Latest Project

B

B_noser

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
64   0   0
Location
Eastern Canada
This is cross-posted with The Builder's Thread, which appears to be seldom viewed these days.

Just finished my latest project.
It is intended to represent a longrifle that might have been built in Augusta County, Virginia between approx. 1760 and 1780 and is my first attempt at an aged finish. The objective was to make it appear well used and well cared for, but not antiqued. I might end up knocking back the shine on the stock and make some other minor finish adjustments.
This was a plank build of my design.
The 54 cal. barrel is a 42" Rice Virginia Rifle with round-bottom rifling.
The lock is a Chambers Colonial Virginia Flintlock and the trigger is a Chambers.
The trigger guard and buttplate are Reaves Goehring's Early Virginia.
Everything else, including the lock and tang bolts, was made in the shop.

The pic of the sight is just there to show that pretty much anything can eventually become useful.








Thanks for looking.
 
" What is the block of steel that you appear to have made the rear sight from ?"

From my old Antiquing days I would say an old clothes iron.
 
As JP surmised, it is an old sad iron that long ago lost any antique value it might have had. I have used it to make two rear sights so far. The cast iron is a pleasure to work with and it browns/blues beautifully.

Snider Shooter - haven't shot it yet and, given the amount of snow at the BMLR range, it might be a while.
 
B_noser said:
As JP surmised, it is an old sad iron that long ago lost any antique value it might have had. I have used it to make two rear sights so far. The cast iron is a pleasure to work with and it browns/blues beautifully.

Snider Shooter - haven't shot it yet and, given the amount of snow at the BMLR range, it might be a while.
Click to expand...
I hope you bring it to one of the shoots so I can have a better look at it.
 
Well done B_noser! The fact that you made the backsight out of an old sad-iron is just what they would have done back in the day: iron and steel were expensive and nothing was wasted. A lot of gun barrels were made out of old horseshoe nails and whatever else could be found and forge-welded into a lump. If I guessed right on the sad-iron, I'm a little surprised that it would be a suitable alloy: I thought they were plain cast iron and for a backsight you would want steel or semi-steel. How did that work out?

I think the look and level of carving on the stock is just right for what a small gunsmith would have produced back in the day. They must have kept the stocks well oiled and maybe some tallow on the patch box slides to keep them from sticking with changes in humidity, hunting in the rain etc.

"The most fatal widow and orphan makers in the world". Next to the Ferguson rifle.;)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the positive comments folks.
The choice of material for the rear sight was a bit of an experiment. I would say it is plain fine grained cast iron and I was concerned about possible fragility in the dovetails and notch. It turned out to be plenty tough enough for those areas. As a bonus, it is an absolute joy to work with.

By the way, we often see references to "stub twist" in regard to "damascus" (laid up) barrels. As I recall, that refers to the use of horseshoe nail stubs in their forging. It was believed the constant beating of the nail heads on the cobblestones gave the material some superior quality. Children would collect the nail fragments on the streets and sell them to the barrel forgers.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom