Duplicated A Family Heirloom Susquehanna Rifle

[Hoot AL]

A friend wanted a copy of a family heirloom so he could take it hunting up in Michigan. This was the result.  The top rifle is the original and lower is mine. All I had were photos he took of the rifle for me to go with.  The patchbox was made from scratch.
Link: http://www.hootalrifleshop.org/original_rifle_vs_new.htm

I listed the steps I took to make everything on the rifle on this page.
Link: http://www.hootalrifleshop.org/new_page_19.htm

He was pleased with the rifle.

[A.Merrill]

    Hoot Al, you did great. Your friend looks proud with that big smile on his face.     AL

[bigsky]

Looks like there are two family heirlooms now!

[BILL OKLAHOMA CITY]

very nice!

[g rummell]

Looks like you nailed it!!!

[greybeard]

Really nice. Very educational sequence of proper steps for youngsters getting started on gunbuilding . Congrats  Bob

[Majorjoel]

Very well done Al! I have a soft spot for these old muley's! Thank you for your great step by step details on your build. 

[Tim Crosby]

Great rifle Al, Thanks for posting it and for the info and time you put in your site.

 Tim C.

[Hoot AL]

The website was designed to help beginner gun builders get started with their projects. 

Thanks for the comments.  It is a still a long journey ahead, but this is my way of trying to keep the craft alive and going forward.

Have a great holidays everyone!

AL

[Don Getz]

Hoot.....did a great job on that gun.    Looks like a Morrison, you're in my neck of the woods here.   Glad to see how you
make those barrel hangers......same way I do it, ha.   You could tell if that original was built with that mule ear lock by
removing the lock, the inlet is unique to a mule ear.....no main spring inlet, everything is different.   Patch box is fancy,
took some delicate sawing.    I did one similar to that for my Joe Long..............Don

[Curtis]

Very nice work, Hoot, a perfect example of what a bench copy should be.  Your documenting of the building process is quite commendable as well!

[Hoot AL]

Don,

Here is a photo of the original mule ear lock from the inside view:



Here is the lock cavity of the original rifle.



Looks like this is the original lock.

AL

[Loudy]

Al,

Thank you so much for taking the time to document your building of this recreated Upper Susquehanna rifle.  Your photos of the original gun are also great.  I picked up many building tips from your website.  Who was the barrel maker and what size barrel did you use on this rifle?  If this information was on the website somewhere I missed it.  I really like the look and feel of these "up the river" guns.  Someday I'm going to build one of these mule-ear lock rifles.  Great stuff! 

Mark Loudenslager     

[Hoot AL]

I used a Green Mountain barrel: .45 caliber x 13/16 x 42” .  The original was a .38 caliber.

I'm glad you found the site useful.

AL