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This rifle is unusual. I know of only two that have this long cheek. The Brass Barreled Rifle and RCA 145 Both are attributed to Johann Honecker by Wallace Gusler. Sorry that the butt is upside down. Anyway, you can see the cut line for the cheek. The cut line runs from the buttplate and fades...

Did you get those snowshoes fixed?

Yep, That’s a Japanese Bess. These are very good.

Dig you see the follow up,.... duck hunting with a Frigate?

That would be insanely difficult. Perfect circles are hard to do and when you consider stock shape difficult for something that large. I have never seen anything like that on original American or English work. Now...... Shrink those down to no larger than 1/16 dots.....you do see that...

Very nice work! That’s a very interesting gun as well. So would this be more of a “Sporting Rifle”? I remember seeing a “ Gamekeeper’s Rifle” of the latter 18th Century, it was either on Clay Smiths site or one of Gary Brumfield’s articles. 18th Century English rifles...would make a very...

If you are interested, below are two videos that may shed some light in this project.

1/8 at the muzzle. About 3/16 at the breech. I may not know exactly what I’m doing but I can fake it. Now I’m an apprentice. I have inlet many, many locks, tons of file work, Inlet barrels, cut ramrod grooves, drilled ramrod holes, cut lugs.... sights in.....lots of work on many guns...

I hesitate to post because right now it’s in the awkward ugly stage and trufully I have made some mistakes. Challenging architecture!!! Even if it’s not as executed as well as I wish so far, it will be an interesting rifle. Ok, lots of things going on here. The worm track that runs...

He said he had to fix his snowshoes first, silly.

Well, Was O’Neal really Barry Lyndon? No he was a guy playing a part. The “trapdoors” are playing a part. In a sense the props are actors too.

The books I was referring to are the Kentucky Rifle building books. Recreating the American Longrifle The Gunsmith of Grenville County The Art of the Pennsylvania Longrifle (Dixon’s book) While not specific to the Bess they give the foundation and basic steps that will help any new builder.

Wow! A Ferguson Neat Rifle!

Hopefully so. Good luck

Instead of torch heat, Boil the lock. No joke, this works.

I would not use a single set because they are goofy. I have always thought they are a goofy 19th Century target thing. You “may” have seen such on say, a pair of duelers, but not on a Virginia Longrifle. Christian Oerter describes a double set in a letter on one his rifles, 1774. I have a...

All of this seems pretty straight forward. It all depends on the rifle. It sounds like the OP wants his rifle refined a little. There’s other options as far as the buttplate including heel or toe plates. It depends on the rifle and what the OP wants.

A builders friend of mine will never use Permalyn again....ever. It’s impossible to touch up. Great finish but there’s no touching it up and repairing it. It has to be stripped.

1. Really this is above my pay grade. I do believe that Besses have flats on both sides of the barrel. This helps with stock architecture. If the barrel has no flats it must be faced for the lock. This is critical. Miss-filed .... it could be a disaster. The Bess has a large barrel with a...

The best advice I can give...... Find a builder to assemble your very expensive parts set. Another option.... Put the TRS Bess away for now and build a simpler gun. Say a trade gun. Clay Smith has Carolina kits. There’s Jim Chambers’ offerings. Another option.... maybe the best for you is...