Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Muzzleloaders => Topic started by: Eric Krewson on January 20, 2019, 06:34:59 am
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Well, the inner masochist came out in me for the last few days, I decide to resume work on a Haines flintlock rifle project. It was a kit gun I bought second hand and found it had so many flaws in the stock I didn't think I could complete it. One by one I am fixing the flaws, I think I can conceal my fixes with stain and finish where they will be invisible in the finished gun. Today it was inlet the barrel tang and fill the gaps with glued in shims. I created the small gap in the back, the stock profiler created the huge one at the front when the kit was made. My fixes will be stronger than the initial stock wood.
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Hmm, so just a touch of wood glue and then sand clean?
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I used unibond but was surprised it didn't stick worth a hoot. I cut new wedges and glued them in with superglue gel which kept them rock solid. Next I used a file and dremel with a sanding drum to feather the lower part of the wedge into the side of the inlet, the gaps were only at the top. I cut off the excess wood and drawfiled the tang and the patch to get a perfect fit.
Here is a similar fix after finishing a rifle, there were wedges inserted on both sides of the tang.
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After going in the gizmo business for St Jude and finishing dropping a bows poundage so my aging body can accommodate shooting it comfortably I am out of projects.
I decided to resume work on my Haines rifle, the lock inlet repair in a past thread took the wind out of my sails and killed my enthusiasm.
Todays work was simple but after a layoff I found I need to relearn patience. I inletted the trigger plate slightly. When I get the plate in I will add the internals and head the trigger bars toward the sear on the lock. This is the most stunning piece of wood I have ever had in my shop, it is also splintery beyond belief and very difficult to cut cleanly.
First things first;
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The trigger plate is in, it took a while because the extra curly wood is so splintery.
I made a little gadget with a refrigerator magnet to hold my parts over the lamp to black them, it sure saves the fingers.
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That gadget looks great for holding parts like that.....not only saves the fingers but looks like it guarantees full lamp black across the part. Seems like I smudge part of it off every time I try to insert the part back into the inlet after blacking it. Great idea. Thanks for sharing that.
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I started with a magnetic auto part retrieval tool, it worked but grabbed the part much tighter and was a bit cumbersome.
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When the mushrooms and the garden comes in I seem to drop everything for food preservation.
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Yum - Nice diversion -C- ! Bob
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I got my trigger in, it didn't work. I measured twice and cut once but found it is 1/8" to far back. I inletted a little more and moved it up, it fires the lock set but not unset. I think it needs to go a little deeper. I found prussian blue is a much better inletting marker than lamp soot or inletting black.
The first one I put in a TN rifle worked perfectly the first time I tried it. I am going to look at its sear/trigger bar orientation today and see what is different between the two.
I have a # 7 optivisor lens with a 4" focal length, I like it for detail work but it strains my neck if I use it too much.
I decided to order a new lens with longer focal length but found each lens is $32, almost what I paid for the whole rig. I noticed the chinese knock offs on ebay for $19 shipped, they come with 4 lenses of different power, I took a chance and ordered one, mainly for the lenses. When it came in I was surprised by the quality, it is almost as good as an optivisor and the lens are just the same and will fit an optivisor.
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Handsome >:D at work under visor (lol)! Nice build along!
Hawkdancer
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I might build a muzzleloader once i get a job, but i dont know if i hace the right tools so ill just watch you for now`
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I fixed the trigger by adding a piece of metal to the trigger bar to give it more leverage. The piece looks huge but works just fine. I may make it a little shorter if I have trouble cocking my lock, the trigger is right up against the sear now.
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Deer hunter,
Bows are easier! You just start accumulating tools one at a time, but buy the best you can afford. Avoid cheap tools, but watch garage and estate sales. Eric and the other gun makers can give you plenty of advise on what you need to start with. Some of the tools cross over to both skill sets. Learning those basic skills are also very important, as is developing patience. Digging a hole is the only place tou can start at the top! >:D
Hawkdancer
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Tang bolt time; This always is a pain to get the hole centered on the tang, no matter how much I measure, punch and drill a pilot hole I usually get the hole off just a smidge. I did on this one as well but I am likely to be the only one that notices it.
For those who haven't done it; one drills a hole in the tang, down through the wrist and into the front of the trigger plate. Next you turn things upside down and drill with your tap drill back through the trigger plate. Then you pull the trigger plate and drill a clearance hole through the tang and wrist followed by a tap to thread the trigger plate for the tang bolt.
(https://i.imgur.com/xGQAmPK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/lIG5Jx1.jpg)
I counter sink the tang hole and always make a chattered mess of it but it doesn't show. my barrel shifted as I countersunk the hole and I was a little off on the angle. When I tightened the tang bolt the barrel moved up a little. One has to countersink at the same angle as the tang hole is drilled or this will happen. I redid my countersinking and corrected this barrel moving problem.
(https://i.imgur.com/bsDf5Eu.jpg)
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Here is my fancy drilling jig, a field point held firmly in my vise. Once you align the drill bit and the spike you can drill a hole and have it come out exactly where you want every time.
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Like this;
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Great tip Eric (=) ! Thanks - Bob.
