Simon Lauck Rifle

[Niall Sadler]

I have just finished making a Simon Lauck replica. It is a .54 caliber with a Rice barrel and the wood stock was supplied by Freddie Harrison. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I would appreciate any comments hopefully so I can improve in the future. Cheers Niall

[kaintuck]

Wow! That's a lot of carving!!!!
Auspicious endeavor!!!
I think it's a very special rifle, a lot of work in it.
You can use the trick to slim the wrist by starting your radius transition 1/8" ON the barrel, avoids the small 'hump' starting.

We ALL try to take more off these thunder sticks.......

[galamb]

Yes, will echo that the carving is "considerable".

I'm interested to know if you were working from/toward a specific rifle or just trying to capture the essence of a Lauck rifle.

I'm still going back and forth between a Lauck or a Sheets and kinda vacuuming up everything I can before I finally decide. This rifle appears somewhat more "ornate" than any I have come across so far, but find it quite appealing.

The one thing that does look a little off to me, and it could simply be the angles of the photos, is the forestock just before the ramrod inlet. It looks a little (deep/fat?? - can't find the right word here).

On the Lauck rifles I have been looking over it seems like the (not sure of the correct terminology here) the rear forestock almost tapers into the forestock ahead of the ramrod inlet.

[Acer Saccharum]

That's a very handsome piece. I like the overall feel of the gun; to me, it looks like a new gun of the late 18th Century.

Carving comments: your design elements are very good, you have a good eye for design. I think your smoothing of the background needs attention in that it's rougher than I like to see.

Overall, it's a very believable rifle, with very good stock architecture. You should be proud of yourself.

[ScottEdvin]

You have done a nice work. Simon Lauck is looking really beautiful. Try to do target shooting with this rifle to check it works perfectly.

[Lucky R A]

     A really nice effort, that I am sure took considerable time and study to complete.  I have not handled or viewed with particular interest any of Lauck's work, so I can not comment with authority on the architecture.   I would guess that much of your carving is a bit high in relief, few originals were carved quite so boldly, more of a European trait.  In your next effort I would tone down the carving height especially in the area of the lock moldings and tear drops.  The finish appears to be a very high gloss.  A satin type finish would show less grounding flaws and would be more appropriate.  Please don't take this as criticism just a step along your pathway of building.  I think your effort is noteworthy, and shows considerable skill that just needs a little refining.    Nice work   Ron

[Nordnecker]

Yes, indeed, That's quite a piece of work. You should be proud. I am building a Lauck inspired gun myself. I notice the barrel keys go in from the lock side on yours. You used 4 keys and 3 pipes. The oval escution is there, nice nose to the comb. My lock ended up tilted about like yours.
 How long is the barrel?

[bama]

That is a very nice rifle sir, one to be very proud of. You deffinately have a lot of skill and I can tell you put a lot of thought into the design of this piece. Since you asked for comments I will post a few.

I agree with the others that the relief is to tall.  It is very difficult to get a feel for relief carving by looking at pictures. Pictures seem to make the carving look taller than it actually is. I have a Lauck butt stock and the relief carving is remarkably shallow, but very well done. Until I had an opportunity to study some well carved originals my carving stood really proud. Most of the well done relief only stands about a 32nd of an inch above the background. Some of it you can barely feel. One of the first Original Lancaster rifles I got a chance to look at is owned by Louie Parker. After looking at that rifle for a few minutes I knew that my carving was way to heavy.

You have very nice carving design and it appears the talant, you just need some exposure to some good eary rifles.

One more suggestion, you have built a nice golden age rifle please put a nice golden age front sight on it. That tall late period front sight sticks out like a sore thumb. Most originals have very low sights, how we ever wound up with all these tall late period sights is beyond me.

I lied one more thing, do a heat blue on your bolts, screws and trigger.

I really do like your rifle sir and let me tell you thanks for showing it. I have a feeling we will be seeing more fine rifles from you.

[Larry Luck]

Niall,

I'm sorry I am so late to this discussion.  Thank you for the photos.

I like the rifle a lot, and it has caused me to review the KRA CDs on Shenandoah Valley and Southern rifles.  I have thought that a Lauck or Sheetz rifle would be a great project.  Yours is quite an impressive piece.  I think the carving is well designed and executed.  I can't tell how high the relief is from the photos, but it does appear pretty bold.  The engraving and the carving are way beyond my level of accomplishment.  The rifle is a real head-turner.

I have watched and rewatched Gary Brumfield's carving powerpoint may times, and his technique for establishing the height of the carving makes a lot of sense.  Here is a link if you have not seen it:  http://www.flintriflesmith.com/images/relief.carving.for.web2.ppt

On a very mundane level - what casting did you use for the buttplate? Lauck and Sheetz style mounts are hard to find.  I know MBS has Sheetz mounts, but do not know that I have ever seen them in use.

Again, quite a nice rifle.

Larry Luck

[R.Baitinger]

   I sure am glad you put the rifle up on the site, it is a real beauty I wish I could do work like that.I always
wanted to do animal gun stock carving but could never get the shallow relief right. Your rifle is sure something
to be proud of and I think you should share some of the other guns you have made they are all great. You have
a great gift and talent.
                                                                                                        Bob Baitinger

[Niall Sadler]

Hi, I wish to thank everyone for their comments and observations and hope I have replied to each one of you. I will try to take them in consideration my next gun I build. I already have a solution to solve the gloss on this rifle. I have bookmarked all the carving links posted in my web browser and will seriously review them before I start on my next gun.  I briefly reviewed them and I found one thing out that might improve the carving. I probably used  to narrow a chisel when removing the background.

Cheers Niall