Author Topic: MBS French Dragoon Pistol finished (Read 4414 times)

Bob Gerard · « **on:** December 27, 2021, 12:29:45 AM »

I bought the "Model 1733 French Dragoon" pistol kit from MBS and started working on it several weeks ago. The build was pretty straight-forward, and I didn't break anything

The barrel is .62 cal/20 gauge and is 15.5" long (I have read that the originals were 11.5" or shortened to 10"). As well as shooting patched round ball I hope to do some squirrel hunting with it using shot which should be so fun.
I have wanted a pommel pistol for about thirty years and finally I have one, and I really like this gun so much

Rajin cajun · « **Reply #1 on:** December 27, 2021, 02:56:19 AM »

Very nice 👍 I love French pistols...!

Bob

PAFlinter · « **Reply #2 on:** December 27, 2021, 03:34:55 AM »

Great looking pistol!

Daryl · « **Reply #3 on:** December 27, 2021, 05:27:25 AM »

Now that's nice. I would think you could grind in a bit of a jug choke wit a brake cylinder hone.
I did this with a .44 smooth bore that worked out REALLY well.

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #4 on:** December 27, 2021, 05:40:25 AM »

Thanks- I guess it could be choked out but I couldn’t lol. I think its just going t be so fun with shotgun wads or traditional shot wads, as well as patched round ball or paper cartridge shooting. I’m getting anxious to shoot it!

Clark Badgett · « **Reply #5 on:** December 27, 2021, 06:56:57 AM »

That is a really nice pistol, but a 1733 dragoon it is not. It is a nice privately procured style pistol.

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #6 on:** December 27, 2021, 07:35:16 AM »

Thank you. MBS has this pistol kit listed as the 'M1733 French Dragoon', but I guess it is more of a general dragoon or something. It is a cool pistol and not terribly hard to assemble.

Clark Badgett · « **Reply #7 on:** December 27, 2021, 08:13:50 PM »

Quote from: Bob Gerard on December 27, 2021, 07:35:16 AM

Thank you. MBS has this pistol kit listed as the 'M1733 French Dragoon', but I guess it is more of a general dragoon or something. It is a cool pistol and not terribly hard to assemble.

MBS does have the correct 1733 side plate and plain butt cap nail. Unfortunately they do not offer a tapered .69 cal barrel. Why they would send a trade pistol side plate and groteque face nail is beyond me.

jbigley · « **Reply #8 on:** December 28, 2021, 12:39:46 AM »

Bob— Regardless of whether it is a completely “authentic “ 1733 or not, that is still a very NICE looking pistol. Great job on the build. Glad you finally got the pommel pistol you wanted for so long. You can be rightly pleased with your work. 👍👍
Now take it out and shoot it.😀
—JB

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #9 on:** December 28, 2021, 06:32:04 AM »

Thank you JB. I really am feeling happy to have this pistol. I decided to seal it with a wiping varnish for durability and added protection and love how it is turning out. Not glossy as I am lightly rubbing it after each application with a fine white 3M pad. I will let it cure a few more days and will have some fun with both round ball and also shot. I hope to get some videos of it in action 😊

davec2 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 28, 2021, 06:41:27 AM »

Bob,

I love pistols with this shape and size. You did a great job on this one ! I have built 4 of this type of pistol and all of them had butt caps with the long rails too thick to bend out while inletting. I was a long, excruciatingly slow task to inlet the butt cap on all four of them. I have brass barrels for two more and the stock blanks cut out.....but I need to find (or make) some better butt caps before I do those.

Anyway, great job and I know you will enjoy shooting it

Best,

David

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #11 on:** December 28, 2021, 07:16:55 AM »

I imagine your pistols are really beautiful, Dave; I would love to see them if you have pics posted or could post! These style of pistols have always been my favorite for some reason, probably just because they are so graceful and refined in shape. Heck, I am toying with the idea of another down the line.
The side rails on this cap were thick, maybe 3/32" but the brass is the softest I ever used so they (carefully) bent easily. It was tedious getting the cap on even though the stock was pre-carved quite well. Lesson for me in patience nonetheless.
Thanks for looking and for your very nice compliment. I think I will enjoy shooting this a lot

~Bob

davec2 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 28, 2021, 08:06:44 PM »

Bob,

Yes !! A lesson in patience to be sure. And for me, a chance to review every curse word I had ever learned in 26 years in the Navy...(and in several foreign languages I might add).

I also agree that the gracefulness of these pistols is a large part of the attraction. In my case I can trace my fascination with pistols like these to two paintings I saw in books when I was a very young boy. By virtue of the technological miracle of the internet, here they are......

Here are a few pictures of a brace of Dragoons I built a while back. I can recommend building a second one....they are really fun to shoot with one in each hand. However, I had to wait about a year between building the first and second one in order for the memory of inletting the butt cap on the first one to fade a little...

