For a newbie....

[mongrel]

One of the other vendors at Friendship, Scott B, sells t-shirts and custom leatherwork across the row from me. He's a shooter but really was never exposed to muzzleloaders till setting up shop at the Shoots. After eyeballing stuff on my rack for several days he went to a vendors' auction one evening, came away with a curly maple blank and some brass pieces, then had me go shopping with him and purchased a thin-walled Colerain 20 gauge octagon-to-round barrel, 42" long, and a Chambers Early Virginia flintlock, the big 6" long job that was copied directly from the lock on a fowler-styled rifle at Colonial Williamsburg (#119 in Shumway's "Rifles Of Colonial America"). He left all the parts and a sum of money with me, said, "Do what you do -- I'd like it to be dark" and left me alone.

This is the result. The theme is "Colonial restock of parts of various origin" so no specific school or region has been adhered to here. Scott just wanted a lightweight shooter (he has a bad left shoulder, making it impossible for him to hold a heavy gun up) and the parts he won in the auction were sort of mismatched. Hence the idea of a salvage gun, many of which did perfectly effective duty throughout the early years of our history.

The pics are not the best. I'm a halfway decent builder but a lousy photographer.

[Tim Burns]

Mike: Don't sell yourself short! You are an excellent builder and a darn Fine Photographer too. 

[crazell]

you sure did do a fine job.. i'd be proud to carry and shoot with that...do sell yourself short...

[Stumblin Wolf]

Now THAT looks like something a minuteman would have carried! Sweet job mongrel!

[mongrel]

Thank 'ee. I cribbed a lot of the details of the stock architecture from various guns in Whisker and Hartzler's "Early American Flintlocks". I'm not very interested in copying any one particular original gun but I will enthusiastically steal the high points from several different ones to create my own twisted version.

Believe it was Oscar Wilde (but could be mistaken) who uttered the words by which I live: "Art creates -- genius steals."

[ErikPrice1@msn.com]

 Mongrel that looks fantastic, you do some high quality work my friend

[Razor]

That is a fine looking gun...
I especially like the color...

[old salt]

Mike
That is one SWEEET looking gun.

[Red Badger]

purty!!!

[Bison Horn]

Fantastic job! That Scott's a lucky feller to have run into you. Bet he got some great info from ya too. BH

[beowulf]

  like what I`m seein !

[Otter]

DROOL!! Uh sorry but it's really pretty!

[Hawken50]

  Great job Mike, absolutly beautiful.Now back to work Devil Dog yas got more rifles ta build ,more rugrats to covert to the darkside.

[Hanshi]

That's a beautiful gun.  I have a rifle with that same, great red color stock and it gets lots of looks and comments.  The gun looks basically like, well, an early American fowler.  I have one from TVM and the similarity is definitely one of family.

[NAULTRICK1]

  Beautifull color Mike, excellent fit, And like you I like the big locks, to me they seem more reliable, Beautiful gun mike