrel. I prefer the front sight in particular to not be touched by the browning or bluing, since the focus of my building is hunting rifles and the front sight in particular should stay as bright as possible to pick up any available light in a cloudy fall woods.
Yes it did require a decent scuffing with a 000 wool pad to smooth it back down on the piece of foreend scrap I tried . But It did smooth back down well . My mix is diluted down to about less than a quarter of full strength and is a nice light red color in the jar. I didn't use steel wool just some rusty iron and some old nails and let it sit for about 2 months Or so . Full strength it's almost black in color . And a thin layer of iron actually formed floating on top of the liquid . My first experience with making it so i was real surprised at the reaction of simple vinegar .
Thanks again , Tim
This rifle is done with vinegar/steel "salad dressing" stain. Not the color I had hoped for but what the heck. Nope no neutralizing was necessary. Just dried it with a heat gun. polished the whiskers off and used tung oil for finish.
(http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/bogie_bucket/vinny.jpg)
Maybe not the color you had hoped for, but very nice all the same.
Quote from: BruceB on March 31, 2013
This rifle is done with vinegar/steel "salad dressing" stain. Not the color I had hoped for but what the heck. Nope no neutralizing was necessary. Just dried it with a heat gun. polished the whiskers off and used tung oil for finish.
(http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/bogie_bucket/vinny.jpg)
Did you apply it atfull strength or dilute it some more ?my diluted mix is a light red color in the jar.
I'm not sure the color of your stain in the jar is relevant. It's the iron reacting with the tannins in the wood that create the color.
I was careful to push the floating stuff to the side and carefully dipped out the liquid without disturbing the sludge in the bottom. I then swabbed the "salad dressing" stain on the stock full strength, heated with a blow dryer until dry and reapplied, and dried. I then waited until the salad dressing smell was gone. It was an ugly gray/green color at this point. Try a little alcohol on the stock to wet it so you can tell what color the stock will be under finish. Whisker and apply stock finish. Kinda idiot proof (hence my use of it &) )
.
I've been experimenting with the finishes for my canoe gun project. I made up an aqua fortis stain and applied two coats to a piece of scrap from my original blank. I didn't spend enough time prepping the wood or applying the Tru-Oil but it's enough to confirm that I like the results. Here's a look at the stest piece:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s272/klarose103/Canoe%20Gun/66418952-9F40-448F-9AD2-33F54D920A08-17629-00002B01CD94DF25_zps5421217f.jpg)
I've also been working on simulating a Damascus look for my barrel and I think that I've got it pretty close. I came up with an idea which borrows from the advise of other builders. Adjusted the technique to suit my tastes and came up with this test block. I'd say I almost got it to where I was going . I think that I went one cycle too far with the browning but at least I'm in the ballpark. Check it out:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s272/klarose103/Canoe%20Gun/BF9B935C-993F-4E87-A24A-56467B2CA15B-2355-000005C9341339CE_zpsde00e31e.jpg)
That "pink" color might go over real well at Fire Island--he-he.....Good work ....Tom
I like the reddish finish on the wood very much, although I might darken it just a bit. I'm not too keen on the metal finish and would opt for an even browning or even a plumb brown just to be different but you know what appeals to your own eye, so go for it!
applied my home brewed vinegar and rusty iron stain and the first coat of tung oil finish . and WOW the figure and stripes just popped out the wood dntn I knew that stock had some figure to it when I was sanding it but dang! t he stain colored it slightly darker than I wanted but no too much so .Got the barrel all done and ready to fire but still in the white till I get the sights close to on . getting there! I've enjoyed working on this rifle so much with the all your help and guidance ,Special thanks goes to Mongrel for selling me this nice piece of maple and all his personal help with different things hes a true asset to this site. thmbsup
Well here she is !
WOW!
That's spectacular.
that`s one heck of a good lookin stock !
ecxelent! dntn
Quote from: mongrel on April 02, 2013
That's spectacular.
I never would have though when I opened that box from you that that plain looking piece of wood would have yielded that much stripe and figure . And I was worried sick everytime I picked up that chisel or gouge to work on it . I used 60 grit paper alot more than I probably needed due to worrying so much that I would screw it up!
Now that I'm almost done I've come to realize I won't have anything to do with my extra time . Maybe a small bore for my son is in my future . Can't believe how therapeutic building or working on one of these rifles could be for me .
