.32 half stock Ohio I'm building.

[Frozen Run]

To his credit, Don has enrolled in Brooks and Stoners build from a blank class a Friendship.

Mike and Wayne's classes are probably the best investment a student of any level could make, I learned more in 5 days than I had in years of stumbling around my basement. The next set of classes can't come soon enough.

I am also very fortunate to have a friend like John who has a passion to pass his knowledge down, his generosity knows no bounds. Before meeting him, my inlets looked like they were hogged out with a beaver's tooth, now he scolds me for making them too tight.

One hour with someone like Mike or Wayne or Jeff or John is more valuable than owning every book, dvd, and tool in the world.     

[Frozen Run]

Don started another rifle before, not finished, BUT, it is nothing compared to this one.

Contextually, John is referring here to my precarve, and I think it was the 3rd or 4th iteration of that monstrosity he saw. The Brooks and Stoner class gun is my second blank build and it is coming along nicely.   

[Frozen Run]

Wow, that's a good looking rifle, do you know what the final weight will likely be? I have an original walnut half stock in .34 caliber with Goulcher lock. The crescent butt, trigger guard and extended lock panel look very similar to your rifle.

If you PM me your email I will send you pictures of mine, if you are interested. Can't seem to post them here.

Jeff

It's approaching its final weight now and the best I can tell it'll weigh hardly anything, I don't own a scale though. Picking out parts was easy, I just grabbed a bunch of parts and walked into the museum adjacent to the main salesroom at the Log Cabin. Matched them up with the guns on the wall. Posting images is easy, you can pm me if you have questions about it and I will walk you through it. I'd rather you post your Ohio gun in the thread so that everyone benefits from seeing it. Thank you sharing! 

[bnewberry]

My barrel width is 7/8 and 36 inches sounds like a good length.

I talked to my friend John and he said a common length of barrel for Ohio halfstocks was between 33"-36". He used a 45 cal 7/8 straight barrel that he cut down to 33" for an Ohio halfstock he finished up last year and that thing is sweet! Balances like a dream and not nose heavy at all. Your 40 is going to be slightly heavier since the bore is smaller but I don't think you'd notice it much at 33", that is the direction I would go if I was concerned about it being too nose heavy. My next Ohio is going to be a 45, 7/8, cut down to 33".

Also, save the cutoff if you do decide to shorten the barrel.   

Thank you gor checking with your friend on the recommended barrel length.I appreciate it! As for the cut off…. Perhaps a pistol?

[heinz]

Frozen Run, here is an example of the other side of Ohio rifles.  This is a Griffiths and Seibert half stock built for Picket bullets. around 1848 in Cincinnati. About a 38 inch long 40 cal. barrel and weighs 10-12 pounds.  This barrel is 1 1/8 inch across the flats and marked Remington on the bottom.  It shoots round ball fine in cross stick matches.  My oldest son has it up in Minnessota so I cannot check the measurements.

I wondered if John G was mentoring you. Cannot believe he did not have you use some original parts.

[Gaeckle]

Frozen Run, here is an example of the other side of Ohio rifles.  This is a Griffiths and Seibert half stock built for Picket bullets. around 1848 in Cincinnati. About a 38 inch long 40 cal. barrel and weighs 10-12 pounds.  This barrel is 1 1/8 inch across the flats and marked Remington on the bottom.  It shoots round ball fine in cross stick matches.  My oldest son has it up in Minnessota so I cannot check the measurements.

I wondered if John G was mentoring you. Cannot believe he did not have you use some original parts.

Old parts are getting harder to find. If someone is building with old parts they should have some experience under their belt. When using new stuff and there's a mistake made, it's easier to swap out one part for another

[Frozen Run]

As for the cut off…. Perhaps a pistol?

I'm not entirely sure but I think pistol barrels use a faster twist than rifle barrels so maybe not a pistol barrel but maybe someone else can fill us in on that regard? Of course I don't think twist rate matters on a derringer so you could make a brace of derringers with it somewhere down the road when you become incredibly experienced at building.

I'm not sure if you ever cut a dovetail into a barrel but you're going to need to cut three of them for this one, and you can go up and down cutting dovetails on that cutoff until you get it perfect before attempting it on your barrel. Or if you wanted to get into engraving, a cutoff is excellent to practice on. There's all sorts of uses for it and I'm sure you'll discover even more, I don't throw anything away when building a gun. Any bit or bob of metal goes into a coffee can and the wood gets put off to the side. You may be three projects down the road and discover you need some tiny bit of metal to make an adjustment for something and then it becomes a hassle or you have to cut into a fresh piece or you may get lucky and pull exactly what you need from your coffee can of bits and bobs.   

