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British Light Sea Service Dragoon project !

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Okay thats it…..I’m gonna say this is the final shaping/slimming done !
Took the grip down abit more behind the panels, flattened down and dished the beavertail around the tang…it was abit too “proud” before and didn’t look quite right.
Just some final sanding left and onto the finish 😎
View attachment 358876View attachment 358877View attachment 358878View attachment 358879
View attachment 358882
Well, you did a lot!
However.. .
Your side panel looks awfully “pointy”. The lock side panel looks good- If you do a rubbing on the lock side and transfer it to the off side…
 
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Your side panel looks awfully “pointy”. The lock side panel looks good- If you do a rubbing on the lock side and transfer it to the off side…
Ya looking now I definitely agree !
I sorta roughed it out by eye…🤦‍♂️
Thinking I’d clean it up during the final sanding….never even thought about doing a “transfer” from the lock side !!!
Great suggestion and thank you for the feedback, it is appreciated 👍😎
 
👌😜 8B4D0864-97CE-4F95-8C3C-F7F5BB8608C4.jpeg
 
So in between waiting for each coat of oil to dry….🙄🤣

Might as well Spend some time on some little extras !
The upper jaw on the cock bothered me abit….there was a chip outta the leading edge and it was noticeably larger then the bottom jaw. Plus the border engraving
B17888D2-C620-4D0E-9CFF-F5A256B13B9B.jpegC79EFFFD-1947-430D-A221-317839E690B6.jpeg

….after searching and studying many late sea service pistols online I have yet to find one with this engraving on the upper jaw?
( I Did see it on a few early Dragoons )
Eitherway it was a good opportunity to rid the chip, reshape & match the size, also a better shape to the hammer spur(?) and ditched the engraving 👍

Looks much better IMO
A712A7BE-1F9B-4418-BA79-CB71F847C238.jpeg4A4F5EC1-CA30-42CA-BD02-BC3FBCBFF4AE.jpeg

An original (online pic) I referenced….
250BB275-5D77-45F0-A272-95CC4FFE32FD.png
 
So been playing around with finishes….think I’ve got a good idea as too the direction I’m going for that !
But after slimming the forend down the rear areas really stand out to me now !
Particularly this area above the triggerguard and below the side panels. It’s really deep through there and just doesn’t look right…52FB4327-7388-4C51-88D9-773A49F4B7E9.jpeg
Fortunately there really is plenty of wood there to play with I’ve decided to go ahead and reduce it abit !
Before….
A96AA08B-480F-4350-9183-A0CD7C360DF5.jpeg
B4D38471-8E31-4357-99C6-25963ABC3AF4.jpeg

Afterwards….surprisingly it was alot of wood 😳
But has a much better shape and feel to it imo and just enough wood below the ramrod channel to reinlet the triggerguard 👌
330AFBCC-2F77-417A-AECB-CE0F591E38DF.jpeg
6288D30A-F6A8-4919-BC73-A318F9B862C8.jpeg
F7140B99-464F-47E5-909D-0F74B79D6ADD.jpeg
And yes the borders around the lock panel still looks abit “thick” and I’ll likely take it back abit more
as well….🤔
 
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For around $650 you can get a real British or French Heavy Dragoon pistol kit with quality and safe parts and accurate pistol design form Muzzleloaders Builders Supply out of Idaho. Just saying but it looks like you're having fun!
 
For around $650 you can get a real British or French Heavy Dragoon pistol kit with quality and safe parts and accurate pistol design form Muzzleloaders Builders Supply out of Idaho. Just saying but it looks like you're having fun!
For sure that’s a good option….unfortunately for us Canucks our Prime Minister Turdeau banned the “transfers” on handguns last year(effectively means you cannot buy or sell handguns at this time)
So until he gets ousted and this gets reversed buying “handguns” is impossible 😢

This is the only option for now 😜

But ya it certainly is fun
nonetheless 😎 👌
 
For around $650 you can get a real British or French Heavy Dragoon pistol kit with quality and safe parts and accurate pistol design form Muzzleloaders Builders Supply out of Idaho. Just saying but it looks like you're having fun!
Does the French dragoon pistol have a flared barrel? And you can get a better kit from TRS.
 
I've worked on a few of the India built muzzleloaders, maybe not 100% historically accurate but can be made into pretty nice guns with a little tweaking & tuning.
Can't go wrong if you consider them as an inexpensive pre-assembled kit.
 
