Another "Virginia" rifle...

[Ed Wenger]

     Thought I'd share a few photo's of a rifle I recently completed.  This is from Dave Keck's (Knob Mountain Muzzleloading) Virginia pattern.  I modified the stock by creating a step wrist and by removing some wood from the butt and wrist area.  I also used Dave's brass furniture, great stuff!  The barrel is a 42" Rice, "B" weight, .50 cal, finished with Super Blue.  The lock is one of Jim Chambers wonderful Virginia locks, polished, and also finished with Super Blue.  The patch box is kinda/sorta based on a Valley patch box.

     The walnut stock had a small bark inclusion at the tang where the carving is.  I went and carved a shell anyway, thinking it would probably chip out, which of course it did.  I didn't try to "fix" the "blemish", thinking it added a little character to the rifle.  The wood has 4 coats of home made boiled linseed oil, with no stain.

           Ed Wenger


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[James Rogers]

Very nice! If you are going to be at the Winchester show this year bring it by the Stonewall Creek tables. I would love to see it and study that tang carving.

[roundball]

Looks great...and a good looking piece of Walnut is a nice change from maple.

[Bill of the 45th]

Great rifle Ed.  Dave's parts sets are top drawer, and his stocks are a dream as well.

Bill

[B Shipman]

Good looking rifle in every way.

[Leatherbelly]

  My Oh my!  That is nice!

[A.Merrill]

    Now that is something to be proud of. Congratulation    AL

[Knob Mountain]

Ed,

Another wonderful gun.  I was worried about that bark inclusion on the wrist but you covered it well.   Hope to see it at Winchester this weekend.

Thanks for the pics.

[pathfinder]

@!*% Fine!

[bdixon]

Nice dark rifle.  Love it.

Brett.

[ken]

Nice rifle! I like the clean lines and the choose in lock.NICE GUN

[Long John]

Ed,

That is one HONEY of a rifle!  I really love your carving and engraving designs.  They look original.  What sources are you using for inspiration?

Best Regards,

JMC

[Ed Wenger]

Thanks guys... 

James, I'll be at the Winchester show.  Look forward to seeing you and Troy.

John, the design on the trigger guard bow is my design.  The carving behind the cheek piece is based on a picture I picked up somewhere.  I can't remember where, I have notebooks full of them...  The tang is the typical shell you've seen on a hundred "Virginia" rifles, this one being inspired from a Fowler owned by Wayne Dunlap.  The scrolls on the side were just something I came up with, trying to tie in with the cheek carving.

Thanks again.

                     Ed

[Tim Crosby]

 Great rifle, I am a fan of Walnut. Nicely done.

 Tim C.

[Dennis Glazener]

Ed,
Great looking rifle, love the finish and the carving.

Hope to see you at Winchester, we will drive up for the day on Friday.
Dennis

[Kermit]

I've seen other steel finished with SuperBlue and like what I see. How did you use it? How many "coats?" Steel wooled? Inquiring minds...

[rich pierce]

Your carving on walnut is terrific.  It can be very challenging.  This rifle has it all for me.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Ed, you have created a strikingly beautiful rifle.  Your fine carving and finish are a perfect match.
I'm hesitant to play the Devil's advocate, but there are a couple of areas where I think you could have been a little more dramatic or even aggressive.  The first is in the execution of your engraving.  Though yours is very fine and well done, I think it lacks excitement.  A few deeper, bolder cuts would go a long way to making the engraving, and even your delicate carving, a lot more interesting.  I love the warmth and depth of the finish on your walnut.  The hickie in the shell is just the first of many that will come along if you use the rifle as it should be used.
Lastly, I'd like to see polished or burnished brass that is new and bright, sans simulated tarnish.  That will too, come with use and looks a lot more natural.
I like the rifle very much.

[PIKELAKE]

Well Sir, that is a wonderful rifle from end to end. The stepped wrist sets it apart in a great way. It is nice to see a walnut  stock and it is finished very well. Only boiled linseed oil eh? She's a beaut.

[G-Man]

Ed - nice work.  The carving behind the cheek looks to me to have a similar feel to the "Samuel Wilson" (ca 1780 Rockbridge/Augusta) rifle that Wallace has displayed at many shows.  I like the patchbox a lot.

Guy

[Ed Wenger]

Dennis, see ya there!  Stop over at Wayne Dunlaps table, I hope to have 3 or 4 rifles there...

Kermit, the barrel was draw filed, sanded with 220 emery cloth (I didn't go crazy with it), then one coat of Super Blue.  I usually rub it back with some very fine steel wool and a small amount of WD-40.  This time I rubbed it back with a very fine Scotch Brite pad, with a little WD-40.

Taylor, thanks very much for your comments and insight, I really appreciate it.  I feel I'm just starting to get my arms around this engraving business and thoughts like yours help greatly.  I was going for more of a Colonial look, vs the more refined European engraving.  Having said that, I agree with you, aggressive cuts here and there would enhance the effect.  
I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree on the brass...  I know a lot of guys have strong feelings one way or the other on that, kind of a blond / brunette thing, lol, but I like the overall effect...  

Thanks again to everyone.

             Ed

[bgf]

I don't have any right (or desire) to argue with Taylor, but I like the subtle reserve in both the engraving and the carving -- looks more original that way to me.  I have noticed that some contemporary rifles (from people not on this site of course) sometimes seem to go overboard especially with the width and depth of the engraving cuts but also with the density of engraving.  Same with carving.  Yours appears unforced and "natural". 

I'm curious about the buttstock shaping, especially the buttplate -- is it intended to be a sort of transition piece between periods and/or areas or is it based on an original that I haven't figured out yet?

[Ed Wenger]

bgf,

     The rifle isn't based on any particular longrifle.  More than anything, it's kind of my interpretation of what one style of rifle coming out of the Piedmont area might represent.  I took the step wrist from the "Klette" rifle out of Stevensburg.  Originally I had planned on using a patchbox design from the Winchester area, Lauck or Sheets influence.  Then decided to do something a little more "Valley" oriented.  So it has some Germanic, English, Piedmont and Valley attributes.  Again, something that might have come out of the Piedmont area.

               Ed

[Tom Currie]

Very nice Ed. I like the delicate hand on the artwork.

[bgf]

Ed,
Thanks, I couldn't figure out what I was missing -- but it was all there .  I thought I saw a hint of Davidson in the patchbox, despite the daisy.  I really like the rising/setting sun motif over the hinge.