First build - using only Bill Raby videos

[Sand Watcher]

This was my first build from scratch, which I did by following Bill Raby's original 4-bore video series. Previously my experience was building a couple of guns from kits - a Pedersoli Harper's Ferry pistol, and the Sitting Fox 4-gauge blunderbuss. I ordered the barrel almost immediately after Bill started publishing the series, but it wasn't until just recently that I made a push to finish the rifle. My goal was simply to build a functional and ergonomic gun.

Notable differences from reference:

   - Longer barrel - 33" vs 29"
   - No advanced carving or finishing work
   - No entry pipe, mostly because I didn't feel like fabricating one.
   - Somewhat more drop, 2-3/4"
   - Uses a pre-cast trigger guard
   - Temporarily equipped with a delrin rammer - I eventually want to find a dark wood that's cheaper than ebony for this

The finished rifle comes in just a hair under 20 lbs, which is about the limit of what I can shoulder. I did a few test shots in the back yard with 300 grains of Fg under a .975 caliber ball. The fit is good (easily loaded with thumb pressure into the .981 bore) using a very thin (.007) patch, but gets noticeably tight after a shot or two. I'm leaning toward getting a smaller mould so that I can use a .015 patch. Recoil is not bad, and is much easier to handle than the blunderbuss despite a 50% heavier charge. It feels less likely to bruise your shoulder than a .30-cal nitro rifle, but has noticeably more 'shove' and muzzle rise. That said, 300 grains is probably not enough for good ballistic performance. I'll need to do some chronographing at the range to figure out what's best.

As you can imagine, the real challenges with this is accommodating the over-sized nature of the barrel. The lock wouldn't fit without removing metal, and long 10-32 screws are nearly impossible to find (the tang bolt is actually two screws welded end-to-end). The selection of off-the-shelf thimbles in 1/2" is extremely limited, and the barrel rib is disproportionally narrow. I also have no idea how to correctly clean the chambered breech, which has a 90 degree .7" deep vent (ideas on this would be welcome).

Overall, I'm very happy with how the rifle turned out. It's a good testament to the quality of Bill's build videos when even a novice like me can make something workable. I would highly recommend!

[HSmithTX]

Very cool, love the idea of the 4 bore. The forend tip and the color of the wood is outstanding!

[Stoner creek]

Just under 20 lbs!! You’re a tough cat if you can shoulder and shoot that beast. Hats of for your efforts.

[PhDBrewer]

Yes... wow! Just under 20lbs. I would not want to carry that long...
But o bench it is probably real stable!

[smylee grouch]

Cleaning should be straight forward. Dismount barrel, place breech end into a bucket of water and rod pump with a wet patch drawing water up and down forcing the water in and out. Use a slotted jag with patch to clean the chamber. Remove and dry with multiple flannel patches. WD 40 and swab out excess.

[elkhorne]

Sand Watcher,
Congratulations to you on this fantastic accomplishment! I have been touting Bill Raby’s videos for close to two years in the “Schools On” column in Muzzle Blasts most months. I have attended several “build” classes and Bill covers areas and techniques I was never privy to in any of the build classes. I have a rifle I want to start this winter and intend to follow Bills video series on the “Lancaster Isaac Haines” build or the “Maryland rifle” step by step. His steps and procedures are very logical and he makes some mistakes but, unlike many commercial videos, he shows the viewer how to fix them so they most likely will never show and only the builder knows there was some kind of “snafu” there. Unlike many commercial videos, Bill is humble enough to show his errors on video, shows and discusses how to do the repair and fixes it. Again congratulations and I hope some other builders will pick up and do as you did.
elkhorne

[Wingshot]

Bill’s Tennessee rifle build is what started me down the road, I hope to have it finished up mid-winter. I’ve learned much throughout the process and have gotten good advice from these forums. Your gun looks good!

[Sand Watcher]

His steps and procedures are very logical and he makes some mistakes but, unlike many commercial videos, he shows the viewer how to fix them so they most likely will never show and only the builder knows there was some kind of “snafu” there.

Good point! This aspect of the videos was quite valuable. I definitely used the techniques for fixing dings and scratches in the stock, and improving the vent liner seal. Most importantly, he showed a method to fix loose inletting by stretching the surface of metal parts. I used that one to remediate the poor inletting job I did on the tang.

[TDM]

That’s a beautiful beast! Nicely done.

[Daryl]

Cool! - your .981" bore would be likely called a 5+ bore, as 5 is .977". 4 bore being 1.052" numerically.
20 pounds would be necessary for me to make the recoil "usable" with a 1/2 load of the lightest of the period.
I'm sure if using a typical 19th century load of 10 to 16 drams would wear someone out quickly.
Even then, 12 drams, according to W.W. Greener produced over 200pounds of recoil. breaking his recoil machine that had a max of 200pounds.
1 dram is 27.3gr.
I don't think the 4 bore Greener tested weighted that much as your load is very close to 11 drams.
I would smooth the crown and use a 10 ounce denim patch with the balls you are currently casting at 6 thou under bore size.

[Bill Raby]

That is really cool!!! I like it. And glad to hear that the videos were useful. But it is a mistake to use only my videos as a reference. It is always best to learn from as many different sources as possible.

The stock design makes a huge difference in the felt recoil. It is my opinion that for a very heavy recoiling rifle, a metal buttplate, that is of the right design, actually works better than a squishy recoil pad.

300 grain powder charge is enough to get your attention, but recoil is not too bad. I normally use 400 to 450 grain powder charge. That brings things to a whole new level. Recoil is getting close to 400 pounds there. I have tried 500 grain powder charge a few times. That is getting to be a bit more than I can handle. It will take some time to work up to that. Some 19th century hunters were known to use up to 550 grain powder charges. I will get to that eventually. But not for a while. That is putting recoil well over 400 pounds.