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What are you counter sinking with? I'm always counter sinking fasteners at work and may be able to hook you up with a tool to do that job with no chatter.
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I have used them all for the most part, one flute to six, done them by hand and drill press, put cardboard under the counter sink etc. Not all get chatter but most do.
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Have you tried one with a pilot? It's a little nub that's .002 ish smaller than the hole, and guides the cutter straight with the hole, stopping chatter. You could also drop your rpm and increase your downward pressure. That usually helps as well.
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I have some of the ones you mention but they are short. On drilling a tang hole you have to drill a long hole to the trigger plate and countersink at exactly the same angle you went through the tang with your drill bit. I have a problem taking a long bit out and putting the short one in my drill press and not having my gun shift position. I can't clamp it in the drill press vise and drill ar the right angle, the stock gets in the way.
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There are counter sinks out there that slide onto the shank of the drill bit and are set with a set screw. Everytime you drill to a certain depth, you countersink the exact same depth and angle of the drill bit every time.
I know it's a small thing, it gets covered up anyway, but just offering ideas on how to make that easier for you.
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I'm watching, Eric. I've just begun to pull out my next project now that the humidity will begin to lessen down here. A Lancaster rifle in fancy maple, so similar to this project, I suppose?. I've ordered the plans from Track...should be here soon. It's a swamped Colerain A wt. .45 42" barrel. I've just begun to start cleaning it up. I'll post up soon.
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I was able to jocky the short pilot hole countersink into the tang hole and it cut a perfect countersink, no chatter.
Today's project was to teach a guy about bows and bow making, he was a no show so I worked on my gun.
I installed the barrel underlugs, drilled and pinned the stock the barrel, it went well. This is a measure 5 times and drill once kinda thing.
This was a kit gun and the previous owner had Track cut the dovetails for the underlugs. The dovetails were cut a little crooked but the underlugs supplied with the kit tapped right in with no filing.
(https://i.imgur.com/b5gKqo0.jpg)
Making the lines to line up with once I get the barrel in the stock. I have the top of barrel clamped to a straight piece of aluminum and will lower my bit and adjust the aluminum stop to where the bit hits perfectly on the lug.
(https://i.imgur.com/1mIJyRT.jpg)
I have the barrel c clamped in the stock with tang bolt tightened. I have lined up all my lines and are ready to drill the stock and underlug together.
(https://i.imgur.com/L42NUWQ.jpg)
Success, all three lugs in and pinned, I do them one at a time and pull the barrel to make sure I hit each one just right before I go to the next one. I have to make a different measurement and reclamp for each lug. The barrel is swamped and they are all in a little different position.
(https://i.imgur.com/JAKbtLo.jpg)
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huh. that guy missed out. hope he didnt just skip. heard horror stories about guys skipping and bows.
Im this build along is cool.
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Here is the story on the kit; I saw an ad on the Stickbow classified for a flintlock kit, $650 shipped. I contacted the guy and asked him very specific questions about the parts in the kit and where he got it. He said a guy bought the kit, kept it a long time and realized he didn't have the skills to build it. He traded the kit to the guy I bought it from for several vintage bows.
The parts were all top notch, the best out there, I knew from the description the kit was an Issac Hanes Lancaster kit from Track of the Wolf. The guy I bought it from was a gun builder and said he had more barrels and parts than he would ever use and wanted to turn the kit over for some cash. The kit also came with every drill bit and thread tap needed to complete the build and had the buttplate installed and the dovetails for the underlugs and sights already cut by Track of the Wolf. This work alone would have cost several hundred dollars.
I ran just the parts through Tracks on line order form and came out with $1100. My check was in the mail the next day, two days later the kit was on my porch.
The kit was a .50 cal, I like .54 so I had the barrel rebored and riffled to .54 and began my build. Well, my silk purse turned out to be a sow's ear with such a horribly done precarve stock that I had to glue in a bunch of patches just to make things work. I will make a good gun out of it but I was planning a show piece but won't go to all that trouble with a patched stock. The stock, although hacked up by Pecatonica during the precarve is the finest figured maple I have ever had in my shop so I can't trash it and start over.
I had planned to finish the gun for deer season last year but when I saw how bad the stock was it took the wind out of my sails and I only work on the gun when the mood strikes me. I have been having fun working on the gun lately so I guess I will finish it in the next couple of months.
Note to self, if you ever are tempted to buy a precarve again lock yourself in a closet until the urge has passed. I have bought two, both took me more time to straighten out the stock profilers goof-ups than I would have spent building from a plank.
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An unexpected goof-up; I drilled a pilot hole through the bolster for the lock bolt where I always drill them and found the lock bolt would be partially in the back of the barrel and breechplug. Time to patch the bad hole.
Notice the toothpick glued in the first pilot hole, it will be covered up by the side plate.
(https://i.imgur.com/qiteptj.jpg)
I drilled out my pilot hole for a 6-32 screw and tapped the hole.
(https://i.imgur.com/dWqq57C.jpg)
I countersunk the 6-32 hole.
(https://i.imgur.com/Cg37CV4.jpg)
I screwed in a screw and cut it off above the hole.
