AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: okawbow on August 31, 2017, 02:28:04 AM
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I started a rifle in 1985 with parts bought from DGW, and a maple board bought at a local sawmill. I had a paper back book about Bedford Co. rifles, but had never seen an original. I had the gun 80% done in a few months, but stopped working on it, except off and on for almost 30 years. I finally finished it a few years ago, and since have made several fairly good longrifles and smoothbores.
I got the little bedford rifle out the other day and took it to the shooting range. It's a great shooter and I think I like this gun more than the others I've made since. Even if it isn't made that well, or "correct" for a Bedford.
Let's see some of your "not so perfect rifles" you like anyway.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4418/36092497964_705366805b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/WZnucE)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/WZnucE) by okawbow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4408/36786752771_004bb2554b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Y3HHY8)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/Y3HHY8) by okawbow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4442/36755696802_40c3cfebf9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XZYy7o)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/XZYy7o) by okawbow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4383/36118549933_1ed7ef11d0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/X2F1xx)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/X2F1xx) by okawbow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/), on Flickr(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4428/36530365780_71abfeafff_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/XE4F3L)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/XE4F3L) by okawbow (https://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/), on Flickr
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That first line pretty much sums up most of my builds. :) All of mine are/were good working guns that shot OK to great but none were as nice as I wanted them. I'm going to keep trying though. :) ;D
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Ditto that thought for sure. Like you,I keep building anyway. Gotta support someone in the hobby. besides, I get to meet great folks on here,and at CLA show. Here is a sorta Hawken I finished this summer. 8)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fne7Bgk%2Fgenehawken9.jpg&hash=6a54f73a4f1097f8cd9e1ddd72d270f63471e055) (http://ibb.co/mtpP1k)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FcmqxMk%2Fgenehawken13.jpg&hash=e9247ac22e57a805a4b1b8bf983f2f5ed12a2282) (http://ibb.co/huTTSQ)
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Funny you should ask.....
The one I'm finishing right now fits the description perfectly! Way too many mistakes on it.
Don't have any pictures yet, but might tomorrow.
Cheers,
Norm.
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Funny you should ask.....
The one I'm finishing right now fits the description perfectly! Way too many mistakes on it.
Don't have any pictures yet, but might tomorrow.
Cheers,
Norm.
DITTO!! I will post pics of mine soon too... if I can ever get the finish to dry-humidity so high lately here in the South. Rained nearly the entire day yesterday.
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Jeez, where do I start? There all in an upstairs bedroom, kind of like an island of lost and broken toys............sigh..
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I've never made one with out some sort of flaw somewhere. However I liked almost every one of them except this one.
The barrel was about 9 lbs, the wrist was ugly, the lock was not set right & on and on and on...
Just plane ugly from the time I put the 1st rasp to it til the last slather of finish on it. I still hate it.
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fi4oh45%2FCOS05.jpg&hash=ad723592e90ff90b810998a3874d6aca406c1e37) (http://ibb.co/eL2mWk)
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First gun, a .54, I call it a sorta' Beck, so many cosmetic mistakes that I don't show close-ups of it. In spite of its warts it is my go to gun for deer hunting and has put a bunch of deer in the freezer. It is hard to find a flaw in a Rice barrel and a Deluxe Chambers Siler lock when it comes to putting a ball down range.
Fortunately builds #2 and 3 were much better.
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Meet Trouble, my 36 caliber SMR. I rate it average rather than "not good." There are a few architectural aspects I don"t love, for one I managed to flub the RR channel when I drilled it and let the bit take a nose dive back toward the breech. In my opinion the gun is too thick top to bottom because I allowed that bit to wander. I could have slanted backward and rounded the comb more, I just didn't truly "see" it when I was shaping. There are a couple of other areas I should have paid more attention to.
