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- Nov 26, 2005
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Hi,
A few year ago I posted a rifle I called the "Star of Bethlehem". It was based on RCA #52 and came out pretty well but I was never happy with it. The red maple stock had wonderful figure but was difficult to carve because it was soft in spots. But most importantly, I obtained good photos and dimensions of the original and realized I made some mistakes. Mine was too skinny. So I decided to make another RCA #52 with much better data and turn the Star of Bethlehem into a nice early Buck, Lehigh, Northhampton gun with a little Christian's Spring thrown in. I changed the trigger guard, made a new muzzle cap, reworked the stock to slim it down even more, and added a slightly more obvious step at the wrist. I reworked all of the carving finding the wood polymerized by the old finish to be better to carve!!!! I also reworked the lock. It is a Davis Colonial American lock. I was happy with it on the original gun after working it over a bit but after changing the architecture of the stock a bit, I remembered Jim Kibler's comment on my original rifle that the flintcock and frizzen were too big. He was right of course and after I changed the architecture of the stock, the original flintcock looked like a giant rooster over hanging the pan and the frizzen way too tall. I discovered that the flintcock on a Chambers early Ketland lock is a perfect substitute only requiring a little filing of the square hole to fit it. I then ground down the frizzen and reshaped it. I really like the results and the lock is now superb and perfectly fitted to this gun. I also cut moldings on the edges of the plate and flint cock. I am now satisfied with this rifle and will build an RCA#52 in the future. The barrel is a 1980s Getz barrel in 62 caliber and "D" weight. It was not a good barrel requiring me to lap the bore to keep it from shredding patches and remove machining marks 6" from the muzzle. It now shoots very well. The trigger pull is just 1.5 pounds. The thimbles, muzzle cap, trigger, toe plate, sights, inlays, and side plate were hand made by me. The stain is ferric nitrate and the finish is Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil tinted with red and yellow dyes.
dave
A few year ago I posted a rifle I called the "Star of Bethlehem". It was based on RCA #52 and came out pretty well but I was never happy with it. The red maple stock had wonderful figure but was difficult to carve because it was soft in spots. But most importantly, I obtained good photos and dimensions of the original and realized I made some mistakes. Mine was too skinny. So I decided to make another RCA #52 with much better data and turn the Star of Bethlehem into a nice early Buck, Lehigh, Northhampton gun with a little Christian's Spring thrown in. I changed the trigger guard, made a new muzzle cap, reworked the stock to slim it down even more, and added a slightly more obvious step at the wrist. I reworked all of the carving finding the wood polymerized by the old finish to be better to carve!!!! I also reworked the lock. It is a Davis Colonial American lock. I was happy with it on the original gun after working it over a bit but after changing the architecture of the stock a bit, I remembered Jim Kibler's comment on my original rifle that the flintcock and frizzen were too big. He was right of course and after I changed the architecture of the stock, the original flintcock looked like a giant rooster over hanging the pan and the frizzen way too tall. I discovered that the flintcock on a Chambers early Ketland lock is a perfect substitute only requiring a little filing of the square hole to fit it. I then ground down the frizzen and reshaped it. I really like the results and the lock is now superb and perfectly fitted to this gun. I also cut moldings on the edges of the plate and flint cock. I am now satisfied with this rifle and will build an RCA#52 in the future. The barrel is a 1980s Getz barrel in 62 caliber and "D" weight. It was not a good barrel requiring me to lap the bore to keep it from shredding patches and remove machining marks 6" from the muzzle. It now shoots very well. The trigger pull is just 1.5 pounds. The thimbles, muzzle cap, trigger, toe plate, sights, inlays, and side plate were hand made by me. The stain is ferric nitrate and the finish is Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil tinted with red and yellow dyes.
dave
