Haga Barn Rifle Finished

[t.caster]

This started out to be a Wolfgang Haga/Reading Pa. barn gun using parts I had around the shop. I finally used up the LAST piece of wormy curly maple wood that I had. This turned out to be pretty soft wood so I decided not to do any carving. Being soft, I also decided it might need a butt plate, and if I do that....might as well put a trigger guard, side plate and nose cap on it to make it more appealing and Identifiable. It has a Rice .50 cal. x 38" B wt. barrel, L&R Dickert flintlock and hand forged trigger and handmade rr pipes, nose cap and sliding wood patchbox.
I put it on the bench at 25 yds. last weekend and it shot ragged hole-three shot groups each time I filed the front sight to get it up into the 10-ring! Windage was right on at 6 o'clock from the start. Everyone at the club who saw it said they loved the character and OLD look those worm tracks provided!

I was going to offer it for sale on this sight this week, but I got a call from a clubmember last night offering to buy it! 

[David Rase]

I like it Tom.  Good looking rifle.  Worm holes are the bomb!
David

[old george]

I agree..worms holes really add something to a barn gun.

geo

[gusd]

Nice looking Reading!
Gus

[oldtravler61]

   Mighty fancy barn gun Tom...!  Well done indeed.  OK like it.. Oldtravler

[Craig Wilcox]

VERY nice rifle - kind of sweet and homey feeling.

[KC]

I like that a lot. It definitely has a lot of character. Nice work.
K.C.

[smart dog]

Nice Tom.  I love the wood damage and the color.  Looks like it should shoulder really well like most reading guns.

dave

[shortbarrel]

Why is this rifle called a barn gun?. To many added features.

[t.caster]

Dave R, It's the bomb! Reminds me of my old grade school nickname. Haha

Shortbarrel, it started as a barn gun...actually they all do, then one thing led to another, until it's not any more.

[Stophel]

My kind of rifle!   

What do you have in the bottom of the patchbox?

[Dennis Glazener]

It looks like it was a house gun that was banished to the barn for barn gun work
Dennis

[mountainman70]

Very well done. I like the entire gun, looks "right". Best regards, Dave F

[Mike Lyons]

That’s a very nice rifle.  I like the color.

[rfd]

sweet rifle in every respect! 

[David R. Pennington]

I was at a show once and the wood dealer was whittling at a nice curly blank with his pocketknife. I joked to him about whittling out a long gun with the knife and he explained he had sold the blank but the customer brought it back because he found a worm hole. He sold it to me for $75 and all the worm holes worked out in the build except one near the cheek that you have to look for.

[David R. Pennington]

I forgot to add, I like your rifle.

[Mike Brooks]

I wouldn't call it a barn rifle, it's got all the stuff it should have. I don't mind holes that go straight in in fact I like them, I don't care for those that make long ditches though, but to each his own. Lots of guys really dig these sorts of worm tracks!
 What did you use to stain it?
 I have a piece of wood I have been wanting to use that has some worm holes. Looks like they will be just around the lock/wrist/breech area. I'd like to miss them in the lay out if I can.  Makes me a little nervous. I guess I'll have to lay out the pattern and cut it out and see how it looks.

[t.caster]

I appreciate all the positive feedback! I was going to keep this one for myself, because I didn't think anyone would like it. I know some would excoriate me for using junk wood like that, and it gave me fits inletting the barrel & lock, but it had such nice stripe and grain figure I couldn't throw it in the fireplace. So I marched on and concentrated on getting the architecture right. I think my persistence paid off. It usually does. I don't know where I get all my PATIENCE, but I thank God for it.

If this is no longer a barn gun...may I call it a gentleman farmers gun?

Stophel, that is a piece of undyed cow hide pressed into the bottom of the patchbox. I saw someone else do that and I usually keep my long jag and a spare flint & leather along with a greased patch in my patchbox, so I thought it would keep it from rattling around a little bit better. I stained it darker since the photo.


Jerry asked about the stain and finish process In a PM. I stained it with Laurel Mt Forge honey maple follwed by Feibings dk. brown leather dye with a small amount of black mixed in. First time using leather dye on wood and I liked it! I usually sand back in the areas of heaviest handling.  Then I applied 3 coats of LMF sealer and 3 coats of LMF finish. Rub each coat lightly with scotch-brite pad to smooth. Once all finish is hard I give the stock a thorough rub down with rotten stone (fine pumice) in linseed oil with a small schoth-brite pad.
Then I apply a couple coats of brown & black shoe polish. Then still wanting to fill the worm holes & tunnels I heated the stock & rubbed in raw bee's wax. First time I've tried bee's wax finish, and like that affect too! So I am still evolving after all these years and learning and trying different methods I have learned about on this forum!
Thanks, guys!

[t.caster]

Mike, you can't tell from the outside how deep the holes go. More showed up as I got deeper into the wood. Looks like the post beetles held a convention in the cheek area, and that just showed as a pin hole on the outside of the blank. Everyday was another surprise!

Go for it, and give it some nice patina.


Tom C

[shortbarrel]

Tom: The more I look at this rifle, the more I like it. The workmanship and architecture of this rifle is great.  The worm holes and bad wood that you worked around on this build makes this rifle a prize.  Patience and time builds a rifle like this.