William Antes inspired pistol, Finished photos added

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I have reassembled the pistol after the stock finishing to make sure everything still fits ok. My plan is to do the barrel, trigger and trigger plate with several applications of LMF brown, boiled to blacken, then polished back to a grey color. After I tune the lock, I may leave it polished, I haven't decided yet. Here are some statistics; The barrel is 10" long .62 cal. smoothbore, The wood is a piece of maple left over from my smoothrifle build, the triggerguard is a TOTW sand casting #TG-AFP-B, the buttcap and ramrod thimbles are from Brad Emig, I made the sideplate, trigger, triggerplate and barrel.  The wood is finished with 2 applications of vinegar iron stain, 4 coats of WaterLox rubbed back with 0000 steel wool and 2 applications of Johnsons paste wax. I will add more wax when the metal is finished. I also need to polish the triggerguard a little more. Comments and critiques welcome.


















Thanks for looking, Mark

[Mike Brooks]

I like it. I'd like it even better a little darker, but that's just me.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thanks, Mike. I think would have preferred it a little darker also. I probably should have stained it once more. I think my son will be pleased with it.
Thanks again, Mark

[SBachner]

I think my son will be pleased with it.

 Christmas gift?

[Goo]

I like it !!!! , it will look old in 100 years or so.....

[M. E. Pering]

Mark, your inletting looks extremely good.  Not always easy to accomplish on a pistol especially.  I agree a slightly darker finish might improve it, but it also looks good as-is.  I also like how you brought the stock almost level with the oblique flats of the barrel.  Nice execution.

Matt

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I think my son will be pleased with it.

 Christmas gift?

Yes, It is for my middle son.
Thanks, Mark

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Goo, Thank you for the kind words.
Mark

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thank you, Matt. The inletting is far from perfect. The rear tang on the triggerguard was one of the hardest parts to inlet because of the curve of the grip. A tightly bent narrow flat chisel would have been a big help.
Thanks again, Mark

[M. E. Pering]

When I inlet a trigger plate, I generally slope it so that the wood holds it in.  This might be a bit tougher with a pistol (I have not yet built a pistol, but that should change in the next few months), as it is a more complex shape.  With a trigger guard tang, I would be tempted to try the same trick, but not sure what the results would be.  Will let you know if I try it.

Matt

[alacran]

I like the pistol overall. I really like the barrel. You did a fantastic job on the trigger guard. There is a limited amount of TG's  for pistols available and sand cast is a lot of freaking work.
The only thing I would have done different is the angle of the the butt cap. I think it would have looked better if the juncture of the brass to the wood, would have been parallel to the barrel.
You have a fortunate middle son. I think he will be more than proud of it.
Again I like the barrel a lot.

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

alacran, Thank you for the complements. My inspiration for this build came from a pistol that was made by Brad Emig and shown on Contemporary Makers BlogSpot on March 28, 2013. I really liked the pistol and especially the barrel profile, so I scaled the photos and copied it the best I could. I went back and looked at the photos of Brad's gun and I do have the buttcap at more of an angle than he did. Having less angle to the buttcap did allow him to remove more wood from the back of the grip and make the grip profile less parallel than mine. His profile does look better.
Thank you again, Mark

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

I finished the pistol Saturday. My plan was to have it finished for Christmas, but I got down in my back the week before so I couldn't work on it. The barrel turned out splotchy, but my son likes it that way so I will leave it. We bought the lock assembled a number of years ago at the Berryville, AR muzzleloading meet. The bridle was drilled about .010" larger than the tumbler stud so I welded it, redrilled it and reamed it to fit properly. The frizzen had a casting flaw that couldn't be removed so I replaced it. On my first hardening attempt, my furnace got to 415 degrees before I caught it. It checked at RC56 with my hardness tester and didn't spark very well. I rehardened it and it sparks fine now. Here are some photos. Critiques welcome.
 







I also reshaped the cock slightly and made a him a brass loading/cleaning rod with a jag, breech scraper and worm to go with the gun.
Thanks for looking, Mark

[Bull Shannon]

Looks like an outstanding pistol build to me, hope she  shoots as good as she looks!

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Thank you Bull Shannon for the kind words.
Mark