: TN rifle by chuck c.
OK, here we go with all the details. First of all thank you for the positive comments, they're very much appreciated! I have a love affair with Appalachian style rifles. I wanted to build an "honest" Tennessee rifle and IMHO I didn't think that this could be accomplished using a pre-carve or cast parts. I've built three other rifles using pre-carves and although they have served their purpose well they just never did look right. I've was inspired to take on this challenge by the work currently being done by Ken Guy and Ian Pratt.
This was my first attempt at building from a plank and the first time I laid out my own design influenced heavily by Ambrose Lawing and Ron Borron's Lawing. The barrel is a .45 cal rice B weight and the lock is a Chambers Late Ketland. Most everything else was made by hand after a lot of failed attempts. I got a lot of help and advise via emails and relied heavily on information available on this web site. For anyone who may not know it, some of the greatest talent in this craft frequent this web site and they're !@*%&@ good people!
The finish on the rifle is homemade aqua fortis starting with 70% nitric acid diluted three to one with rain water. The barrel channel, lock mortise and trigger mortise were sealed with LVH sealer and the stock was sealed with five thin applications of Tried and True BLO with beeswax. I didn't neutralize the acid I just tried to deplete it by adding steel wool until it would not take anymore.
The ramrod entry pipe is two piece influenced by one I saw Ian do (much better) and one I saw on this site done by Myron Carlson.
I would really like to encourage anyone who has been sitting on the fence about this level of building. The work is challenging, the frustrations are many, but the end rewards are worth it. In the spirit of those who helped me, I'd certainly be willing to offer my limited knowledge and humble advice to any who felt like they wanted it.
Chuck
I forgot to add that I did have the barrel channel and ramrod hole done for me. Twice as a matter of fact. On the first attempt I got the lock inlet when I noticed a check developing from the lock mortise to the wrist. It wasn't visible until some of the surface of the wood was removed. The very fine folks at Dunlap's (Wayne and Daniel) sent me a replacement, absolutely no hassle. Fine folks to do business with!