Got the metal all browned and the stock all finished ,Got the pins cut to proper length and assembled it all last night .I'm dang pleased how it turned out. Again thank you everyone for the help and advice.
and a few more
Very well done Tim, looks like a winner. In fact she resembles the rifle I've been carrying since about 1979. They going to put her in the box with me and my dog. Onliest 2 females that I can get along with. ....Tom
Very nice Tim, she looks great. thmbsup
Beautiful work Tim! You should be proud. Let us know how she shoots!
She calls to mind a couple of early Allentown, Pennsylvania rifles, particularly one by a master named William Antes (#53 in Shumway's "Rifles Of Colonial America"). The Antes gun had a Lancaster-style patchbox and relief carving, but the overall lines of your stock profile and the hardware you chose are very, very similar. Usually, a person's first few efforts, even starting from a precarved stock, don't nail an original style quite so well, and I know you did a fair amount of wood removal and shaping between what I sold you and what you show us here -- but that Antes gun is what came immediately to my mind when I saw your first two pictures.
Needless to say, I like it a lot. Well done, extremely well done. thmbsup chrrs
very nice dntn you did one heck of a job there !
Quote from: mongrel on April 11, 2013
She calls to mind a couple of early Allentown, Pennsylvania rifles, particularly one by a master named William Antes (#53 in Shumway's "Rifles Of Colonial America"). The Antes gun had a Lancaster-style patchbox and relief carving, but the overall lines of your stock profile and the hardware you chose are very, very similar. Usually, a person's first few efforts, even starting from a precarved stock, don't nail an original style quite so well, and I know you did a fair amount of wood removal and shaping between what I sold you and what you show us here -- but that Antes gun is what came immediately to my mind when I saw your first two pictures.
Needless to say, I like it a lot. Well done, extremely well done. thmbsup chrrs
Thank you Sir, I have to honestly admit though I wasn't really going for any particular style or specific school or maker when I started hacking on it and thinking about hardware. I sorta just went with what looked pleasing go my eye and what felt comfortable when I closed my eyes and shouldered it . As to the hardware again I went with what I knew I could make and what the hammer and files produced . I surely know that my slightly modified Bedford style side plate don't belong on a Lancaster or another type of rifle but I liked the looks of it so thats what it got! Lol again thanks everyone for the compliments . It seems like it's gonna shoot quite well last weekend I took it out to adjust the sights and if by fate they were dead nuts on at 50 yds on my first shot never had to drift or file either front or rear ! I worked my way up from 45 gr of 3F to 60 gr and things were tightening up group wise that is till I forgot to put the powder in before the patch and ball! Got the ole dry ball outa the way in it's maiden voyage to the range . Lol. No misfires and very fast ignition .
That's a handsome rifle. I like that stock. Fine work you did. thmbsup
Very nice! a fine creation and I'm sure she will be with you for a long, long time.... But it is now time for you to gently pack her in her finest swaddly cloth and ship her to me for proofing.... TMOC rule #1 Red Badger has to proof all firearms :mini-devil-28492:
Quote from: Red Badger on April 13, 2013
Very nice! a fine creation and I'm sure she will be with you for a long, long time.... But it is now time for you to gently pack her in her finest swaddly cloth and ship her to me for proofing.... TMOC rule #1 Red Badger has to proof all firearms :mini-devil-28492:
LOL Going from my last experience having a rifle shipped ,Im gonna have to counter offer and say if you ever feel the need to take a trip up to my neck of the woods ,feel free to stop in and you can shoot her all you want I have alot of ball and powder and beverages that I need help getting rid of . chrrs
I'd be cautious saying something like that Tim---You mite wake up to a yard full a pick up trucks, and a bunch a thirsty travelers !!! nice job. Show us a target soon. ....Tom
Quote from: gunmaker on April 13, 2013
I'd be cautious saying something like that Tim---You mite wake up to a yard full a pick up trucks, and a bunch a thirsty travelers !!! nice job. Show us a target soon. ....Tom
And it wouldn't bother me in the least ! Yards full of pick ups are a rather common sight around here thmbsup
Had her out this morning and looks like 65 gr of 3F is the load I'm going with . Gonna work my way back down from 45 gr to see if I can find a nice economical plinking load now . Shot about 30 shots today and didn't have to wipe the bore once just using spit patch . Things are looking good for a fun summer of shooting ...
Quote from: gunmaker on April 13, 2013
I'd be cautious saying something like that Tim---You mite wake up to a yard full a pick up trucks, and a bunch a thirsty travelers !!! nice job. Show us a target soon. ....Tom
Here ya go Tom. 3 round groups ,Both are from 50 yds .015 patch material and spit as lube first is 35 gr second is 65 gr of 3F
mighty fine Tim, thanks fer sharing that target.