Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I spent a lot of time over the past year in the ALR archives trying to learn as much as I could during the process of this build, a number of you probably helped me along the way without even knowing it
Getting into building when there is so much great information and high quality pictures available online was a huge help, I don't know if I would be posting my rifle if all I had in the way of instructions was a book or two.
Nice job, over all your inletting looks good. That long tang is not easy to inlet.
Inletting is the first thing I look at when I look at a gun. If the inletting is bad, I don't care how much lipstick you put on it.
As far as the triggers go, you can always fire blue the plate and the triggers. Just put the upper parts in a vise, and just heat the triggers themselves.
You done good!
Thanks, my inletting still has a way to go before it looks like I got the wood to grow around the metal like some of the top builders are able to do, and the browning does seem to help reduce the visual impact of the gaps between metal and wood. When the wood and metal were still in the white these gaps stood out like a sore thumb.
From the workmanship I see on this rifle I think you have it within yourself the the hidden talent to build really fine rifles. It’s all in the details, like the way you expertly fitted and installed the rear sight.
I’d suggest looking at rifle photos built by fellows here and other places that are at the top of their game and study what it is that excites you about that rifle look at the shape of the individual parts, how they are fitted and finished. Visually does one part flow into the adjacent part. Treat each detail or element of the rifle as it’s own distinct project, put all of your effort and skill into this one part of the rifle and the finished rifle, gun or pistol will reflect that effort. You, most likely, after the piece is finished, will see the flaws. Some will stand out and noticed by others and some only seen by yourself.
Remember that perfection in not attainable, but by good practice and thought you can get pretty close.
Good luck,
Richard
I sat and did nothing for about a week prior to installing the rear sight, upsetting metal with a cold chisel was something I had never done before but after reading a few threads about it on here I gave it a shot. Along with improving my inletting abilities I need to work on my patience, with this being my first muzzleloader I was pretty eager to get it finished. Like you say, every part of this rifle where I know I could have spent more time being more deliberate and paid more attention to detail stick out to me like a sore thumb, and I'm sure most of you would be able to pick them out pretty easily if you had it in your hands.
Looks like a fine job to me. Most especially for your first build. How did you like using the T&T varnish oil? I have never used any of that and was thinking of trying it.
T&T varnish oil was great, the manufacturer states that a little goes a long way and they're right. I applied it by drizzling a small amount on a lint free rag and rubbing it into the wood, only adding more finish to the rag when I wasn't able to notice a change from dry to wetted wood. After an hour I wiped the stock down with a dry lint free rag and then left it in a room with a dehumidifier running for 24 hours. I really enjoy the satin finish it gives, and the best part for me is that it doesn't contain any VOCs. I'm in an apartment with pretty abysmal ventilation abilities, using something other than T&T indoors might have had me missing a few letters and words in this response
For the sights, I tried to follow John Selvridge's rifle in Randal Pierce's book (I also used the wrist/butt stock profile of this rifle as a starting point for mine), which shows the front sight with the short leg of the triangle towards the breech and the rear sight with the hollowed out divot towards the muzzle, and slanting back towards the breech. The rear sight that I bought at the beginning looked massive on this skinny barrel, so I ended up making my own out of 1/2" square stock:
