Mike Brooks, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours

[Mike Lyons]

I’ve only pinned the barrel and started sinking in the lock plate.  I’m using your tutorial again. Thanks for taking the time to post that.  This is a MBS kit with a 44” 50 caliber B barrel and a Chambers Dale Johnson lock. 






delete my

[stubshaft]

Looking good so far.  Gotta love Mike's tutorial.  It has helped me through a couple of rifles.

[flehto]

Chambers' Dale Johnson lock is a dandy....the lowered tail and curved underside of the lock plate  enables it to be located nicely w/ the wrist.

I see Chambers improved the radius around the perimeter of the lockplate....mine wasn't as neatly done and had to file a chamfer......Fred

[KC]

I'll be watching this build pretty closely. I have that exact kit but haven't started it. I decided my skills aren't quite there yet, there's a lot going on with those rifles. Your last rifle turned out well, I suspect this one will be even better.
K.C.

[Mike Brooks]

What stock is that? I was thinking about the old  days and I recalled gun #3 that I built was indeed a Lehigh that I used a pecertonica precarve. This was probably back in about '82. It didn't look much like a lehigh when it was done.
 I just got done with the wire in the one I'm workin on yesterday, just short of 30"...or was it just short of 24"...lost track. I have some more to put on under the forestock.Brass wire is much more difficult to work with than silver. Now the blasted box finial is popping up..... always something. If it continues to be unruly it's going to get nailed down!

[Mike Lyons]

The stock came from Terry Jo and Ryan with Muzzleloader Builder's Supply.  It's the Herman Rupp kit.  They are making changes to the kit and I got the last 44 B weight stock.  There's a beautiful mineral streak that looks like someone squashed and smeared  a lovebug on the patchbox side.  The patchbox will cover most of it and it appears that when I start taking the wood down it will go away.  I looked at Pecatonica and I debated on a plank.  It just happened that the MBS kit came with several more parts that I can use for the specific rifle I want to build.  It would have been a plank build but MBS contacted me and I committed to purchase about an hour before I heard about the plank.  The cheek piece star is smaller than I want, so I plan to pound out a Silver Eagle.  I used a 1953 quarter for the wrist inlet on my first build.  Have you ever used a silver eagle or silver maple leaf?  They are .999 and .9999 silver.   

[Craig Wilcox]

Afghan, building that same kit and generally enjoying it.  Ryan and Terry Jo turn out a good product.

I am not going to be near as fancy as H Rupp was though.  Need to find someone to engrave the side plate and patch box.  I rekon I can do some of the carving and silver inlay.  Wil not be as good as yours and Rupps!

Drilling for barrel lugs now, then finish inletting the lock. I do like that "Dale Johnson".

Craig

[Mike Lyons]

Drilling for barrel lugs now, then finish inletting the lock. I do like that "Dale Johnson".

Craig

I didn't have to drill any lugs.  I had to cut in some with a hacksaw and triangle file. This barrel had 4 lugs.

Thanks for the kind comments.   I don't know how it is going to turn out.  I've never inlet brass wire and this rifle has a ton of wire on it.  I've never engraved either so I've purchased the Lindsey engraving system to try and learn.  This rifle has some engraving on it.  We will see.

[Mr. Bubbles]

You can buy fine silver sheet metal, with consistent thicknesses.  You don't have to pound it out of minted coins.

Pay particular attention to that Roman nose comb, and belly curves.  Those can be tricky.  They are NOT a consistent curve radius.  They are a changing one depending on where you are on the stock.  You'll have to stare at the originals for quite a while looking at that relationship (between top and bottom) before you see what I mean.  Then it will be a eureka moment.  Same thing goes for the wrist and curve over the breech tang and radius there.  All that stuff goes together to make the whole thing graceful and flowing as far as the architecture is concerned, but, as Eric says, also makes them pretty weird compared to any other LR school.

[Mike Lyons]

Thanks Mr. Bubbles.  I’ve printed out all the KRA pictures of this particular rifle and stare at them throughout the day.  The lock bolts were completed tonight.  I have a little while before the stock. Everything is on hold.  I got a surprise from the wife today  that I financed a trip for us and three of the kids to fly down to Disney World this weekend. I’m having a hard time finding the madder lake pigment in stock anywhere too. 

[Mike Brooks]

The stock came from Terry Jo and Ryan with Muzzleloader Builder's Supply.  It's the Herman Rupp kit.  They are making changes to the kit and I got the last 44 B weight stock.  There's a beautiful mineral streak that looks like someone squashed and smeared  a lovebug on the patchbox side.  The patchbox will cover most of it and it appears that when I start taking the wood down it will go away.  I looked at Pecatonica and I debated on a plank.  It just happened that the MBS kit came with several more parts that I can use for the specific rifle I want to build.  It would have been a plank build but MBS contacted me and I committed to purchase about an hour before I heard about the plank.  The cheek piece star is smaller than I want, so I plan to pound out a Silver Eagle.  I used a 1953 quarter for the wrist inlet on my first build.  Have you ever used a silver eagle or silver maple leaf?  They are .999 and .9999 silver.