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Built from a walnut blank I bought in the For Sale area of ALR, a blank that sucked me in with its nice figure in the Butt area. The wood was over 70 years old and dense as iron yet liked to splinter, very easy knock a chip off - I ended up having to repair five areas, two big ones in the lock panel . The band saw sliced it right fine (if you enjoy the smell of burnt walnut), but the sharpest chisels would hardly touch it and it just laughed at rasps. Simply put, working it was a huge chore. And that is how the name Trouble came about.
It shoots well however, and it is growing on me - I am kinda at the stage of "she's not that bad after all, stop bad mouthing her."
dave
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fzlw6SZll.jpg&hash=1420fa677452971cbff6b174342dd533500c8e8f)
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This subject I like. I have to guns that we'll are or should be banned from having pictures of. The first is a 36 caliber an the second is a 45 smr sorta kinda. Both are P.C. correct.(possibly crummy) but will try to post pictures.
But none the less they shoot very well. Oldtravler
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I eather like them or hate them :(. The ones I hate are redone so I end up with all rifles that I like ;D ;).
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The second rifle I made was a plain walnut half stock 58 caliber caplock.
It was a poor job of gun making but it fit me like a custom shirt and was
a match winner.No known pictures and after I sold the gun I was told it
had fallen into the hands of an idiot that let it rust away laying in a boat.
Bob Roller
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I'm just finishing this up and have a few crappy phone pictures. Some of which I don't think I'll even show!
I think I will call it my 10 foot rifle. Looks good provided you are at least 10 feet away!
My carving was pretty bad, and my background removal was equally bad. Staining didn't really go as planned either...
Anyway, its about my 2nd or 2nd and a half rifle I've finished and the most important thing is that I learned a ton. I mean really learned a lot.
Still need to cleanup some areas, and fire-blue or charcoal blue the triggers and bolts. Also need to pluck up the courage to engrave it. At least the crappy engraving will go with the crappy carving!
I'll go shoot it tomorrow to see if it shoots well enough to redeem itself!
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fhs6pj5%2FIMG_1176.jpg&hash=7bf0321e57e989289930b4e8b04fe429f6783601) (http://ibb.co/fSDDBk)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fcfk4HQ%2FIMG_1177.jpg&hash=f5675160445cd146713489b5a4fc5c0e0f89fddf) (http://ibb.co/m31N45)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FhMtfrk%2FIMG_1178.jpg&hash=34851b685cfd02133965506f0d8b440dcf6aa2eb) (http://ibb.co/m5eaP5)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fk9EWxQ%2FIMG_1180.jpg&hash=86df095ca5b4c0c2cc76de4eb471e037b1b245f7) (http://ibb.co/i6n6Wk)
Cheers,
Norm
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The funny thing is,if you where to jump into the way back machine and showed up right before whoever's gun your trying to copy, left it somewhere,sold it,whatever.Folks now would be trying to copy it,saying what a historic piece it is.I'll leave the piece of what when I finally get my first done and put it on display here ???
