.58 Halfstock Flint Plains Rifle

[Herb]

Some of the people I shoot with here get their knickers in a knot when they see a caplock, wanting everyone to shoot flintlocks only. I have flintlocks, but they are too long and heavy for me to shoot well off-hand. So I built a .54 English Sporting Rifle fullstock flint that weighed 7.5 pounds, but I couldn't shoot it well off-hand. Next I copied my .54 Bridger Hawken (which I shoot wonderfully well) in a .58 flint rifle, and I will see how well I shoot it. The Bridger has a 31" 1 1/8" barrel and weighs 11 pounds, but the flint copy has a 32" 1 1/8 x 1" tapered barrel and weighs 9 3/4 pounds. Both Green River barrels.

Length of pull is 13.25" on the Bridger and 12.25" on the flintlock. I like short stocks. The stain is Laurel Mountain Forge Lancaster Maple and the finish is 4 coats of Track's Original Oil.



I heat blued all the parts with a propane torch and Mapps gas but browned the barrel with 12 coats of Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown and Degreaser.

Here are two groups, working on the sights, at 50 yards from rest. Shots 1-5 are with .562 balls, .014 (crushed) linen patching and 90 grains of Goex 2F at 1529 fps. No wiping between shots or groups (ran out of cleaning patches). Shots 6-10 are with 100 grains of Olde Eynsford 1 1/2F and some reject cast balls, which seemed to mike .577. Don't know how I did that with a .570 mold. Velocity averaged 1611 fps. I'll start with 50 grains of Goex 2F for off-hand competition. (You can hit Control and + on your keyboard to enlarge the picture).

 

[Herb]

I sawed the stock out of a blank using handsaws. I would not wish this on anyone, but I have three more to do like that, already begun on a walnut stock where I am inletting the barrel for a 15/16" .50 GRRW barrel.



The plug and tang was a real problem, there is no 1 1/8" flint plug for a Hawken that I can find. I did not want to use the flint hooked breech. Finally had to use a 1 1/8" Fowler plug and tang from The Gun Works, but Track also has it as an American Fowler 1 1/8" hooked breech. The GRRW barrel was threaded for a 5/8 plug, so I sawed off the back of the barrel and the front of the plug to make a 1/2" plug. Cut off the back of the tang and had a friend TIG weld a piece of another Hawken tang on the back. This tang had a hump in it which gave me a lot of trouble to flatten to the correct contour, but I did it.



I had an early Hawken buttplate from Muzzleloader Builder's Supply, which is different than a similar one from Track. I cut 1/2" off the return and will solder it onto a Bridger Hawken tang to make it the correct length for a Kit Carson Hawken, which I will build soon. The cut-off MBS plate on the left and the Bridger on the right. Though they look different, the shoulder shape is the same. The black is the left hand (MBS) buttplate and the red is the Bridger outline.



Here is what I am getting ready for. I was up on Diamond Mountain scouting for my muzzleloader deer hunt and found three bucks and a doe where I hunt, then these 7 good ones. Friends Carl and Carole killed bucks up here 3 or 4 years ago with muzzleloaders I built, and they recently saw 16 big bucks in one herd on nearby farmland. They want to guide me on my hunt so they can be in on another one.

 

[stantdm]

Those are both very nice rifles. I'd shoot that cap lock all day long and wouldn't worry who said what about it. Of course the flintlock is okay too.

Nice deer, hope you get one. We have not had our draw in SD for muzzleloader season yet but I am hoping to draw this year.

 

[Ken Cormier]

I like the Bridger copy thanks for posting

 

[wattlebuster]

I like both but Im a flint lover and they always draw my attention. You did a fine job on both of them :thumbsup:

 

[Ron Wilkerson]

Looks like a fine job to me. I would shoot them both. Happy Hunting!!

 

[Roguedog]

Nice work Herb. Some sweet looking guns.

Jeff

 

[Rifleman1776]

Herb, I wish I lived near ye. You have my unbounded admiration for your skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm. :bow:
I am out of superlatives for compliments.
Will just a big "WOW!" suffice. Wow! :thumbsup:

 

[Herb]

We have a gun show here this weekend and I took one of my .54 caplock Hawkens and this .58 flint plains rifle to lay on the table to find some people interested in such things. Found three of them. One guy wants me to build him a flint halfstock Jim Bridger rifle, which is basically what I already did. Mine is not for sale, but he already had this in mind. I told him there never was any such animal, that this is my special plains rifle, but fortunately I know exactly how to build it. Another guy has the parts for a Hawken (I guess) from Log Cabin shop and needs it put together. And another guy from California wants a caplock Hawken. Another guy wants a .40 caplock Hawken squirrel rifle, which I also have made and have on hand.