 

[Frozen Run]

heinz, John also knows how much I worry and obsess over things so I don't think the option even crossed his mind. This original parts has survived for almost two hundred years and now it's in my hands? Yeah, no chance he was going to put himself through that.

Thank you for posting the pictures of your family's original Ohio rifle. That is one sweet rifle, very classy. Many guns from all eras and regions look very light and manageable until you pick them up, it's a testament to the builder's prowess. I wonder how many people have picked that rifle up in the past thinking it's just like my granddaddy's Winchester until they shoulder it? I remember the first fine modern build rifle I ever picked up when buying precarve number one (deceased) and being told I could make something like this one day when I get good. I picked it up quickly and said "holy heck, people shoot these?" It looks like it weighs 5 pounds? I think I was told it weighed 15 pounds but the builder expertly employed every trick in the book to make it look much lighter than it actually was.

It's also interesting as it highlights how someone who can do good tight inlets, a foundational skill in gun building, and has some understanding of stock shaping can go in and make a really nice rifle. That original just looks attractive, and you don't need elite level carving or engraving skills or custom parts to make it...hot dang, I think I just described myself, I may have just found my next project.

[Frozen Run]

I did a number of things on this build since last I posted. I adjusted the cheek piece as Mike advised, I poured a pewter nosecap, plugged the hollow rib end with pewter, installed the pipes, did a little stock shaping, countersunk the buttplate screws and got the buttplate dialed in more,  slotted the barrel lug, some stock shaping, sanding, polishing metal parts, draw filed the barrel a good bit, installed the sights, probably some other stuff I'm forgetting about.



That sideplate panel still needs a good bit of shaping to match the lock side so I'm working on that, and there is a bit more shaping, filing and sanding before it's ready for finish. The sights need adjusted some, the rear sight developed a bit of built in Kentucky windage when I was drifting it in somehow, and the front sight needs lowered a bit as there's a slight gap between the blade and the barrel. And I need to install the nipple.

When I was cutting the dovetails in for the sights just now, I snagged the tang and it bent straight down and snapped off right at the countersink for the tang bolt. I didn't even notice it at the time because there was such a wispy bit of metal there at the break. It was a ragged break and I don't believe there is enough of a bearing surface for the two halves to braze or solder it together?

How would you guys fix the broken tang? I'm guessing I need to cut and file flat the remaining tang and attach a piece of donor steel, reshape the tang and inlet it back in? I'd rather not have to time a brand new breech plug if I can avoid it?

Let me know what you think, thank you!

[kutter]

If the broken piece and the remaining tang piece fit back in place nicely, you can clamp them in that position with another flat piece of steel bridging across the break on the bottom surface of both.

Hi Temp Hard Solder the entire assembly together.

Clean up the soldering. Then recut the tang screw hole and countersink.

You'll have to inlet the stock for the extra flat piece of reinforcement steel used in the repair.

A small line of Hard Solder will show where the break is most likely. The better the orig fit, the less it will show.

Go a step further to hide the Hard solder line...now file down the top surface of the tang it's entire length from the edge of the bbl breech to the back end.
It doesn't have to be deep, no more than .010 is fine unless you plan on drastic rehaping of the contour later..
Now overlay a piece of flat shim stock steel on it and soft (sweat)solder in place.
Trim to the edges of the orig tang.
Drill the tang bolt hole up from the bottom through the new cover.
Then recut the countersink through from the top.

Yes it's work, it's actually restoration type work, but you don't have to fit a new plug.

Welding a new piece on and reshaping to fit the inletting is another option that won't show a repair.
Not every one welds.

[stan57]

Here is the Ohio half stock I am building...

As shown in your first pic, the slenderness of the fore end, and the slimness and shape of the wrist as it flows from the back of the lock panel down to the tip of the comb and the flute, and the transition along the stock to the buttplate -  this rifle really appeals to me. A future project... maybe...

[Daryl]

Nice crown.



My .32's muzzle.

[Gaeckle]

Ouch! That's a definite hurt.

I think the best way is to refit a new plug, time it up and make a paper pattern from the old plug, glue the pattern onto the new plug (while it is in the barrel) and cut and file it to shape. If you take this approach leave the new one just a smidge larger, then refit it to the stock, and you can do that

[P.W.Berkuta]

I make most of my half-stocked Ohio rifles with up to .45 caliber and my Plains rifles up to 58 caliber barrels. Barrel length vary from 32" to 36". Your lock panel is fine the way it is.