Canoe Gun COMPLETED....

[Razor62]

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Thank you gentlemen! Your guidance is very much respected and appreciated.


Mike, I see your point. Once you're familiar with the hardware you can indeed move along following a different sequence. Thanks for validating my thoughts. Makes me feel smart but I know better so it's a shallow victory. 

Tom, I'll keep your pointers in mind. I thought about the mortise depth thing but I didn't act on it. Future reference. I need to study some diagrams of proper trigger placement. I'm well aware of the problems which arise from a lousy trigger pull. I won't have that on one of my guns.

Thanks again guys.

Kevin

[gunmaker]

look at Alexander's book he goes into tgr. placement as well, with comments about how the old ones did it.  A gun/rifle doesn't need "SET" tgrs to have a sweet pull.  Keep on keeping on Kevin.  ....Tom

[Red Badger]

With a little coaching from Gunmaker I was able to file a flat on my barrel and inlet my lock plate. Got a bit scared when I realized that my rear lock bolt was going to be a bit too far forward. Gunmaker helped me out though and I think I'm still in good shape. Thanks Tom!!!
This is my first flintlock and it's nice to be able to lean on the experience of guys like Tom. As long as I'm allowed to make a pest of myself I might as well exploit it.

As long as you are posting great pictures like that and learning you are helping the rest of us... so you can use this place to exploit the masters as long as they will let you and as long as you keep posting so the rest of us can piggyback !   

[Razor62]

It's amazing how long it can take to make a small amount of headway. Spent the day on the project yesterday. I managed to fully inlet the lock, install the lock bolts, inlet the trigger and locate / drill the trigger pin. I also began the ramrod channel. I took a little too much meat outa' the lock mortise 'cuz I thought I was hanging up on my tumbler near the sear grooves. Turned out it was the opposite side of the tumbler giving me trouble. Today I took the stock to the bandsaw and cut it to proper length of pull, adjusted for cast off and used the bandsaw again to filet off the sides of the butt. I also made a template to lay my lock panels out but I purposely left the panels untouched. It doesn't look like much when I look at the gun but as I write this it occurs to me that it actually is a decent amount of ground covered.
I'll post up some pics when I get some shaping done. Right now it looks like it was on the wrong end of a chainsaw and it'd be akin to posting photos of me in my undies. A fact of life yes but no-one wants to look at it.

[Razor62]

As long as you are posting great pictures like that and learning you are helping the rest of us... so you can use this place to exploit the masters as long as they will let you and as long as you keep posting so the rest of us can piggyback !   
[/quote]

Thanks R.B. I appreciate the encouragement.

[Razor62]

Time for another question... Due to the short barrel of this gun I'm wondering if it would be better to use only one ramrod pipe and entry thimble rather than two ramrod pipes? It may make the forend appear less crowded. Looking at Tom's Fuzzee I see two pipes and one thimble and it looks correct but I'm not sure if I should plan on the same for my "Canoe Gun" Perhaps my hand rail portion of my forend is a tad too long thus shortening up the ramrod channel but it looks well balanced to my eye.
What say the experts???

[gunmaker]

This "expert" says do what pleases your eye.  They were of course made every way possible.  Many had 2 pipes none at rod entrance hole, other's 1 pipe period, fancy: 3 pipe's.  Does this clear it up for you ?   ....Tom

[mongrel]

I second Tom on doing what you think will look best. I'm liable to build two rifles, almost identical in dimensions, and do a different arrangement of ramrod pipes on each, simply because my eye and mood told me one way would look better on one rifle than on the other.

In our cookie-cutter mass-production world we're sometimes uneasy with the idea of something not following a "standard" or "accepted" pattern. These are handmade guns, each piece a unique creation and to a greater or lesser extent a work of art. They didn't follow rigid guidelines back in the day and certainly shouldn't be forced to abide by rigid guidelines today. I say "they" in reference to the guns themselves, because quite often if you pay attention a gun in progress will actually tell you or show you what it needs to have done. If something -- the gun itself, your eye, your mood, whatever -- tells you the piece will look best with an entry pipe and a single forward pipe, that is by all means the way it should be done.

[Razor62]

Thanks guys. I'll stare at it a little more before deciding.

[gunmaker]

Just make sure she stares back.   ....Tom

[Razor62]

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Made some real progress this week. Drilled the ramrod hole. Soldered on a single barrel lug. Installed my ramrod pipes and drilled for pins on the lug and pipes. Fitted my buttplate and did some preliminary shaping. This gun is almost weightless and there's still lots of wood to remove. Oughta' be a joy to carry and a bear to shoot. Something tells me that even though there's lots of drop in the stock that the recoil will be stout to say the least.



Pipes in place. I decided on three. The forend may be a bit crowded but it didn't look right with only two while I was laying things out. 





Buttplate inlet:





Lock panels:

[gunmaker]

Lil fuzzee; weighs 4 lb. & with 60 gr 3f & PRB recoil is stout but not viscous, bout like a 3" 20 ga.  Looking good    ....Tom

[pilgrim]

         look'in  good,           UhOh         Lock is  on the wrong side         

[Red Badger]

         look'in  good,           UhOh         Lock is  on the wrong side         

Hmmm just thinking here what about a sigle barrel with two locks... one on each side LOL

[gunmaker]

Now it's my turn for a ?  Where'd you get that nice buttplate, I like it.   ....Tom