 

[50cal.cliff]

Herb, you are "the Man" I wish I had half of your talents! :bow:

 

[S.Kenton]

Herb,
I am in AWE of your talent!!!! I've also never seen a barrel inleted in the way in which you have shown, I will have to try that on my next build!!! I wish I lived closer to you.. I'm sure I could learn alot from ya!

 

[Vaino]

Hi Herb....you're a quality builder who is in demand for your Hawken rifles...w/ so many to build, why not a bandsaw?

I went w/o a bandsaw for many years and one day decided to chuck the "bull work" and bought a 14" Grizzly. Thereafter the builds were a lot more enjoyable. After sawing, the blanks resemble squared off precarves and require very little wood removal.

Your Hawken flintlock has all the attributes of a rifle that many would admire and many more would want to own. Evidently, specializing in both half and full stocked Hawkens has it's advantages....You surely do get them right.....Fred

 

[Bob J]

Herb, I am always interested in your load development, targets, and superb groups. Those are both beautiful rifles! Hope to see a picture of the "Big bore" flintlock Hawken across a large set of antlers this year :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[White Oak]

Beautiful work Herb. Fantastic guns. :hatsoff: I am a fan of short stocks myself. I prefer flint but shoot caps also. My dream gun would be a half stock 12 ga. fowler. Maybe an octagon to round barrel. Don't know if that is PC or HC. Don't care. Also don't have the skills to build but we can all dream.
Take care,
Ed

 

[Doug Lykins]

"I heat blued all the parts with a propane torch and Mapps gas but browned the barrel with 12 coats of Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown and Degreaser."

Herb, That looks really good. Did you simply heat the parts to a dull cherry red w/ a common propane torch w/ map gas? Please explain further.
I always enjoy your comments and pictures.

 

[bioprof]

Nice work on that custom breech plug. :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

I'm not Herb but, no, you don't heat the metal that hot to blue it.

If left bright, (shiny steel color) heat will cause the surface to oxidize.

Starting with a cool part and slowly applying heat to a steel part will cause the surface to change showing several different colors.

The first color to show itself is yellow.
This will happen when the temperature is about 430 degrees F.

The next color to show is a slightly darker "straw" color @ around 470 degrees F.

Following this, brown (500 degrees F), purple (540 degrees F) and finally, blue (570 degrees F) will appear. Heated slightly hotter the blue will begin to fade and become noticeably lighter.

For hundreds of years, these colors have been used to determine the temperature of steels when they were being tempered. The higher the tempering temperature, the softer but tougher the steel becomes after it has been fully hardened.
For instance, drill bits, taps and reamers are often tempered to the yellow or straw color.
Screw drivers and springs are tempered to the blue color.

Heating the steel to temperatures above the blue color results in the surface color turning gray and heating it up to a dull red heat (900 degrees) and hotter will usually turn the surface dark gray or black.

When doing this heat tinting or coloring it is important to have good lighting and watch the color closely.
Although one can just allow the part to air cool once the desired color is reached, I've found it best to have a can of oil handy so I can quench the part to cool it to stop changing.

One nice thing is, if the part was heated too hot and the color moves into the next color, or in the case of a rich dark blue becoming a light blue, if the part is cooled and re-sanded to remove the incorrect color, the whole process can be done again to make it right.

The color is very thin so if it is in an area that is going to be rubbed it will easily wear off.

Something like a screw head which seldom gets touched will maintain the color for years.

Be careful about heat coloring hardened parts because the heat will soften them.

Something like a locks tumbler or sear should never be heat colored. On the other hand, the bridle or other lock parts that can be soft without damaging them can be heat colored like the one in this lock.

 

[Spikebuck]

Another great looking Hawken! :hatsoff: Thanks for sharing, Herb.

 

[Herb]

Thanks, Zonie, you got it exactly right. I tease the heat up and see the color go bronze, and then it goes to the blue and purple, (or the other way) then get the heat off. This is easy to do and the color lasts very well. If it wears and you don't like it, it is easy to redo it. I like the worn look. On my Bridger I had to steel wool the lock plate to get rid of the bright blue.

 

[Doug Lykins]

Zonie & Herb, thanks for the pointers, I learn so much on this site. :hatsoff: