Would this wood be suitable for english duellers?

[Rolf]

I had a chunk of English walnut leftover from making a rockingchair. After running it through the planer, it's 1.65" thick. I managed to fit two stock blanks on the wood, but I'm not to happy with the result. The blanks are thinner than I'd like and don't think they match to well.

You guys who have made duellers, what do you think?




Best regards

Rolfkt

[Dphariss]

Take the time to find the right piece of wood. Something you are happy with.
Its always worth the trouble.

Dan

[northmn]

Looking at the grain layout I agree with Dan.

DP

[smart dog]

Hi Rolfkt,
The pieces you show may work OK.  You can get by with a piece as thin as 1.5 inches with a Rayl barrel 1" at the breech provided the bolster of the lock is no more than 1/4 " thick and the lockplates no more than 4.25 inches long. That is cutting it very close however and it leaves you with very little extra wood for shaping. The Rayl barrels flare at the breech considerably. That means the lock panels flare as well and width of the stock at the tail of the lock increases with additional length of the lock.  You can change that a little by filing away some of the swamp in the barrel (Rayl's barrels are swamped more dramatically than any dueling pistol I have seen) or taper the lock bolster a little toward the rear (this is what I did).  That reduced the flare somewhat and kept the dimensions within my plans.  The bottom line is that you need a little extra wood to play around with.   Dueling pistols are not bit fat hand fillers.  They are thinner than you think and very little excess wood is left on the stock. You will shave the stocks down along the barrel as thin as you dare, and then shave a little more to be correct. Both of my pistols are less than 1.45" at their widest points with Rayl barrels and Wogden locks.  I would spend a bit more time searching for wood. I urge you to visit http://www.gobywalnut.com.  They are in Portland, Oregon, USA but I called them a few minutes ago to confirm that they will ship anywhere in the world.  Go to their gunstock pages and particularly check out the shotgun blanks.  They have many types of walnut blanks suitable for your pistols ranging in price from $50 to >$400.  They have excellent pictures of the wood and full dimensions.  They are also very nice folks to deal with.  You may get wood cheaper from other suppliers but Goby is well set up for online shopping and inspection of the wood, which most of the others are not.  If you are trying to truly reproduce English duelers don't even consider curly maple.  It is some form of walnut or nothing.

dave

[jerrywh]

It really doesn't pay to have highly figured wood for pistols because so little of it shows when it is done. If one wants a fancy pistol it is better to do some wire work, carving or checkering. The important hing is to have good hard dense wood with the grain going in the correct direction in the butt or wrist section. That's my opinion. 1 1/2" thick is usually  all you need.

[doug]

     On the lower stock, I would start at the bottom of the barrel channel and drill diagonally back and epoxy a 3/8" dowel in plus probably mill a slot in the side opposite the lock and inlet a 1/4" filet of oak or similar in there.  In both cases there is a lot of cross grain in the stock.  I would also do the dowelling and inletting when the stock is nearing final proportions so that you do not break through to the outside with the strengthening pieces

cheers Doug

[Ron Scott]

This wood looks like it was cut from the outer section of the tree and contains a lot of sap wood. Disregarding the color and grain, the density of the wood would be questionable. Few things are worse than trying to inlet and carve solf wood.

[JCKelly]

With respect to that 1.65 inch thickness. I have a decent English pistol by John Richards, Strand, London, H.L. Blackmore says from 1778--1780. Using calipers I measured it to be just 1.5 inches thick at the rear of the lock panel, which is the widest point. Not a duelling pistol but fits the hand very well & has the lines of a good dueller.
There is an identical Richards on www.horstheld.com   Scroll down to "makers R", and it is the first gun, at least tonight it is.
If you wish I can measure the width of barrel at breech on mine, haven't done that, to see how it corresponds to the barrels you have.
I am not a wood expert but I sure do like that you have laid out the stocks so the grain runs in a decent direction in the grip, for best strength.

[Rolf]

Thanks for your offer Kelly. Measurements wold be greart. Could you also measure the length of the barrel?

Best regards

Rolfkt

[JCKelly]

The barrel is .61 caliber, 9-3/16" long. At the breech the brass barrel is 1.127inches at widest point. Muzzle 0.813 inch, just a little swamp. Smallest point is 0.777 inch dia. Barrel is held by two iron wedges, and has an iron hook breech. The grip is 1.127 inch thick, at its thinnest point. The thickest area is at the bottom end, where it is 1.240 inch.   


My John Richards looks a lot like the one in horstheld, mine is less dusty looking, & overall a cleaner gun. Cost a lot less also, but that was in August  2001.
Need anything else, just ask.

[JCKelly]

I see I gave you two photos of the left side. So, I confused "post" with preview . . . been a long day

[Benedict]

Cool pistol!!!!

Bruce