So with the current prices of original Light Dragoons these days….especially ones in shootable condition 😳 !!!
I’ve went with an Indian copy.
1st impressions outta the box it’s actually not too bad…exceeded my expectations. Feels good/points well enough….and from a few feet away looks pretty legit to an 1821 pattern light Sea Service pistol !
Finish is pretty rough in places but decent in others. The 2 main differences from an original, it uses only one barrel pin, originals have 2 🤷🏻‍♂️(rear one nonexistent on this) and the entry pipe is not even close appearance wise(I think they must be using the same ones for numerous guns) it’s actually the crudest thing cosmetically on the whole pistol….really quite terrible.
Lock is functional and actually throws a decent spark. (Definitely needs some tlc though) trigger pull is pretty stiff…and the trigger shape is pretty far from originals.(another case of one part for multiple guns I’m thinking)
Barrel measures 1” at the breach & tapers to .875 at the muzzle. Barrel thickness at muzzle .098-.1” Bore measures .632 !
Weighs 3 lbs 2ounces
Wood is obviously not walnut but is shaped decent enough…inletting is passible. Hopefully i can clean most of it up to serve as a decent shooter and passable replica !
….we’ll see about that🤔😎
I like style of the belt hook !
Where did you find that ?
 
Finally got some more time for the Lil Sea Service 😎
I will admit I’ve struggled alot with the trigger on this…..lightened up the sear spring as much as I’m going to and even with the lock work it’s still abit on the heavy pull side ? It is much better then it was but could be better.
First issue is it’s just too dam small !
Barely can get half a finger on it….05F337DE-FE54-4CE9-A220-C5D1FBC7556C.jpeg
Doesn’t look much like any originals online I’ve compared too….
So I scrounged around the parts bin and came up with this one….should be easier to fit and looks abit more correct IMO ! (At least with abit of work anyways)

54CC9923-8331-4E16-BA97-FDA1109430C3.jpeg
Old….
B65071E5-C2A2-4A2C-8DBA-7DC8C1F43F06.jpeg
New….
E03AFCBE-E1E0-4245-8563-FABBF293BFFB.jpeg
Not being a great “trigger guy” lol, what I’m wondering about is the pin location seems very far from the sear bar(?) like almost an inch !!!
3D489FF2-58B4-41AE-BF5B-07CE89050AE8.jpeg
I’m thinking I should move the pivot pin closer to the sear contact point…everything I’ve found on here says it will help lighten the pull !
85593C28-57D1-4D60-B456-0A4C2870CE1F.jpeg
The old pin hole i can fill with a dummy pin and the new “higher” and farther back pivot pin will be hidden behind the brass lock plate on the
offside anyways 🤔👌
 
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Finally got some more time for the Lil Sea Service 😎
I will admit I’ve struggled alot with the trigger on this…..lightened up the sear spring as much as I’m going to and even with the lock work it’s still abit on the heavy pull side ? It is much better then it was but could be better.
First issue is it’s just too dam small !
Barely can get half a finger on it….View attachment 361327
Doesn’t look much like any originals online I’ve compared too….
So I scrounged around the parts bin and came up with this one….should be easier to fit and looks abit more correct IMO ! (At least with abit of work anyways)

View attachment 361330
Old….
View attachment 361340
New….
View attachment 361339
Not being a great “trigger guy” lol, what I’m wondering about is the pin location seems very far from the sear bar(?) like almost an inch !!!
View attachment 361333
I’m thinking I should move the pivot pin closer to the sear contact point…everything I’ve found on here says it will help lighten the pull !
View attachment 361332
The old pin hole i can fill with a dummy pin and the new “higher” and farther back pivot pin will be hidden behind the brass lock plate on the
offside anyways 🤔👌
That’s going to be a challenge. The closer the pivot to the sear the lighter the pull (if it’s level with the sear bar as well). But you’re limited because it looks like you can’t move it very far due to the trigger guard bow.
 
That’s going to be a challenge. The closer the pivot to the sear the lighter the pull (if it’s level with the sear bar as well). But you’re limited because it looks like you can’t move it very far due to the trigger guard bow.
If it's too light or too much play it might be possible to incorporate a trigger spring, as I did in my Traditions Kentucky. Various ways to do that, not going into all those here, easily found if it sounds like something to do to improve the trigger.
 
Why not lengthen/reshape the existing trigger?
This was my thoughts initially…..but after raising the trigger plate and guard up a full 1/4” I’d have to rework the entire trigger ayways. I figured if i have to completely refit a trigger it may as well be a “better” looking one ! Thats my story and I’m sticking to it ! 😃
(Nothing to do at all with my lousy hand forging skills😝)

Too late now anyways …I gone and done it ! 🤪
Pivot pin is 3/16” higher and cut the distance to the sear bar by almost half…..sits just under 1/2” away now.
C8DEE879-7CEC-4463-BED4-FE3598B64F47.png
At full rearward travel…lottsa room from the guard 👍
E53FCEBD-C316-49F7-8A10-874D6C1BA235.png

Just made it under the sideplate too !
CBF7A070-46D6-4722-9CF4-E7496DDA384A.jpeg

Now to refit/ the lock/sear, reshape the scroll at the bottom etc and see if it’s alot lighter ?
It Sure looks and feels much better IMO 👌
 
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