Big Bubba · « **Reply #13 on:** December 28, 2021, 08:28:44 PM »

I've been wanting to build a pistol for a while and I'm really liking this one. Nice job Bob!

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #14 on:** December 29, 2021, 01:20:58 AM »

Dave, those pictures remind me of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels. I loved reading them way back when... it's funny how one simple picture can make such an enormous impression on someone, especially young imaginations!
That set of pistols you built are stunning- probably better made than were the originals! Your work is such an inspiration. And I could relate about the choice vocabulary you used in building them. Though my neighbor's house is 500 yards away, I wonder if they can hear me sometimes... my Irish temper they say

I might get a second pistol kit in the future to pair with this one. I guess it should be another 15.5 inch barrel, though I would like to see how the 12" (11.5?) one looks...
Thanks for sharing those photos. Splendid things they are.
Bob

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #15 on:** December 29, 2021, 01:23:06 AM »

Hi Big Bubba, go for it! MBS has a few types of European pistols and I think American as well. I like the military pommel pistols myself

borderdogs · « **Reply #16 on:** December 29, 2021, 03:19:48 AM »

nice pistol Bob. You know I use to stare at those painting in some of the books in our school library when I was a kid. Mike Miller has a video out on building an American style pistol....goos video!
Rob

davec2 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 29, 2021, 05:45:29 AM »

Bob,

I don't believe 500 yards would be enough for me.

My pistols have 12 inch barrels but I like the look of your 15 inch one....it makes the pistol look even more graceful. The one thing I would recommend if you really want a second (matching) pistol at some point is to purchase any key components (like the butt cap and trigger guard). I have had suppliers either go out of business, pass away, or just stop making a particular part that I counted on getting. Bill Kennedy made a great cast butt cap for these pistols. I have one. I need two for a matched pair of pistols. I'm sorry i didn't spend the extra $25 when I had the chance.

Thanks again for the kind words

David

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #18 on:** December 29, 2021, 08:21:14 AM »

Thanks Dave- Very good advise about getting the various parts ahead of time. It seems that there are already some issues of parts not being done (or not done well) at some foundries, and no doubt we're going to be experiencing a lot of shortages across the board in the near future...
Also Dave, there is something here I would like to add, and that is how immensely impressed I am with experts and master builders/artists like yourself. You guys are the pinnacle of the profession I think, and still take the time to support and encourage budding and novice builders like me and others like me. It speaks volumes about the caliber of people in this field and sport.
Thank you.
~Bob

alacran · « **Reply #19 on:** December 29, 2021, 03:54:04 PM »

Very nice pistols Dave. Always impressed with your work.

davec2 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 29, 2021, 08:53:28 PM »

Bob,

I agree with you completely about the caliber of people you meet here on the ALR board and in the muzzleloading world. Any manual skills I might have are the result of working at a bench making crowns, bridges, partials, and dentures with my Dad in his dental laboratory from the time I was 5 until I left for the Navy at 18. But whatever I have learned about these beautiful rifles, pistols, and other 18th century weapons...about the gunsmiths that built them 200 years ago....about the tools and techniques they used....all of that came from those skilled, knowledgable, and generous true experts you find here, and I am forever indebted to them for their patience and instruction. As I write these words, I am thinking of innumerable examples of questions I have asked people I have met here on this board and of those kind souls who have answered those questions and taught me things I never knew before.

As thankful as I am to be able to communicate via the medium of this computer, there is really no substitute for one-on-one instruction. In 2008, when I had a chance to be instructed in person by a true expert, Jerry Huddleston, I learned more about engraving and gunsmithing in the 10 days I had with him than I had tried to learn on my own for the previous 20 years. He an I often spoke about me returning to Baker, Oregon for more lessons....but I never had the time to go and work with him again....and I will forever regret not making the time. Like Jerry, there are many others on this board who will get together with others to offer classes....or individual instruction....or take pictures and write tutorials..and I will be forever in their debt for what they have taught me. In the greater scheme of things, we are a very small community sharing this common interest. We are also, with the possible exception of Kibler, Kettenburg, and a few others, an aging community. So I encourage all of us who can to meet, face to face, the friends we have made "on line" and, at least, shake hands and say "thank you".

All the best,

David

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #21 on:** December 30, 2021, 12:15:36 AM »

Wow, how wonderfully stated. Thank you Dave.

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #22 on:** December 30, 2021, 12:18:59 AM »

And here it is, a video my first date with a French Dragoon! It was major fun

smylee grouch · « **Reply #23 on:** December 30, 2021, 12:30:35 AM »

Hi Bob, that looked like pretty sure ignition on that shot. What lock does it have and does it have a vent liner?

Bob Gerard · « **Reply #24 on:** December 30, 2021, 02:21:13 AM »

It is pretty quick- its an L&R lock (I will have to check the invoice to see the model). I didn't install the touch hole liner but have it in case I decide to use it later.

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Author Topic: MBS French Dragoon Pistol finished (Read 4414 times)