Author Topic: Does anyone make custom Percussion, hooked, English bar lock style breech plugs?  (Read 8227 times)

Offline Rolf

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I was at the Norwegian military museum at Akershus fort in Oslo today. There I admired a swivel breech pistol made in the mid 1700 by the fort's gunsmith Ian Brucker. They also had pictures of a beautiful swivel breech percussion pistol made by him.  He had used what looked like percussion, hooked, English bar lock style breech plugs. I am thinking of using the swivel mechanism Runar made for me, for a percussion pistol pistol inspired by Brucker's design. 

Where can I get two custom made lefthanded percussion, hooked, English bar lock style breech plugs for 3/4" barrels?
TOTW has this style plug, put they are right handed and the smallest is for 15/16" barrels. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartList.aspx?catID=14&subID=143&styleID=517

This is the flintlock made by Brucker. The photos of the pictures of the percussion pistol came out as just a blurr. 


Best regards

Rolf
« Last Edit: March 13, 2011, 11:09:41 PM by Rolf »

Offline Rolf

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Another option would be to use a drum. The smallest drum i can find is 7/16". Would this be safe to use on a 3/4" oct-round barrel?

Best regards

Rolf

Offline Jim Kibler

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That is a beautiful pistol, Rolf.  I would put the date of manufacture a little earlier than 1700 based on style alone.  It's in the French taste and follows much of the Thuraine et Le Hollandois style.  This went out of favor in France by 1660-1670.  It may have hung on in other parts of Europe a little longer, but not until 1700 in my view.  "Master French Gunsmiths"  by Stephen Grancasy shows design prints documenting this style.  Also Torstn Lenk's "The Flintlock" is a great source for learning more about this and other 17th century French gunmaking styles.  Am I reading correctly that you are suggesting the same man, Ian Brucker, made this pistol and a percussion pistol?  This isn't possible.

As to your question....  I would plan on having to make these parts.  You may find something that is close, but it will likely not be exactly as you need. 


Naphtali

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. . .
Where can I get two custom made lefthanded percussion, hooked, English bar lock style breech plugs for 3/4" barrels?
TOTW has this style plug, put they are right handed and the smallest is for 15/16" barrels. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartList.aspx?catID=14&subID=143&styleID=517
. . .

Rolf
Dennis McCandless of McC Custom Machine in Las Cruces, NM is an excellent choice.

Offline Rolf

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Jim and Naphtali, thanks for your replies.

The problem with McCandless is that he requires that the barrels and lock is sent to him. This is to complicated and expensive when you live in Norway. It looks like I'll either have to use drums or make a flintlock swivel breech.

Regarding the swivel breech pistols, according to the display at the museum, Ian Brucker is supposed to have made both the flintlock and the percussion swivel breech pistol. I've ordered the museum's book on the forts gunsmiths and see if I can find more information.

Best regards
Rolf

Offline T*O*F

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Rolf,
As an alternative, could you salvage a couple of breeches from the left side tubes of two scrap double barrels and modify them for your application.  The left side breeches usually have considerable extra metal on them because the right side breech fits inside of the left one.

I recently was given a vhs tape done by an English gunsmith on how to make a custom breech for an English target rifle.  He started with a 2" piece of round stock to make a 1-1/4" breech.  He turned the threads to screw it on the barrel, then milled the hook and flats.  Then he literally carved the snail and fence out of the metal with die sinker chisels and files.  It didn't look like fun.
Dave Kanger

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Offline Ben I. Voss

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T*O*F, how is the receiver for the hook formed in the standing breech? Is it forged?

Offline T*O*F

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Ben,
Unfortunately he didn't demonstrate how that was done.  It wasn't a "show all" video, but rather just selected operations.  A shame!!  I know how to do a simple hook, but can't figure out how they did those complex ones that had the tip of the hook recessed in a pocket in the standing breech.
Dave Kanger

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Online Dave B

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Ben,
I made a hooked breach for a rifle once by using a section of Iron channel. The section is removed wide enough to match up to the width of the barrel and the oposit side of the channel is cut off leaving enough for a tang. After squaring up the hole in the standing breach tangs face plate I heated the bejesus out of it and forged it on to the hooked filed detail on the barrel. It only took a couple heats to get a very nice recessed indent for the barrel lug. It worked very sweetly.
Dave Blaisdell

Offline Jim Kibler

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on the original hooked breech English pieces I've examined, the receiver for the hook was filed and chiseled in.  Much of it can be filed, but the radius a the top must be chiseled since it stops directly under the tang. 

Rolf, perhaps you could find someone to thread bars to fit the barrel and then make the plug you would like yourself.  Sure, it might not be easy, but I'd bet you will have success.

Offline Rolf

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Jim,  I got the book on the forts gunsmiths today. Mystery solved. Jan Brucker made the pistols as flintlock swivel breechs and some of them were converted to a percussion around the mid 1800.  Which means the pistol were about 200 years old when converted!!! The book has a picture of one of these conversions. In this case it look like they used drums.

Best regards
Rolf


« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 01:11:07 PM by Rolf »

Offline Jim Kibler

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Thanks Rolf.  I had the thought that perhaps the pistol was a percussion conversion.  I appreciate the photos of the 17th century pistols you included.  No period of gun work interests and excites me more than this.  I'll bet the more you dig into it, the more it will interest you as well. 

Jim