Author Topic: Black cherry with a southern accent (Read 3302 times)

Clint · « **on:** March 27, 2019, 02:29:40 AM »

here is my interpretation of a southern style flint lock which is so popular these days. I stocked it in black cherry, because that's what I had. The stock started out as a large tree that I dropped and hired a wood mizer to cut up. The stock panks (2) weighed over a hundred pounds each when they came off the saw, some thing to think about when you consider the topography in 1820 W N.C and E Tenn.
The barrel started as a straight sided .40” x 42 x 7/8 rife which I milled a swamp into. The waist is 3/4” and is cut a little longer and is set back farther from the muzzle than most swamped barrels because my eye was looking for something different and it was easy to do. It didn’t bend or warp and I have done this kind of barrel molesting before and since with great success. The lock is a V pan type made from TRS parts and is both small and fast The furniture is forged from double rolled wrought iron and was the basic inspiration for the rifle as a whole. I have never handled an old Tenn rifle so I studied them on the forum and with Rich Peirce’s book. The one glaring departure of details on this rifle is the single pull trigger. I didn’t use set triggers because I don’t like them. Comment or criticize freely, but don’t stand in front of the gun. Clint Wright

mountainman70 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 27, 2019, 03:16:20 AM »

In a word, Nice! I like it much. Have a goodun, Dave F

mony · « **Reply #2 on:** March 27, 2019, 03:45:56 AM »

Pretty rifle. What’s the wood finish?

ron w · « **Reply #3 on:** March 27, 2019, 04:24:27 AM »

beautiful !. they weren't all made with fancy Maple.,....especially in the South. beautiful rendition of a well made average workingman's rifle. I,.... for one,... appreciate that type of rifle much more than something you might find in some Aristocrat's house.

alacran · « **Reply #4 on:** March 27, 2019, 03:36:02 PM »

Really like the lines of this rifle. Your iron work makes it it shine.! I like.

Elnathan · « **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2019, 08:48:06 PM »

Well, the cherry looks pretty nice with that iron furniture. I'll let those who are more familiar with the subtleties of the Mountain rifle comment on the architecture.

Did you use a Green Mountain barrel? I've been thinking about doing much the same thing to one of their 15/16 x 42" barrels.

hanshi · « **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2019, 09:25:17 PM »

That's a great looking rifle and the black cherry stock is a treat for the eyes. I like it a lot.

bama · « **Reply #7 on:** March 27, 2019, 09:30:29 PM »

One of the things that make building and collecting a Kentucky rifle so interesting is that even though they all look similar they are all different and yours would fit right in. The couple of things I see that are a little different is the box architecture and release mechanism. It looks like an interesting system and a little more involved than most iron mounted rifles.

I like the overall rifle and I think you did a great job on this one. I am glad that you were able to get a black cherry big enough to get a stock out of it. I have my eye on one that I think I could get maybe 4 stocks out of it. If I can indeed get stocks out it, a iron mounted rifle will be one of the builds.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Lzymtlsmth · « **Reply #8 on:** March 28, 2019, 03:34:12 PM »

Nice job. Looks right.

Mike Lyons · « **Reply #9 on:** March 28, 2019, 04:46:40 PM »

That is a beautiful rifle. I like everything about it, especially the copper.

oldtravler61 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 30, 2019, 05:22:04 PM »

Clint first off I'm no expert on southern guns. One thing I do know is that I have seen several originals with one trigger. The other thing I have noticed is that know two are exactly the same. But they all have the same general lines.
None the less I really like your rifle alot. If you want to see a lot of southern guns be in Knoxville in April. It doesn't get any better !!
Oldtravler

moleeyes36 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2019, 04:55:37 PM »

As everyone has stated, this is a very handsome rifle. Admittedly, I'm partial to Southern rifles.

Now to show my ignorance concerning cherry. My experience with cherry stocks is limited to only two guns, both kits, other people have brought to me to put together for them. These gun stocks were listed merely as cherry, not black cherry. I don't see black cherry stock blanks listed anywhere, just cherry. Is black cherry just another name for cherry or are they two different woods? Thanks.

Mole Eyes

wattlebuster · « **Reply #12 on:** March 31, 2019, 06:51:12 PM »

I like it. Lots. Ditto on the double triggers as I dont like them either

bama · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2019, 07:20:42 PM »

Black cherry trees to me are the wild cherry trees we have in the south that have small black fruit. I have always thought cherry was from the northern fruit bearing trees. The black cherry trees we have in the south are a surprisingly hard wood with beautiful grain and color. Unfortunately there are very few that grow big enough to get gun stocks from them.