If you like mistakes, I got a whopper coming up for you on the current project. I am using really fancy wood that is not very well suited for heavy recoil. I need to reinforce the stock. I screwed it all up. But I caught it before it got too far and should be able to make it work just fine. I hope! I am anxious to get to it. But I just finished up a 13 hour day at work. A few of those hours were spend out in the sun while wearing a Level A hazmat suit with a temperature of 103 degrees. I'm too tired to do anything today. I will get to it over the weekend. It will all be in future videos.

The gun looks good. I am impressed that you were able to do it with a limited amount of experience. This is not an easy one to build.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Not too bad for a first try.  Are you open to knowledgeable and cronstructive advice?

dave

[Stoner creek]

Here we go!

[Sand Watcher]

That is really cool!!! I like it. And glad to hear that the videos were useful. But it is a mistake to use only my videos as a reference. It is always best to learn from as many different sources as possible.

Technically not the only source. Lurking around in forums like this and reading online has filled in a lot of the blanks and answered a lot of questions. There's never been a better time to learn a craft like this at home, despite the YouTube crackdown. I'm looking forward to see how you tackle the challenge in your latest build.

[Sand Watcher]

Not too bad for a first try.  Are you open to knowledgeable and cronstructive advice?

I absolutely welcome any suggestions and advice! Half of what I expected from this project was to learn how to do it better, and personally I tend to learn more from the things I do wrong than the things I do right.

[Austin]

That’s a cool beast!
However….Ive been waiting all day for the cronstructive advice

[Mike Brooks]

It's a little square for me. Probably some folks like that sort of thing though so if square is cool I say......nifty

[Sand Watcher]

It's a little square for me. Probably some folks like that sort of thing though so if square is cool I say......nifty

You are right - I could probably have done better contouring around the tang and middle of the forestock, however it does not seem to be detrimental to the ergonomics.

[Jim Kibler]

If you're going to build more rifles, you ought to buy one of our scrap practice stocks.  This will give you a little better idea of proper stock contours.  Your workmanship looks pretty good.

Jim

[Crow Choker]

I'm no expert by any means, also have never built a rifle from a blank, but IMO it looks pretty good. A rifle IMO of that bore and with its big Ol barrel needs a hefty stock to manage recoil. Nice job on it. What did you finish the barrel with, looks good.

[Sand Watcher]

If you're going to build more rifles, you ought to buy one of our scrap practice stocks.  This will give you a little better idea of proper stock contours.  Your workmanship looks pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback Jim! I didn't even know that you sold scrap stocks - I'll check it out.

[Sand Watcher]

I'm no expert by any means, also have never built a rifle from a blank, but IMO it looks pretty good. A rifle IMO of that bore and with its big Ol barrel needs a hefty stock to manage recoil. Nice job on it. What did you finish the barrel with, looks good.

The stock is some unknown species of walnut, with an ebony cap. The grain was very open, so I filled it with several thick layers of Tru-Oil, which were then sanded off. The finish was done with a few very thin layers of Tru-Oil, buffed with steel wool. It's easy to get that finish too glossy, so I tried to be conservative with it. No stain at all. I believe that Bill treated his with Tru-Oil as well, but then it was finished with Johnson Paste Wax (which as far as I can tell, has been discontinued).

[smart dog]

Hi,
Your craftsmanship looks top notch.  Making a gun with such a big barrel is certainly a challenge. The first thing that would slim it down and round it out more is to bring the top of the breech down so it is more flush with the barrel flats.  More like this although my example uses a standing breech the idea is the same.


 That would round the top down a bit and remove some of the need for the large notch for the flint cock.  The second thing would be to bend the barrel tang down more and start the bend right from the end of the barrel.  That would lower the profile of the top making the wrist slimmer and removing much of the wood above the lock allowing you to shape and contour the lock panel and side plate panel a bit better.  I would also define the nose of the comb a bit more distinctly by narrowing it and extending the "hand rail" from the wrist a little further down the stock.



 Finally Sand Watcher, your cheek piece is nicely shaped but I would define the edges more with chisels and avoid sanding it too much so some of those crisp edges are not lost. 



You did very nicely and my comments are not specific to just this gun.  They can apply to any of your next long arm guns no matter what they are.  Good luck.

dave

[Crow Choker]

Good post smart dog! Your postings along with Bill's (and others) are a gun build education. Wondering yet Sand Watcher what method/product you finished the barrel with. Between browning and bluing if I had only one choice to make between the two I'd choose bluing even if a build wasn't the so-called 'period correct', although browned barrels do look nice.

[Sand Watcher]

Thanks Dave - I appreciate the detailed feedback! The photos you dropped in really help to illustrate the points.

The first thing that would slim it down and round it out more is to bring the top of the breech down so it is more flush with the barrel flats.

Yeah, this is one of the most obvious areas of improvement. A number of folks have hinted at this.

The second thing would be to bend the barrel tang down more and start the bend right from the end of the barrel.

Definitely agree here also. I noticed this issue even as I was sketching out the profile. The solution I discovered later, which is made easier by milling out the arc of material that was originally part of the tang's underside.

I would also define the nose of the comb a bit more distinctly by narrowing it and extending the "hand rail" from the wrist a little further down the stock.

I have mixed feeling about this (the plans I started with were not clear on the most correct approach either). Most historical examples of big-bore rifles that I found just sort of bluntly flowed the wrist right into the comb, though many smaller bore guns are often as you described.

Finally Sand Watcher, your cheek piece is nicely shaped but I would define the edges more with chisels and avoid sanding it too much so some of those crisp edges are not lost.

That area in particular was at about the limits of my wood carving ability. It's good to know how I can shape it up better next time!