baby steps into rifle making

[rkcohen]

this might make a lot of you flinch or cringe - i'm new to "sparking stone" and before i plunk down $$ on a "master level kit" - i thought that with band-aids, bactine and a small assortment of sharp tools - i would start at the shallow end of the pool....

so i've been using both an 80s tc hawken and a lyman deerstalker in percussion for a while and after having watched the duelist1954's build series on youtube, i said "sure, why not.."

starting out with a lyman gpr signature series (perdersoli) in flintlock (those are getting HARD to find), i took delivery of said kit last friday.

the box was, i thought unusually long for a kit..

opening it - i found the rifle - almost ready to shoot save the bag of screws and lack of finish on the stock - gotta admit the wood to metal was spot on!

the one thing i found unusual for a kit (aside from being almost completely assembled) was that the barrel was in fact, complete - sights in dovetails and factory blued..

which is the first of my two issues with the barrel assembly - i wanted to brown all of my "iron" - any good/sure-fire ideas as how to go from factory blue - to brown?

the second issue was that i wanted a .54 - the only thing i could find was a .50... so a quick call to mr hoyt and rebore/rifle to .54 for round prb is not an issue!!

the lock is in the white - the lock plate is "colored" but the frizzen, etc is white - any ideas ref browning those items?

join in guys - all ideas will be considered!!

let's just not turn this into a running argument over who makes the best motor oil!

[rich pierce]

The simplest way to remove the blue is to do it chemically with a phosphoric acid rust remover. “Naval jelly” comes to mind. Do not put it on your toast. It will lightly etch the steel. You can decide whether to leave it frosty for browning or to polish the steel to 320 grit before browning. Same for the frizzen.

Have fun with it!

[Metalshaper]

Set the barrel into a PVC tube filled with evaporust and a couple3-4 hours later give it a good scrubbing down.
all or most of the bluing will be gone.  if not put'r back in for a bit more.  Evaporust won't etch the metal ( get it at harbor freight
if ya got one near by?)

 Use whatever browning solution ya wanna try? I've used a product called Old Thunder.. but for the life of me I can't remember who made it??

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

[snrub47]

No need to remove the bluing, just brown the barrel....I sometimes use BC Super Blue to brown gun parts. Have some small parts hanging out in the heat and humidity today growing rust.....

[RedRiverII]

This is a terrific title " Baby Steps."  You'll be running in no time.  See your challenge has been solved.  ...or not?  How is it going,  any pics?  Everybody enjoys pictures.  Best of Luck RK.

[oldtravler61]

  Not to disagree with Richs suggestion. But my experience with Naval Jelly has not been the best.  But then Rich has a ton of expertise.. Oldtravler

[Not English]

RK, I have browned a number of TC barrels and such for friends. I degrease the the blued steel and then wipe it down carefully with hydrochloric acid ( I might be wrong, but it's the same cid used for etching cement). Use gloves. The blueing will literally wipe right off and leave a matte grey surface. I try and wipe the acid with a natural cloth all in the same direction.  Without doing any thing else the barrel is ready to brown. Enjoy finishing the build.

[RedRiverII]

Naval jelly ate my Ka-Bar,  but then again I left it immersed overnight.

[Frozen Run]

the second issue was that i wanted a .54 - the only thing i could find was a .50... so a quick call to mr hoyt and rebore/rifle to .54 for round prb is not an issue!!

GPR barrels are interchangeable. You could just buy a .54 barrel for it down the road and have two different calibers. Or find a really roached out gpr barrel for a low price and have that relined by Mr. Hoyt, or have him turn it into a smoothbore for shot and have several different barrels for different types of game. Enjoy!   

[rkcohen]

..and then, one gent pm'd me and said "btw, you know that a lot of hawkens were blued don't you?"

which put me on the trail researching things i did not know!

[bama]

I know several people that got started using CVA and TC kits, myself included. Nothing to be ashamed of there, but you will learn little about actual rifle building from these kits. You will find that just finishing these kits out will not satisfy the rifle building urge and you will move on to more challenging parts kits. It's a journey, enjoy it.

[paulitus]

I assembled a couple of Sharon Hawken kits before embarking on my first “built from blank.” It’s a great warm-up.

[rkcohen]

..well the good news is that i've gotten some coaching ref what a hawken looked like "back in the day" which has been educational - and time saving - will leave the barrel in blue..

ref not learning anything about how to make a rifle - i'm talking slllooooowww here - i'm glad i had my algebra and geometry classes in high school before i took calc in college@!

heck, i'm even getting insights about sandpaper - thanks guys!!