I finally got this finished up. There were a few nagging loose ends that I hadn't taken care of until this weekend, I hadn't pinned the nose cap on, engraved the barrel inlay, added file work to some of the brass, etc. I reblued the barrel because I wasn't happy with it and added some file work to the lock tail and reblued that while I was at it. This is an 'in the style of' rather than a bench copy so some of the things I have done might not be totally correct. I welcome criticisms and thoughts on what I may improve on next time. This is my second gun, hence the No II on the barrel inlay. This was started and mostly completed during the Canter's Cave Class last January.
The wood is cherry my dad and I milled from a log off our farm. The secondary strip is walnut as per the original (the walnut was off the farm as well). Wood finish is easy off oven cleaner (get the heavy duty that actually has lye in it) under about eight coats of boiled linseed oil. Lock is a Davis Colonial. Trigger guard is a Ken Gahagan sand casting. Barrel is a Colerain Griffin Fowler 16 bore. All other furniture was made in the class.
I would like to thank the Kentucky Rifle Association for their sponsorship to the class. Ian Pratt and Ken Gahagan for their patience, knowledge, and generous lending of tools and supplies. The Canter's Cave staff for the awesome atmosphere of the facility they have there and all you folks on here that have offered advice and answered questions. Also, any of y'all who are under 30, there are two scholarships offered this year. Please apply to them, you will be more than glad you did. One through Muzzleloader Magazine and the other through the KRA/KRF. They are sticky posts on the gunbuilding forum. The difference between my first gun and this on is night and day, and that class is the sole reason for it. Where else could you spend an entire week (6 days at 10+ hours per day) improving your gun building. I grew more in that week than I would have after years of going at it alone. I cringe now looking at the first gun because I see so many things wrong. Seriously - I cannot say enough nice things about the class, the instructors, the facility, and the KRA for helping me to afford it. It was great.
Also, I am looking forward to attending the KRA show in Front Royal this weekend. I hope to meet some of you there.