Lancaster rifle just completed

[bama]

Here is a Lancaster that I just completed for your viewing. The stock is a piece of red maple that was very hard to work and carve. The barrel is a 46" 50 cal Charlie Burton barrel, the lock is a Larry Zorn lock which I liked pretty well and will look forward to using another of his locks, the triggers are L&R that I modified, Reeves butt plate and trigger guard, patch box, thimbles, nose cap were made by me. The stain is Birchwood Casey Walnut base with AF on top, Hand rubbed finsih with Jim Kibler's varnish. Barrel and lock are rust blued, tirrigers and screws are fire blued. Sorry for the bad photo's all I have is my phone and it does not do to well in my shop light.

[Woodsrunner79]

THAT is absolutely beautiful!!

Is there any real advantage to going over 44" in a rifle barrel or is it just personal preference?

[BOB HILL]

Beautiful work, Jim. Thanks for sharing.     Bob

[bama]

Thanks Woodrunner

Many of the early rifles had 48" barrels. I have 3 original rifles that began life with 48" barrels. I think that the early rifles had big bores and big breeches and probably balanced better with the longer barrels. This rifle has a 46" barrel and it is 1" at the breech and it balances beautifully. The original rifle that I based this rifle on also had a 46" barrel.

Jim

[wattlebuster]

Fine job. I like it

[Joe S.]

nicely done,great looking finish

[g2608671@verizon.net]

Lovely and admirably done.  Wow!

Can you vector me to a tutorial or process information relative to the "rust blue" that you used?  I would like to understand the process.

[n stephenson]

Nice Job!!!    I really like this rifle !!     Nathan

[Snakebite]

Sweet! I think the more rifles you do, the more my Southern Mountain Rifle you made for me will be worth!!

You are truly a master.

Chris

[caddo]

Looks great Jim!  I get to see it in a few days 

[elkhorne]

Jim, another fantastic job. Now did you make that in 1780 or 1785? Seriously, that is a beautiful job and looks like a rifle that would make Dickert envious. Did you scrape it? The curly maple is beautiful and everything flows so smoothly. The architecture is great and someone will be a proud owner of a fine piece. Thanks for sharing!
elkhorne

[SingleMalt]

You did a nice job on this one. Crisp carving, nice engraving, and smooth lines.

[tallbear]

Nice rifle Jim!!!! I like it !!!

Mitch

[bama]

Thanks for the kind words on this build.

Elkhorne, yes this rifle has a scraped finish. I pretty much do a scraped finish on all of the early rifles that I build. Many of the original rifles that we love show evidence of having a scraped finish. Many think that the ripples in the stocks of the original rifles were caused by time and use but I believe that the ripples were caused by the finishing process.

I have tried to keep my finishing process as traditional as I know how to. On the oil based finishes I think that I have come pretty close. This is not a fast process and is a lot of work but it gives the best results.

The new owner is picking it up on Wednesday. He is a reenactor and wanted a very traditional rifle. I hope that he thinks this rifle fits that bill.

Jim

[hanshi]

That rifle is a beauty!  MAN, but you are good.

[Joe S]

A very interesting rifle Jim.  To me, it looks a whole lot more like an original that most of the contemporary guns we see posted here.

What kind of finish do you use?

[bama]

Thanks Jose

I have been studying the American Long Rile for over 40 years. I have been working toward recreating that look for as many years. It would be very hard for to explain the process I go through to get "that" look. I use same stains and finishes that many on this forum use. There are many very talented builders here with a lot of knowledge and I have listened and tried to benifit from them. The best info that I can offer is to try something until you get the results you are looking for.

I mentioned the stains that I use, Birchwood Casey Walnut as a base stain. I applied a couple of coats and let them dry. This stain gives a nice reddish brown color to the stock and could probably be used by itself. I then apply Aqua Fortis liberally and let dry before blushing with a heat gun. After blushing I buff lightly with 4/0 steel wool and follow this with an old terricloth towel. I rub very hard with the terricloth towel and it burnishes the stock to some degree. I then follow the terricloth with a polished burnisher and rub the whole stock including the carving. The stock should have a shine to it when you finish the burnishing process. After this I look at where I may want to darken some areas, for this I use some very fine grandulated natural black earth pigment. Many builders use different things to add this color and I think they will all work. I have used lamp black and coal dust and have had good results. I have heard some use black paint and I am sure that will work. I prefer to use a natural subtence that I think could have wound up in an original finish at some point in its life. After that a lot of thin hand rubbed coats of linseed oil. On the last couple of rifles I have used Jim Kibler's finish which I do like but I have also used Tung oil and Pilkington's English stock finish which is linseed oil based. Jim's and the English stock oil have an amber tint added to them. Between each coat of oil I burnish with the terricloth towel. After the final coat of oil I apply a few coats of Johnson's paste wax. The wax does a pretty fair job of protecting the wood and metal surfaces.

As you can see this is a pretty labor intensive process and not a quick one but it gives me the look that I want. It usually takes a couple of weeks for me to apply the finish.

Thanks for asking and I hope I have not boared you guys to tears.

Jim

[Joe S]

That is quite the finishing process Jim.  I was also particularly impressed with your carving.  Your forty years of study seem to have served you well in this regard.  If you ever get the opportunity to take some more detailed pictures, it would be nice to see them posted here.

My only critique is that the engraving may be too good.  Perhaps you might try switching hands with graver and hammer, and see how that comes out.

Fat Joe

[Acer Saccharum]

I like it very much!

[JCKelly]

I do too.

With respect to barrel size,  My Dad's original John Haga flintlock (attributed) has a 45 ¾” barrel,  0.91"  at the breech, with a 0.74" muzzle, .45 cal. The rifle weighs 7 lb 15 oz, has a 13" trigger pull.