Thanks everyone for the kind feedback and compliments on the pistol. I had fun designing it and pulling it together. The new owner and I fired it a bunch at some paper plates yesterday afternoon - loads of fun, though it was evident that neither of us are good pistol shots yet! I'll have to see about getting it back for Lewisburg.
Don - my friend distinctly said "gnarly wood", so I figured that chunk laying next to the fireplace would suffice
. He didn't want anything pretty, though I liked how the random bits of figure here and there turned out.
Blaksmth, "Sycamore Maple" is a European maple that was brought over to the states in the 1870s to grow in parks. It is fast growing and often out-competes the native trees in spreading seeds. It's an invasive species here on the New England coast and is sometimes confused for Red Maple. They may call it sycamore maple due to the scaly bark that flakes off similar to a true sycamore.
Andy, I let the barrel rust brown for a couple days without carding, then scrubbed 90% of it off under water, a subsequent diluted application of brass black gives things a mottled grey tone that isn't as shiny as bluing.
Jim, there was a pair of Lowmaster pistols that sold at the recent Julia auction that had the same barrel transition. It visually eases the transition especially if there is a large step between the octagonal portion and the round bit.
Best,
-Eric
