Half-stock TN flint rifle

[Ted Kramer]

Here are some rather poor pictures of a half-stock flint Tennessee rifle I recently completed for a friend.

Chambers Classic Ketland, modified Davis DST's, GMT 7/8"x.50x35.75" barrel, cherry under rib. maple stock, pewter nose cap, trigger guard made from two broken castings to look like a three piece forged guard-two copper rivets are actually holding the rail to the bow and I put a rivet (not visible in the pic)in the rear curl to rail joint to make it look like it holds them together. The white flint in the lock is one of Rich's flints and they make a huge shower of sparks sizzle off the frizzen, ignition is instantaneous.




 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Very nice looking rifle Ted.  The drop at heel and comb are excellent....will be a dandy shooter.  Well made and finished rifle.

[JDK]

Nice clean work.  I especially like the scalloped fore end tip.  J.D.

[Ray Nelson]

Ted,

Nice! Spett's is going to enjoy it immensely and give us more troubles using it against us at future shoots.

Ray

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Very nice and crisp!!!! A standout!!

[wilded]

Very sharp and clean looking, I would be happy to carry such a rifle.  I would love to see a closeup picture of the under barrel rib and attachment.  As someone that wants to learn about building and not having many skills does anyone make and sell a Tennessee halfstock precarved stock or would I have to get a fullstock precarved and cut off a nice chunk of good forestock wood? 

[huckfinn]

That is a beautiful rifle!  I am working on a fullstock Tennessee and this is inspiring!  Is your late Ketland lock as fast as a large siler?  I was thinking about a Durs Egg lock. Good job!

[Ted Kramer]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

wilded-

I didn't get a closeup of the rib. It's attached to the barrel with pins through under lugs and the pipes are inlet and attached to the rib with two small pins each. I tried to make this look as if it was originally a full stock rifle that had the fore-stock removed ahead of the entry pipe, possibly because it had broken or split, then a wooden rib installed onto the under lugs and a nose cap poured. I ended up adding an under lug near each rod pipe and another near the muzzle, It just seemed too flimsy w/o them. I guess if the wooden rib breaks for my friend the warranty will allow replacing it with a metal rib.

Finndog-

The lock I used here is Chamber's Classic Ketland and it's very fast. I've also used the late Ketland  from Davis on Tenn. rifles with good results.

Ted

[Jeremiah]

Really nice looking rifle!

I have some questions about wood underribs.....
How common were they on half-stock rifles in the day?
How are they attached to the barrel?
Will they stand up to regular (but careful) useage?
Is there a significant weight reduction to warrant the extra work?
Jeremiah

[Ted Kramer]

Jeremiah,

Thanks, glad you like the rifle.

I can't answer about how common they were on originals. I'm sure others here know more than I on that subject.

The one I saw on an original, in a museum display in Tennessee long ago, was fastened onto the barrel with what looked like copper rivets that had possibly been staked to the barrel, then peened after passing through holes in the rib. The ram rod was missing on the one I saw but the rifle was in a glass case so I couldn't see it really well.

They will probably hold up just fine. The only danger I can see is if the ram rod should be left hanging a bit past the muzzle and hook on something, it could split the rib.

It is a bit lighter than a metal rib but in the unlikely event that I make another half stock TN rifle, I would probably go with a metal rib. I spent way too much time on making and attaching the wooden one, but then, I am very slow!

Ted