Walnut stocked pistol

[bob hertrich]

Pictures of a pistol I just completed with a lot of help from you guys in the forum. It has a .50 cal smoothbore barrel from MLS. L & R lock, handmade trigger and plate, sideplate, butt cap, ramrod ferrules and front sight. All criticisms are welcome.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Very nice workmanship!! and overall a very pleasing look!!  My only criticism is that you haven't sent it to me yet!!

[Ky-Flinter]

Bob,

Welcome to ALR.  That is a very nice piece.  Excellent fit and finish.  I really like the carving around the tang and the butt cap engraving.  I only have one suggestion, it looks like the tang bolt could be countersunk just a tad deeper, but then it might just be the light tricking me.

Oh, I thought of one more.... I noticed the thumbpiece has no initials on it....  mine are RW    

Very nice work.  What's next?

-Ron

[rich pierce]

There's a lot to like there!  Well done, very clean.

[wattlebuster]

Very nice. I like it. Now build something else

[Ed Wenger]

Bob,

That's a nice looking pistol!  I like the well defined lines, excellent metal work, and finish.  If I were to say anything critique wise, and keep in mind I know just enough about pistols to be dangerous, it would be the beaver tails might be a little slim?  Also, do you think the forward, upper lock panel line, on the side plate side, could be a little lower?  That would center the forward lock screw a little more and slim up the panel.  Like I said above, so consider the source...  Again, really nice pistol, and thanks for posting the photos!

           Ed

[smylee grouch]

From where I stand she looks quite nice, the only thing you could add to make it better is a small amount of additional engraving. Nice job and welcome.   Smylee

[Odd Fellow]

I have nothing but complements! very nice work! I hope mine comes out as well as yours!

[alyce-james]

Bob; Very nice work. Total package of pistol fits well. The lock and side plate are tipped a little to low in the front for me. My favorite work is the butt cap size, location and the nice engraving on the cap. I like the carved tang area also. Thanks for sharing the pictures with us. Jim & Alyce.

[cheyenne]

Very nice......very, very nice!

[Dave Waters]

Bob, no criticism. Really nice work. Thanks for showing it.

[Mark Elliott]

The craftsmanship is very good.    However, I do have some suggestions.   

The main thing I noticed being a little off is the position of the lock and side plate.    The tail is too high and the front too low.    The tail should be a little below the mid-line of the wrist.    The proper zone is 1/3 to 1/2 from the bottom of the wrist.    Basically,  the lock should have been rotated back a little.   It is hard to get the lock oriented properly.   Lots of things can go wrong between layout and execution.   May times I though that I have inlet a part oriented correctly, only to see it in a different way when the gun is done.   I still have a problem taking the time to really examine my work from all angles and in different light.    The guys that are really good at what they do are really good at looking and seeing.   

Not that I am all that much better, but the carving needs better modeling.    I would have hollowed out the leaves.    It might help to practice on a scrap of wood and try out different modeling techniques.   Also,  the tang appears to be inlet below the wood.   It should be flush.  I suspect that you took the barrel out of the stock to polish it and rounded over the edges.   I would have filed and polished the tang in the stock.   If you work out of the stock,  always back your abrasives unless you are working on a curved surface where your fingers fit better. 

Lastly,  the pistol is so highly finished, that it looks machine made.   It is too perfect.   For a relatively plain gun,  I think some patina is required to give it some interest.   I would age the lock the same of the barrel, blacken the brass, and dirty the stock.    Maybe this gun would be a good candidate for the famous flat black spray paint treatment.

Please don't take my comments the wrong way.  You have done a very good job.   I humbly offer an honest constructive critique to hopefully help you in the future.

[Mark Elliott]

I realized that I was negligent in praising you for properly finishing the lock.    They do need to be filed and polished as you did.   All the metal that is visible should be polished.   However,  you usually need to ruin it afterward.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Beautiful.  I am curious how you finished the barrel?

Coryjoe

[bob hertrich]

Thanks for the comments. The lock placement has caused most of the criticisms and right fully so. I got too hung up on placing the tail of the lock in the center of the butt, where as Daniel, Ed and Mark have pointed out, it has affected the architecture of the pistol. It would have been a lot better being dropped a bit. Something definitely to keep in mind for the next one. As far as the gun looking too perfect, I think I will leave it as it is and let time do its thing. I finished the barrel with a three coats of Brownells Oxpho-blue, steel wooled between coats. I got that from a Mike Miller pistol building CD. It is supposed to represent a charcoal blue finish. A great CD to buy if you are thinking of building a flintlock pistol.