My first build!

[burningprince]

would like to submit pics for comments and criticism. This is my first muzzleloader i have built.so fire away!

[Model19]

I hope my first one comes out that good!

[Tom Currie]

Pretty darn nice first build. Would've liked to see that trigger guard inletted some.

[greybeard]

Me to. That being said I have been guilty of not getting them as deep as they should be.
Geally good for a first try.   Bob

[burningprince]

   Thanks,I'll remember to inlet the guard on my next build.Was not too sure if i needed to or not,still new to this hobby.I have learned alot though.

[smallpatch]

Looks great for a first attempt.  I wish mine had come out that nice.

That being said, please take my criticism in the spirit given.  Most of these comments are the same ones given me on MORE than just my first.

1)  Like said before, triggerguard, and trigger plate, need additional inletting.  Also, no more screws in the front finial of the trigger guard, it should be pinned.

2)  Lock panels need to be slimmed down a bit, and a bit more defined.

3)  Looks a little slab sided, more rounding, and reducing on the forestock area.

4)  Hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the side of the barrel channel reveal could be lowered just a bit.

5)  Again, hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the ramrod channel reveal, may have been lowered just a bit too much.

OK, I know that seems like a lot, I don't mean to beat you up, but just think what the next one will look like with those things in mind.

Hope that helps.

[Jerry V Lape]

First, I think it is a nice gun for your first build.  The others have critiqued the structural items, most of which you can still correct without a lot of trouble.  I am not certain what you intended to do with the finish but I think you need to work on that.  Appears you used a paint on stain/varnish combination and there are areas where it didn't cover.  Suggest you might want to spend some time experimenting with traditional stains and varnishes on test pieces of cut offs from the stock until you arrive at your own technique. 

[burningprince]

 Thanks for the comments.I now know what to work on  . Shoots like a dream though! The finish was a modern oil based stain but i used teak oil and rubbed that in,i didn't use a varnish though.not enough coats of oil or too many?

[smallpatch]

First of all, oil based stains are not good.  They cover the beauty of the grain, and figure in wood.  To bring it out, traditional stains, and alcohol based dyes are the best.

Once it's stained, a good oil/varnish will seal it up nice.  The finish gets IN the wood, not ON the wood.

[Paddlefoot]

An admirable piece of work. As with all the other helpfull souls here this is to be taken as helpful critique. You love to polish and detail...maybe too much at the wrong time. It looks like you have rounded the edge of the butplate by polishing with it off the stock.  The front of the lock molding looks rounded (not defined I think someone said), maybe a bit much sanding here. I found "Recreating The American Longrifle" helped me avoid some of these problems on my second build by giving me a good order of operations. Buchle thought it through a whole lot better than I did the first time. And the second and third for that matter. The guys here on the forum are so much more knowledgable that anyone was back when I built my first guns so ask lots of questions. Welcome to our ongoing adventure.