Deringer trade rifle about done

[rich pierce]

I’ve been working on and off on a Deringer trade rifle based mostly on one in the cool book “For Trade and Treaty”. I bought an inletted barrel , .54 tapered, 42” long, in a nice curly blank. I think it’s a Charley Burton barrel. The blank was bandsawed to profile for a Deringer trade rifle so there was not a lot of wiggle room.

I fabricated the patchbox and buttplate, had Mike Brooks cast me a guard from a model I carved in maple, and I made assorted other small parts like trigger and plate, thimbles, keys, nosecap, escutcheons, sideplate, and rear sight. The lock is an R.E Davis contract rifle lock that I reworked, making a new sear and sear spring. Works great now. I case hardened it.

After studying a few Deringer rifles including one in hand I wanted a deep reddish color. I stained the stock with ferric nitrate followed with a red LMF stain, diluted in alcohol.

The coolest feature is the running deer inlay on the cheekpiece. I sent photos and a digital file to Tom Curran (Acer) and he made a die and pressed this in thin brass, reinforced with solder on the backside. This inlay is 25% larger than the original, which is what I wanted. Comments and critiques are welcome. Keep in mind the patchbox engraving was done to match the crudeness of original Deringer trade rifles.

[Craig Wilcox]

Rich, there is naught wrong on the patchbox - in it's simplicity, it truly enhances the elegance of the rifle.

I need to learn your staining and finishing techniques, as you have a lovely, rich color on the wood.

I find myself using those tools almost daily, and mentally thank you whenever one comes to hand.

[msellers]

Rich,
That is one fine looking rife, thanks for sharing it with us.
Mike

[Dave Marsh]

Fine looking rifle.  The patchbox engraving is great.  The deer inlay is really nice as well.  You get an A++++ for this one.

Dave

[rich pierce]

Here are a couple examples of original eagle boxes on Deringer trade rifles.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I see what you mean when you speak of the crudeness of the engraving on the original rifles.  Likely some kid did them in the Deringer factory with his allotted fifteen minutes for each rifle.  But I don't think I could have done that, ie:  left the engraving crudely done.  My hat is off to you, Rich, for your drive to create authenticity.  I like the patchbox YOU did...pleasing graceful shape.  Nice rifle overall, and well finished.

[WadePatton]

I see what you mean when you speak of the crudeness of the engraving on the original rifles.  Likely some kid did them in the Deringer factory with his allotted fifteen minutes for each rifle...

Yes, this is why I'm very careful to limit my engraving practice, such that I don't have "hold back" on my skills when attempting to replicate the old guns.   

Great gun Rich.  A pal is having a Deringer replica made (of a somewhat different gun), and it should be a good one when it's complete.  If it doesn't get shared through our normal channels, I'll be sure to get pics when I see it.

[Tim Crosby]

 Pretty Kool, looks Great. Where does the "About done" come in? Tie it to the mower and pull it around the yard in the Spring to "age" it a bit maybe

   Tim

[rich pierce]

Thanks Tim. Have to finish some accessories, plug the pin holes with wax, wax it up and it will be good to go.

[Elnathan]

Very nice. I've been looking forward to seeing this one for awhile, and it does not disappoint. The engraving looks right to me. Is that quasi-beavertail shape behind the lock panels on the Trade And Treaty example? My copy is in storage and all the digital pictures I have of other rifles have plain lock panels. Deringer made a bizillion of these things, and they vary widely in architecture and details.

Derringers are interesting rifles. They are inartistic - both the architecture and the sparse decoration are usually pretty rough - but they are study and have a couple nice features such as a hinged metal patchbox and keyed barrel without a standing breech. I think that both features add quite a bit of functionality to a piece intended for hard use out in the wilderness - the brass box can be opened and a patch removed with one hand, which should reduce the number of movements necessary to load the rifle compared to keeping them in a separate container in the pouch (a useful thing when loading while cold, hungry, sleep-deprived, and possibly in dire need of a fast reload) and the keyed barrel allows for the barrel to be removed with only a turnscrew to remove the tang bolt, while the basic breechplug would be easier to remove with improvised vise and wrench then a hooked breech, I suspect (useful for dealing with a wet load or similar mishap). All in all, if you found yourself in a long-term survival situation, you could do a lot worse than a Derringer rifle. A true frontier gun, I like to think.

