Wade's first one_ pics/completed

[mountainman70]

That be sum fine shootin iron,definatly befittin a man o yo Stat- cher,bro Wade.I like the lines for sho.butcha duz need to gits a pocketful o them flint rocks.Least ya aint frettin with caps.Good huntin,y'all.Dave

[whetrock]

Good looking gun, Wade! (Man, my mouth is already starting to water. Can already smell that venison on the Bar-B-Que!)

And no worries about the flints. At least you had one. I spent 45 minutes the other day looking for a little bottle of round .32s, and finally gave up. (Found them a few days later in that "special" spot where I had put them so that I wouldn't loose them.)

If you need rocks, just holler. I can send you a handful of East Tennessee chert. Not as good as English flint, but you can get a few good sparks out of a sharp piece just the same. Reckon it would be better than plateau sandstone anyhow.

Whet

[WadePatton]

Thanks y'all. 

...you couldn't find the time to order some extra flints?  Lordie man, get your priorities straight!!!  LOL

I had misplaced the two dozen (Rich's and English) that I bought long ago.  flint in every pocket now.

and i have sparky rocks all over the ridge, but they just won't knap worth a flip.  The knappables i've found have been river stone from old road bed.  In an emergency i could grind one of those into shape mebbe.

[WadePatton]

I'll get some better pics someday.

While i was hacking that thing together i started accumulating parts for another rifle or two.  Have everything for the next one on hand already.  That will compress the time-to-build significantly.  It'll be a Skinny 40 with Roller parts in Curly Ash.

But I yet have some development and fixin' on this one.  The toe plate will be replaced and butt plate narrowed properly. 

And a lot of shooting! 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Wade, you've done very well for your first rifle.  And it's good to hear you have more in mind for the future.  I don't see anything in this thread critiquing your rifle's architecture, so if I may, I will jot some notes that hopefully, you can use to make your next rifle even better.

The lock panel on your rifle should not have a concave molding line around it's perimeter...especially along the bottom.  That wood can be filed flat from the edge of the molding to the trigger guard inlet - I see yours is convex.   A slight concave molding around each end of the lock panel is ok but should not continue around the top and bottom.

Your forearm is much too deep.  the web beteeen the barrel's bottom flat and the rod hole should be as little as you can achieve...just enough for the for'd lock nail to pass, even if you have to cut a shallow notch in the bottom flat of the barrel.  Then the rod hole - 5/16" for such a small bored rifle - and finally the wod along the bottom of the forearm @ around 3/32" - 1/8".  If you can end up with close to those measurements, the forearm will not appear to be so slab sided or vertical, and will have a pleasing roundness from the barrel all the way around and back up again. Your rifle being as deep as it is, has a ridge of wood where the vertical plane of the side of the forearm meets the bottom horizontal area.  There should be no ridge but a comfortable roundness there.

Your butt stock looks pretty good in the pictures, as does the upper forearm toward the muzzle.  Regardless, it's good work for a first effort, and from the length of the thread, it appears you've learned a great deal.  You should feel happy with the results.

[WadePatton]

Thanks Taylor. 

Yes I'm aware of some of the architectural shortcomings, but it's hunting and _now_ i have a rifle on-hand for reference while building the next.  Picture books, online photos, building manuals, and TOW plans, plus a few visits to John's, is how that one got put together. 

I would like to have put up pics here before finish work, but ran out of time.  And then it got too "screwed" up to fix some things.  SO i've avoided the square "rifle-maker" shots for proper critiquing.  I'll put those up when i get some good ones made.

Criticism is welcomed, that's how we learn. 

But for now, we're gunning for whitetails, and load developing and learning how to "live with a flinter".  Like today when i checked my prime, to find it GONE-flint was touching frizzen at half-cock.     and i was toting the gun w/o any thought as to how powder in the pan might re-arrange itself.

back to the bush

[KLMoors]

Go get 'em Wade. I'm going out this afternoon to give it a go.

[WadePatton]

Well i "proofed" it.

On accident.  My powder measures had "merged" in my pocket and i threw a heavy charge down the bore, touched it off...and thought "ZOWIE BATMAN! that was a stiff one"  Immediately relating it to the "fresh" powder as opposed to the 4-day-old charge in the bbl.  OR alternatively that i didn't have it snugged up to my arm/loose hold.

Then i found the shredded mutilated and destroyed patch...questioned my lube...

THEN it hit me, to check the measure.  Error was noticed immediately.  Part of one measure* had made itself into and extension on the other--such that I had touched off 155g of FFF in the .54.

*had three adjustable measures, and the two "non-thumbscrew" measures had gotten tangled.  the outermost part of one fitting neatly onto the outermost part of another--handy to know if you want to throw big charges.   I'll make a pic someday.

Hit the target close enough.  Reduced the charge to 80 and put the third ball right next to the first ball at 50.  And recoil was back to the "what, did you feel anything=? i didn't" level.

Shooting in the woods, never found good patches this time.  More shooting is in order, when conditions "sweeten up" a little bit. 

AND yes my RR is marked, but had a wiping jag on and wasn't watching the mark (as i need a second mark for use with jag.  Yes i'll be making some fixed measures and also watching the depth on the dipstick a bit more diligently hereafter.

[KLMoors]

Somebody tried to blow up a modern barrel (maybe Don Getz?) and found they couldn't do it with extra powder alone.

Leave a ball off of the powder and you might get hurt.

Wade, I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that your natural speed is "wide open throttle".  Nothing wrong with that, and I kind of envy folks with that kind of energy.  But, you might want to slow down a little when dealing with explosives.   

[mountainman70]

Y'all gotta watch out for us hill boys,most of us like things that go BOOM!!!,and we might hurt oursefs if we aint careful,and have a heap o Guardian Angels and sharp eyed mentors.Glad you survived Wade.Slowin down be a hard task for some of us,but it deffinat-ly is needful to live long and Pros-pus.Dave in the hills of WVa

[WadePatton]

I've come a long way already.  This is my first flinter and I was never serious about BP back when i had a caplock and a cap-snappin revolver.  I was more serious with the last caplock, but sold it to buy flinter parts, so was out-of-BP-arms for another spell.

Plus, I might remind yous that i've done a whole LOT of playing with smokeless propellants in that other sort of banginboomer.  I've assembled the loading components of 90% of every grain of powder I've shot since i started shooting.  Rimfire and Class 3 being the other 10%

Now back to the ranch.  I've got a couple of major fixes/minor tweaks to put into the gun when i get a chance, or season closes, or i fill my freezer.  Then I'll do the "Glamor" shots.