Question about forend caps on half-stock rifles......

[GANGGREEN]

OK, by way of full-disclosure, I'm building this for my son, who's coming home on Thanksgiving break from college in a few days and I'm trying to have it ready so I can give it to him for his 20th birthday.  I had really wanted to pour a pewter forend cap, but I've never done it before, not to mention that time is a concern so I did it as  you see it with the knowledge that I can always go back later and add a horn, pewter or brass cap. 

Anyway, I'm not really asking what was historically correct because there weren't a ton of flintlock half-stocks anyway and I'd presume most of them had poured caps.  What I'm asking is for opinions about the forend with no cap at all.  Does it look OK?  Does it look horrid?  How would you treat the forend on this rifle if it was your build?  (and for what it's worth, I'll be adding a steel under-rib and pipes soon, I don't consider it "finished" yet).

Thanks in advance.

[thimble rig]

For a fantasy rifle it looks ok to me.i think it would look good with a wooden under rib.The cap I don't know if the pewter would  look right with the brass furniture or not.Whad did you finish youre stock with I like it.

[GANGGREEN]

For a fantasy rifle it looks ok to me.i think it would look good with a wooden under rib.The cap I don't know if the pewter would  look right with the brass furniture or not.Whad did you finish youre stock with I like it.

Thanks Thimble Rig.  I seriously considered a wooden under-rib but decided to go with the metal rib at the last minute.  I stained the rifle with LMF nut brown and used two coats of Permalyn on top.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

I looks to me that it needs something there.  I am just not sure what would look best.  You have not left yourself a lot of room so maybe a simple poured pewter nosecap.

Coryjoe

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks Coryjoe.  Although it is a "fantasy rifle" as thimble rig calls it, I find that most of the original half-stock rifles that I've seen did indeed have really short forend caps on them.  I could probably use horn, poured pewter or a plains style brass cap.  I could also add a false wooden end that would be covered by a longer brass forend cap if I chose.  I did it on my last fullstock rifle and it worked fine.

I also have a follow-up question on the poured pewter and I've never seen it discussed on the board before.  A friend of mine asked if I had ever seen anyone color the pewter before they poured it and I said no.  I suggested that I'd guess you may be able to use the powder paint that they use for powder-coating metals to the molten pewter to make any color you wanted.  I could use that to turn the pewter a brass color, a dark color or any other color.  Has anyone ever tried it or have an opinion about whether it would work? 

[Marcruger]

I think that the Tim Crosby (the great horn maker) tutorial on pouring pewter horn tips would be helpful to you.  Try the search engine.  I think a pewter tip on there would look super. 

I like the rifle and think your son will be mighty happy. That Permalyn is what Ed Wenger uses as well, and it is rugged and looks nice. 

Hope this helps.  God Bless,   Marc

[Cory Joe Stewart]

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=37856.0

I recently did a poured cap on a half stock.  I personally would not try and color it, that defeats the purpose of using pewter.

Coryjoe

[GANGGREEN]

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=37856.0

I recently did a poured cap on a half stock.  I personally would not try and color it, that defeats the purpose of using pewter.

Coryjoe

I had already seen this; very nice.

[flinchrocket]

Use a cast nose cap, brass or nickel silver. A shorter one similar to a hawken. Fit it right up against the entry thimble. After you get it fit you can use masking tape along the edge so you can work it down pretty close before the finish gets messed up.
I think that style of nosecap would look the best on that particular rifle.

[Mark Elliott]

A poured nose piece is super easy, but I think a short two piece brass nose piece would be best.   That is just personal taste.   I have done a couple poured pewter nose pieces at customer request, but I never liked them.   I do like poured pewter on canes, but not guns.   I prefer to use the same material as the rest of the mounts.    I can make a brass nose piece in the same amount of time as a fancy poured nose piece.   Another issue is that you can file brass, but have to scrape pewter.   
 

[GANGGREEN]

Thanks for the comments guys.  I'm curious about your comment that you must scrape pewter Mark Elliot.  I always presumed you just rasped/filed it off.  I also tend to agree with you that it should be the same color as the other accessories, which is why I suggested the possibility of coloring the pewter while it was still in a molten stage.  I really love the look of a chevron poured cap (or several other nice designs that I've seen) but I have to agree that it might look odd given that everything else is in brass. 

I'm surprised that nobody has ever tried to color the pewter (or lead or other molten metal that can be poured) or that nobody has an opinion about whether the powdered paints would work for that purpose.

Thanks again for everyone's expertise and opinions.

[flinchrocket]

On pewter I start out with 100 grit drywall sandpaper. It will plug up a file pretty fast.

[retired fella]

Ganggreen,

I agree that it needs something but I don't think it is pewter.  The pewter used with the brass to me would not look right.  Brass would be the way to go.

Personally I use iron fittings and have done two pewter pours, one with a wood inlay.  Nothing to it.  Be sure to plug the ramrod hole real good.

[TMerkley]

I personally think, it would look great the way it is, especially for hunting.  You can always ask your son, what he would like after you present it and the two of you can add the finishing touches to his liking.

[Mark Elliott]

Pewter and lead will clog even a rasp fast.    I have used a course file briefly on pewter, but it makes a mess that is hard to clean out.   You have to use the scrapers you would use on wood to shape and finish the pewter.   If you must use a file,  use an old one that you can discard after.   

[Daryl]

Here's my fantasy rifle. Brass nose cap and curley walnust underrib.

[Mark Elliott]

How do you attach a wood rib; studs and screws?    By the way,  how would one form a hollow metal rib back in the day; die and swage an inch at a time?

[Hungry Horse]

 Wooden underribs often are seen on guns that started out as full stocks. the rib attaches to the barrel with the same tenons, and pins, the original forearm attached with, in most cases. These guns often lack a nose cap.
 I would think the hot pewter would blister the stock finish, but haven't ever poured one on a finished stock.

    Hungry Horse

[smylee grouch]

I didn't have pewter once so I used lead with a strip of silver solder mixed in. It gave it more of a silver look than the chrome shine that pewter does.

[ricktull]

Looks nice! I agree with those that say metal rib/ brass cap

[GANGGREEN]

Well, I went with a metal rib (just soldered it on) but with no cap for the time being.  I'll present it to my son in a couple of days (he's coming home from college on Tuesday, which should give me enough time to brown the  barrel) and with the offer to add a cap of his choosing at any time.  He may like it well enough as is and we'll call it good.