My Recent Rifle Build

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L T Grey

L T Grey

32 Cal
Joined
Dec 15, 2023
Messages
38
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83
Location
Georgia
I finished up this rifle several weeks back. I'll say its a generic Lancaster that has a good bit of Dickert and some Haines in it. I built it from accumulated parts and a clearance sale stock I've had since 2006. The rifle turned out well even though it tossed some challenges my way during the build; including very soft wood, and a buried rot pocket behind the cheek that extends into the box cavity on the offside. That forced me to change my carving elements, but I was able to work around the issue with simplified carving. It's going to be a hunting rifle so I decided on steel furniture even though historically it would have been brass mounted. The barrel is a Colerain 38 inch, Early American, B weight in .50 cal. Lock is a lefty Chambers Siler. Wood was colored with Laurel Mountain Maple stain and Laurel Mountain Ebony stain in a 6:1 ratio. Lock plate, cock, trigger plate, side plate, toe plate, nose cap, thimbles and screws are fire blued. Barrel, buttplate, frizzen and triggerguard are rust blued. I experimented with Mark Lee's Express Blue #1 for the rust bluing and was well pleased. It is easy, fast and it left a deep, nice finish. You don't need a humidity box or a boiling tank. I used a piece of two inch PVC piped capped on one end as my "tank", and poured in boiling water to cure the finish. Finished weight of the rifle is 6 pounds 10 oz.
 

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Well that looks very nice for sure. That sucks about the wood issue I bet that sent a bit of panic. I like how the stripes in the patch box pretty much mimic the ones in the lower butt stock.
 
L T Grey said:
I finished up this rifle several weeks back. I'll say its a generic Lancaster that has a good bit of Dickert and some Haines in it. I built it from accumulated parts and a clearance sale stock I've had since 2006. The rifle turned out well even though it tossed some challenges my way during the build; including very soft wood, and a buried rot pocket behind the cheek that extends into the box cavity on the offside. That forced me to change my carving elements, but I was able to work around the issue with simplified carving. It's going to be a hunting rifle so I decided on steel furniture even though historically it would have been brass mounted. The barrel is a Colerain 38 inch, Early American, B weight in .50 cal. Lock is a lefty Chambers Siler. Wood was colored with Laurel Mountain Maple stain and Laurel Mountain Ebony stain in a 6:1 ratio. Lock plate, cock, trigger plate, side plate, toe plate, nose cap, thimbles and screws are fire blued. Barrel, buttplate, frizzen and triggerguard are rust blued. I experimented with Mark Lee's Express Blue #1 for the rust bluing and was well pleased. It is easy, fast and it left a deep, nice finish. You don't need a humidity box or a boiling tank. I used a piece of two inch PVC piped capped on one end as my "tank", and poured in boiling water to cure the finish. Finished weight of the rifle is 6 pounds 10 oz.
Click to expand...
You fellas have a lot of talent . that rifle, call it what ever you like but you have to describe it as beautiful.
 
Antelope Pete said:
Well that looks very nice for sure. That sucks about the wood issue I bet that sent a bit of panic. I like how the stripes in the patch box pretty much mimic the ones in the lower butt stock.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Panic would have been a mild reaction Pete! When I began to relieve the element it literally crumbled like popcorn. Was able to dig it out and work down the contour. I was wondering how I would work in a "wear plate" behind the cheek. I got lucky on the box lid. I found a piece of scrap that was close and worked with it. Thankfully it helped accent the curl in the butt. Thanks for noticing!
 
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CuNosecap said:
I really like the color you mixed up. The ebony is not something I've thought of. How did you come up with that at 6:1?
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I played with some scrap maple and used a syringe to be accurate on my ratio. I randomly used 6 parts of the Maple stain as my base amount, and tried up to three parts of the ebony before it got too dark. The 6:1 gave me the depth I wanted and seemed to bring the gold out in the maple stain. I also had the same resulting color on a scrap piece by using the ebony alone which finished up a dark brown. I rubbed it back with maroon scotchbrite and then put the maple over the top. Way less work using the 6:1 ratio on the whole gun..
 
L T Grey said:
I finished up this rifle several weeks back. I'll say its a generic Lancaster that has a good bit of Dickert and some Haines in it. I built it from accumulated parts and a clearance sale stock I've had since 2006. The rifle turned out well even though it tossed some challenges my way during the build; including very soft wood, and a buried rot pocket behind the cheek that extends into the box cavity on the offside. That forced me to change my carving elements, but I was able to work around the issue with simplified carving. It's going to be a hunting rifle so I decided on steel furniture even though historically it would have been brass mounted. The barrel is a Colerain 38 inch, Early American, B weight in .50 cal. Lock is a lefty Chambers Siler. Wood was colored with Laurel Mountain Maple stain and Laurel Mountain Ebony stain in a 6:1 ratio. Lock plate, cock, trigger plate, side plate, toe plate, nose cap, thimbles and screws are fire blued. Barrel, buttplate, frizzen and triggerguard are rust blued. I experimented with Mark Lee's Express Blue #1 for the rust bluing and was well pleased. It is easy, fast and it left a deep, nice finish. You don't need a humidity box or a boiling tank. I used a piece of two inch PVC piped capped on one end as my "tank", and poured in boiling water to cure the finish. Finished weight of the rifle is 6 pounds 10 oz.
Click to expand...
Nice job sir .
 
sdilts said:
So, how do you blue it without a boiling tank? I use Mark Lee's stuff a lot and always use a boiling set-up.
Click to expand...
I read the information on their web site, and it says if you are only doing a few barrels you may use a PVC pipe tube and just pour in boiling water to cure (blacken) the barrel rather than boiling. It works quite well. I put on 5-6 coats of the solution waiting a minute or so between coats, then into a 2 inch PVC tube and pour in boiling water. Let it steep for two minutes, remove, dry and card it off with degreased steel wool. Repeat until the color pleases you. I found it interesting that the instruction sheet that comes with the bottle differs a bit from thier web site instructions/tips. I followed their web site tips. Also tells you on the web site that nutralizing in a baking soda bath isn't necessay if you are bluing the object. It does need a good oiling for 24 hours or so after you are done. Check out the tips section in the instructions section on thier site. https://markleesupplies.com/instructions
 

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