Author Topic: 1770's Berks County Rifle (Read 15023 times)

tallbear · « **on:** February 17, 2011, 07:54:29 PM »

Finally got around to takeing some pics of the Berks County rifle I finished up a little while ago.Walnut stock,Getz Haga profile barrel and Reeves Goring BP and TG.I made the lock from one of Jim Chambers Gunmakers kits.The walnut stock was scraped,stained with aqua-fortis and finished with spar varnish.As always all critiques are welcome!!!!

Mitch Yates

Tim Crosby · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2011, 08:04:46 PM »

Nice work Mitch, Good looking rifle. Sharp clean lines.

Tim C.

smylee grouch · « **Reply #2 on:** February 17, 2011, 08:53:44 PM »

Very nice rifle and the lock looks great too. Smylee

greybeard · « **Reply #3 on:** February 17, 2011, 08:54:43 PM »

Very nice indeed

rich pierce · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2011, 08:56:07 PM »

Looks great- nice engraving on the patchbox too. AQF on walnut looks great; did it redden it up?

smshea · « **Reply #5 on:** February 17, 2011, 09:00:36 PM »

Very Nice!

Stophel · « **Reply #6 on:** February 17, 2011, 09:02:07 PM »

Very cool! I think that is the most beautiful brass patchbox design of all of them.

t.caster · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2011, 09:53:22 PM »

No critique...just praise! Beautiful, clean workmanship!

Jim Kibler · « **Reply #8 on:** February 17, 2011, 10:06:11 PM »

I like it Mitch! It's a good looking gun. Your getting better with each one. My only critique would be the cheek piece angle and placement. I expect you made it like an original you were modeling the gun after, but if it were dropped a touch and the angle of the top edge were changed a touch it would be more visually appealing to me. If you made it like an original and that was your intent, I understand that as well. Overall a very good job!

billd · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2011, 10:24:49 PM »

Mitch, Great looking gun. Please tell me how you used AQF on walnut. My one and only attempt turned the walnut black.

Thanks,
Bill

C Wallingford · « **Reply #10 on:** February 17, 2011, 10:26:00 PM »

Very nice, Mitch. Keep up the good work.

wetzel · « **Reply #11 on:** February 17, 2011, 11:38:45 PM »

Wow, that makes my work look very childish. Excellent work, crisp and clean.

M Tornichio · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2011, 03:55:57 AM »

Nice rifle Mitch.
you did a very nice job finishing the rifle.
Marc

rallen · « **Reply #13 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:25:00 AM »

I had the pleasure of handling that gun at Lewisburg. It's a very nice handling rifle. The inletting is very crisp which is hard to do in walnut. The pictures really show the burl of the wood that artificial lighting hides. Wonderful rifle.
Ryan

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #14 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:27:10 AM »

Wonderful finish to everything..very nice lines. The cheekpiece is a little disconcerting but it may be the angle of the photo?
You have great Touch!!

bp · « **Reply #15 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:35:52 AM »

Mitch:
I assume this is based on the interesting rifle Shumway illustrated in March 2000.
I agree with Stophel that this is one of the ne plus ultra in cool patch boxes. When I did a bit of digging, the bellflower was common in Hepplewhite (sic) furniture. Don't know if that was the influence or would help date.

The original was crisply done and yours is as well. I'd say you moderated the butt architecture and awkward cheek piece from the original well. Better carving. Have always wanted to see an interpretation of the original.
Believable rifle. Very nicely done.

Bruce

whitebear · « **Reply #16 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:58:28 AM »

Nice rifle Mitch, great work on a piece of scrap wood.

Glenn · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2011, 05:20:44 AM »

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL creation !!!

I love Roman-nosed buttstock designs. This is one of the few designs that I have always wanted to build for my personal rifle. I can't seem to decide upon a Berks or an Armstrong. Of course, the Armstrong isn't the Roman-nosed type.

You did an excellent job !!!

D. Bowman · « **Reply #18 on:** February 18, 2011, 05:24:33 AM »

Very nice Mitch,outstanding patch box!!

tallbear · « **Reply #19 on:** February 18, 2011, 05:46:04 AM »

Thanks guys for all the kind words.It is based on the gun George Shumway featured in March 2000 an early rifle that I've always liked.

Rich
The Aqua -fortis turned the walnut darker and a golden brown with some red undertones.It also made the curl stand out a little more.The Walnut while it was a nice piece seems kind of lifeless without the staining.

Bill D
My method for staining was apply aqua-fortis,blush with heat ,apply a second time and blush.I then neutralize with ammonia.The color will differ with different mixes of aqua fortis.I have several different batches,some I've made and some given to me.The batch that was given to me makes a much darker brown without the nred undertones.Whakon bays mixture made the stock almost black.This particular batch I made myself.One observation that I've made and I'm not sure that it's true(but I belive it is) is the temperature that the Aqua fortis reaches during brewing affects the color shades you get in use.This batch was never allowed to get real hot.

Jim
The cheekpiece was based on the original.And while looking at it in real life it is not quite as awkward looking as the picture shows due to angle and lighting the more I look at it I agree.Especially dropping it a little on the top rear would have looked better and still been true to the original.Thank you for pointing that out.Your perspective has always been a big help to me!!

Thanks again guys!!!!

Mitch

wattlebuster · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2011, 04:05:37 AM »

Very nice work. I like the lines

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Author Topic: 1770's Berks County Rifle (Read 15023 times)

greybeard

billd

wetzel

D. Bowman