A favorite? Each was my favorite after finishing it. Each was a progression in one way or another. The first, being a smoothbore left me wondering about accuracy. The Tenn was second and is probably the most accurate. I forged the BP and TG from wrought iron. I used a 13/16 Donn Getz Bbl and it left me wondering about the weight and balance of a swamped Bbl. So the NC rifle is another .40 with a Rice squirrel Bbl. This rifle is very slender and light. I can't shoot it as well as the Tenn but is sure is easy to carry and handle.
The last one is the prettiest to me. It is a very close copy of an original that I had access to. The Rice Bbl is virtually identical to the original but is larger caliber. TOTW furniture was also a very close copy. The patchbox on this gun is from a different Henry Spitzer rifle that can be seen here in our library and other LR books. I did my best to copy it.
The stock wood on these last 2 guns came from a tree that was growing here on my property. I was going to cut it up for firewood but decided to have a look at the wood before bucking it all to length. Glad I did. So I sawed the logs into boards and stacked 'em and dried 'em unstacked 'em a year later and powder post beetles had gotten into them. So I couldn't throw all that pretty lumber away and left them in a pile for another year and finally hauled them away last year. At least I got 2 "free" stock blanks for all that work