(https://i.imgur.com/2vLzRnL.jpg)
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I peened the screw flat on the lockplate and into the countersink.
(https://i.imgur.com/pyYPF8t.jpg)
I filed and dressed the screw head, it almost disappears.
(https://i.imgur.com/gx1frj1.jpg)
I drilled a new hole in the right place and drilled the breechplug lug. You want the lug hole to be much bigger than your lock bolt so the guns recoil won't put stress on the lock plate and possibly cause a crack at the tail of the lock mortise.
(https://i.imgur.com/8c6DC5K.jpg)
Tapping the lockplate for the lock bolt, I got a perfect fit on the lock bolt this time, it screws into the lock plate easily through the clearance hole.
(https://i.imgur.com/HddxmP6.jpg)
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The tedious part of gun building, all the brass parts are rough castings. It takes a lot of filing with needle files and sanding to get rid of the casting gates as well as bringing the part to a buffed finish. This is probably my least favorite part of building a gun. This is definitely a rainy day activity when I have nothing else to do.
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This rifle is such a mess I only pick it up when I need to kill time, such was the case lately. I inletted the entry pipe but the ramrod wouldn't go in to the forestock. A check with my borescope indicated although the inletting looked good the pipe was still a little high. I lowered it a bit and everything worked out just fine. I slopped the pipe around trying to get the alignment right, I ended up with a few gaps that will need to be shimmed.
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I started in on my trigger guard, this and the nose cap are all I need to finish before I shape the wood and get the basic construction done.
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Good to see you back at the bench Eric.
Looking forward to future updates. :OK
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I hope this one shoots OK, if it does it may be my last. I had the barrel reamed out to .54, the guy who did it left a slightly loose place down near the breech, the rest of the rifling is spot on.
If this one isn't a good shooter I may throw in the towel and get a Kibler colonial kit to finish for my final gun. I have two or three of everything now, fowlers, squirrel rifles and deer rifles.
The bad thing is I can't see the sights on any of them as cataracts and old age have started blurring everything.
I made a prototype tang mounted peep for my deer rifle the other day, I stuck it on the gun for the picture but it isn't finished up and still a little rough. I did take a few shots with it to adjust the aperture size. In the right light the sights are very clear but I have to have my head just right on the stock to achieve this.
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This rifle has been a pain, partly because of the precarve and partly because I am not doing the quality of work I once did and I don't know why.
Case in point; simple job, line up the side plate with the lock plate, drill the bolt holes, tighten down the bolts, scribe around the plate and inlet it to the proper depth.
Something went wrong, somewhere between tighten down the bolts and scribe around the plate something shifted. I took out the bolts and inletted the plate to the proper depth, the lock bolt holes were very slightly off and were binding in the holes through the stock and wouldn't hit one of the threaded holes in my lock plate. On close examination I could see I had the plate inletted a bit too high.
I recut the inlet to where it was supposed to be and still had a slight interference with the holes in the lock plate so I filed the holes slightly larger.
The recut inlet now had gaps, I hate gaps so I started adding shims, it took 9 of them in all and several days to get the plate fit just right and tight.
I like to show my builds warts and all, I have had a bunch of warts lately.
First the patches, none will show on the finished gun, then the final side plate fit.
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All I have to do now is inlet the nose cap and remove the excess forestock wood and define the wrist and butt stock a little more and I will be done.
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Removing wood to get getting ready for the nose cap installation which is one of my least favorite parts of gun building.
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I realized I had filed too much of the original cast nose cap away and bought a new one. As I was putting the new cap in place it wouldn't go on. I thought there was too much wood blocking it so I kept filing. I had overlooked the lip inside, I had never used a cast cap before. Turns out the lip on the casting was holding the cap back from going on.
I had removed way to much wood so it was time for super glue and sawdust to build the wood back up to the right contour. This patch won't show and will be twice as strong as the wood would be alone. This is not the first time I have had to use super glue and sawdust on a nose cap inlet.
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That's a good trick, Eric. I'll remember that. Your shim work looks very clean.
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going back to the peep sights
the funny thing about peep sights is that the small back hole actually focuses light to your eye making it look clear. im nearsighted and if i take my glasses off and make a very small hole with my forefinger and thumb, and then look through it, i can see clearly far away.
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I was curious about my ability to see through the peep in the fading afternoon light. I tested it at various intervals as the sun went down a few days ago. When the sun dropped below the horizon the front sight became invisible. I painted my front sight white and could see it through the peep way past legal shooting hours.
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......and the next morning it snowed!
(S)
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I got the nose cap on, I use a screw on the inside and tap the nose cap for the screw threads. The screw doesn't show and where it comes through the nose cap, it looks like a rivet. I soak all the wood in the barrel channel with superglue to harden it.
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A little more, screws in the buttplate and inletting the toe plate.
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Looking good, Eric. Having finished some housework projects, I am back on my .45 Lancaster. I’ll have to post up...
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Looking good, Eric. Having finished some housework projects, I am back on my .45 Lancaster. I’ll have to post up...
I see the addiction took root.
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I suddenly got the urge to resume work on my Haines project, I decided to start with some decorative moldings on the forestock. The first one came out really nice.
