Morning all. Kind of new here, been lurking/ reading for a long time. So after almost 2 years I’ve finally completed this build. It started out as a desire to build an Allentown-Bethlehem area rifle. This would be my second Flinter build and 4th overall (minus a couple of stock redos). Learning occurs on each one and eventually I’ll get better. This post is part lesson's learned that other new builders can hopefully avoid.
I quickly realized that this style would be difficult to “get right” but drove ahead undaunted (well, maybe a little). I build rifles for myself to use so any screw ups are mine to live with, and boy did this build try my patience. While I collected all the parts, I was looking at all the pictures I could get (RCA, internet, other builders familiar with Lehigh rifles) and noticed some characteristics to incorporate into the build that are common on these rifles. I realized it would be difficult to get the double arc on the bottom with a precarve but also noticed that some from the area didn’t necessarily have the double arc. Things I decided to incorporate were the arrowhead side plate, “v” shaped fore end, open end nose cap, incised carving, the "fleur de li" shaped patch box, and noticed the TG had a common shape as did some of the butt plates. I didn’t get the top of the butt plate inlet correctly because of the precarve dimensions, so I did the best I could. I also ran into the issue of the butt plate being a bit thin on the inside corner when it was filed down. Inletting a small piece of wood in the corner helped, but didn't completely fix the unsightly gap.
This build really tried my patience. I almost scrapped the stock after a MAJOR screw up but decided to continue and finish it as a learning experience. I broke one trigger guard bending it because I didn’t anneal it well enough, bought a second that was too big, and almost ruined the third because when annealing it I put it in the water at an angle and too slow. It actually warped it! But I got it straightened out as best I could. It took me twice to get the nose cap right and it’s still a little rough. And when reassembling it last night I realized somehow my lock plate was slightly bent. The tail end was sticking proud of the inlet. So I had to carefully straighten it. I think in my finishing I was a little heavy handed on the lock panels and took them down a hair too much. Another lesson learned.
I cut and inlet the butt plate but realized too late that it was at too extreme of an angle (it would have slipped off my shoulder under recoil). So I cut that section off and flattened it as best I could. I still had the piece I cut off prior to cutting the length of pull (the precarve came with something like 16" of pull) trued it up (so I thought) glued them. That's when I realized I had a gap and the wood glue was showing. One of the pieces was apparently a bit higher in the middle than the sides. One Lesson learned is get better at a plane or something to make things truer. I also had to bend the butt plate to a better angle for it to work. It was at this point I put it away and didn't touch it again for almost 6 months.
The glue gap was enough that I knew it would show. So I tried inletting a small piece all the way around. I know some of the old guns had repairs with pieces inlet. It'd difficult to match up grain, especially on a piece that's long like that.
Specifics:
- 42” GM barrel, B weight .50 cal.
- Chambers Golden Age lock.
- Pecatonica River Lehigh precarve (only barrel and ramrod channels cut). I can’t remember the grade of wood; grade 3 I think.
- Butt plate and trigger guard from MBS.
- trigger (Davis), rear sight, pipes, and patchbox from TOTW.
- Home made front sight, toe plate, side plate, nose cap, PB release and spring.
The PB release was a bugger! All I had was a few pictures available to decide how best to do it. It works, that’s all I can say. The release was made from one piece of steal; the head formed, the shaft cut, ground and filed thinner, then heated and bent numerous times to get the right angles. It’s driven into the wood rather than screwed. I had actually acheived a perfect angle on the release head (to meet the angle of the butt plate) then wasn't paying attention and bent the bar the wrong direction to make the bend in the release. I had to do some careful finessing to fix that. The front sight is the barly corn type described by Jack Brooks.
Finish:
This was my first time scraping and I’ll need a lot more practice to get better. Anyway, I sanded the stock to 220 and for the next three whiskerings I scraped using those glass slides. I had read that scraping helps clean up the grain more and it did on this. I used an AF stain made from Ferric Nitrate crystals dissolved in denatured alcohol. In my tests on the scrape wood provided with the kit the difference between the crystals in water and alcohol was night and day. The stock was sealed with a recipe for Violin Finish supplied by Eric Kettenburg years ago in MuzzleBlasts. It’s made from heated alcohol and seedlac. The mixture was thinned considerably, the stock flooded once, allowed to soak and wiped off (this stuff dries FAST). I buffed it back with 0000 steel wool because it got a bit think in places to even it out then burnished with a piece of brown paper bag; this was repeated for two more thinned coats. I’ve got about three hand rubbed boiled linseed coats (yes, I boiled it as per instructions I got from DPharris, not used straight out of the bottle). I’ve settled on leaving the barrel in the white…..for now. I fire blued the screw heads for a little contrast.
This is the most carving I have ever attempted. Overall I think it went well. The long parallel lines along the fore stock didn’t turn out as straight as I wanted. The lines started out straight but with cleaning them up they got wavy. I think the liberty head (or whatever it’s called) in front of the TG turned out well though. I’m kind of proud of that.
Lesson's learned for new/ future builders:
1) The obvious one is measure twice (more if needed) cut once. Along with that look at ALL you angles, even how the butt plate will contact you shoulder. My LOP was correct, I just didn't think enough about teh BP contacting my shoulder.
2) Don't get heavy handed when doing your final sanding, especially around your lock area.
3) Anneal your brass early and often. If you anneal, make a bend and it's not quite correct, do yourself a favor and anneal again. It doesn't take that long. To go along with that, have more than enough water in your bucket that you can dunk the piece full length without worry of melting a hole in the bottom or side. Brass WILL warp and ruin your day. It WILL also break.
4) When bending metal pieces, especially on a release that has taken you along time to make, think though you steps and the way you will be bending things. Mark you piece so you know what side to bend which way.
5) Be careful not to get too heavy handed with peening rivets over, especially on soft brass. I have some dings in the nose cap that I couldn't get out without some heavy filing that would have ruined the piece. Be accurate with your hammer blows.
6) Finally, go slow. That can't be said enough. I was right after my major mishap to put it aside for a while to calm down, think my next step though, and get my courage back. If it takes two years then so be it. I know you want to get it done in a week, but you may be hurting the project in the long run if you push too hard.
AS ALWAYS, CRITIQUES AND SUGGESTIONS FROM YOU FINE BUILDERS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME AND TAKEN TO HEART. Some of you may have seen this on another board, appologies for having to look twice.
It was kind of over cast today so the pics may not be that great.
Enough rambling, time for picutres:
