what are you working on?

[pathfinder]

Going through a divorce(friendly on both side's!)so i'm working on getting my shop re-set in Port Austin,Mi. When it's up and runnin',.32 Ash Southern and a Virginia smoothbore,both were started before the move. All should done in the next week or so. Then,2 Hawkin's,2 Lehigh's,3 East Tenn.............and so on!

Yer going back down below? Sorry to hear about the divorce.
Yer pal, Joe

BTW, I'm working on getting the shop cleaned up before I start more guns. I got 5 to make, all alike. :/

Yeah,I love the Yoop,maybe when this place in P/A is done I'll sell and go back. Love the wood's runnin' up there!

[Ray Nelson]

Starting a half stock Midwestern Rifle in 40 caliber (GRRW 15/16" 34 "s long)). Using a decent birdseye maple stock, DRU triggers that I've had for sometime, lock that I made from small Siler and Davis parts. Nothing fancy but want a good off hand shooter when done.

Ray

[Mike New]

I have been working on a iron mounted .54 with a sliding patch box for about 3 years (waaaay to long) that I am going to finish this summer. I also intend to re-barrel my .50 walnut stocked poorboy. Mike New.

[deertracker]

I',m working on a Chamber's 50 cal. York kit.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

I',m working on a Chamber's 50 cal. York kit.

Rick, I would love to see some images of your progress.  I have often thought of building one of those. 

Coryjoe

[Birddog6]

My main project is a  Upper East Tennessee in curly cherry. (Over-the-Comb tang)  I am about 1/2 way with it & just about to go test shoot it.  Also have a Lancaster In-the-White that is on hold til the Tenn is done.  Then have a long barrel Lancaster to build.  Can't seem to find time to work on anything anymore......   

Keith Lisle

[Dogshirt]

I'm reworking a CVA Hawken for a friend. I have a new walnut stock to finish shaping for my old CVA Kentucky so the grandkids can shoot with me. And then I have maple Hawken stock I got at an auction
that I need to round up the remaining parts to complete. Kind of backwards, but it was too good a deal to let go. It came with a L&R lock, but I need to order a hammer for it. Butt plate in place, entry pipe is there and inlet, but need to get barrel, tang, under rib and pipes. Also need to get 3 more escutcheons.
When I figure out how to post pictures I will get some on. The old guy that started it was a cabinet maker and did a nice job of it.

[David Rase]

Change of plans from my earlier post.  I have put the Haida carved canoe gun on hold due to the fact that I received my replacement barrel from John Getz for the matchlock I was building.  The USPS lost the first barrel in shipping a few months ago.  To this day it has never turned up.  I was hoping to have had the matchlock ready to shoot for the Paul Bunyan turkey shoot in mid November.  Now I am hoping to have it ready for our first of the month shoot in February. 
Dave   

[Tony Clark]

The USPS lost the first barrel in shipping a few months ago.  To this day it has never turned up. 
Dave   

I had that happen once sending one of Johns barrels and a blank to Fred M. by UPS. Somebody cut the package open just enough to get the barrel out and then continued sending it on its way. UPS rep tried to deny paying me even though it was insured, they was said it wasn't packaged properly and the barrel got separated from the blank due to my negligence. I only had to holler and scream just a little for them to send me a check but talk about inconvenience... I had waited forever for that barrel in the 1st place... I bet thats what happened to your barrel too, it wasn't "lost" a usps employee probably stole it. Ought to be a law against that.

[Old Salt]

I'm working on a .45 rifle based on No. 79 in Volume I of "Rifles of Colonial America."  It is attributed to Isaac Haines.  I'm keeping the single trigger but changed the patchbox to a wooden sliding style.  The original was a .60 smoothbore.  I'm using an octagon to round barrel by Colerain.    

I bought the kit from Tip Curtis about two years ago.  I stop and start.  Lately I've been making a more concerted effort.  

So far I have the barrel/tang inlet and pinned.  The trigger is inlet and tang bolt tapped and drilled.  The buttplate is on, the lockplate is inlet with the lock bolts tapped and drilled.  Two ramrod thimbles are inlet and I'm working on the entry thimble.  I'd have to admit  to being very slow on the entry thimble.

I use Chuck Dixon's book as a guide to the building sequence.  So far so good.              

[Larry Luck]

.45 flint boy's rifle with 30"x13/16 GM straight barrel.  Been working off and on (generally off) for a couple years but have a 3/20/12 deadline for my son's 12th birthday.

Larry Luck

[Rolf]

I'm still working on some long barreled targetpistols. At the moment I trying to get the singel phase double settrigger right. Hopefully this next trial run will work. The pistols will have rustblued steel furniture with silver accents. The rr thimbles are done and inlet and I'm working on the triggergard design. Hope to engrave some simple borders on them and cast a tin muzzelcap. When I've finished these pistols, I hope to start on the accoutrement's for the pair of silver Kentucky pistols and start on a lefthanded Beck rifle.







Best regards
Rolf

[Eric Krewson]

I am working on inletting an English fowler butt plate, have been for over a month.

I laid out my cut lines then had the bright idea to leave a "little" extra wood to practice on as I went in with the butt plate. I started inletting with what you see in the following picture, not at my cut line.



Well, leaving the extra wood was big mistake. Most people could build a gun in the time I have spent removing that"extra" wood.

Almost done now, moved the screw a bunch of times as the plate went down as in evidence by the hickory dowels I glued in to cover my holes.

[smallpatch]

Erik,

Very common. I think we've all done that.  The buttplate and entry pipe are the two most difficult things in building a rifle.