(https://i.imgur.com/OJCjR5X.jpg)
I am in the process in cutting the second side and in spite measuring carefully, I cut my trench too narrow. What I did on the first side was cut the incised molding first and sandwiched the trench between the incised line and the ramrod channel. What I should have done on the second side was cut the trench first to closely match the first one then cut the incised line at the top for a perfect match side to side. I cut my incised line first and it was a little off
Fortunately you can only look at one side at a time and the slight difference side to side won't be all that noticeable.
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I am working the forestock down to the final dimensions being sure I don't end up with the dreaded slab sided effect that indicates a rookies job of stock shaping.
I actually use a piece of long sandpaper like shoe shine rag to round off the forestock but needed one hand to hold the camera so I improvised.
That sand paper deal you directed me to J W has been great.
(https://i.imgur.com/XRif0sB.jpg)
I check my shaping with a contour gage to make sure it is properly rounded.
(https://i.imgur.com/J3gkHF3.jpg)
Of course removing wood down to the entry pipe edges exposed some gaps I had forgotten about, time to add superglue and shims to close them up.
(https://i.imgur.com/VGZsidc.jpg)
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Really like the look of the molding work, Eric. Got my bearings with that double set trigger. Hope to get that functioning right this weekend.
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I am bringing the side rails on the forestock down to the middle of the side barrel flat and thinning them to a knife edge where they meet the barrel. The more barrel you have showing the more slender your gun will look, I like to remove wood down to slightly below the mid point on the side flat. I draw a line down the side flat with a sharpie to work towards.
Getting the wood on the sides rounded off evenly from the entry pipe to the muzzle is a chore. I will think I have it just right and come back the next day and see humps and bumps that I didn't see the day before.
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My trigger plate sits above the wood, I can't inlet it any deeper so I am filing and sanding it down a bit, I needed to sand it down for browning anyway. I made a fixture to hold it while I work on it.
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I cut some buttstock moldings, I didn't think to take a picture of the when I got them finished.
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Started cutting the lock molding and realized I had ton of wood to remove in the forestock, it is much too fat from the lock to the entry pipe. This wood is beautiful but so splintery that even with tools sharp enough to cut a free standing hair I am getting some tearing out around the beaver tail, I will probably have to do all the cleanup with an emery board, a slow process.
I plan to turn the obvious end of the lock inlet patch almost black with stain so it won't show like it does now. I have some tannic acid that should do the trick, I plan on this being a very dark rifle to hide the precarve flaws and patches..
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I am calling this lock panel done;
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I inletted the lock during damp weather, we had an extra dry day today with very low humidity, I went to to check my lock inlet today and the lock wouldn't even fit in the mortise, the dry weather had shrunk the stock that much.
I blacked the edges of the lock and tapped it into the inlet, a little Dremel and diamond file work and I had the lock fitting back where it belonged.
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I never figured a good way to transfer the exact lock panel pattern to the side plate side.
I start by making a rubbing for a pattern, transferring the pattern and drawing around it on the lock panel side. I adjust the panel as necessary when I cut it out to be a pretty good match to the lock panel.
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When I get the side plate panel cut out I am done with stock, it will be ready for a final sanding, whiskering, staining and finishing.
All I have to do with the metal is finish polishing the lock parts, buttplate, the barrel and trigger parts and browning on the steel parts.
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Very nice!!
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Time to get the iron stuff ready to brown as well as finishing up polishing the last brass piece. I will polish the brass one time to make sure I have all the casting marks cleaned up, after that I may even black everything for the dark rife I am making.
I start with a file to get the casting gate and visible craters out of the way.
(https://i.imgur.com/oZtYWL4.jpg)
Next I use a cabinet scraper to get rid of the bulk of the file marks and follow the scraper with progressively finer sheets of sand paper.
(https://i.imgur.com/q6huVPh.jpg)
This picture shows the kind of voids that have to be filed out to level the surface.
(https://i.imgur.com/GjpyEf3.jpg)
Next I go over the piece with the buffing wheel. I did learn a neat trick for a Dremel buffing wheel. I bought 100 various wool wheels and arbors off eBay for less than one Dremel buffing wheel costs. The problem with these cheap wheels is the hole wallows out quickly and the shaft spins but not the wheel. I put a drop of superglue on the pad then screwed the wheel on and I have yet to have one come loose.
(https://i.imgur.com/e5rmNba.jpg)
An honest 3 hours later I am done and only with a rough buttplate.
(http://i.imgur.com/bgCQI5I.jpg) (https://imgur.com/bgCQI5I)
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Taking the orange peal finish off the lock parts is particularly tedious, so many angles to file and sand, of course the frizzen is hard as a rock and hard to file and sand. The triggers and the trigger plate aren't too bad.
After several days, lots of sandpaper and sore fingers the steel parts are ready to brown, and the brass is looking good.
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I have the third coat of browning solution on the parts, at this point everything looks blotchy and uneven but evens up when I rub the red rust off for the next coat. I think one more coat should do it.
