My new smoothy!!!!!

[Dryball]

My very good friend Mike Lange has consented to build my very first smoothbore ever! I have been wanting one of this kind for a very long time but never could afford it....can't now for that matter. Mike said it is fine with him if I post his work here for all of you to enjoy....so here is part one.

Haven't ever built one of these, but so far, other than inletting a round, tapered barrel, it's about as simple a build as you can get. They designed these things to be built fast and sold cheap, back in the day -- ironic, really, when today a good PC replica will set you back the largest chunk of $1000, if not more. Funny the huge sums people will pay to have correct appearance of a poor man....

Dennis (Dryball), the owner-to-be of this piece, ain't investing near that much. Other than the barrel not being octagon-to-round, though, and being shorter than on new originals, this is a pretty awful close replication of the guns traded to Indians for furs, way back, and incidentally favored by a lot of mountain men and others who appreciated a cheap smoothbore that could double as a game-getter and the muzzleloading equivalent of a riot gun.

A big lock I've had laying around on the parts table will get inletted this weekend, at the same time I'm finishing Andy's Mountain rifle and making progress on other things. A handy and needed rain moved in tonight and there won't be much work done outside, for my customers in town. What a pity -- a weekend spent largely in the shop.

Unlike on the vast majority of other guns, the guards of these things weren't inletted, they were simply screwed down flush with the surface of the wood. Like I said, it's a simple gun to build. Absolutely nothing about them to consume unnecessary time....

The barrel is a 28" 20 gauge from Numrich, the stock walnut. The lock, not seen here, is an oversized flinter with Siler internals.




Buttplate -- 4 1/2" tall and a full 2" wide. There will be about zero felt recoil on this gun.

[killer]

Looks like its going to be nice and light for you. Cant wait to see how it progress's. Thanks for posting it.

[NAULTRICK1]

Tell Mike thanks for lettin us in on the build, and thanks to you for the pics, Dryball and keep em comin

[Dryball]

And thank you both for responding....makes me feel mighty good to hear from my friends!

[graybear]

Tell Mike to keep sending the pictures. I'd really like to see a smoothie build since I'm thinking of shortening my Charleville to about that size and thinning the wood a bit. Hafta think on it a bit. What NAULTRICK1 said. 

[Dryball]

There will be a lot more photos as he finds time to work on it. Mike is a fast worker but not superhuman....cept in his talent. Will show them all....you can imagine how antsy I am waiting.

[Micanopy]

Thats gona be way near the coolest Dryball!

[Dryball]

John...I'm almost out of my mind with excitement.

[Hanshi]

His work is good, alright.  I'm anxious to see more pics.

[Dryball]

You ain't the only one!

[Hawken50]

  Its lookin great Dennis.Cant wait to see it completed.

[Dryball]

Yeah! 

[killer]

Dryball, I no how you feel. I just got my first smoothbore and i am haveing a ball shooting it. So far so good, I hope you have as much fun with yours as i am with mine. Nothing like a gun you can hunt anything with, from rabbits to moose.

[Dryball]

That's the way I'm thinking. As a rifleman, I'm terrible...cant hit past 50 yards...so the smoothbore meets my ability's way better. And being able to shoot both ball and shot in the same gun should be a big advantage as the feel will always be the same. When she is finished I'll see just what we're capable of together....hopin for the best, but even the worst will be fun.

[Dryball]

Part two:

Lock inletted. Frizzen spring decided to break during removal, but it was a standard large Siler spring so other than another few centuries in Purgatory for the profanity I used, when it happened, no biggy....