Brother Gene-part 2

[mountainman70]

Well,earlier this year,Gene passed on to the big  Workshop In the Sky,God love him and his family.I looked at the old fowler again a month ago,and had in the interim recieved a 24gau usable barrel from a good friend.We breeched it,and I fitted it into the wood,made the rr pipes from old cva pistol pipes and a bit of underrib soldered on to barrel.Now what about a Lock?The folk I talked to said orig lock too costly to restore,so I measured a cva Mountain rifle lock,and it was large enough to clean up the inlet.I found a nos one on gbr from a fellow in Michigan-thanks Henry.I recieved lock this past saturday afternoon,and by 9pm had it worked in,drilled touch hole,loaded with 40 g and wad,primed and took it outside and touched him off.BOOM right now!!!Ye haaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Have spent the rest of week finishing to what you see here.I never thought it would get to this point,but i am looking forward to shooting him this weekend.We are gonna stamp-Brother Gene on top of barrel soon,in honor of Gene Hyre,who inspired me to do this.I hope he is smilin down on this Pilgrim.We all miss you,Gene.Love you long time.Dave

[Majorjoel]

M.M.70, you did something just like our fore fathers would have done! Recycled from the heap of unusable to the meat getting, hole punching, serviceable fowling piece. Your friend and mentor Gene would be proud of you. I can relate a lot with your story here. A very close late friend of mine taught me" how to enjoy what was on the table". May all of the good ole careing and sharing folk's who have gone on ahead smile down upon us!

[Feltwad]

M.M70

Yes it is good to see something which most would have scraped  for parts being brought back to a working piece.May I ask the question why did you not fit a ramrod rib or better still make the gun full stocked  making it look more original
Feltwad

[mountainman70]

Thanks for the kind words,guys.It did enter my thought process to make it fullstock,but the stock as recieved appeared to be half? Who knows.Interesting thing is the barrel-not original to this gun-has 3 dovetails for underlugs,so i guess it was origionally fullstock.Initially I wanted to see what I could do with the halfstock,and as I have been on a Hawken bing for a couple years,guess I just went with it.If I ever get tired of the way he looks,I will go full,or,most likely,just build a new one from scratch.I am gettin fond or Brother Gene.Took him to our monthly match today,and he was well recieved,shot a few times.The steel rod is more for weight and balance,I have a loading rod for the chores.Several of us tried it w/w/o rod,and all said same about the weight.
I now have a 43 cal 38" maple fullstock in works using all-cept buttplate and pipes,antique partsMore later.
 All my working life I have made a hobby out of rehabing Basketcase stuff-Harleys,56 chevys,model trains,etc,and of course,old guns.Must have been born under a "Shop"sign.lol.Thanks,Dave

as to no rib-too much trouble,and I researched this fact,and found a good many survivors using this same arrangement.I like the full rib look,just working with what I had.

PS,I might just take a wild hair and make the full extension.Have some georgia black walnut,and hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm??

[Collector]

Just for comparison, but the description is interesting.

http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=116069

[mountainman70]

Yea,thats it-the age "flows" like a fine old river.One could slap get poetic here.Thanks for the comparo.All these old timers are interesting,like people,if we only take time to listen to their stories,that is how we learn.Same with old guns,etc,just have to listen closer.Bro Gene likes 60g 2f,3 .015 prelubed patches,and 575 round ball.Shoots to right and mostly dead on elevation at 25yds.Sounds like a rifle.Cant wait to try some buck and ball,just gotta find sumpin to tear up proper.Thanks,Dave