One bad thing I found; I was looking at all the threaded holes on my trigger plate to make sure I didn't get an browning solution in them. I noticed the trigger adjustment screw threads looked funky, I tried to screw the adjustment screw in and found out that someone who assembled it at the factory cross threaded it and stripped all of the threads. This is a 3 48 screw, I found a tap on eBay, this is not the kind of tap anyone would have for sale locally. I emailed Davis to send me another screw, I won't hold my breath waiting on them to send me one, I have not had good luck with them in the past for parts. I can buy one from TOW but that would be $6 and shipping.
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Like how you did the brass. Looking forward to seeing it all together.
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Like I said, everything looks awful until you get that last coat of browning solution on, card the rust off, neutralize with ammonia, heat the part and coat it with motor oil, suddenly everything looks great. This is after 3 coats of LMF, left outside at night for two nights and the rest of the rusting done in my shop. It appears the lock plate and trigger plate are still rusting slightly, I know from experience this will stop on its own in time.
Done with everything but the barrel;
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I finished my precarve from hell's final wood work, time to sand, whisker stain and finish.
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Staining and the first coat of finish, I use aqufortis for staining.
(https://i.imgur.com/ho2JG08.jpg)
The stain by itself looks green and blotchy until I apply the heat.
(https://i.imgur.com/4R9f0Tw.jpg)
After heating and blushing;
(https://i.imgur.com/rHPMYm2.jpg)
The first coat of Tried and True Old oil finish. I am going blend the patches in with the rest of the stock finish today with leather dye and an artists brush. You can see a couple of them in the top of the side plate inlet. Something shifted as I was laying out the inlet, I got it too high and had to glue in shims
(https://i.imgur.com/rTcuvBs.jpg)
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The very last thing I need to do prior to assembly is browning the barrel. Today it was endless sanding on the barrel flats to get rid of any file marks. J Dub gave us a really good heads up on some great sandpaper that was on sale, I used a bunch of it today. It rained today, the barrel is coated with LMF and rusting under my archery target roof outside in the humidity.
I also put another coat of finish on my stock, that makes two and it looks like 5 or 6 more will be needed.
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Hiding shims, strange how the camera picks up everything, in person these shims don't hardly show.
(https://i.imgur.com/09HCp7D.jpg)
First barrel rusting, one night out in the weather.
(https://i.imgur.com/8YAoiCD.jpg)
The rust carded off, one more coat of LMF and back outside for the night;
(https://i.imgur.com/m6ygmkC.jpg)
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I'm excited to see it all put together!!!
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Done with barrel browning, rear sight is installed but where is the front sight? I found a brass one in my tackle box of parts, it might have come with the kit, I don't like a brass sight on a deeply browned barrel. Everything is done, when I round up a front sight it will be time to shoot.
I used Old Tried and True Oil finish on the gunstock, I don't like it, after at least 10 coats it is still blotchy. I suspect there is coat of Tru-Oil in this guns future.
Browned barrel and well oiled after being heated up.
(https://i.imgur.com/N8CNKWZ.jpg)
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I thought I would revisit this phase of the build to show how difficult it was, I called this precarve stock the precarve from hell.
I was able to use an artists brush and leather dye to hide all the patches it took to correct the flaws in this stock. The curl in the stock wood was so exceptional that I couldn't trash the stock.
Here is the biggie; the lock inlet was so far off I had to glue in a piece of wood and redo the entire inlet.
(https://i.imgur.com/PKNuQxB.jpg)
This the final result, the patch is plain sugar maple (it was all I had), the stock is exceptionally curly red maple, I was able to match the color and the curl up well with the dye and small brush.
(https://i.imgur.com/XzK5oAO.jpg)
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Looking good.
Thanks Leroy
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I was going to put the gun together yesterday but gave the barrel a swipe with a piece of blue jean and came up with some rust. I need to wait until the barrel stops rusting before assembly, from past experience I know it will.
I didn't like the way the finish came out, way too blotchy. I had an old half filled bottle of Tru-oil so I gave the stock a coat to even things out. Like all old bottles of Tru-oil, the finish was thick and I found out after I applied it that it got to the tacky stage and cured no further, dang.
My shop doors face west, it is like an oven in front of them all day, I put the stock on a lawn chair in front of the shop doors and let it bake. From 9:00am until 4:00pm it cooked in the sun, by 4:00 I could tell the finish had finally hardened, what a relief.
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I'm really looking forward to seeing this completed.
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Yesterday I started assembling some of the gun, I had lost track of what pins went where so I made new pins to attach the ramrod pipes and trigger guard. The wood had shrunk around the trigger inlet so I had to chisel out just a little wood to get the trigger plate installed in the gun.
When I installed the trigger I realized I had forgotten to brown the rear attachment screw head as well as the set trigger adjustment screw head. Both stood out like a sore thumb so I pulled them and applied my browning solution to them, they should be properly rusted today.
I was surprised that Davis actually sent me a pack of screws to replace the one they had stripped in the initial trigger assembly. I tapped the hole inserted a screw and found it to be too long. I put on my Optivisors and was able to cut the screw and file the threads enough to get the screw to screw into the hole. This is a 3-48 screw, a tiny little thing. After re-tapping the stripped threads in the trigger plate the screw fit is too loose, it can be turned in easily with my fingers but it will work.
The barrel is still rusting, I keep wiping off the rust but it returns in short order. It may be while before I am ready to install the barrel. The barrel is beautiful now with a deep, dark brown patina. When I say rusting, there is no visible rust showing but I am picking up some rust stain on my blue jean patch when I wipe it down.
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In order to stop the barrel rusting I tried an experiment yesterday; I wiped down the barrel with a thick coat of motor oil and reheated it my torch to a little over 200 degrees. My thinking was to drive the hot motor oil into the metal pores and flush out any remaining browning solution.
I let the barrel sit overnight and wiped it down with a paper towel the next morning, the paper towel was stained with solid rust, this got me worried. I carded the barrel heavily with my blue jeans patch and got a ton of rust on the patch.
I just tip toed out to the shop this morning and looked a the barrel, it didn't have that sandy rusty appearance, my blue jean patch didn't show any rust. My experiment may have worked, I will know by this afternoon, the humidity here is 100% with rain, If I don't see any rusting by the afternoon it is assembly time for the gun.
My precarve was so badly cut I thought about trashing it and starting over with the parts, the spectacular curl in the stock kept me forging ahead with what I had to work with.
Here it is with the last coat of finish;
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Jaw dropping
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Jaw dropping
There is a reason that maple of that quality is hard to find and expensive when it shows up. There are types of curl that are even more expensive, shellback, flame, etc. Degree of difficulty in working seems to go hand in hand with the rising price. The more you pay, the more you curse!
Nice glow in that wood, Eric. I like it.
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I did an assembly for a photo op, shop pictures always look dingy but it is raining outside. I haven't had the lock in the mortis for a long time, it didn't fit right so I did a little re-inletting for a good fit. Now the ramrod won't go in without force, I will fix that tomorrow.
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Before I put finish on my gun the had to adjust the ramrod entry pipe to realign it with the drilled hole in the forestock. My ramrod groove was drilled with a distinct bow to the right which threw everything off. After the adjustment I could finally get a ramrod down with just a little friction on one side.
After I assembled the gun the ramrod wouldn't go in, I blacked the rod and found it was hitting the top of the hole with a lot of friction. Today I am going to try a few things to relieve the wood in this area inside the hole to open things up again.
I don't have all the attachment pins in the forestock, this may have caused the misalignment so installing these pins will be my first step.
If installing the pins doesn't help I am going to glue some 80 grit sand paper on a 5/16" dowel and shim up the entry hole so when I insert the dowel it will sand the tight area. One has to be careful with any work in the ramrod hole to make sure you don't stick anything in it that you can't get out.
If the sanding doesn't work then I will use one of my homemade ramrod hole drills to enlarge the hole, on a finished gun there is very little wood between the hole and the bottom of the forestock so breaking out is a possibility.
This build has been very problematical, this is the latest saga.
When I solve this problem it is time to make smoke, the gun is completely finished, it is absolutely beautiful (if you don't look too close).
A quick edit; I couldn't stand the wait so I hustled out to the shop in my jammies and installed the barrel pins. I could get the ramrod down but not easily, I sill need to relieve the hole a little bit or taper the ramrod.
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I actually stared at the celling in bed last night trying to figure out a way the best way to fix the ramrod hole problem.
I went out to my shop and looked in my storage tube for old ramrods and found a 5/16" ramrod hole drill that I didn't know I had. I decided to upend the blunt end with a ball peen hammer and turn it into a scraper.
(https://i.imgur.com/7IRT41m.jpg)
I didn't notice this picture was blurry until I assembled everything after the fix.
I removed the entry pipe and used a piece of leather to shim up the scraper and get it to make contact with the tight area of wood that needed to be removed.
I would run the scraper in and out a dozen times and try to get a ramrod in the hole, it went in slightly better after the first scraping, 5 more scraping sessions and the ramrod went in normally with just enough resistance to hold it in place.
(https://i.imgur.com/4qXb4D5.jpg)
Success! I had an old 3/8" ramrod that I cut off to fit this 38" barreled gun, It will be my temp until I make a new one that is stained right to match this gun.
(https://i.imgur.com/macaF3R.jpg)
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Ramrod day, all hickory ramrod blanks a oversized in diameter, you have to chuck them up in a drill and run the drill while you sand them end to end until they will go through the ramrod pipes.
(https://i.imgur.com/QkmBKTE.jpg)
After you get the blank down to size you need to cut a tenon for the brass tip. I use a pipe cutter to lay out a straight line cut around the rod and and chisel down to my cut until the brass tip will fit.
(https://i.imgur.com/bLCJQmZ.jpg)
I glue the tip on and put a nail through the brass and wood to hold the tip on permanently
At this point my $15 camera fried it's brain went belly up so I missed showing a lot of the steps. I didn't want to walk back to the house to get my spare.
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Your scraper at the end of a rod idea was brilliant.
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In gun building it is common to put the front lock bolt partially into the ramrod channel when you drill the hole from the sideplate to the lock plate.
There are several ways to make room for the ramrod go in a restricted hole; Tapering the end of the ramrod to be smaller on the end that goes in the wood would be the first and most common option, using a smaller lock bolt would be second to have less restriction in the hole.
