an early rifle

[alex e.]

I finished this awhile ago. Its the shortest thing I've built in ages.
 An inspired copy of a famous rifle's disputed sister. The original was stocked in Walnut. The castings are from the m& g shop. As is the lock. All off the original gun I filed the rr pipes from plain blanks.28" ,.62" barrel. Stained with aquafortis. Rust blued, rubbed back. Dents and dings at no extra charge. I am mostly happy with it. It might just be me but the patchbox seems a tad oversized for my tastes.
The pictures do not show it well but there is a top and bottom forestock moldings.
http://ibb.co/nEs9Sk
http://ibb.co/cr1KSk
http://ibb.co/fhrKSk
http://ibb.co/cizOnk
http://ibb.co/nifw7k
http://ibb.co/gQzESk
http://ibb.co/ej6Tnk
http://ibb.co/gXFtL5
http://ibb.co/gpEHDQ

[Mike Brooks]

 like it, I have used that gun to base my work on many times, good early gun.

[BOB HILL]

Nice rifle. Would sure be a nice one to use in a tree stand. I like to use this carving behind the cheek piece on rifles that I don't intend to have a lot of carving, but seem to need a little something extra.         Thanks for sharing.     Bob

[rich pierce]

Nicely done.  Real clean work.  Love that original and it's sister. How's the lock feel?  I like the looks of it.

[alex e.]

It's not a wimpy little lock. It Sparks well . Not super fast as the TOW " TULLE" lock. It has an ample size pan. Priming with ffg it goes bang every time

[elkhorne]

alex,
Great job and just a couple of questions. May be showing my newby status but what is the original that you are basing your early rifle on? I don't have RCA volumes committed to memory yet! lol! Also I thought I was familiar with most of the suppliers but have not heard off the m & g shop. Where is it located and would like to find out more about them as you can never know enough suppliers. Thanks and again a great job.
elkhorne

[rich pierce]

I will jump in here, raise my hand violently, and pretend the teacher called on me.  This rifle is based on an original rifle which appears to be a sister rifle to #19 in Rifles of Colonial America.

Alex, was this sister rifle stocked in walnut like RCA 19?  Again, great job on your rifle.

[elkhorne]

Rich,
Thanks very much for the clarification on ales's early rifle. I am leaning more to the early and somewhat simpler but architecturally very pleasing to look at as opposed to later  flint period rifles where decoration went from carving to over abundant inlays all over the rifle. Just my taste but I am still learning and the more I learn the simpler I seem to lean. These discussions are what I love about this site. One can learn something new every day. Thanks again.
elkhorne

[n stephenson]

Elkhorn, M&G is the name of Larry Zorne`s  machine works. I have very good results with everything I have ever used from him. I have his phone # but I don`t want to post it, I don`t think he does internet . I hope someone with a little more insight  will respond . He is a really good guy to deal with.

[rich pierce]

Rich,
Thanks very much for the clarification on ales's early rifle. I am leaning more to the early and somewhat simpler but architecturally very pleasing to look at as opposed to later  flint period rifles where decoration went from carving to over abundant inlays all over the rifle. Just my taste but I am still learning and the more I learn the simpler I seem to lean. These discussions are what I love about this site. One can learn something new every day. Thanks again.
elkhorne

Elkhorne, as is the case with all the early, unsigned rifles, we have to follow clues as to when and possibly where it was made, and by whom.  This pair of rifles could be as early as 1750's to 1760's. Great architecture. Very comfortable to shoot.

[elkhorne]

First of all, nate, thanks for the info on M & G. I have used several butplates and trigger guards that had Larry Zorn's makers mark cast in the inside and they have all been very good quality yellow brass. Will send you a pm later. Thanks.
Now, Rich, thanks for the info on #19. It gives me another avenue to explore in learning about these old guns. I love the feel of the older rifles that most say look "clunky" but have never felt one. I am trying to get going on 2 soon and have a C wt barrel in .54 that would lend itself nicely to either a rifle like #19 or #43 like Curtis and Norm have shown us from WKU. I have seen and held a couple of early style rifles that Mr. Scurlock owns or owned that were made by Steve Davis and they were a dream to hold and shoot. Thanks for the input to put me on another learning curve. Never can stop learning about our history!
elkhorne

[Ray Settanta]

I don't know if this is the same one you mentioned but Muzzleloaders Builder's Supply has locks from Larry Zornes' Mold and Gun Shop. I also found an old post from this forum that mentioned this:

Larry Zornes Mold and Gun Shop: 6493 State Route 139, Jackson, OH 45640, 740-286-2743. No Website

[alex e.]

Sorry, I was away for a few days. It is mold and gun shop in Jackson'Ohio. Larry is good guy to deal with. He has not embraced technology though. He's fixed locks for me he made for other vendors.

Rich,both original pieces were stocked in walnut. That price of maple had been sitting around for years ,so I used it. I'm glad I did.
Thank you all for the kind comments.

[rich pierce]

Good wood choice. We get such a small sampling of originals it would be easy to make "rules" based on luck of the draw or what guns survived from the early period. I prefer hard maple for stocking. It's just better to work.

[AsMs]

Alex,

Love the rifle.  I can't tell from the pictures but does your rifle have a nose cap?  I going to buy that lock and castings for my next build.

AsMs

[alex e.]

Yes it has a nosecap. I believe the originals was about 1.5  times the width of the barrel mine seems a bit longer. I little detail I missed while building it.

[t.caster]

Nice job, Alex! I'm building one of those right now, in walnut, the second one like it. I'm also using a 28" x .62 cal. barrel that's been machined oct. to round. Should be an awesome hunting rifle!

[alex e.]

Thanks Tom. Making it octagon to round will slim it and take so e weight off of it. I'd like to see it when done.