Another new .50 caliber rifle in work - Barrel keys, fore arm molding, etc.

[davec2]

I have been traveling and away from the shop for about a month now but had started a new rifle project just before I left.  It is one of several pistol and rifle projects that have been hanging fire, some for quite a long time.  In the Navy I learned all too well that "time, tide, and formation" wait for no man. The rosewood stocked, silver mounted pistols I started in 1973 are just one example of a project long over due for finishing.  God willing, I will get them all completed before eight bells calls me out, but in no particular order it seems.
 
The parts for this new rifle were gathered mostly in 2017 while I was really busy with some aerospace test programs.  They have been sitting patiently for me to begin the process….   The barrel is a .50 cal, swamped, square rifled Green Mountain that I purchased from Tip Curtis while visiting him in Tennessee.  The stock wood is an excellent piece of hard maple from Tiger Hunt and the lock is one of Jim Kibler’s.  The rest of the parts are various odds and ends I have had around for quite some time.  Here are some of the parts prepared for further finish work, engraving, etc.






Dave Rase did the barrel inlet for me, also quite some time ago.  I had shaped the barrel tang and got that much inletted before I put the project aside for a couple of years.



For me the two most tedious tasks on a build are installing the butt plate and installing the rear ram rod pipe.  My Mother, when I was a child, always encouraged me to “do the worst things first” when confronted with a series of difficult tasks.  That way, she said, everything else gets easier as you go.  So, in keeping with my Mom’s sage advice, I started in on mounting the butt plate.








I did also finish with the rear pipe and then started in on draw filing the barrel.  I wanted to get all of the metal work done on the barrel, including any engraving, so that I could be browning or bluing the barrel while I did other work.  The draw filing went quickly and then I milled the slots for the sights and barrel lugs.  The lugs were also soft soldered in place and finished off on the edges.












With the lugs and sights installed, I took a minute to crown the muzzle as well....

[Bob Gerard]

Whenever I see that you have started a new project I know there is another masterpiece on the way 😍

[smart dog]

Good to see you posting again, Dave.!!!

dave

[Daryl]

Good to see you back, Dave. I know what that muzzle crown actually looks like. Your included picture here does not do it justice.

[Jim Kibler]

Does your single flute cutter have difficulty with the rifling?

[Daryl]

This is one I was thinking of, of Dave's crowns made with the cutter.

[davec2]

Bob, David, Daryl.....thanks so much for the kind words.  I have some travel coming up again in a few weeks....we'll see how far I can get with this project before I'm on the road again.

Jim.....When I start to crown a muzzle with the single flute cutter, it does bounce over the rifling a bit.  However, as soon as the surface being cut starts to widen as the radius develops, the chatter stops and I smooth up any remaining tool marks with some 320 grit (and then finer) silicon carbide paper.  It usually only takes three or four twists with the tool to finish putting a radius crown on the muzzle.  Since I only do an occasional muzzle crown, the similar tools I have made for several calibers have been sufficient.  I used to set up a barrel in the lathe in a set of 5C octagonal collets I had wire EDM'd from square collets and then touch the muzzle with a ground radius tool.  Worked well but took more time than I wanted to spend to set up.  This quickly made single tooth tool was my answer to being lazy about a lathe set up      If I had more barrels to crown, I would have a multiple caliber set of radius cutters ground with several cutting flutes and replaceable brass pilots.  The pilots would be made to accommodate variations in bore diameter and not harm the bore at the muzzle.....these would be much better than this single flute cutter...but I just don't crown enough barrels to justify the cost of having the cutters made.

[davec2]

Continuing with the metal work on the barrel, I applied my usual 24 karat gold touch mark on the breach plug......









Not that this rifle will be fancy enough to warrant it, but I decided that I had not practiced the gold inlay techniques that Jerry Huddleston taught me several years ago.  I will need the skill for some future projects, so I thought this rifle would be a good place to start practicing.  So I inlayed my last name on the barrel in gold and then added a couple of barrel bands at the muzzle.  I will add a couple more at the breech soon.  Here are some of the tools and the net results....

[davec2]

Installed the barrel keys.....








Shaped the patch box side of the butt, inlet the lock plate, and then milled the patch box opening.....











Got the muzzle cap installed....



Then I shaped the fore arm and started in on the molding along the ram rod channel.  I always start that process with my very sophisticated tool comprised of a wood screw with a sharpened slot in a small block of wood.  Here are the first cuts being made.....





After the first straight line is cut, I use the tool I made to make a long concave edge between the first cut line and the edge of the ram rod groove.......





And then I finish the molding with an additional bead that I make with a tiny formed scraper........





Then I used my version of a CNC machine (angle grinder with a 36 grit sanding disc) to knock all of the wood off the cheek piece side that didn't look like a rifle.  This removes wood very quickly but can also completely destroy a stock even more quickly  ....   With the bulk of the wood removed, I made some clean up cuts around the cheek piece and then shaped the rest of that side with a spoke shave and rasps.  Looks much more like a rifle now instead of a hockey stick.

[PEARL DRUMS]

This is my kind of thread. Thank you for taking the time, Dave.

[rich pierce]

Great pix and instructive text. Terrific resource.

[Daryl]

Really like seeing a fine gun come together. Those forend moulds SHINE!

[L T Grey]

Great instructional post. Thank you!

[Bob Gerard]

Santa must wonder why he settled for Elves when he saw what a true artist can do 😉.