Hi,
Thanks for looking and commenting. As always, good eye Richard! The reason for the position of the flintcock is there was no sear in the lock when I took the picture. I have to file down the trigger lever more before I can fully install the lock and all of its internal parts. Right now it is just the tumbler and bridle on the lock so the cock can swing to any position. I think the half cock position is about right as you describe but I will check it when I install the sear. The walnut is stunning. I've never worked with a piece with so much curl but it is a bit of a pain. It actually is more difficult to work than highly curled sugar maple. It seems on this walnut, the difference in wood density between the dark and light bands is greater than with most maple I've worked with the exception of a piece of highly figured red maple. There is no way that I could scrape a final finish on this gun because it would be so wash boarded. I have to use sandpaper blocked with wood to get a smooth finish.
Daryl, I agree completely about the qualities of these rifles. This will be a fine hunting gun as well as a good target shooter as long as the barrel performs as it should. I left the barrel at 34", which is long for most English rifles but my target shooting friends are drooling over the gun because it has some weight but it is also very well balanced. The stock fits into the shoulder just right and my eyes (and hopefully Tony's) line up on the barrel immediately. The trigger guard provides a slight pistol grip that is very comfortable and the vertical oval cross section of the wrist really feels good in the hand. With checkering it should be very nice. This rifle makes the Pedersoli Mortimer feel like you are holding up a hockey stick with a brick hanging from the muzzle end. My only issue with the style is that once I've built a couple, there is no real novelty or artistic inspiration to build any more because they are so plain. The engraving will be fun but for me, plain guns mostly require all the grunt work without ever getting to the really fun stuff.
dave