Hi all!
Quite the welcome you've given me, and advise as well.
I might be a bit slow getting back to y'all, my life is rather busy right now and I don't have internet acess like I used to, I'm pretty much down to work and home, and I don't have time at work, and as of late by the time I get home I'm too tired to do anything but crash. A project like this isn't really a flash in the pan sort of deal, if you don't mind the pun though
so I don't suppose it matters much.
A bit of history one me. I've never made a rifle, or musket before, but I have done rifle work and have wood carving experiance. I started carving wood when I was about 9-10, joined the local woodcarving club EOWA here in the eastern part of the state, sort of fell out of the club as it was a bit of a drive but continued on my own learning from books and just doing whatever I wanted to do in general. As a result I'm pretty confident in being able to make pretty much whatever I want out of wood.
As a kid, I was an avid BB and pellet gun shooter, I know that sounds silly, but they are really a load of fun when you're young. I restocked several of them in walnut, one a Daisy, just did a typical restock job in it, the insetting where the stock meets the action is a contortion, it's designed to be blow molded plastic, not hand made wood, but I got it sorted. The second was a Crossman that I actually did for a guy at church, he'd seen what I'd did with my daisy, and was impressed enough to ask I do one for him. After that I made a thumbhole stock for a Benjamin pellet rifle, a sweet little gun responsible for the sniping of countless grasshoppers out of sunflower trees. All this was when I was 12-14 probably. After that I outfitted a little Ithica .22, and a few other things, then sort of ran out of time and space and things to do with it. I always really enjoyed stock work though, and wanted to pursue it further. walnut in particular is a joy to work with. I'm a bit alergic to it sadly, it always irritates my lungs, but proper ventilation can help sort that out. Speaking of this I noticed elsewhere on here someone was cautioning working with certain exotic woods such as ebony, and as a turner also, I can affirm that many woods are in fact very toxic. Most people here, dealing with the small quantities such as for end caps, inlay, etc, are probably never going to see any adverse reactions with the exception of perhaps ebony dust or cases of individual sensitives. Cocoblolo for instance can send sensitive or sensitized people into arrest simply by being near it such as walking into a shop that it was been worked on in. Again, it's something you're more likely to deal with if you turn wood and do a lot of sanding and such, but still, I suppose it can happen to anyone. I'm rambling here, best get back on some sort of topic.
Here is a good site though that sort of lists out the woods and their potential effects.
http://www.ubeaut.com.au/woodstuf.htmOr, in other words, what is the meaning of life?
Exactly.
Ok, a reoccurring theme is, get some books and educate yourself.
Right, sounds like a good starting place. I believe I'll see if I can't interlibrary loan some of them, and sort out the time periods and styles. I was actually already looking into this. (: Thank you for the suggestions on which ones to get though, that was helpful, there's quite an assortment in Track of the Wolf.
As far as Barrel, lock, and Trigger though, if I have any idea of the time period or style I'm after, isn't it safe to go ahead and order these? I'm not quite there but close, and as such I was trying to sort out how to match them up.
I was thinking of keeping this gun fairly simple, I'm not one for ornate scrollwork and such anyhow. I rather like clean traditional lines. I thought a full size plan from TOTW or such would help me get the proportions.
Location. Unfortunately I'm not near Pennsylvania or Kentucky or any of those, I'm way out here in the center of the universe aka Oklahoma. I went to a gun show last week, but it had very little in the way of black powder. We have the Wannamacher Gun show coming up here in a few months though, it's a rather large show, and they usually have quite the collection of things, I thought maybe I'd be able to find some nice examples and bits and pieces there.
Hunting. Here the requirements are essentually .40 cal and larger, and no breech loading muzzeloaders. That leaves things pretty wide open. I'm not real up on how BP compares in terms of power and take down ability in relation to normal firearms, but from your posts it seems .45-.54 would be best to assure good anchoring ability. I'm not real into hunting or anything, but it would be an experiance to go all the way with it and take it out in the field after it's finished.
All of the thing that was voiced above is right on. The only thing that I would add is The lock, barrel and the triggers is the heart of the gun. So these pieces buy in quality. For it will make or brake what ever you decide on doing. I have A friend that had a old 1970s lock that was a Spanish one and it still is giving him $#*!. Listen and don't be a bull in a china store like he can be.
David Veith
How does muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com rank up in terms of quality?
I'm a little confused when it comes to just exactly who makes the locks and such. Do places such as muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com, Chambers, etc, make their own locks, or are they all supplied to them by a central supplier? I'm confused as I see things such as "Chambers locks are the best", etc, and some of his look (to my inexperienced eye) very much like some of the ones offered say at muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com, and I didn't know if what was being said was, Chambers buys quality locks, or if Chambers actually makes his own locks, etc.
As many of these are simply replicas, I know you're going to see alike locks from different places, but I'm curious how to tell these "cheap" locks and bits that I keep hearing about apart from quality locks.
I was budgeting about $300 for the lock, barrel, and trigger. Is this a reasonable amount to expect to get a decent quality lock, barrel, and trigger setup for?
I'm really shying away from a kit though, as said before I prefer to pick and work my own wood. Making the best of a plain machine roughed and inletted stock does not sound like fun to me. Besides, it's not authentic. Not that there is anything wrong with it, nor the people who choose to use them. It undoubtedly shaves a tremendous amount of time and work off the job, and gives people without the tools and equipment to rough out their own the chance to enjoy the craft. To me though, picking the wood and roughing it out is a great deal of the fun.
All right, it's late, I've got to go,
Cheers!
Matthew