Although I generally pound out old silver coins for inlays, the  cheek inlays on these guns are really large and I find if easier to buy a piece of sheet silver  for these. You can buy a thinner piece of silver and solder it to a thicker piece of brass. Also something to consider, silver wire is easier to work with than brass is, at least for me. Brass wire work hardens really quickly and several annealings are needed to get it in the stock, especially if you taper the ends with a hammer. The Lehigh Gurus know far more about these than I do, they are difficult guns to be sure. Having the original on your bench would be really handy. It would be nifty if Kibler would cast one of those stocks out of his Styrofoam stuff. (didn't he do that sort of thing a while ago for some reason?) Then you could see and FEEL the architecture.

[Craig Wilcox]

I would be a customer of Kibler's if he were to do that!

[Mr. Bubbles]

Thanks Mr. Bubbles.  I’ve printed out all the KRA pictures of this particular rifle and stare at them throughout the day.  The lock bolts were completed tonight.  I have a little while before the stock. Everything is on hold.  I got a surprise from the wife today  that I financed a trip for us and three of the kids to fly down to Disney World this weekend. I’m having a hard time finding the madder lake pigment in stock anywhere too.

I got Madder Lake pigment from Kramer pigments on my last Lehigh.  I think it was pretty expensive, like $80 or so for a little vial of the stuff.  In all honesty, I wasn't all that happy with the results I got using it.  It sort of muddied up the curl, and when I tried sanding it out of the crevices it got in to, the varnish gave me a pink hue, which is definitely not what I was after.   This gun I went with ferric nitrate crystals, a concentrated lye over wash (gives it an orange hue) a VERY dilute wash of "Lehigh red" stain, (can't remember who made it though) and now multiple super thin coats of Tried & True Linseed Oil Varnish Oil.  Just 2-3 finger dabs in it will cover a whole stock, so a pint of it should last you about 300 years.  The Varnish oil is frustratingly slow to cure in this humidity (10 days between coats), but it DOES eventually cure.  No mulled pigments for me on this one.  Because the finish curing process is so slow, that's why I left a bunch of engraving to do for after the stock was done and just sitting there waiting for God to do His work.

[Craig Wilcox]

Thanks, Mr. B, Mike, and Afghan.  Lurking and learning.  I did get fine silver for the inlay strips - knew how hard it would be to do in brass, and elected to use the silver.
My barrel is octangular to round taper, so I cut in one lug, but silver soldered the other two lugs on.  While I was at it, I soldered on the sterling front sight as well.
As I have never tried to cut low-relief C volutes, etc., OR engrave anything, this is all going to be a grand experiment!  Don't know how close I will be to what Herman Rupp made, but I will give it my best shot.  Hope he's not rolling over in his grave with what AfghanVet and I are doing - couple old war dogs worrying at this maple and steel bone!
Ryan and Terry Jo are pretty good long distance advisors.
Craig

[RockLock92]

I bought one of their pre carve Lehigh stocks and it’s worked out well so far

[Mike Lyons]

I got Madder Lake pigment from Kramer pigments on my last Lehigh.  I think it was pretty expensive, like $80 or so for a little vial of the stuff.  In all honesty, I wasn't all that happy with the results I got using it.  It sort of muddied up the curl, and when I tried sanding it out of the crevices it got in to, the varnish gave me a pink hue, which is definitely not what I was after.   This gun I went with ferric nitrate crystals, a concentrated lye over wash (gives it an orange hue) a VERY dilute wash of "Lehigh red" stain, (can't remember who made it though) and now multiple super thin coats of Tried & True Linseed Oil Varnish Oil.  Just 2-3 finger dabs in it will cover a whole stock, so a pint of it should last you about 300 years.  The Varnish oil is frustratingly slow to cure in this humidity (10 days between coats), but it DOES eventually cure.  No mulled pigments for me on this one.  Because the finish curing process is so slow, that's why I left a bunch of engraving to do for after the stock was done and just sitting there waiting for God to do His work.

I ordered the dark red madder lake from Kremer but I got an email that it was on backorder. It’s more expensive than the original madder lake that’s $80 but I wanted the dark red and you can buy it in smaller amounts.  I plan to mix it with Waterlox.   I’ve really come to like marine  Waterlox.  The red tent was a favorite with WWII rifles when I used to put them together from scratch.   There was a Chestnut Ridge stain that lots used.  Dark brown leather die would create a red tint too but it was used on walnut,  not expensive figured maple.