Flintlock Re-do

[SR James]

I posted a couple of pics of this in the thread on lighter AF, so thought I might as well post the whole story.
A couple of years ago, I picked up a used flinter that was pretty good in the basics but that I felt could be improved upon. I got it for less than the price of the parts with an eye toward reworking it. Kind of like a kit in the white.
It had some "Virginia" kind of features to it, so that is the route I went.

The wood was overall too heavy and clunky. The lock was a large Siler. First thing I did was to modify the lock by rounding it and gving it more of an "English" look. (I had already done this in the "before" pic of the lock area).

I reshaped the lock panels, slimmed the buttstock and wrist and added wrist and buttstock mouldings and stepped the wrist. Reworked the cheekpiece and added carving behind it. I also added double set triggers and built and inletted a patchbox. My first attempt at engraving. Got a long way to go!

On the forestock, I filed the plain, round thimbles octagaon and added a skirt to the entry thimble. I slimmed and reshaped the forestock and added ramrod mouldings.

Stain is two applications of aqua fortis. Curl didn't pop as much as I'd have liked but the last photo in the sun shows it's still there. Metal and stock finished to give it a worn but cared for look.

[G-Man]

Cool project.  Sometimes when I know people who are getting into the hobby and looking for a first rifle I keep my out for pieces that are a good deal and have potential for some reworking.  Especially if you get one where they just left some of the hardware surface mounted and you can even change some of those things out.

Great improvement on the gun.  I like it.

Guy

[t.caster]

Holy Cow, hard to believe it's the same rifle! You made a silk purse from a sows ear!
Good early style that I like and the stepped wrist, darker stain and patina is nicely done!
I saw several "befores" at a show last weekend, but wasn't thinking outside the box like you were.

[G-Man]

No offense to the original maker of the piece intended - looks like they laid the foundation for a solid gun, but there is much improvement in the "after".  I think this is a good example of how attention to a few little details with regard to shaping, moldings, etc. can make a huge difference in how the piece ends up, even if you are starting from a pre-carved stock.

Didn't John Bivins say something like "the difference between a longrifle and a plank is about 1/16 of an inch of wood all around" or something to that effect?   

Stepped wrists are not the easiest thing in the world to get right either - this one works nicely.

Guy

[Bill of the 45th]

Nicely done.  That really shows the difference of what can be done, versus what should be done with a precarve stock. Definitely, a step up from what it was.

Bill

[Ed Wenger]

I really like what you've done with that rifle.  It's amazing what some "thinning out" will do to the architecture of a stock.  The step wrist (one of my favorites) is a very nice touch.  I particularly like what you did to the Siler lock to make it more English in appearance.  I've been thinking about doing the same thing, but hadn't gotten to it yet.  I think the lock turned out very nice.  Good representation of a mid-18th Century lock.  Thanks for posting the pics!

       Ed

[G-Man]

I have a "Dale Johnson" Siler that I am getting ready to use on a build and want to reshape the pan - which will also involve reshaping the pan cover and back of the frizzen a bit.  I intend to use files for the pan, but not sure about the frizzen and pan cover - files probably won't work.  Mike Miller has done this on a number of guns and said you can carefully accomplish the frizzen reshaping with a grinder but I've not tried it before.  Did you have any trouble doing this  on yours, since the frizzen was already hardened? Did you use a grinder or other method?  Did you have to reharden the frizzen afterwards?  Just curious - looking for tips.

Guy

[SR James]

Hi Guy.  I did much of the lock reshaping on a 1" belt sander.  Go slow and when you feel heat building up (i.e. your fingers get warm), stop or dunk it in some water to cool it.  Nothing ever got hot enough to lose proper temper.  Final shaping was done with files, sandpaper, etc.