I'm with you, and only a few years behind you...Well....don't let the pictures fool you. I am just now (at 69 years old) catching up to what an average 14 year old 18th century gunsmith's apprentice could do....and, I'm sure, he could do it all much faster and better...
This is really interesting! Bless your Mom, too!Several years ago now I had a .58 cal heavy straight sided rifle barrel that was too heavy and too short for me to do much with. I cut off 12 inches and turned it round to make a pistol barrel. I also had a maple pistol stock blank and some castings (butt cap, trigger guard, side plate, etc) in a pile of spare parts, so I started in on making another dragoon type pistol. Not wanting to use any of the spare locks I had, I bought a set of dragoon lock castings from Blackley's in the UK. I got this far with all the various aspects of building a pistol and then "time, tide, and formation" pressures took over......work, house repairs, other commitments with family and kids, weddings, funerals....you get the idea. Anyway, the pistol parts went under the work bench in a box and have been there for almost a decade. I recently finished setting up a new work shop and have been slowly moving all of my tools and gear into it. In the process, I found the box of pistol parts. After looking them over, I decided it was a shame to leave them in that condition, so I have started in on finishing the work.
Everything has been on hold for nearly two months. My Mom (96) was having some severe health issues and my sisters and I dropped everything to be with her. She has made a miraculous recovery but now I have a ton of work to catch up on. Getting back to work on the little rifle for my grandson and finishing up this pistol will, hopefully, keep me a little "saner" than I would otherwise be....
I KNEW that someone must have invented a tool like this, but I could never find one.
Been ogling that tool for quite some time when they come up for sale on the ALR forum classifieds... I keep missing out on them though.Been up to my ....well....how about belly button.... in aerospace work lately but I had a few minutes to make the ram rod for the Dragoon. Many years ago I purchased a Michael Lea tool to turn square stock round or round stock to a smaller diameter. I had never had a chance to use it....until now. I put a piece of 1/2" diameter hickory dowel in my lathe and used Mike's tool to reduce most of the diameter to a little less than 9/32" and then flare the tip out to about 7/16. The tool worked beautifully !! Now I'm looking for excuses to use it....
I think that is fantastic work.I have been away for quite some time......just got back for a while and had a few hours to finish up the Dragoon pistol. It came out OK....not the best....but functional and shootable. The last picture is the new one with the two previous pistols I built. I have four more in work. Now if I only had the time to finish them....
For those of us who aren't at your level, what is not up to your standard?
