New "Twigg" About Done

[KLMoors]

This gun is my first attempt to do a facsimile of a particular gun. Usually I pick a style/maker I like and go from there.

There are a pair of John Twigg's rifles pictured in one of the "Great British Gunmakers" books that were built by Twigg in 1779. Since there are only a few pictures and a pretty brief description of the rifles, I had to make some guesses in a few areas. But, I think that I am pretty close with the architecture and detailing. The original guns had 29 inch barrels.

The barrel is a D-weight, 31 inch, .54 cal, swamped barrel by Colerain. The lock is a Davis Twigg. The butt plate is lengthened to get the 5 1/2" tall butt as shown on the original. The trigger guard is two guards cut and welded together. The pipes are from Barbie at Chambers. The forward pipes have been cut shorter and re-filed to match the original pipes. The wood is American walnut.

The lock is held in place with one screw and a hook on the forward part of the lock that is trapped under a screw head hidden in the lock mortise. It's a pretty neat system.

The barrel is held in place by round pins with 1/2 moon heads as per the original.

The front sight is a modified Jaeger sight.

There is no cheek piece, as per the original.

I still haven't decided if I am going to age the steel some or not. The original shows very little signs of rust due to the good care it received all its life. The steel is greyed out some and I am thinking that one deer season in my acidic, sweaty hands should put some color on them.

A huge thanks to James and Dave and everyone else on here that helped answer my questions during the build.


Any and all comments and critiques are welcomed.

Thanks for looking.

[jamesthomas]

 Very Nice!! .54 caliber! that should put some knockdown on some deer.

[Paddlefoot]

A very nicely done bit of work. I like that a lot.

[eddillon]

Looks like she is done!  Great job Ken.
P.S. like those thimbles 

[PPatch]

Ken that is a very beautiful rifle and the craftsmanship just shines. Well done sir! Thanks for showing her.

dp

[smart dog]

Well done Ken!!
You got it right and it is a classic English gun.  I hope others that aspire to make "British" guns look at it closely so they learn the details about English rifles from the 18th century.

dave

[Bill of the 45th]

Love everything about it!  Only fault I can think of is that squirrel gun caliber, should be .60 or so.

Bill

[wattlebuster]

Craftsmanship at its best sir. Great job

[Mike Brooks]

Nice gun, well done. I have to make one of those next!

[smylee grouch]

I agree with every one else when they say great gun. Your workmanship looks great. How do you like that lock?

[sydney]

Very nice-I do like the engraving
  Thanks for posting the pictures
     Sydney

[KLMoors]

Thanks guys. It was a ton of work, and I am really glad that I didn't butcher it. These are kind of like Hawken guns, in that they are harder than they look (at least for me!).

The lock seems real nice. I shot the gun about 25 or 30 times today and she is quite fast. There are still some rough spots in the lock that I will polish out. It takes a huge flint, and throws a ton of sparks. It also has a big pan, that looks like it holds about 100 grains of powder, so wear your safety glasses.

 This gun really likes 90 grains of FFF . My groups really started to tighten up the higher I went. Recoil is fine though with that straight stock.

Mike, I made this pattern off of a full scale blow up of the photo, so I think it is real close. I would be glad to send you a copy of it if you'd like. It is the least I could do for all the help you've given new builders like myself.

Also - -A special thanks to Ed Dillon. I forgot to mention that he bailed me out with the forward thimbles. I thought I had the right ones, and by the time I realized my mistake, Barbie was out of the ones I should have gotten. Ed was kind enough to send me his.  As soon as my new ones come in from Barbie Ed, I will ship them along to you with my notes etc.  Thanks again!

[Ed Wenger]

Ken,

Nice looking piece!  Very nicely executed carving, engraving and stock architecture.  It looks like the "dots" on the breach turned out nicely as well.  Sweet rifle, and I wouldn't age the steel...  Thanks for sharing!


       Ed

[eddillon]

I absolutely agree with Ed Wenger.  She is beautiful as she is.  great work, ken.

[James Rogers]

Ken,
Well done. I know the few pictures you had to work with. I can see you spent some time studying the subtle things. I like the whole package and want see it in person.

[Robby]

Beautiful gun, top to bottom, end to end!!!! Nice job!
Robby

[Curtis]

Exquisite!  Nice work, very crisp.  A gun to be proud of for certain.

Curtis

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I really like it!  This is the form I like for a great hunting rifle, and this rifle is very well done.  Thanks to you for creating it and showing us, and thanks to Mr. Twigg for the inspiration.

[smylee grouch]

K L Moors, can you tell us the stock dimentions as to drop at heel and comb, etc. ?

[whitebear]

Beautiful rifle.  My only criticism is next time photograph it against a solid background, the picket fence makes the picture too busy and confuses the eye as tom where to look.  Absolutely nothing wrong with the rifle great job you should be proud.

[rickevans]

Yeow. Beautiful work.

[KLMoors]

Thanks all.

Smylee, the stock dimensions are:

2 1/4 inch drop at heel
1 3/8 inch drop at the nose of the comb
2 inch wide X 5 1/2 inch tall butt
1 3/8 inch round wrist

The butt is pretty fat as it moves forward. It doesn't taper quickly like an English fowler. I actually took a little too much off at the nose of the comb. It should be a little thicker there.

The rest of the dimensions are pretty much determined by the barrel and lock bolster, etc.

Almost all of the ramrod is exposed on the forend. The groove is less than 1/8 inch deep.  The original might even be less than that as there is a ton or ram rod and pipes exposed. That was a detail that took me a while to grasp.

[smylee grouch]

Thanks for those numbers K L Moors. It looks like it will handle recoil well and that is what I will be hoping for on a 62 cal. build somewhat like yours. Again, I really like your gun and hope mine ends up as well.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Your engraving is well designed, crisp, simple and elegant.  Very well done and adds much to the beauty of the rifle.

[Long Ears]

Beautiful rifle, Your engraving is fantastic. I do have a question, it may be the light but it almost looks like the barrel is setting on top of the wood. How much of the side flats are showing above the stock? Great look and thanks for sharing. I'm getting there, slow but sure, one at a time. I'm just starting number 15 with 2 more waiting. Addictive to say the least. Thanks again, Bob