AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: smart dog on October 01, 2015, 07:01:37 PM
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Hi Folks,
This is a swivel breech rifle I built for a friend in Vermont. It uses a swivel action by Dave Price, 32” long 54 cal. Green Mountain barrels, John Armstrong trigger guard, Bivin’s Isaac Haines buttplate and ramrod thimbles, and hard sugar maple stock. All the other hardware was hand made. It weighs 8.5 lbs. It is contemporary but Lancaster and Haines inspired. My friend is big and tall so drop at heel is 4” and the LOP is 15”. It was a challenge keeping it from looking like a hockey stick. The wood was cut and milled in Vermont by Bernie von Trapp who is the grandson of the famous captain Georg von Trapp of “Sound of Music” fame. I hope you enjoy the photos.
dave
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Very Nice Dave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mitch
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Dave,
Very nice, indeed. I always enjoy seeing your work. I especially like the cheek-piece carving with the tendril that goes between the c-scrolls. That's cool.
Did you add some different material on the back edge of the front sights?
Very clean, crisp work. Thanks for sharing it.
-Ron
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Very nice--thanks for posting
Sydney
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Boy, at least 3 names engraved on the gun, maybe 4. 100 years from now, those on this forum will be pondering who these guys are and who built the gun. ;D
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Very nice work. I have toyed with the idea of making a double gun but have not worked up the courage. :o
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Now that is a classy machine. Very nice indeed.
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Excellent work ;D
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Excellent work ;D
Agreed!
~Tony
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Great gun. The problem is you can't hunt in Oregon with a double barrel muzzle loader in muzzle loading season.
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Outstanding! Bob
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Super! :)
That's a lot of drop in the butt stock. :o
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Now that's what you need for those bunnies being described in the shooting section of this blog. Double .54, yes sir. Need the back up in case it charges you..... ;) ;D
Well done. Good looking piece.
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Great gun. The problem is you can't hunt in Oregon with a double barrel muzzle loader in muzzle loading season.
I THINK West Virginia has a NO double barrels during muzzle loading season.
Bob Roller
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WOW!
Tim C.
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Beautiful rifle! Outstanding work. I hope my Swivel Breech turns out half as nice. Haven't had the chance to work on it in a while, but seeing this one has got me motivated again!
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Most excellent Dave. You did well in carrying out the long LOP. With that turn-over the owner will come out sunny side up either way ; )
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Very nice Dave, the Moravian Star rises again. I can't find much there that resembles a hockey stick.
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Excellent work right there.
Jim
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Fine bit o' work, thanks for sharing.
and FTR, TN has no restriction on the number of bbls for hunting.
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Absolutely out standing! I like the engraving and carving. Tastefully done and not over done.
Thank you for sharing.
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Beautiful work!!
Best regards
Rolf
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Beautiful gun, Dave! The cheek carving is outstanding and I really like the sun inlay.
Curtis
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Beautiful build, Dave. You certainly make the best of a difficult project. Your stars are jewels! I hope I can see it in person in two weeks! Bill Paton
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Superb craftsmanship. Very impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hi,
Thanks for looking and kind comments. It was a challenge to keep the gun slim and graceful. The swivel mechanism and the back action lock tend to keep the stock fairly straight behind the breeches. That can create a slab sided hockey-stick look. I took off all the wood I could and started my downward arc as close to the barrels as I could. Also notice that the tails of the lock plates are well above center but I shaped the panels so the beaver tails are more centered and it looks right. I added brass inserts on the front sights as an experiment suggested by the owner. Dave Price's swivel mechanism is very well engineered and is not difficult to inlet. The trigger plate and barrel tang are separate pieces from the swivel so they can be removed during inletting. That simplifies things tremendously. The lock and sideplate mortices look a bit like a modern side by side shotgun when you are done. The stock was stained with ferric nitrate and tap water. My water has iron in it and I think that may be enhancing the red tones I am achieving. The finish is polymerized tung oil from Sutherland-Welles.
Bill Paton, hopefully the gun will be in town when you arrive but the owner may be on a moose hunt with it if he gets it sighted in in time.
Dave (TOF), three names yes indeed. I wanted to give Dave Price the proper credit for the swivel and then I also added the owner's name. If it survives 100 years, the confusion about maker would be fun to witness.
Thanks again everyone,
dave
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Oh man Dave, that is too cool. I like everything about it.
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I'm late to the party, but what a great gun none the less.
Jeff
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Beautiful rifle! Outstanding work. I hope my Swivel Breech turns out half as nice. Haven't had the chance to work on it in a while, but seeing this one has got me motivated again!
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That is a beautiful rifle. Nice lines and finely executed.
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Dave,
Superb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best Regards,
John Cholin
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Came out great.
Well that's kinda damning it with faint praise I guess.
I like it a lot.
Dan
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Thanks everyone. Dan, thank you. Even if you just said "it's OK" I would be pleased. The gun shoots well and the new owner is shooting it almost everyday to get the load worked up and the barrels sighted in. I used a laser bore sighter to get the windage set pretty well and the elevation so that it was hitting low on paper. Now Tom, can simply file down the front sight for elevation once he has his load figured out. I also gave him several wooden flints so he can practice dry firing at a target. He flinches a little when shooting offhand and the dry firing should help him overcome that and be able to call his shots. He doesn't flinch when shooting from a bench, which is interesting.
dave
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Hey Dave, I'm late to the party as well, very cool rifle!! Lots going on with those swivel breech pieces, well done!
Ed
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Very nice. I love it!
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Dave,
I'm a little late responding, I have been on a hunting trip all week and just got back today. You did a beautiful job on that rifle and I am proud to have my name there with yours. Just to be sure that you get all the credit you deserve I just built the swivel action and supplied the barrels, you did every thing else. I am looking forward to seeing it in person.
It is correct that some states do not allow a double barrel rifle for deer heating during muzzle loading season. Here in N.H. it is also illegal during muzzle loading season. If you only have the one rifle, the easy solution is to remove one frizzen during that time period and when the regular rifle season comes along put it back on. Check with your own state rules to be sure.
Again, great job Dave.
David Price
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HI Ed, CW, and Dave,
Thank you for the compliments. Coming from you guys, that means a lot. Dave, your swivel mechanism is the best design I've seen and it was a delight to build into a gun. Until you build one, it is hard to fully appreciate the thought you put into its design. I am glad you are not upset that I engraved your name on the breech. I wanted to make sure anyone who sees the gun understands that I just stocked it. I think the most important thing is that the owner is very happy right now. Thanks again everyone.
dave
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Dave,
That is so good, it just makes me want to give up gun building. ;)
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Hi Mark,
You make great southern mountain rifles. Please don't get discouraged by my amateur efforts.
dave