I like the work John P Beck and so chose to attempt a build in his style.
This is only my second build, and being so new to this I’m sure there are issues that I don’t have the experience to see.
I’m hoping to get feedback that I can use to better my skills.The lock is from Chambers, the stock, BP and TG are from ToTW. The barrel from Rice is a 42”, swamped .50 cal. It’s a C weight, measuring 1 1/16” at the breech, which I thought most appropriate for the Beck look.
Unlike my first gun which was an all kit parts, this time I made the patch box, side plate, toe plate, sights, pipes, muzzle cap, trigger, and trigger plate. It was a challenge but also confidence booster.
The overall length is 57 ½”, lop is 13 ½”, weights in at 9 ½ lbs.
From the research of 13 Beck guns which I had measurements for I looked for and tried to adhere to commonalities. I ended up slimmer at the wrist than most Beck’s were, mine being closer to that of the Washing Beck in the Frazier museum.
The side plate I cut from 1/8” brass. Maybe thicker than needed, to achieve that look of a heavily beveled edge.
Pipes were formed from .040” sheet. I ¼” in length, with robust end moldings.
Sights and trigger were straight forward, but I still had several fails before getting something that looked right.
I had never built a patch box before but wanted it to have JP’s uniqueness’. Tulip (Whale Tail) head, hinge stops and butt plate release. For a rookie it was both intimidating and rewarding. You’ll notice later in this post the shoulders on the box finial of the finished gun are too long… because its actually the second patch box. The first had dissimilar widths on either side of the hinge, so I made a new one, including the upper and lower plates, all cut 1/16” oversize and then re-inlet in its place. Growing the size distorted things and created secondary issues. D’oh!
Also, I didn’t get the rivet into the upper left corner of the door as I would have liked, and enlarging the door on the second box left too much wood at the sides of the cavity.
First box , on which the top of the door was too narrow
Replacement made, and inlet in place of.
The push release stud and the catch were forged out of 1/4“ square stock.
The muzzle cap was shaped and soldered from sheet brass. I managed to get the three iron rivets peened in without deforming the brass or fracturing the super thin layer of wood. The trigger guard and the butt plate also had some reshaping and bending done to them.
The carving is mostly copied from Becks work (ALR museum), with some variations. Drawn out then stabbed in the outline.
The finish began with a lye wash, followed by two treatments of Aqua Fortis. Then blushed and scrubbed back, followed up with a Tung oil finish. Some aging was also applied using powdered Kingsford charcoal mixed with Tung oil.
The engraving was all done in place on the finished gun. My method was hand drawing the design in pencil onto the brass then engraving. I had trouble with reflective glare and seeing the pencil lines. I need to figure out my lighting better, in addition to getting my line depths more consistent. Engraving in place was a lot tougher than Shipper said it was. Lol. I’ve got a long way too go on improving my engraving.
Apology for the long story… here is the finished product.
I learned a lot from this project. Researching was half the fun of building.
Thanks for reading.
Any, and all feedback welcomed.
Richard
