Millford_P
32 Cal
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd share this project that I've started recently for my brother. He picked up this older Indian made (Stamped 1979 on the underside of the barrel - I wasn't even aware that Indian gunmakers were making replica Besses back then) in a trade a few weeks ago, and I've taken on the project of "defarbing" it as a bit of a challenge!
I'm not a professional builder at all, so any suggestions are welcome as I go! Dave_Person's thread: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-the-kings-muskets-and-a-bit-more.167825/page-4 has been super helpful as well.
![IMG_3987.jpg IMG_3987.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334514-a4eb13acdc2073118c11814286f47cff.jpg)
As you can see in the pictures, it's pretty chunky. There is a TON of excess wood around the lock and the rammer seems quite a bit low below the barrel.
![IMG_3991.jpg IMG_3991.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334520-6be24bf6153fac7376fdc8d168929f14.jpg)
![IMG_3992.jpg IMG_3992.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334521-68deac10451e8b833992cb197f4ffe2a.jpg)
The biggest issue, is that the rammer was drilled off center, and actually intersects with the front lock screw - so a groove was filled into the screw in order to let the rammer slide into it. This has caused the screw to... well... not actually screw into anything! In addition, if the screw is slightly out of position to the left or right, it holds the rammer down without any ability to draw it.
Last week I started the project by cleaning up and filing the lock a bit (I'll take a second pass at that on a rainy day) and re-filling all of the brass components.
I've also started cutting down the excess wood on the stock - I had to take about 3/4 inch from the bottom of the stock near the lockplate! This meant that the trigger guard would need to be re-inlet.
![IMG_4022.jpg IMG_4022.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334531-a2bcbc39883c1becf53e4de968adb28b.jpg)
The top of the buttstock comb was brought down to be a bit more parallel to the barrel and a banister rail was carved in, hoping to give the illusion of a bit more height in the buttstock.
![IMG_4019.jpg IMG_4019.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334529-315f9b4301768e7ca9ec73b00cd67599.jpg)
The thumbplate that was originally on this musket was far too small, luckily I had another one in a bin of excess parts which was a more accurate size, so I lowered the top of the wrist a bit and inlet the new one in (my first time inletting one of these - so definitely not perfect!). The beavertail moulding was also adjusted quite a bit.
![IMG_4025.jpg IMG_4025.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334533-64eda0fcbee49466796fcb8425d38bd3.jpg)
Next steps will be re-drilling the rammer hole and adjusting the rammer channel. This part I've left off for now, since I'm a bit unsure of exactly how to correct the issue. If anyone has any information regarding these measurements, that would be super helpful!
a. How much wood should be left between the rammer channel and bottom of the barrel? About 1/8in?
b. Does the rammer pass above or below the lock screw?
c. Does the forestock and rammer channel taper at all as it comes to the lock? If so, by how much?
Thanks for viewing!
I thought I'd share this project that I've started recently for my brother. He picked up this older Indian made (Stamped 1979 on the underside of the barrel - I wasn't even aware that Indian gunmakers were making replica Besses back then) in a trade a few weeks ago, and I've taken on the project of "defarbing" it as a bit of a challenge!
I'm not a professional builder at all, so any suggestions are welcome as I go! Dave_Person's thread: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-the-kings-muskets-and-a-bit-more.167825/page-4 has been super helpful as well.
![IMG_3987.jpg IMG_3987.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334514-a4eb13acdc2073118c11814286f47cff.jpg)
As you can see in the pictures, it's pretty chunky. There is a TON of excess wood around the lock and the rammer seems quite a bit low below the barrel.
![IMG_3991.jpg IMG_3991.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334520-6be24bf6153fac7376fdc8d168929f14.jpg)
![IMG_3992.jpg IMG_3992.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334521-68deac10451e8b833992cb197f4ffe2a.jpg)
The biggest issue, is that the rammer was drilled off center, and actually intersects with the front lock screw - so a groove was filled into the screw in order to let the rammer slide into it. This has caused the screw to... well... not actually screw into anything! In addition, if the screw is slightly out of position to the left or right, it holds the rammer down without any ability to draw it.
Last week I started the project by cleaning up and filing the lock a bit (I'll take a second pass at that on a rainy day) and re-filling all of the brass components.
I've also started cutting down the excess wood on the stock - I had to take about 3/4 inch from the bottom of the stock near the lockplate! This meant that the trigger guard would need to be re-inlet.
![IMG_4022.jpg IMG_4022.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334531-a2bcbc39883c1becf53e4de968adb28b.jpg)
The top of the buttstock comb was brought down to be a bit more parallel to the barrel and a banister rail was carved in, hoping to give the illusion of a bit more height in the buttstock.
![IMG_4019.jpg IMG_4019.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334529-315f9b4301768e7ca9ec73b00cd67599.jpg)
The thumbplate that was originally on this musket was far too small, luckily I had another one in a bin of excess parts which was a more accurate size, so I lowered the top of the wrist a bit and inlet the new one in (my first time inletting one of these - so definitely not perfect!). The beavertail moulding was also adjusted quite a bit.
![IMG_4025.jpg IMG_4025.jpg](https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attachments/334/334533-64eda0fcbee49466796fcb8425d38bd3.jpg)
Next steps will be re-drilling the rammer hole and adjusting the rammer channel. This part I've left off for now, since I'm a bit unsure of exactly how to correct the issue. If anyone has any information regarding these measurements, that would be super helpful!
a. How much wood should be left between the rammer channel and bottom of the barrel? About 1/8in?
b. Does the rammer pass above or below the lock screw?
c. Does the forestock and rammer channel taper at all as it comes to the lock? If so, by how much?
Thanks for viewing!