showing of first rifles

[Cory Joe Stewart]

I think for a first build, without much reference to go by, or assistance from experience, it's not bad. The important things are 1) You DID IT. You finished it, it shoots, you saw it through to completion. 2) You know you made mistakes and have room for improvement, which is why you posted it on here. 3) You still have desire to keep at it and get better.

I'm guessing you built it from a blank? I would say for your 2nd gun, you should do yourself the favor of beginning with a pre-carved stock. There's still plenty of work to do, but it's a good foundation to begin with, and you will learn about the basic architecture of the rifle and how it should be shaped. Then, when you go back to building from a blank, you'll have a much better idea of what the end result should be.

John

John makes a great point.  You finished it.  I know several guys with rusty parts laying around or half shaped stocks for that "I'm gonna finish that one day projects."  They hit one bump and stop. 

Coryjoe

[TMerkley]

Thanks for all of the guidence and support.  That's what I enjoy about this hobby.

[Tom Currie]

TMerkley, Few of us have nearly the touching story of a first build as you have. Doesn't even matter what it looks like if it got you through tough times.

[TMerkley]

Coryjoe,

It actually was a dead tree in my yard, with a friends help in his wood shop, we were able to get the blank.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Robby,

More remarkable than your rifle, which in itself is no small feat, is the date of the posting...February 2106!!

[Robby]

I've been there Taylor, and it is worth going, like Merlin, I'm aging backwards.
I don't know how that reference works, it won't let me go there.
Robby

[Don Tripp]

Robby,

More remarkable than your rifle, which in itself is no small feat, is the date of the posting...February 2106!!

It's good to know that ALR will still be around in the 22nd Century and there will still be an interest in flintlock rifles.

[BrushCountryAg03]

It's not a long rifle, but it's my first muzzle loading gun.  I built it when I was 14, that's 1962, and still have it.  My source was a postage stamp sized picture of a duelling pistol in a library book.  the barrel is a piece of hexagonal shafting from a machine breakdown at Silverwood's Dairy in London, Ontario, supplied by my Uncle Harry.  I filed flats along the side so that I could inlet it into the wood.  I bored  and reamed it .50 cal smooth on the lathe at the machine shop in St. Joseph's Hospital where my dad worked.  I bought the walnut at a hardwood supplier - $3.95 enough for two stocks.  The lock, and all the metal parts are scratch built with saw and file.  My dad showed me how to sharpen tools and make springs.
It weighs a ton and is a POS, but it's priceless to me.  We all start somewhere, with more or less information.  I was grateful to have a long suffering and patient teacher in my father, who knew even less than I about guns.

Wow, I am in awe...That's an amazing story and by the way, your pistol is definately not a POS!

[JohnTyg]

My first build.  Maybe this will bring back some memories.

A Dixie Gun Works Turner Kickland kit I received for Christmas 1971, and put together as a 15 year old.

This stock was an "upgrade" to their popular squirrel rifle stock. Think it was Ash, the barrel was a Douglas 40 cal. 13/16" with a lot of runout and the lock was a fairly reliable spark-er.  It came complete with a newspaper style instruction pamphlet, one sheet two sides, that showed how to drill through the breech plug threads into the face of the plug and recommended 6 penny nails for pins.

Have always thought it would make a fun future project to reproduce the stock pattern and restock it with improved parts finish (that wouldn't be too hard to achieve) and a re-breech.

John

[LURCHWV@BJS]

TMerkley ,
  I've been away from the gun building part of the forum for a while was hoping to see an update from Dixon's.  Unable to post pics at the moment, but you want to see a bad first. Go type in the word Frankenstein into the search portion of the forum.  It's my first,but notmy last

   Rich

[TMerkley]

I don't know,  I think I've got you beat!  I pulled everything out of my butt trying to make that one. Don't even bother to look under the barrel.  Know what corn cob looks like?

[TMerkley]

Here is the post Der Mike

[der mike]

thanks TMerkley
I will post pics of my first ( a deringer )

[Rolf]

Here is a link to my first gun.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=9799.msg92444#msg92444

Best regards
Rolf

[clayton707]

It's not a long rifle, but it's my first muzzle loading gun.  I built it when I was 14, that's 1962, and still have it.  My source was a postage stamp sized picture of a duelling pistol in a library book.  the barrel is a piece of hexagonal shafting from a machine breakdown at Silverwood's Dairy in London, Ontario, supplied by my Uncle Harry.  I filed flats along the side so that I could inlet it into the wood.  I bored  and reamed it .50 cal smooth on the lathe at the machine shop in St. Joseph's Hospital where my dad worked.  I bought the walnut at a hardwood supplier - $3.95 enough for two stocks.  The lock, and all the metal parts are scratch built with saw and file.  My dad showed me how to sharpen tools and make springs.
It weighs a ton and is a POS, but it's priceless to me.  We all start somewhere, with more or less information.  I was grateful to have a long suffering and patient teacher in my father, who knew even less than I about guns.

Like most others here, I am also in awe! And I would be even if it wasnt your first build at 14 years old! Reminds me of my other hobby, building model ships, since I started my first scratch build at 15...

Great work! 

I posted a pic of my first gun build as well; a TRS Baker rifle. (I am now working on my second)...

[whetrock]

Okay, I have to prove to myself that I have the guts to post this... Here's my first build.

1994. Wife pregnant with first. No money. All I had was an old .45, 33" barrel that I had rescued from a busted CVA percussion. I scraped together enough money for a small Siler kit and a new breech plug, a copy of the Hershel House video (and a copy of Recreating the American Longrifle, which I could barely make heads or tails of). A friend gave me a walnut board. I sawed off the old percussion barrel and rebreached it for flint. I finally managed to assemble the lock, after botching up 2 pans and 2 frizzens in the process. I made the rest of the hardware as best I could from scrap. Felt ambitious one day and decided to turn the barrel round, so I filed down the most of it and then built a simple lathe to finish the rest. I had no anvil or forge or any experience with forging, so I pieced together the trigger guard with bits and pieces and silver soldered it all together. You will see that it is very dark. That’s because I tried to use AF to stain it, but it turned a dark green. (I almost died.) So I scrubbed it all off as best I could, then just kept darkening it until the green disappeared.

From where I sit now, I can see that the proportions were off quite badly, the wrist is painfully narrow, the forearm is badly shaped, the trigger is incorrectly positioned, the carving looks like it was executed by a mouse with dull teeth, and the list goes on… But I gave it to my dad for Christmas that year and he was so pleased that he cried. It was a great moment…

[Dan'l 1946]

 There's nothing wrong with that rifle. For a first effort made in the "make do" tradition, it is a fine gun. Should be an inspiration to  anyone wanting to build a first gun on limited means.  A great gift indeed!
                                                Dan

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Rifle and story - very high on the cool factor.

[Michael]

chuckling--- ain't a snowballs chance in h--l!!

[TMerkley]

Looks a lot better than my first one!

[Bob Roller]

Whetrock,
That is NOT a bad looking rifle. I give thanks that my first
rifle is no longer in existence.

Bob Roller