English Officers flintlock pistol

[smart dog]

Hi,
I just finished this pistol from one of Bill Kennedy's Wilson Georgian pistol kits.  I'd always wanted one and Dave Rase sold me this one.  Bill was one of my earliest mentors.  It has a 20 bore, 8 inch barrel profiled by Bill.  The lock is a Chambers small Queen Anne.  The stock is black walnut and the brass hardware was cast for by Bill's kit.  I gave it the decorative bells and whistles that would be expected on a good quality private purchase officer's pistol.  What that means is the fit and finish is very good and the engraving is better than average for the time.  It is not a first quality gun because, for its time period, a first quality pistol or long gun would not have a round-faced lock.  It is very difficult to get folks to understand that on British guns, by 1760, round-faced locks were considered cheap and used almost exclusively on livery, military, and trade guns.  At best, they were used on second quality export guns. Flat locks with decorative bevels were the fashion on almost all better quality guns by 1770.  Of course, there were always a few exceptions and sometimes a wealthy client with very conservative tastes would have fine pistols made using round-faced locks.   The acorn pistol trigger guard is from the 1770s so the pistol kit cannot be made into a high-end gun from the 1750s, when round-faced locks were still in high fashion, and it probably would not be a high-end pistol from the 1770s because of the lock.  So the compromise I made was a good quality officer's pistol from the 1770s.  It is the kind of product that Twigg, Wogdon, and Griffin made for military customers with modest means.  These pistols were made in pairs and the barrels were forged, bored, and reamed as a single unit then cut into two pistols barrels,  Thus, they had the exact same bores.  I engraved the lock with a simple military-like border and my signature.  It has a very elegant look.  The pistol balances wonderfully and the trigger pull is 2 lbs.  I turned the  ramrod from a blank of  Indian rosewood.  The muzzle end is tipped with American bison horn and I made a sheet steel ferrule and spring steel tow worm for the other end.  The black walnut stock was stained to look like English walnut and finished with Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil.  The black walnut was a nightmare during the finishing phase because it kept chipping off sharp edges, particularly along the inlet for the butt cap.  I really hate it unless you find a really dense chunk. It was the stock that came with the kit but if I did one again, I would trash the black walnut stock and work from scratch using an English walnut blank. 

dave

[Craig Wilcox]

Your usual exquisite work, Dave.  Really admire the pistol.

[Dave Marsh]

Absolutely beautiful.

[rich pierce]

I’m sure Bill would’ve pleased.

[old george]

HMMMMMM!!! That's high-end in this old man's thoughts. Lovely pistol.

george

[smart dog]

Thank you everyone!
Old George, below are first quality or high end guns from that time period and a little earlier (round-faced locks).  Look at these compared with the pistol.

[Ed Wenger]

That’s a great looking pistol, Dave!  Very well done all around.  Really nice lettering on the barrel, that’s hard to do and look “right”!   Best,


           Ed

[Scota4570]

Beautiful.

I am in pistol mode right now.  Who makes parts sets?  I have already found Track, Chambers and MLBS.  I am very interested in a dueler.   

Scot

[smart dog]

Hi Scot,
No one sells proper parts for duelers except Blackley's.  Building true dueling pistols requires a lot of research because they had unique features, particularly the British ones.  There is also a horrendous amount of rubbish about dueling pistols on the internet. Start with John Atkinson's book "The British Duelling Pistol".  Below are some Wogdons I made that show many of the details.  The barrels are from Ed Rayl, the locks built from parts cast from an original Wogdon dueler by E. J. Blackley, and almost all the rest of the components were hand made to get them right, including the triggers and trigger guards.  The case, cover, and most accessories were also hand made.








































In our tutorial section is a 5-part tutorial I posted about making an historically correct British dueling pistol case.

dave

[Bob McBride]

Man Dave, your stuff almost doesn't need to be signed to be obviously yours. Fabulous.

[redheart]

Bravo Dave! It's a definite bravo!!!

[Scota4570]

Gorgeous work Dave.

Blackley's does not have photos of most of their offerings on the website.  That makes it impossible for me to put my own parts set together.  I wish I could go there in person. 

I recently bought Atkinson's book on British dueling pistols.  It was definitely not written for builders.  The details necessary in photos and print is insufficient.   I have a copy of the Manton books by Neal and Back coming in the mail from England.   

Photos??  I find it frustrating that photos documenting guns almost never have a ruler in them.   

[Justin Urbantas]

That's a real beauty Dave. I love holster pistols like that. I have parts to build a couple, but those spurred buttcaps worry me.

[Niall]

I'm inspired,Dave.......Like Justin,I have the parts gathered for a couple of dragoon pistols.......I need to make time,hopefully in the New Year before everything kicks off again......I have the locks nearly done,from TRS parts ,European walnut stock blanks ,barrels and all the furniture...Seeing your work should 'spur' me on.

Also got a couple pairs of pistols that could do with cases...I'll have a look at your tutorial....should be a great help.

Niall

[alacran]

Very nice pistol. Your wood to metal fit is very good. Black walnut can be a royal pita to inlet.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Thank you all for the nice comments and interest.  I appreciate them. 

Alacran, you are right about black walnut.  Unless I am building a plain gun or can select a really dense blank, I avoid it as much as I can.  Unfortunately, I decided to use what came with the kit, which I had no control over. I also don't like the typical cold purple-brown color of it.  I always stain it to warm it up.  Of course there are always exceptions.  I remember Mike Brooks mentioning the density, color, and beauty of black walnut wood from NE Iowa.  I would love to see an example. 

Scot, visit www.flintlockcollection.com  Geoff Walker always has great photos of some of the best duelers ever made. 

Justin, spurred butt caps are not that hard because you bend the spurs away from the stock so they don't interfere while inletting the base of the cap.  Then you gradually bend them back and inlet them as you go.  The ends of the spurs have points that burrow into the stock holding the ends in place.  You have to plan for those as you gradually inlet the spurs.  Photos below show the job and how the end cap is anchored.






























dave

[Joey R]

Beautiful work.

[Pukka Bundook]

Dave,

When I see a thread  " English " something or other, I feel a sense of dread, wondering what we will see!
In your case, it is always a great relief, as you get it so Right!
I can and do look at your creations very closely, and am so pleased at what I see.    You have a wonderful eye my friend, and your hands obviously obey them!

Congrats Dave, on such fine work.

[bama]

Wonderful work Dave. It takes true dedication to do work like this and you my friend have it.

[smart dog]

Hi and thanks everyone,
Jim and Richard, your comments mean a lot to me.
I thought some folks might find this link to an original Wilson pistol interesting for comparison with mine:
https://www.cowanauctions.com/lot/mid-18th-century-english-flintlock-holster-pistol-by-richard-wilson-3963797
The flintcock is a poorly chosen replacement and the barrel is brass but the basic style and quality is very similar to mine.

dave

[Daryl]

As always, Dave, impeccable. Then, the time and photo journey into inletting the butt cap, for Justin - well, that's above and beyond and very interesting. Thank you.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Beautiful and precise work Dave.  Without the ID, could easily be taken for an original.  Outstanding.

[john bohan]

What a wonderful talent you are Dave.

[Justin Urbantas]

Thanks for sharing that Dave. I always learn from you. I hold a special place for good English guns. Pure class, beauty and function.