Jim Kibler · « **Reply #14 on:** March 31, 2019, 08:13:22 PM »

Cherry, black cherry all the same stuff with regards to gun stocks. Bama, yes the trees with the little black fruit... As has been mentioned on here frequently, cherry varies greatly in quality. Some can be so light in weight that it's not suitable for a stock. Some can be quite nice. Fun fact... The heaviest, nicest cherry I've used grew in Pensicola Florida. Go figure...

Jim

Daryl · « **Reply #15 on:** March 31, 2019, 08:33:55 PM »

Saw the title and could not get the vision of a glass of moonshine with black cherry's in it, out of my mind.
I think I need help.

Elnathan · « **Reply #16 on:** March 31, 2019, 10:49:26 PM »

My parents have a bit of land, and I've helped them cut down both wild black cherry and their two fruit cherry trees. The wood from the different types of cherry was quite different, IIRC, though I don't recall all the differences now.

The black cherry was beautiful stuff, but I was never able go get it to dry well, probably because it was cut in the summer. I did get a couple of spoons and bowls from it, and I've got a slab with crotch grain that is almost done air drying, but because of the checking it may difficult to get anything from it.

Clint · « **Reply #17 on:** March 31, 2019, 11:09:57 PM »

Thanks for all of the nice comments, I sent the rifle to my son in law in West Virginia last week and he received it without any prior knowledge. That was the most fun part of this project. The barrel is a Green Mountain that I had for some time and I made the breech pulp. I made a box of 18th century casement window latches last summer and I saw the same type of latch on a soddy in the ALR library, so I couldn't resist. Black cherry is all over the east coast and has very small black cherries that are very bitter and not used for food. In the early days, farmers removed cherry trees from pastures because the bark would poison live stock chewing on it. That may have had something to do with why so many New England fowlers made from cherry. The trees generally grow very crooked, with lots of right angle shaped branches. These "crooks" were used extensively in boat framing up through the early 20th century. The wood is pretty rot resistant, I have picked up overlooked fire wood size pieces of cherry that had lay on the ground for 6 years or more and were still fresh when split. There are many types of cherry and local conditions play a large role in what kind of wood the tree will produce. The tree that I cut started with a 40" butt that split into three vertical trunks. Each trunk was between two and three feet in diameter and they ripped out into 13' planks. Cutting trees into planks is an adventure all by itself, pulling a couple of finished rifles out of a local tree will spoil you for a time. I'm out of apple and cherry now so I suppose I will have to actually buy a piece of maple for my next build.

Kevin Houlihan · « **Reply #18 on:** April 01, 2019, 02:38:00 AM »

Clint,
I'm a little late to respond, but that rifle is pretty cool!

I know you don't usually build southern rifles, but one look and it was pretty obvious it was one of yours. Great job,
Kevin

Craig Wilcox · « **Reply #19 on:** April 02, 2019, 03:30:41 AM »

Clint, you made a beautiful rifle-gun. The architecture and the execution are both outstanding.

rick/pa · « **Reply #20 on:** April 02, 2019, 04:01:36 AM »

This is a very nice gun Clint. I like it a lot. Here in western Pa we call these cherry trees, choke cherry. When we were kids we used to use the green fruit in pea shooters. Several years ago I ran across a massive cherry tree a farmer had cut down and let lay. Cherry checks very quick, the end grain has to be painted or waxed to stop the quick loss of moisture. After laying on the ground both ends had wide checks in them and was starting to rot. Made me sick to see all that good wood go to waste.

moleeyes36 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 06, 2019, 12:37:55 AM »

Quote from: rick/pa on April 02, 2019, 04:01:36 AM

This is a very nice gun Clint. I like it a lot. Here in western Pa we call these cherry trees, choke cherry. When we were kids we used to use the green fruit in pea shooters. Several years ago I ran across a massive cherry tree a farmer had cut down and let lay. Cherry checks very quick, the end grain has to be painted or waxed to stop the quick loss of moisture. After laying on the ground both ends had wide checks in them and was starting to rot. Made me sick to see all that good wood go to waste.

Rick,

I too grew up in W. PA and I don't ever remember seeing a "choke cherry", as we called them also, that had a big enough trunk to get a decent plank out of it. I know the wood is quite hard (made great slingshots) and I'm sure it would make a nice gun stock if you could find a big enough tree. Keep looking and good luck.

Mole Eyes

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Author Topic: Black cherry with a southern accent (Read 3302 times)

ron w

Lzymtlsmth