Flintlock Rifle plans

roseau river rat

roseau river rat

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looking for a place to download free flintlock long rifle plans, ive been looking but cant find free plans online anyone have any idea where i may find some ? thanks.
 
I know it isn't free, but Track of the Wolf's plans are full sized and scaled - very handy for building. Nor are they particularly expensive. The cost of printing on something that size (with no guarantee of scaling) is probably going to be close to theirs.

Not exactly the answer you want, I know but it seems reasonable enough to go that route.
 
What do you mean by "plans"? As in detailed information on making ALL the parts from scratch? Or just for the stock? Would you be setting up to make a pattern and then cast your own trigger guard in brass?

If it's just for the stock I'd suggest that the bevy of pictures available online is pretty much the only plans you require. After that it's all about inletting for the action and barrel. And you can't really get plans for that considering all the different locks and barrel configurations out there. And that would be why TotW only has plans for their actual kits.

If you have the lock and barrel and a rough casting for the guard and need to work out the wood I'd suggest some reading around about how to set the LOP for a muzzle loader and perhaps start out with a roughed out version done in cheap construction wood to work out the methods and to work out the LOP and drop angle of the stock and any cheek rest height preferences. As well you can work out any shaping and tapering and set the size of the fore stock so it looks pleasing to the eye and feels good in the hands.

When you've shaped it so the LOP and cheek comb is right and you can shoulder this trial version equipped with the lock and barrel with your eyes closed and then open them to see the sights aligned near perfectly each time then use that trial version to start shaping that nice piece of curly maple you bought. That roughed out version will be your "plan". And a far better "plan" than anything on paper.
 
I guess I should be more specific. I have most of the parts that I need but what I'm not 100 percent sure of is making the stock and I just figured a full size plan would help in getting the right shape for the stock .
 
get a pre-carved blank and do the inletting as needed. Drilling the ramrod hole and barrel channel is going to be the tough part with a pure blank. The rest is easy. Places like tiger Hunt have some good stocks..
 
Some pretty careful planning is required in the area of the lock, trigger and breech. I strongly recommend you start with one of the excellent books out there. Recreating the American Longrifle is very good - didn't realize that is what it is going for these days. Another excellent book is The Gunsmith of Greenville County by Peter Alexander and yet another is The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle by Chuck Dixon.

You really need to understand the geometry before you start construction and you really should understand it before assembling parts. Log onto and join americanlongrifles.org. There are a lot of accomplished builders there who are more than happy to help.
 
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B_noser said:
.... Another excellent book is The Gunsmith of Greenville County by Peter Alexander and yet another is The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle by Chuck Dixon.....
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Yes those are the two best references out there for getting started; I just figured you'd built one already from the original post. Another decent website is http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com go to the Gun Building Bench

Good luck!
 
roseau river rat said:
I guess I should be more specific. I have most of the parts that I need but what I'm not 100 percent sure of is making the stock and I just figured a full size plan would help in getting the right shape for the stock .
Click to expand...

I figured that this was probably the case. But what you need is a "how to" book or video on the skills and tools, not a set of plans... unless the plans come with such a book or video.

What you likely would be best off with is a rough shaped stock and then work out the recesses for the parts that you have. Or if you really want to jump into the deep end with bricks on both feet then I'd strongly suggest learning your steps with a hunk of cheap building lumber first as a training and teaching aid as I suggested already. Make all your mistakes and learn on a buck fiddy's worth of wood instead of a $150 blank of flamed maple. You can thank me later.

Even if you already have some cabinet making or other wood working skills working on the methods for inletting barrels and actions and matching cast butt plates and patch boxes in a really clean manner will take you to a whole new level. I know this has been the case for me and I've got a pretty good background in classic wood working to where hand cutting dovetails doesn't fill me with dread.

Look up the Midway USA channel on You Tube. Larry has a number of videos on working stocks for inletting. They are mostly about cartridge guns but the skills and tricks he uses are timeless and apply to any stock work from any period of firearms. They tend to be pretty short but they are filled with information if you can read between the lines a little. His tricks for marking using lamp blacking are seriously handy. I've only used a candle myself because I didn't want the soot that comes from a serious oil lamp burning with a tall wick. The candle blackening is a little slower but works just as well.
 
Thanks everyone for all the great advice , I'm doing allot of online research and still weighing my options. I did locate a piece of very curly maple locally and cheap to boot , haven't bought it yet , still thinking it would be easier to just buy a partially inlet stock from track of the wolf but for the same quality wood I would pay upwards of 300 ..... What to do
 
If you enjoy this sort of project the first one won't be the last one. So I'd buy the wood you found regardless of if you use it this time or the next.
 
BCRider said:
I figured that this was probably the case. But what you need is a "how to" book or video on the skills and tools, not a set of plans... unless the plans come with such a book or video.

What you likely would be best off with is a rough shaped stock and then work out the recesses for the parts that you have. Or if you really want to jump into the deep end with bricks on both feet then I'd strongly suggest learning your steps with a hunk of cheap building lumber first as a training and teaching aid as I suggested already. Make all your mistakes and learn on a buck fiddy's worth of wood instead of a $150 blank of flamed maple. You can thank me later.

Even if you already have some cabinet making or other wood working skills working on the methods for inletting barrels and actions and matching cast butt plates and patch boxes in a really clean manner will take you to a whole new level. I know this has been the case for me and I've got a pretty good background in classic wood working to where hand cutting dovetails doesn't fill me with dread.

Look up the Midway USA channel on You Tube. Larry has a number of videos on working stocks for inletting. They are mostly about cartridge guns but the skills and tricks he uses are timeless and apply to any stock work from any period of firearms. They tend to be pretty short but they are filled with information if you can read between the lines a little. His tricks for marking using lamp blacking are seriously handy. I've only used a candle myself because I didn't want the soot that comes from a serious oil lamp burning with a tall wick. The candle blackening is a little slower but works just as well.
Click to expand...

- buy both books, "recreating the american longrifle" & " The gunsmith of grenville county" read them both and compare - they both take slightly different approaches and both have some interesting techniques.

- buy that chunk of curly maple & stash it away somewhere, if you are concerned about messing it up - grab something cheap and easy to carve for a dry run. You can always re-use the parts on your Maple blank :)

- the more planning & layout you do the more it will pay off. :)

- it's absolutely fine to use a router for gross removal of material from the barrel channel.... no matter what the books say ;)

- a HIGH quality cabinetmakers rasp will be your favourite tool. (check Canadian woodworkers site - they have an article on rasp comparison)

- learn how to layout without rulers, marking gauges, calipers, winding sticks, single purpose jigs etc are WAY easier to use than a ruler on the erratic surfaces you will be creating


lots of forums out there specifically dedicated to this.... any questions ~ just ask.
 
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