Clay Smith Trade Gun Build

[TDM]

Just started this build a few days ago. This will be an early English, 1740’s, gun from the Virginia region. Stock is maple, has a Rice 20 ga / .62 44” barrel. And a R. E. Davis English trade lock. I have the barrel inletting almost done, tenons and sight are soldered. Still chasing a few high spots to finish, just taking my time with it.

[bnewberry]

Very nice! How thick is the barrel at the muzzle?

[TDM]

Very nice! How thick is the barrel at the muzzle?

Wall thickness at the muzzle measured .067 or 1/16”.

Thanks.

[TDM]

I’d been meaning to weigh the barrel too. It was 3 lbs and 1 oz. It’s nice and light.

[johnny]

Nice to see clear pictures of a gun in progress.  Thanks for posting

[TDM]

Nice to see clear pictures of a gun in progress.  Thanks for posting

Thanks, this is a fairly new phone camera and it does seem to take good photos.

[TDM]

Finished inletting the barrel today and measured, marked, drilled, and installed the barrel pins. I’ll start inletting the lock plate next.

[TDM]

Inletted the lock plate today, the pre-inlet was slightly oversized in two corners so I had a some small gaps to deal with in addition to the ones I made myself! But they will be addressed later. Started cleaning up and polishing the lock parts. Hit a slow down here. The finish on this R E Davis lock is pitiful, at least this one that I have. I spent all afternoon on the plate and frizzen and I’m not finished yet. So much scaling and burrs. Good thing is the frizzen is hard, but that makes for a difficult cleanup on the front. But I’ll keep at it and finish the outside and polish up the insides so I can finish the inletting.




image uploading service

[dadybear1]

THATS REALLY NICE WORK---LIKE YOUR PIN LOCATING JIG--- NEVER DAWNED ON ME--THANKS

[Wingshot]

I see you taped a line level on the drill spotter, I glued one onto the one I made, helps quite a bit.

[TDM]

THATS REALLY NICE WORK---LIKE YOUR PIN LOCATING JIG--- NEVER DAWNED ON ME--THANKS

Thanks, the jig is simple to make, the All Thread can be a little tricky to bend if not heated properly. And if you have an octagon barrel the sight bubble isn’t needed.

[TDM]

I see you taped a line level on the drill spotter, I glued one onto the one I made, helps quite a bit.

Agree, glueing would be best long term. You probably can’t see in the photos, but I used strips of duct tape and put a staple on each side to secure it. If I do any more round barrels I’ll probably use glue.

[Clark Badgett]

Are you planning to dye it to look like English Walnut or Beech?

[duca]

Looking good TDM 👍

[smart dog]

Hi TDM,
Looks very nice and you are doing a good job.  I like your pin locating tool.  When you get to working on the lock and side plate surrounds and moldings keep in mind the flats just about disappear on English guns from this period.  Here is an example.

 




Prominent flats around the lock for a gun of this period are a billboard indicating the gun was modern made.

dave

dave

[oldtravler61]

  TDM I'm using that same lock on my build. Be careful of the main spring.
 Mine snapped so just a heads up. I had the same issues with the clean up and polishing as you are.
  I like your little pin tool that you made. Your gun is coming along well...

[bob in the woods]

Wow. I must say that none of the locks I've purchased from Davis in the past were anything near as bad as that. My favourite 20 bore has that same lock and it was decent right from the start. I polished it up and heat blued it, but nothing more.
It's not as refined as a Chamber's, but it fits the bill for this gun, and sparks wonderfully. I'm really surprised !
Great job on your build BTW. I look forward to seeing more.

[rich pierce]

I sold a round faced Davis lock here and now wish I hadn’t. It sparked great. Some of their locks work at least as well as the original import locks of the period.

Not to derail, but a lot of late flintlocks used here were pretty poor quality.

[TDM]

Are you planning to dye it to look like English Walnut or Beech?

I do plan on a darker finish. I’ll use at least I coat of iron nitrate, then experiment with some alcohol cut batches of DGW antique stain.

[TDM]

Hi TDM,
Looks very nice and you are doing a good job.  I like your pin locating tool.  When you get to working on the lock and side plate surrounds and moldings keep in mind the flats just about disappear on English guns from this period.  Here is an example.

 




Prominent flats around the lock for a gun of this period are a billboard indicating the gun was modern made.

dave

dave

Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll keep that in mind and will also be using photos from “For Trade and Treaty” of guns from this period.

[Clark Badgett]

Are you planning to dye it to look like English Walnut or Beech?

I do plan on a darker finish. I’ll use at least I coat of iron nitrate, then experiment with some alcohol cut batches of DGW antique stain.

I wouldn’t try for too dark. Original trade guns used European walnut or sometimes beech. You might be able to get that maple to look like beech.

[TDM]

  TDM I'm using that same lock on my build. Be careful of the main spring.
 Mine snapped so just a heads up. I had the same issues with the clean up and polishing as you are.
  I like your little pin tool that you made. Your gun is coming along well...

I’m not surprised! I just finished getting the lock back together after a full day and a half of deburring and polishing. There wasn’t a single part that didn’t need attention, the frizzen spring was almost as bad as the mainspring. The tumbler turned out to not be that bad, just a little worse than you’d expect from a quality lock. These locks seem to be hit or miss. I know they’re rushing out backorders now and it shows. Luckily, it sparks good, it’s nice and smooth now, and it’s fairly fast for such a long throw lock. Here’s a before and some after photos.

[TDM]

Wow. I must say that none of the locks I've purchased from Davis in the past were anything near as bad as that. My favourite 20 bore has that same lock and it was decent right from the start. I polished it up and heat blued it, but nothing more.
It's not as refined as a Chamber's, but it fits the bill for this gun, and sparks wonderfully. I'm really surprised !
Great job on your build BTW. I look forward to seeing more.

I think I’ll be happy with now that I’ve gone through it. I had talked to a couple of previous Davis lock owners prior to buying and it was mostly positive.

[TDM]

I sold a round faced Davis lock here and now wish I hadn’t. It sparked great. Some of their locks work at least as well as the original import locks of the period.

Not to derail, but a lot of late flintlocks used here were pretty poor quality.

I agree, it should do the job now, I still plan to order a new mainspring and frizzen spring from Log Cabin to have on hand. Now I can start getting the inletting finished.

[TDM]

Looking good TDM 👍

Thank you!