You guys build "Backup" Rifles ?

[Birddog6]

When I am building a rifle, I have what I call a backup rifle to work on.  May take me 3 mo, maybe 2 years to finally complete it, as I work on it when I am waiting on something to set or me to get a drawing on a stock right to suite me, or decide something on the regular build.
Good to work on when I am carving & not really in the mood to carve, etc. I have to be "in the mood" or things could be a disaster...     Sometimes they still are        I don't usually advertise these rifles cause I never know when I will get them done, but they sometimes sell as soon as someone finds out it is being built, such as this one was.

Here are some photos of the latest "backup" rifle.  It is a I. Haines Lancaster  rifle I have messed with for ? 3 mo I guess. I started it I think back in about late June or early July.    This is what I consider a plain hunting rifle with very nice wood. No frills, carving,  or engraving, other than lock panels enhanced.  I may rub that iron aging out just a tad more.......

Specs are :

Lancaster / I. Haines Flintlock
.54 cal Rice Swamped "C" barrel x 38"
Chambers Deluxe Siler
White Lightening Vent Liner
Davis single trigger (3.2# pull)
Flared hand made nosecap
Aged brass & Steel
2 RR's, each with 1 pinned brass 8-32 tip
LOP is 13 3/4"
Weight is 7# 12 oz.

















Thanks for looking.   

Keith

[Dennis Glazener]

Keith,
Is that Clorox aging on the barrel? I will need to age a barrel later this week and am think of trying Clorox. Haven't tried it and always wanted to.
Dennis

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Well I can see why it was sold immediately!! very nice field gun!!  It is the essence of the art.

It takes me so long to make one gun, that I haven't seemed to have time to start another along the way........ I will be interested to see what you prolific pros have to say about how you do this.

[eagle24]

Very Nice!  Man that would fit me perfect.  I'll bet that rifle is sweet at under 8 lbs, nice wide butt plate.  I bet it balances well with that barrel length and 54cal, just perfect for whitetails.  Thanks for posting the pictures.  I'm so slow building and my workspace is so tight, a backup rifle would be out of the question for me.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Very pretty rifle.  It shows excellent craftsmanship in fit, finish and architecture. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Occasionally I'll have two on the go, but for the only reason that I'm getting bored with one, and excited about another.  I try to focus on only one at a time though.

[t.caster]

As soon as I saw the pics I said "yeah, that'll sell fast!" Well it sold before I said it!
Excellent! Nice way to fill the time.
Yes, I used have a couple going at the same time, to fill in the down time on the other, or to do what I "feel like" doing at the time. Nowadays I try to concentrate on one for better results.

[rich pierce]

I tend to be working on 2 at a time but all my guns are spec guns so it doesn't make much difference and one gun may be in the lead for a while, only to be overtaken by the turtle-like progress on another.

[Acer Saccharum]

I like to have at least a couple of guns going. My current 'back burner gun' is one that I have been taking to county fairs and other events when I do gunsmithing demonstrations. But this gun has now progressed to the point where I need to start another one. For my demonstrations I like to have a chunk of wood to show the beginnings, then a gun in progress, and one or two finished ones to show.

The general public has little idea how things are made. Or that everything we use IS made, and by someone somewhere. Some think I buy the wood already carved and finished, I just snap the pieces in. Other folks have worked farms their whole lives and understand completely what's going on, and have great stories to tell.

So that's what I do with my back burner guns.

Tom

[Potsy]

Birddog6,
Beautiful Rifle.
That is ALOT like what I want my first project to look like.
May I ask what you finished the stock with?

[Birddog6]

Thanks you, I appreciate the compliments      I need two going at once.  When I get ready to carve, it takes me   F O R E V E R   to make up my mind on just exactly how I want it on the rifle, and get it drawn on there the way I want it, etc. I should have bought stock in pencils & erasers as I may draw on that sucker for a month before I start cutting.     So having the other to work on, I can do the ? grunt? work & basics & that is pretty much the same on allot of them.

I really like this style of rifle as it is "for me" the ultimate in a deer rifle. Light, not too long, really balances well & about 2" behind the end of the entrepipe, quick to shoulder & one of my favorite calibers.  With that Deluxe Siler & White Lightening vent liner,  that baby goes off  right   now.....

The stain on the rifle is Danglers Golden brown & it was saturated with it real heavy. Then Danglers dark brown over until it was black. Then rubbed it out quite a bit.  About 8 coats of Tru-Oil rubbed out each time & the last time very lightly with 0000 steel wool, then waxed 3 times to give it a soft sheen but no gloss.

The iron was blued with Birchwood Casey PermaBlue I think it is called. The a Clorox treatment with 70% clorox & 25% water from a mist spray bottle, outside under the awning on a rainy day.   Then neutralized & rust inhibitor applied & then rubbed out.  It stands out more in the photo than in hand, so still debating on whether to rub the barrel out a lil more. Will think on it as once rubbed out it is done.........    The brass was treated with Birchwood Case Brass Black & let sit a day with the solution on it, then rubbed out with 0000 steel wool.

Thanks guys.

Keith

[Tom Currie]

Keith, Thats a very nicely done back burner rifle. All my back burner rifles all reside in my imagination. Wish I had more time to devote to this craft.

Do you know specifically what trigger guard is on this rifle ? 
 

[Birddog6]

Thank you.  It is the smallest Bivins guard. There are 3 sizes similar, tho most venders only show a Large & a Small.  There is a medium that looks just like the large only smaller, and some call it a Dickert guard, but it is the same style as the large Bivins guard.  You can easily get a double set trigger in the large & med but it is a snug fit in this small one.  (This is TOW Small Bivins guard) I feel this small one fits the small rifle better with the single trigger & has less gap in the bow on each side of the trigger than a large guard or medium.

 

[Don Getz]

Keith.....who did you buy the kit from?   You did a nice finish job on it, but, another one of my complaints......it only takes
about 10 minutes to do a moulding on the cheekpiece......why didn't you do it.    To me, a gun just seems to be unfinished
when this is not done, and it is so easy to do..........Don

[Don Getz]

I am in the process of taking an Isaac Haines stock and doing a J.P.Beck out of it.    I had Bob Lepley do some stocks without any trigger or trigger guard, or side plate inletting.  I then fit a Beck buttplate to it and will be using Beck hardware throughout.  Also changing the comb slightly to conform to a Beck.  Am calling it my "Isaac" Beck......will get some pictures when it's finished.  In a sense it's just a fancy barn gun.........Don

[Birddog6]

Don.          The guy was Very specific that he wanted no lines, no molding, no carving, no engraving, nothing.... just a plain hunting rifle with super wood on it, and all aged metal.........  and that is what I tried to give him.    And he is very pleased with the results.
In fact, it would not have had the lock panels carved out had I not already had it done the panels when he found out I was working on one that was unsold & avail. in a few weeks, rather than being at the end of the list & waiting a year.

Now my personal preference is to do something on the cheekpiece, even if it is just a couple of basic lines to enhance it a tad.  However,  I also try to give the customer what he asks for, thus why this one is a plain version.


Keith

[Rick]

Whatever the reason, Keith, that is a stunning rifle!  Rick

[Longshot]

Birddog-
That is one screamin' rifle!
......sometimes the best work is notdone under pressure.
Longshot

[Roger Fisher]

You asked about Backup rifles rather than Backburner rifles, so I was confusaled as usual

Backup rifles and smoothies yes!  As backup pieces if the first one goes haywire for the shooting matches.   Backburner pieces no sir!  One at a time since I'm very relieved when I finish one and she hangs together when I sight her in!  Debating right now if I should start another???   Hmmm maybe a Carolina or whatever!  I have the c maple and a barrel and a?

[Birddog6]

I guess "Backburner"  would have been a more appropriate term....     (he says as he cooks breakfast on his side by side two burner stove...   )

I was thinking a backup  rifle to work on, like a backup rifle to hunt with.

OK, you have a barrel & a stock....... get with it !!  Only thing stopping you is Time, Work, Other Projects,  etc........   Right ?   

[Acer Saccharum]

Well, I have the main project, the jaeger, that I have had in progress for three (oops, four) years now. Then I have my Faire Gonne (which goes to the county fair gunsmithing demos), then I have a barrel let into a stock, and I have another two guns in the closet compartment of my imagination, and then random parts for sixteen other guns.

I know I am not alone in this.

Rich Pierce sent me his barrel inventory, which made me laugh, because I have the same problem. I just won't count them, so I can justify buying another barrel or two, funding permitting.

I have about thirty or forty stock blanks.

Ten or more locks, a drawer full of hardware(stuff accumulated over the years).

Sorry, I digress.

I have a six burner stove, and have guns on almost all the burners. 

Tom

[northmn]

Currently I am working on three weapons.  A 25 Tennessee which is almost ready to shoot, a 58 English which is not and a 60 smoothbore.  The smoothbore was put on the backburner because it was the first gun I had started from a blank after about a 10 year layoff on building.  It is a relearning curve gun.  I was going to can the stock and start over but upon looking at it decided I will finish it flaws and all.  Mostly the web is too thick so it is already named "old slabsides"  It really isn't all that bad.  Some originals I have seen pictures of seem to have had a similar problem.   Sometimes it is nice to have a backburner to maintain perspective.  Work on one while you get over being irritated at your mishaps on another.  Of course there are those that do not mess up, and there are also those that are compulsive liars.

DP

[Acer Saccharum]

While I am a compulsive liar, I also mess up. My current gun, also my backburner gun, is full of mistakes. The challenge is to try to make the mistakes look like like I meant to do that! 

[Long John]

Acer,

A friend of mine brought a rifle over for some repair work and commented that my basement corner workshop was a termite's idea of heaven with the 7 curly maple blanks standing in the corner.  I thought about it for a while and wondered if I would live long enough to use those blanks up.  Now, I don't feel so wierd!  Thanks!

Best Regards,

JMC

[Birddog6]

While I am a compulsive liar, I also mess up. My current gun, also my backburner gun, is full of mistakes. The challenge is to try to make the mistakes look like like I meant to do that! 

I thought that is what inlays are for      to cover up the mistakes.