If it makes you feel better, it doesn't get any easier.

SORRY!!!

[Glenn Hurley Jr.]

I'm working on a 54 caliber rifle that will be similar to an original my dad had.  We believe the original was a buck and ball rifle, but my dad had a rifled liner put in the barrel.  I'm working from memory since Dad didn't take any pictures of it.  Lancaster style architecture, 54 cal swamped Rayle barrel, a striking piece of maple from Tiger Hunt, checkered wrist, black horn fore end tip, Deluxe Siler lock.    The barrel channel is inlet as well as the ramrod channel.  The barrel pins will be drilled next since the staples are in place and inlet into the barrel channel.  The sides of the foreend must be taken down  before I drill the pins, the blank is still as wide as when I purchased it.  The stain on the original was a dark honey brown color so I have some experimenting to do with my wood scraps. 

[rich pierce]

Eric, I shape the buttstock as I inlet the buttplate.  Same with entry thimble.  Never had any luck inletting in a deep hole.  it might help.  One thing this does is give better vision of the inletting black.

[Eric Krewson]

I found a few surprises as I went to down Rich, somehow I lost 3/8" of drop when I was down where I thought I should be plus the extension was pointing down instead of level with the comb. Down I went some more and got these things straightened out.

Your way sounds like a lot better idea.

My buttplate now looks like it grew into the wood when I tap it into place but it has been a long haul to get to this point. 

[Tony Clark]

My buttplate now looks like it grew into the wood when I tap it into place but it has been a long haul to get to this point. 

Eric it's looking good and that is a challenging butt plate to inlet. Couple things i have found that make building a gun easier is, don't ever leave any extra wood for anything. Get rid of it all to begin with. Rarely do I see a gun where i think too much wood was taken off. On the other hand, one of the most common problems I see is that not enough wood is taken off.
For the buttplate I have found the hammer is your friend when your working with 70/30 brass castings. I use very little inletting black for any type of inlet. I just like to look closely at what I am trying to do and kind of figure it out. In other words, I kind of do the job in my head before I actually try do it in reality. Visualize that buttplate in place before you begin and then do what it takes to get it close. For the last bit use the hammer to close it up and make it perfect.
It is a false sense of security to leave any extra wood for anything. Be confident and cut to the mark. Think about it and don't be afraid of the challenge of it.

[Ezra]

Not so much working on, but the latest project I am procrastinating on is a Chambers Lancaster kit in .58.  Got to get off my backside...


Ez

[ironwolf]

  Building a Hawken light sporting rifle as shown in the Jim Gordon books.  40 cal. with a sweet little Roller lock, thanks Bob.  Other parts are from Don Stith.  The stock is complete.  Waiting on work schedule to slow down to finish 'er up.  Been on the road since August.

  Kevin

[blunderbuss]

I'm still working on a Blunderbuss for the USS Houston I about have all the stuff on it lock, trigger, butt plate etc it's still in it's ban sawed state. As soon as I can find a good piece of metal I'll start in the spring bayonet.

[4ster]

I'm waiting on parts for a kentucky pistol kit. In the mean time I am working on a (probably) NOT historically correct speed loader for my Ferguson. The history indicates that Ferguson had ordered powder flasks of some kind for the rifle but the guns left Britain without them.  Since the gun is unique these custom flasks may have been built to speed loading, most likely they threw a measured amount of powder from the flask.  

My take is a little different.  The idea is that it simultaneously drops a ball in the breach and throws a primer charge in the pan.  Since this is more an experiment than historical recreation I am building it from materials I have on hand.  If I had a block of brass I would have made the powder charger out of that but all I had laying around was ... yuck... aluminum, so it was made from that.  I'm unsure if I can get the whole contraption to work, let alone if it will be a loading improvement for the gun.  But it has been fun thinking it through.

Steve

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Last winter, I built two rifles for myself - the Verner, and the S. Hawken.  I must have burned myself out.  Though I did the research for a nice Verner pistol to complement my rifle, that's as far as I got.  
Mark Wheland is sending me my barrel inlet into a piece of his maple for a Southern Mountain rifle build, and I have all of the parts, but I've also got a lovely 50 1/2" Getz octagon to round .50 cal smooth barrel in a piece of cherry for a JP Beck build, and a 44" x .25 cal. Rayl barrel in a fabulous piece of American Walnut for a T. Allison build.  But I haven't been completely idle...I built myself an English Warbow 80 1/2" long and 100 pounds @ 32", plus a half sheaf of battle shafts to go with it.
Leatherbelly has talked me into putting together a new smoothbore for him, so that will likely be my next build.  It features a 50" 28 gauge smooth barrel in a piece of Mark Wheland's wood.  So that's going to take care of # 99.  Number 100 has to be a special rifle, so I leaning toward the William Antes swivel breech rifle I have on the back burner with a pair of .54 cal Getz barrels and an English walnut stock.

[t.caster]

I'm working on my version of RCA-19 for one of the members of this forum. It has a short 33" Hoyt gain twist .62 caliber barrel. It's been almost a year now, but I hope to have it done before March.
I have a Bucks Co. .40 cal that was about 80% done before I started RCA-19, and I'd like to finish it next before starting another. There is ALWAYS another!

Strange to hear about the Getz barrels being lost in the mail! I had the same experience with a .62 Jaeger barrel about 9 yrs. ago! I wasn't sure if John or Don Getz ever believed me, but they did make another one for me in short order. It's a real game getter and woods walk target killer.

[blunderbuss]

I'm also working (when I get the time) on a wheelock lock useing some of Raspza's plans