Author Topic: I have finished my first gun!!  (Read 12567 times)

Online Rolf

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I have finished my first gun!!
« on: April 01, 2010, 05:25:55 PM »
I still working on my first project, a pair of Kentucky pistols with silver fittings. This pistol started as my fifth practice attempt on stock shaping. One of the guys at my gun club offered to buy it and it kind of metamorphosed into a dress rehearsal for the pair of pistols I'm building for myself. So I guess it counts as my first build. The pistol is my generic version of a Kentucky pistol. Stock was made from a piece of black walnut leftover from a furniture project. I bought the barrel and the lock, all the rest is made from scratch. The barrel is a 12",GM, 0.54 caliber, rust blued with pure silver wedding bands. Rear sight and trigger fire blued. Screws and triggerplate, caseharden and rust blued. Wire inlay is pure silver. Ramrod is ash dyed black. The one piece nose cap was made following Acer's tutorial. The lock was polished by the guy who bought the pistol(I hate polishing locks). I don't know how to engrave, so I inlet a piece of silver on the barrel and used the stamp I use on the knives I forge.

I'd like to thank everyone for all the advice and help that's been freely given. it's been a big help.

Best regards
Rolfkt



















« Last Edit: April 01, 2010, 10:12:41 PM by Rolfkt »

Offline TPH

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2010, 05:53:56 PM »
First one?  :o  Excellent work, VERY nicely done. It has been fun to watch you progress and will be a pleasure to see more. Congratulations Rolf.
:)
« Last Edit: April 01, 2010, 05:54:42 PM by TPH »
T.P. Hern

Offline Dr. Tim-Boone

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2010, 06:17:12 PM »
Outstanding Rolf!!  you have a nice eye and do beautiful work!!   How does it shoot??
De Oppresso Liber
Marietta, GA

Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others. – William Allen White

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Offline rich pierce

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2010, 06:54:49 PM »
Great.  I reformatted it for you.  It's necessary to put paragraph breaks between inages to avoid wide posts.
Andover, Vermont

Offline smylee grouch

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2010, 07:52:17 PM »
From the looks of your gun I dont think you will have any problem when you decide to start engraving. Very nice workmanship and for a first gun to boot.   Gary

Offline smart dog

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2010, 08:19:35 PM »
Hi Rolf,
Way to go.  It is superb.  You are on your way to making great guns.  It will be fun to watch how you develop in the future.  Also good luck with starting out on your medical career.

dave
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Offline JTR

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2010, 08:38:20 PM »
Way to go Rolf!!!
If you were to look at this as a final exam, I'd say you passed with flying colors!!!
Very well done and Congratulations!!!

John
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Offline Brian Jordan

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2010, 08:46:04 PM »
That is quite a beauty for your first one! Great job!!
Elizabeth, PA

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Offline Joey R

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2010, 10:43:18 PM »
BRAVO! Rolf, BRAVO!!!
Joey.....Don’t ever ever ever give up! Winston Churchill

Offline Kermit

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2010, 02:29:23 AM »
Have you started on the display case? It surely deserves one!
"Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly." Mae West

Offline VP

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2010, 03:46:59 AM »
First build? Excellent! I think you did a wonderful job. You definitely have a knack for it.

Offline Mark Elliott

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2010, 04:34:19 AM »
That is an outstanding first gun.   The carving and wire inlay is exceptional.   

Offline dogcreek

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2010, 05:04:12 AM »
Very nice workmanship! Beautiful pistol! Keep up the good work.

Offline volatpluvia

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #13 on: April 02, 2010, 05:18:23 AM »
I'd say you already know how to engrave.  If you can chisel metal out to inlay silver rings and chisel metal out to inlay that nice rounded corner plate on the top of the barrel you already know how to chisel metal.  Have a go at it.  Judging by the workmanship you did on this you should be a natural at engraving.
volatpluvia
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northmn

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #14 on: April 02, 2010, 03:21:23 PM »
Very nice pistol.  I find doing something like that fun where you make things from basics.

DP

Offline J. Talbert

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #15 on: April 03, 2010, 05:58:27 AM »
Rolf,

Great gun!  I'm not at all surprised after seeing the many practice pieces you've posted previously.

Now it needs a big brother to go along with it.

Jeff
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Online Rolf

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #16 on: April 04, 2010, 11:59:25 AM »
Thank you all for your kind comments.

DrTimbonne,- I have shot it jet. The target range was closed during Easter. It opens this wedsday. The guns new owner is coming to the range and we will try it out before he gets it.

Kermit,- won't be making a case for this one. I'm itching to get on with the pair of silver pistols I'm making for myself. These will be cased.

Jef,- I've got a grade 6 maple blank with a 44"swamped barrel inlet waiting. I'm going to make a lefthanded Beck rifle. But first I want to make some more pistols to get more basic practice, before I tackle the rifle.

Best regards
Rollfkt

roundball

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #17 on: April 04, 2010, 02:34:58 PM »
Amazing...beautiful piece of work !

Offline B.Habermehl

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #18 on: April 04, 2010, 03:52:37 PM »
Really amazing, work especially with you being nearly half way around the world from where these guns were made. Super, Super, clean work!  BJH
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Offline Ken G

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #19 on: April 04, 2010, 05:12:02 PM »
Nicely done!  Very clean execution and not ovedone.  Thanks for sharing the pics.
Ken
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Offline KLMoors

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2010, 04:09:22 AM »
Sweet piece of work! Amazing for your first one. :o

agaboric

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2010, 03:13:45 PM »
Very impressive, to me it looks awsome keep it up!
-Andy

Offline Ed Wenger

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #22 on: April 07, 2010, 04:48:38 AM »
Rolfkt,

I'll add my kudos as well, very well done, especially for a first gun.  Tang carving is nice and crisp, wire inlay is well executed and the barrel color turned out great.  Thanks for posting the pics and again, really well done!

Ed
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msw

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #23 on: April 08, 2010, 07:45:36 PM »
fantastic! ... wish my work looked half as good.

by way of dumb questions, can you charcoal blue a barrel which has silver inlays, or would the heat or carbonization mess up the silver?

thanks again for the beautiful work!

Online Rolf

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Re: I have finished my first gun!!
« Reply #24 on: April 08, 2010, 09:34:26 PM »
Charcol bluing should work with silver inlays. I'm thinking of trying that on my next guns.

Best regards

Rolfkt