On my first build I put the front lock bolt into my ramrod channel, I tried notching the screw to give the ramrod a pass but often forgot to pull the ramrod before I pulled the lock, rotating the screw to loosening the lock bolt would cause the sharp notch to cut a chunk out of the ramrod.
I ended up making a wasp waist lock bolt for the ramrod to pass, this bolt doesn't need any special orientation to go in and miss the ramrod
Here is the wasp waisted bolt;
(https://i.imgur.com/4v7m9rF.jpg)
My scraper would have been an easy option back then if I had thought of it back then, it removes a surprising amount of wood even with that tiny bur on it, after I upset the metal I sharpened the bur with a file to get it like a razor.
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What does this mean? I haven't seen the top of my workbench in 2 years.
(https://i.imgur.com/rSZoqxz.jpg)
It means; IT'S DONE. It is a copy of a Lancaster rifle made in 1760 by Isaac Haines.
(https://i.imgur.com/SftNsi5.jpg)
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Wow. Im extremely excited to see that finished. Looking forward to seeing it make smoke and how well it shoots!
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The rain is supposed to quit and the temperature is going to to warm into the 60s this weekend, bang time!
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Fine work as always Eric. Your innovative solutions to the trials and tribulations of the build are inspiring. :OK
"Never give up. Never surrender." ;)
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Range report;
The gun hit a foot low with first shots, I started filing the front sight down.
(https://i.imgur.com/pKaEBY2.jpg)
Then I dryballed, I don't remember the last time I did that, it wasn't coming out with a ball puller. The good thing about building a gun, pulling the breechplug is no problem. I had to drive the ball out.
(https://i.imgur.com/nIXmhK8.jpg)
When I was just about out of front sight to file and I was still 4" low but grouping well at 50 yards. As sights go my rear is pretty low, I will either make or buy a taller one to get on target.
(https://i.imgur.com/GfrVxTG.jpg)
The gun in the sun on sandbags.
(https://i.imgur.com/ABQkuve.jpg)
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Absolutely beautiful and very nice grouping! I'm looking forward to seeing it all dialed in :)
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Great work and good reading!
thankyou :OK :OK :OK
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Very nice.
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I ordered a taller rear sight but it appears the shipping will be delayed.
Today I am going to grind off my existing sight to below the notch and solder on a piece to to raise it up where it needs to be to raise my groups. I have made sights before from angle iron so I can make the add on piece look like it is part of the sight.
I made this one for my fowler with a hacksaw and a file but it took me two days, I don't want to invest that amount of time in making another sight when I have one on the way.
Here is how it started and how it finished up;
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Eric - congrats on another fine build along, your Issac Haines rifle is beautifully crafted, well done.
I like your ideas on the wasp waisted bolt and the new rear sight. for your fowler. Innovative and doesn't look the least bit out of place.
Hope that new rear sight puts you in the black.
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I failed at adding a piece to my sight, it kept falling off. I finally got it to stick well and put it in my cross slide vise on my drill press and used a carbide cutter to cut the concave front out. I guess I went too fast and popped the add on piece off. I abandoned the project.
With muzzle loader season opening Monday I need a rear sight right now. A great friend gave me his tackleboxes full of black powder parts and accessories before he died. I had looked through the parts for a Lancaster sight but didn't find one, one more look yesterday turned up a simi-buckhorn sight that was tall enough to work. I had thought about using it on my fowler before I made a sight and had filed the sight to fit my fowler dovetail. I tested it in my Haines rifle dovetail and the dang thing was just slightly oversized and would go half way into the dovetail.
Better the wrong style sight than no sight so I fit tit to the dovetail and filed a notch in it.
I am browning it today so it won't look so out of place on my gun, I should be able to shoot the gun and adjust the sight height it by this weekend.
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Ugg, the struggles of last-minute details! Hope this latest effort is the fix.
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I couldn't stand it, I just went to to the shop and cut those buck horns off the sight, it is now a Lancaster sight.
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And for the latest; more sighting in, my front sight has very thin nickel silver blade and disappears if the light isn't just right, I ordered a new much wider sight yesterday.
Old Issacs's namesake wont be going to the woods with me until I can get the sights straightened out.
I won't be going to the woods either even though M/L season is now open, I slipped on some old wet leaf covered stone steps on one of my hiking/exercise trails, I did a partial split before I caught myself and was able to regain my balance. I pulled something in my groin, I was taking baby steps and using a cane the first two days but am progressing nicely, perhaps I can go to the woods by the weekend.
Now for another problem to work out; my new gun is excessively hard to start a ball in, a .535 won't go in the bore with any patch thickness, a .530 will go in begrudgingly with an .018 patch and a little easier with a .014 patch but is still very tight. I really have to smack the ball with starter to get it in and getting it down the next 4" is a chore. I think my Bobby Hoyt rebore didn't go as planned, loose at the breech (the last inch), tight at the bore. The barrel is one of my best shooters though, it really stacks them in.
When I polished the bore with a scotchbright pad I didn't pull the pad all the way to the crown on the muzzle. Today I an going to give this area a going over to smooth things out. I will follow the scotch bright pad with about a zillion passes with patch covered with JB Bore Paste to give the area a mirror finish.