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(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fmnev7Q%2F000_0001_1.jpg&hash=f81226f48311928bf825699fbcc99eb63d8fddf9) (http://ibb.co/c2xRE5)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FfzVDu5%2F000_0004_1.jpg&hash=d6d4b5fd276eece76a272280f18a084c21669945) (http://ibb.co/gX6mE5)
upload photo to internet (http://imgbb.com/)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FcLYBgk%2F000_0002_1.jpg&hash=7526ce00f582e26a98294fd9c7f4d7ff5ca75ff1) (http://ibb.co/icveZ5)
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(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FgntoSQ%2F000_0008_1.jpg&hash=01f91d6f693ae72732f29752c69894afb8d6eb3b) (http://ibb.co/hCkP1k)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FmzbWgk%2F000_0003_1.jpg&hash=852802075b24f0935c8972f6dec980f595628885) (http://ibb.co/dW5eZ5)
upload image (http://imgbb.com/)
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(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FnqgKZ5%2F000_0009_1.jpg&hash=8b3b9d36c66e1cbb9a48874bf954d50416c06754) (http://ibb.co/coqDu5)
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About 25 years ago , my good friend Steve Marshall , the former manager of Mansker`s Station told me , he had always liked the 19 inch barreled Jaeger in RCA 1 rifle #4 . I was working in a die cast plant at the time, full time in die repair. I just built guns on the side. Steve told me he had some parts to build a little rifle ,like the one he liked. Needless to say , the original was stocked in European Walnut , ours has a donated curly Maple stock. The original had a .56 cal. bore 19 inch barrel , ours has a hand swamped CVA .45 cal barrel, not a lot of swamp, but enough . We had a Siler lock , which was close to the original , I unbridled it and coffin shaped the frizzen , and reshaped the frizzen spring finial. The trigger guard was reshaped and pieced together. The muzzle cap is black horn . The butt plate and, thimbles were reshaped from Brown Bess castings. Steve kept the rifle , until last Spring . He called me and told me he wanted me to have it back .In the long run this little rifle is FAR from the original, but I did get some good practice trying to copy shapes and forms. It actually shoots decent , considering the short barrel . I do believe it was one of the "good" CVA barrels. Anyway ,It is a pretty cool conversation piece , and most people that get hold of it want to sit and rub on it , which helps with the patina . Thanks Nate. I encourage those who wonder to compare to rifle #4 . Not a copy , but fairly close , considering working from a book with parts at hand.
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A couple weeks ago, I saw a pistol with a barrel that long. Neat gun.
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Nate's little Jeager is a sweet handling little rifle. I got a chance to hold it at Jim Parker's Alabama show.
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You win.
Robby
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Nate I like it. But then short little guns are perfect for my style of hunting. Oldtravler
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When I make 'em, either they hit stuff or they don't.
If they hit stuff, I keep 'em if they don't, I recycle all the parts into other guns. I never flip a gun unless it is sound and has goof ups that are hard to find. I go back to my Shumways when licking my wounds.
We will always flinch over our mistakes, and if you look hard enough you'll see mistakes in a lot of guns out there.
What amazes me most is the fact that the masters of today are globally better than the masters of the era.
Don't shoot yore eye out, kid
The Capgun Kid
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Nate,
That little gun don't look so bad. But, it looks like it hardly has any drop. Does it bite?
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Mike, It has "some" drop . Like the original , it has a very high comb. It`s a .45 and I shoot light loads in it but, yes it will work on your cheek after a while. The original was a .56 so I`m sure it was "fun". The weirdest part of it is, loading it. Being so short it feels weird loading it on the ground , it needs to be up on something. It does shoot pretty well for such a short barrel. It handles like a dream though. Nate
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Mike, It has "some" drop . Like the original , it has a very high comb. It`s a .45 and I shoot light loads in it but, yes it will work on your cheek after a while. The original was a .56 so I`m sure it was "fun". The weirdest part of it is, loading it. Being so short it feels weird loading it on the ground , it needs to be up on something. It does shoot pretty well for such a short barrel. It handles like a dream though. Nate
I'd assume you'd want to load it with the butt sitting on a table or on the shooting bench. That would be awkward..... ???
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When sitting in a pop up blind deer hunting. My little 62 caliber smoothie is a dream to hunt with.
Can move it around to any window that the deer or bear walks by.
It also is handy in a tree stand. Oldtravler
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Mike: your creative juices are wasted on prose...save 'em for gun building.
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Mike: your creative juices are wasted on prose...save 'em for gun building.
Yes, I believe you're correct. ;) Just returning a couple resent pokes in the eye. I think I'll remove my post and behave..... :P
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Some of my shooting buddys kept after me to shoot a flint lock and wore me down. This rifle has moved me from a competent shot to last place in any match! I built it with good components and just an few thoughts on what form it would have. First attempt at engraving shows clearly. Now after months of fussing with it I'm starting to hit things and it's growing on me.
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FhskkTa%2FIMG_0113.jpg&hash=b2f90a46b7cf6560a80efaf36f45179f2a5da615) (http://ibb.co/fK9C8a)
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