I Need A Project

[Leatherbelly]

 My little Dachs chewed the butt stock on my tradegun stock(just noticed it the other day while measuring it up for a barrel).I think it's cherry wood.Anyways,I think it's hooped! There are little teeth marks on the bottom and a small inclusion or knot popped out on the edge so I'm not happy with this little mutt and what he left me. It might make good firewood to cook this dog over,any recipes appreciated.
  So now I'm looking for a less complicated "kit" for a first build.What I want and what's out there may be a conflict. I own a .62 smooth and a .40 rifled.I want something in between for hunting deer,elk and moose but have issues with recoil(my smoothie has sat idle for months due to bad shoulders).
  I really like long longrifles,46 inch minimum and prefer something at the 48 inch mark, or a tad longer. Does anyone make a kit that I could get my greasy hands on for a winter project? Plain maple or cherry would be fine. Not ready for curly maple just yet.Need a fairly hard chunk as I have limited skills.LOL! and tools.Maybe I'm just dreaming but thought I'd ask. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[George F.]

I believe Jim Chambers makes  a kit with a 46" rifled barrel. Check out his web site.

[Elnathan]

You can get a .50 or .54 rifled barrel for the Jim Chambers Smoothrifle kit. If you want something a little bit different from your fowler, you could get a triggerguard with a grip rail instead of a fowler-type guard - that changes its looks and feel a fair bit, I believe. That is the only 46" barrelled kit I know of.

[ironwolf]

  Patch it up and go with it.  Charactor marks.

  Kev

[Longarm]

I hear dachs make good tacos

[Evil Monkey]

I hear dachs make good tacos

I would think better smokies, just burn the hair off and slap 'em in a bun (uh, we are talking about wiener dogs right?). Well Roy, I'ld send you my Kuntz to finish since I don't have time but, alas, I see you already have a .40 rifled. I'm with ironwolf, finish it the way it is. Like Kev says, adds character and, worst case senario is that it turns out to be $#@* but look at all the fun you had and experience you gained. You can always restock the hardware after. c'mon man, God hates a coward.

[eagle24]

Well the way I see it, I had a finished rifle for an example to build by.  So do you.  I got me a chunk of wood, most of the parts, and materials to make the other parts.  I figure when I have removed everything that is not on my finished rifle I can put a finish on it an call her done!  Seriously, I've found building a rifle to be as much about patience as skill.  If you take it slow enough, you can overcome the lack of skill to some degree.  Lord knows I don't have much either.  I've got more time in staring and thinking than anything.  As far as tools go, I spent a couple hundred bucks on some good chisels and files and upgraded my drill press to a better model that I was wanting anyway.  What I've learned working on the rifle I'm building is priceless.  Most of it was about myself, not gun building.  Course, I'm a long way from done but I tiptoed through most of the steps that were intimidating to me without any major mistakes.  What I'm trying to say is jump in.  You can do it!  Unless this forum goes down.

[bob in the woods]

You have a .40 cal rifle, and your .62 smoothy has gone untouched for a while due to recoil .
Honestly, I would say you should build a .28 ga smooth rifle. You can use it for hunting, both with the round ball and shot. I found that they pattern much better than you would think for their size.
Recoil is much less than the .62 .  M. Brooks  could probably set you up with a kit, or you could build the Chambers smooth rifle kit in 28. I think you would really like it. Both M. Brooks and J. Chambers have the longer barrels available.

[Leatherbelly]

  I've been rolling the 28 rifled by Chambers around for a while. Bob, I seldom shoot shot and if I do,the Penn Fowler should work. The reason I like the smooth rifle is it's long and slim,uses the same lock as the Pa fowler and I can furnish it with iron. Might be a nice rifle in .54 cal. The recoil I  think I can handle,it's holding a heavy gun is where the problem lies.

[Leatherbelly]

Kevin,
 The character marks will show real good!It's right where the buttplate and butt stock join,near the bottom curve.Nasty spot.A small knot got pulled out with the little ba****ds teeth,a small inclusion pulled right out. Even a rooky like me can see it is total f###kup.Ask me if i'm mad,go ahead,ask me!!###&%^%&(!!! And then,he chewed up the freekin knot!
Now what do I do,go out in the yard and pull apart his stools looking for a festering knot? Not in this F'n lifetime.Yep,the Lord hates a coward and i'm big on the list!

[Randy Hedden]

Hey Leatherbelly,

You know it is just the nature of dogs to chew on things? Several years ago one of my dogs got a hold of two scrimshawed horns and chewed them into splinters. Way back in my mountain man days one of my dogs chewed a full coyote hat into rags. More recently my son's new beagle puppy got a hold of my cell phone and chewed it into inoperable pieces of plastic. Somehow I can't blame the dogs, I am the one who left these items out so the dogs could get them.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[Leatherbelly]

Bob,
 I can shoot the smoothie,but for only 20 shots or so. Then I need the meds.or rum. I like rum!
Randy,
 He's not a bad pooch,just a pup that likes to chew when he's bored. I left the shop door open and Sammy was bored and ate my  smoothbore stock! Simple,grrrr.I'll put this one on the back burner for now and look to something new.
 Anyone ever build the Chambers Smooth Rifle? I curious about what it might weigh in a rifled .54? Also,anyone use Riley Smith's rifled barrels? His Longhammock smooth barrels are beautiful. If I could get it to weigh around seven to seven and a half pounds I could shoot it.It won't be a range gun,strictly a hunter.What do you think,am I talking myself into this??
oh,another question,how much lighter is brass than steel? Would it make much difference in overall weight to this long gun using brass furniture over steel?

[Brian Bussard]

LB,

I have the Chambers Smooth Rifle kit, 28 gauge, in a really nice piece of cherry. I just haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet. I hope to have it together in time for spring gobbler season, since I am not going to have it ready for this year's Pennsylvania flintlock season.....

[Larry Luck]

My impression is that this is an unfinished gun.  Defects in the stock can be patched.  I found a bunch of large and small wormholes when I shaped my first rifle.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the same stock material and patched with some scrap maple I had in the shop.  The patchbox side patches took the stain pretty well.  The cheekside piece did not.  I may have gotten the grain orientation off and did not have the experience to better blend the AF.  Here are some photos.






Not perfect, but done in the period on flawed wood and it saved the project.

Larry Luck

[Stonefeather]

Try that classic Chinese cookbook, "50 Ways To Wok Your Dog."

[Elnathan]

Kinda makes me glad we don't have a dog.

Leatherbelly, the Chambers catalog says the smoothrifle weighs approximately 7 1/4 pounds.

[northmn]

I have a golden retriever pup that has chewed on a few things, like gloves and shoe liners that kind of irritates me.  This too shall pass.  One of the beauties of  a trade gun  is that  you can practically cover the things in brass tacks and they call it character.  However if you could fix it up you would lose your excuse to build a new gun (the pup did you a favor).   Considering the variety of game you hunt the decision to go rifle or smooth depends on range and preference.  The 24 gauge is a proven gauge for all manner of big game as is the 54 rifle.  Recoil is another matter. If its big enough to work well on bigger game it likely kicks.  The only way to tame recoil is to build a heavier gun with a wide buttplate that fits and recoils straight back. 

DP

[Leatherbelly]

 I shot the Tenn. .40 all day yesterday on a trailwalk with very little discomfort.I fired about 50 shots. The smoothbore,on the other hand,I can get 25 shots away and I'm done! Now with a hunting rifle,all I need is be able to sight it in and shoot one or two balls to do the killing end to a hunt.Seems recoil is not felt shooting game. Never even hear the shot. I'm going to write Jim tonite.See what i can come up with.Thanks,all.