I am going to have to make a peep for this gun to get the maximum performance out of it, my 74 year old eyes just don't see sights well.
I made this peep for my Beck rifle, it was a pain to make and get the bends right but by using it I was able to shrink my groups down to quarter sized at 50 yards.
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Update; before I headed to the shop I thought I would take a look in the bore with my super duper clear bore scope.
The lands are slick but the grooves at the muzzle are still rough, further down the barrel where I used the scotch bright pad more the milling marks still show some roughness but are not as obvious.
I have to work on this today, the picture was made with a Teslong bore scope.
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After good scrubbing with a marron scotchbright pad and JB bore paste, much better.
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Started the new peep today, I need to get the new sights on the gun before I go much further. Adjusting the bends to line up the sights is a pain.
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The more I look at your peep design, the more I wanna try my hand at it.
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My cylinder of Map gas is empty, I have been trying heat and bend the new sight with propane which takes forever.
Drill and countersink the barrel barrel breech side your sight hole first in your stock, it is impossible to do after you make the 90 degree bend. Same with the tang bolt hole but just drill a small locator hole first or that area will try to hinge when you are doing the other bends in stock.
Here is the peep hole counter sink and a thinner peep I made for a TC. The peep made from 1/16" metal was easier to make but the tang screw couldn't get as good purchase on it and it tended to move if bumped slightly. I didn't want to drill another mounting hole in the tang.
The thicker peep with countersink was a failure and I threw it away, I was too sloppy on my shaping and it looked awful.
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More on this cursed precarve from hell saga; I ordered a steel front sight to replace the very thin nickel silver one that I couldn't see. I got the order in and filed the new sight down to be just a little taller than the one I removed so I would have a little fine tuning room on the elevation adjustment.
(https://i.imgur.com/Xf8zz2s.jpg)
I swabbed the sight with some LMF browning solution and set it outside under my archery target roof to let it brown overnight, it rained all night, perfect.
The next morning I went out to get my hopefully rusty sight for another application of LMF, there was no rust on it. I then realized they had sent me a German silver sight, nothing would make it brown, cold blue had no affect on it as well.
I emailed the company, the nice lady checked the bins and found they didn't have any of these sights in steel, only German silver. She said they had the steel ones on back order for a long time with the foundry that made them. she promptly refunded my money, which was nice.
I have a brass sight I can use, I guess I will darken it with cold blue to get by.
I have been under the weather with various surgical complications but I decided I was going hunting yesterday evening on the new land I was granted permission to hunt even if I hunted within sight of my truck.
I had scouted some before I took a fall that shut down my walking for the last week or so. While scouting noticed some well used deer trails coming around the ridge headed to the pasture so I hobbled 75 yards down hill from the truck and watched these trails. I have a Millennium tree seat that is perfect for ground hunting
I'll be danged, about 4:30 I saw a deer headed around the ridge headed to the trails I was watching. Turned out to be a spike, he stepped out into the open road at about 20 yards, I had my flintlock on my cross sticks cocked and ready to roar but thought, "he sure is small, I don't want to fool with a deer" and let him walk. He had love on his mind (our first rut is around thanksgiving) and was extra stupid, he caught my scent when he was 10 yards from me, looked at me quizzically for a couple of minutes then eased on toward the pasture. I don't wear camo, just mute plaids and grays.
I heard another buck grunt one time on the opposite side of the hollow I was sitting in but could never see him.
Just getting out was tremendously up lifting, I am going back today.
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That lil buck got some valuable free education from you.
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I have found out the cast metal front sights are in short supply or non existent.
The brass front sight I have was bent just a little and wouldn't go in the dovetail, I decided to run with the nickel silver one. It turned out to be loose in the dovetail so I put the sight upside down in my vise and peened the bottom to spread the metal out. This got a tighter fit but I still tapped the barrel metal down some at the dovetail to tighten the sight further.
I find a white dot on my front sight makes it much more visible to my ageing eyes. I painted the bottom part black and the top white for visibility. When my bum knee gets a little better I will get outside and finish the sighting in process.
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In the finished picture the entire lower lock molding is glued in wood to raise the lock up to where is is suppose to be, I put the glue line right where the lower molding breaks over to hide it. As for the wonky trigger guard installation, I installed it early nice and tight, then found another precarve flaw when I was finishing the gun and had to reinlet parts of the trigger guard which put my already drilled pin hole in the wrong place for a tight fit. I plan to fix that at a later date.
I went with a peep I already had made, I like a thicker one but a bum knee makes standing the shop uncomfortable.
(https://i.imgur.com/m5lMbDv.jpg)
This is the before picture.
(https://i.imgur.com/PKNuQxB.jpg)
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Eric,
I might have a spare steel front sight down in the shop. What sized dovetail are you needing?
I checked and I have two. Both are around 5/16 (ish) wide bases. One is a small blade and the other is larger.
Sorry, not set up for pictures.
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Thanks, I used the nickel silver sight, it works and looks OK now that it is dirty.
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OK Eric, glad it's working out for you.