[rich pierce]

Elnathan, yes, the one in Trade and Treaty has that treatment on the rear of the lock panels. This was a fun project as I don’t build guns of this era normally. But I’ve come to appreciate them and the western movement more and more.

[Joe Stein]

That rifle looks really good, Rich.  That's a lot of knuckles on that patchbox hinge! Must have taken a while to get that done.

-Joe Stein

[rich pierce]

That rifle looks really good, Rich.  That's a lot of knuckles on that patchbox hinge! Must have taken a while to get that done.

-Joe Stein

Thanks, Joe. Yes, a lot of fitting. It’s my first brass box with a regular hinge. I’ve done several side openers, Bucks County and Fainot’s side openers.

With these trade guns, I do not know how many parts were fabricated by the builder’s factory and how many were boughten from suppliers, but there’s so much variation in inclined to think they often used what was available from suppliers. For example that running deer inlay was used by many makers.

[BJH]

Ole Scratch would have loved that rifle. He was the main character in the Carry the Wind, series of mountain trapper books, I read some years ago. In the books he carried a Derringer rifle for many years.  BJH

[Joe Stein]

"Thanks, Joe. Yes, a lot of fitting. It’s my first brass box with a regular hinge. I’ve done several side openers, Bucks County and Fainot’s side openers."

I remember the Fainot build.  That one was pretty impressive, too.

I don't think I've seen that running deer inlay before. Interesting that it was common.  Maybe farther west than most of the guns I've seen.  Tom did a great job on that, too.
-Joe Stein

[Pennsylvania Dutchman]

Looks very nice Rich. I really like the color of the wood. Well done!
Mark

[Mtn Meek]

... Deringer made a bizillion of these things, and they vary widely in architecture and details.

Derringers are interesting rifles. They are inartistic - both the architecture and the sparse decoration are usually pretty rough - but they are study and have a couple nice features such as a hinged metal patchbox and keyed barrel without a standing breech...

Elnathan, you are so right about the variety of Deringer rifles.  I was visiting Jim Gordon's museum last week and studying the Deringer rifles in his collection.

This rack shows Deringer rifles with different patch boxes, some architectural differences, three have percussion era back action locks.  There are also varying grades or quality.  One rifle is half stock.  The bottom gun is a half stock fowler or shotgun.


This rack is mostly Deringer rifles with the "eagle" patch box.  Some have a fair bit of curvature in the butt stock.  Henry Deringer was born October 6, 1786 in Easton, Pennsylvania.  Easton was founded where the Lehigh River flows into the Delaware River.  We don't know where he apprenticed, but it was likely somewhere in the Lehigh Valley.  It's his early training that is showing in the curved butt stocks.


Deringer was also capable of creating very fine rifles.  This Deringer rifle was used in the duel between Representative Jonathan Cilley of Maine and Representative William Graves of Kentucky.  It's a classic "Philadelphia school" rifle with the pineapple patch box.

[rich pierce]

My next one will be based on this one I saw at an auction this fall.

[Mtn Meek]

That's another classic "Philadelphia school" Deringer rifle.  You could make your copy as fancy as you want.

A good match for the lock that is presently on that original is the "J. Henry" lock from TRS.


Of course with enough lead time, you could get a TRS Deringer lock like this.


One of the originals that I studied at Jim Gordon's had this cool lock.  It has the same cock as the Davis Contract Rifle lock.


Another Deringer rifle in Gordon's collection had this English import lock marked "SHARPE".  I've also seen "SHARPE" marked locks like this on Southern mountain rifles.

[redheart]

Mtn. Meek,
Great info as usual!
Many thanks!

[Smokey Plainsman]

How appropriate to do a Rudolph engraving on the cheek piece!

[smylee grouch]

The butt stocks on the Phild. Deringer seems to me to look a lot like Jacob Kuntz,s guns. Would that be a Phild. School trait.