Building a colonial American militia musket: FINISHED

[David Rase]

That project is really beginning to take shape.  There is a lot to like about your musket.
Dave

[Hemo]

Nice to see this project unfold, Dave! The sideplate looks good. It looks like you made the pour from a single sprue and filled everything up nicely!

Gregg

[smart dog]

Thanks for looking and commenting!

Hemo, yes I used a single sprue but it was fairly large and the design is simple enough without major constrictions to flow.  I estimated the shrinkage just right so the counter bored holes for the bolts line up without any tweaking.

dave

[SingleMalt]

How do you plan to stain and finish the stock?  Were I a reenactor, I'd be proud to carry it.

[Keb]

I'd be proud to drag that gun around any reenactment event if I was a reenactor. Nice job.

[smart dog]

Thank's Keb and Wayne,
I think the owner will be happy.  Wayne, thanks for asking about stain and finish.  I am experimenting with a new strategy (for me at least).  The wood is very white and it has quite a bit of curl but much is somewhat indistinct.  To help it pop out, I am first painting the stock with strong tea.  I am actually first using the tea to whisker the stock and color it slightly as I do the final scraping.  The slight color allows me to see where I've scraped and where I haven't on the light wood and the tea adds a little tannin to the wood.  Then I will paint it a last time with tea and let dry, after which I will use ferric nitrate.  This method seemed to work really well on some test pieces.  The finish will be Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil.  This is my go to standard because I can make it look like almost any original finish depending on how I apply it, number of coats, and if I rub it back or not.  Moreover, polymerized tung oil is very weather resistant.  As I proceed, I'll gauge the final look and may add a little spar varnish to the oil if I want a shinier more brittle appearance sometimes seen on originals.  My objective at the moment is a hard but mellow sheen using just the oil.

dave   

[SingleMalt]

I looked up the S-W website.  It appears to be cheaper to buy theirs than to make another batch of cooked linseed oil varnish. 

What does adding tannin to the wood do for the finish?  I'd like to see some pics of your test pieces.

[smart dog]

Hi Wayne,
You can also get polymerized tung oil from Lee valley and Garret Wade.  Different maker but still very good.  The only downside to it is that you should either buy in as small quantities as you can or buy a larger container and immediately transfer it into smaller jars that can be sealed.  After 4-5 months it can begin to gel if there is much air space in the container.  The tannin reacts with the nitric acid in ferric nitrate and water solution and turns dark brown.  If enough tannin can be absorbed into the softer (darker) figure, it should show up with more contrast after the ferric nitrate (aqua fortis and iron) solution is applied.  I'll take some photos of my test pieces later today and post them.

dave     

[greybeard]

Hi Dave.  Looks like you have everything under control  on this one. Always enjoy your work.
   Hugs for Willow. Bob

[cheyenne]

Great looking musket!!   On the bayonet stud/front sight, do you dovetail it in, then solder, or just solder to barrel......would love to see pictures of this operation!

[Jeff Stewart]

Dave-

I'm very interested to see your test pieces with the tea and how that brings the curl out.  A motivated reenactor (or Dave Rase) could come up with a story about how the dedicated patriot switched to drinking coffee and decided to use his last pot of tea to send a message (Live Free or Die!") to the crown.  I really like the architecture on this stock.  Can't wait to see it finished.

jeff

[smart dog]

Hi,
Attached are photos showing the staining.  They are all of exactly the same location on the stock so I am comparing apples with apples and oranges with oranges.  The first photo shows my ferric nitrate-water solution painted on the stock and dried before blushing with heat.  The second shows the stock painted with strong tea, then ferric nitrate-water and before blushing.  The third shows the blushed wood with just ferric nitrate wet with water to simulate finish.  The last photo is the blushed tea and ferric nitrate stain wet with water.  The colors are a bit more orangy in the photos than in real life but you can see the comparison with respect to the figure.  The curl shows up better with the tea and ferric nitrate combination.

dave

[SingleMalt]

Now, I get it!  The difference it quite apparent.  Well done!

[smart dog]

Hi,
The musket is finished.  It was a lot of effort but also fun, particularly all the research I did in museums, collections, and books.  It represents a New Jersey militia man’s gun made prior to the Rev war from old commercial British musket parts purchased by NJ during the F&I war.  The barrel is a Colerain 75 cal. long land Bess barrel.  The stock is sugar maple logged in Vermont, the trigger plate, trigger, and ramrod are modern made Brown Bess components.  The butt plate was made by reshaping a long land pattern Bess casting. Same with the trigger guard.  I cast the ramrod thimbles and drilled them for the rod.  I also cast the side plate and made the nose cap from sheet brass.  The cap is held in place by a copper rivet.  The lock was made from pattern 1742 Bess lock parts from TRS that was reshaped a little and all markings removed.  I then engraved “Wilson” on the plate.  The bayonet was forged by the owner’s father but the socket was too small for the barrel and not heavy gauge sufficient to work as a split socket bayonet. Therefore, I cut off the blade and welded it on to a socket I made from DOM tubing.  The new socket fits very well to the barrel and is stronger than the old one. I shaped the weld joint into a heart-shaped shield similar to many original bayonets.  It has a well made but crude look of a colonial product. The stock was stained with tea and then ferric nitrate dissolved in water and finished with a sealer of thinned Sutherland-Wells polymerized tung oil topped with S-W polymerized tung oil wiping varnish.  Enjoy the photos and comments good and bad are welcome.

dave 

[Mike Brooks]

I didn't follow along but the finished product is super, right up my alley!

[smylee grouch]

I never was much of a musket fan but I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate after seeing this outstanding looking creation. I really do like it.  I have a place on my mantel right now that it would look good in. Great work. It would be my only assault "rifle". 

[Joe S.]

Very nice,looks the part,your customer will be quite pleased with it I'm sure.

[runastav]

Very beatiful smarte hund!
Runar

[WKevinD]

Stunning!

Kevin

[n stephenson]

Dave, Very Cool!! I have always liked the "different" pieces. After years of seeing everyone`s "take" on the standard famous original longrifles , it is a refreshing change to see pieces like this .The little details , like the swivel hole in the TG are nice .  You did a fine job, and have every reason to be proud !  Now some lucky person just needs to take it out and shoot the stew out of it. JMHO   Nate

[SingleMalt]

WOW, Dave!  It has the look of a commercially produced Brown Bess that the Colonial governments would've bought.  Did you dovetail the barrel lugs and front sight/bayonet lug like originals were?

[Kevin Houlihan]

Dave,
 I too was never a fan of muskets...until I saw this one. Gorgeous!  Great job.
Kevin

[oldtravler61]

 Outstanding job...! One very nice musket.. Really like the finish... Oldtravler

[Curtis]

Dave, not a bit surprised to see it turned out beautifully, you always produce impeccable work!  Even so, I never realized a musket could look that nice!  Thanks for sharing the build process with us.

Curtis

[Bill Paton]

Beautiful work, Dave. Alaska misses you, but New England’s claim on you is cinched by the rifles you make seeming to belong there! The only improvement I can see would be maybe raking the leaves sometime.

Bill Paton