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Leaving it in the white, probably going to put some wax on it.
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Critique and criticism of first rifle
- Thread starter thatoneguy82
- Start date
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You need to donate those metal stamps to the scrap pile. If you are going to stamp something, buy quality stamps so the letters are centered & straight, so they stamp evenly.
PRACTICE BEFORE YA STAMP ON THE FINISHED PRODUCT.... :slap: and use a guide to keep things parallel with the barrel.
Keith Lisle
PRACTICE BEFORE YA STAMP ON THE FINISHED PRODUCT.... :slap: and use a guide to keep things parallel with the barrel.
Keith Lisle
Billnpatti
Cannon
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I am not a picker of nits so I can say nothing about the quality of your work or design. All I can say is that I wish I had your talent. The finished gun, while having its few minor flaws, looks like a dandy job and it is a gun that I would be proud to own. :thumbsup:
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That drum to lock plate gap really bothers me, as powder can build-up in that inlet area and a cap can ignite it. :nono: That lock plate HAS to fit tight with the drum. Restock it!
:2
:2
Or instead of restocking it, make a spacer that will fill the gap. I have seen an old percussion with a brass spacer that looks like it was soldered on when the gun was converted long ago.
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The rifle is a bit hodgpodgie, most of it I designed as I went with the exception of the lancaster stock profile. The gap isn't as bad as the first set of pics make it out to be, not perfect but a lot better when not in shadow.
horner75 said:
How is powder gonna build up under the drum on a Percussion rifle ? :idunno:
The idea of a snug fit on the lockplate to drum on a Percussion rifle, is to help support the drum.
No, it is not a perfect fit...... and that being said, very few production caplocks are perfect fit there either. :hmm:
Keith Lisle
That picture looks good to me, I wouldn't mess with it. Funny how camera angle & shadows make things look worse.
Thanks for the better picture of the lock and drum.
As Birddog said, the problem isn't with fouling or powder getting between the lock and drum.
The problem is, the drum must be supported by the lock plate when the barrel is installed.
Think of it this way:
When the hammer falls and hits the nipple, all of the force is transmitted into the drum.
If the drum is just hanging by its threads in the barrel, the threads must transmit the blow into the barrel.
The mass of the barrel will resist the blow as it absorbs the energy and transmits it to the stock which transmits it back to the lockplate.
The weak link in all of this is the drums threads.
It's like having a bolt screwed into a steel plate and then you sitting there whacking the side of the bolt with a hammer.
Sooner or later, the bolt is going to break, usually, right at the threads.
Now, if the drum is supported by the lock plate when the hammer hits the nipple, the force goes from the nipple into the drum. The force then goes from the drum directly back to the lock plate. Think of it like the hammer and lock plate are just pinching the nipple and drum. The drum doesn't even have to be screwed into a barrel for this pinching to fire a cap.
The threads on the drum are just standing to the side and watching this from a distance and not getting stressed at all.
This is why it is so important for a side mounted drum to contact the top of the lockplate.
That said, even if you can only slip one piece of paper into the gap (printer paper being about .003 thick), that is too much gap.
I would suggest that you go to a hardware store and buy the thinnest piece of brass sheet metal they have that is equal to or just a tiny bit thicker than the gap between the drum and the lock.
Cut a narrow strip of this slightly narrower than the lock plate and bend it so it matches the outside diameter of the drum. Cut its length so it is about 3/8" long.
Lightly sand the bottom surface of the drum and flux up the underside with soldering flux.
Position the brass piece on the bottom of the drum and hold it in place with some needle nosed, self locking pliers. Then heat the area and solder the brass in place.
If the soldered brass strip keeps the barrel from seating, use some inletting black or lipstick on the brass and insert the barrel back into the gun so the area seats on the lock plate.
Remove the barrel and look for areas where the inletting black or lipstick transferred.
Carefully file the lockplate where the transfer medium is located. Repeat this until the barrel seats at the same time the brass strip bottoms out on the lock.
Now, your gun will shoot thousands of shots while your drum threads only have to worry about containing the breech pressure. :grin:
As Birddog said, the problem isn't with fouling or powder getting between the lock and drum.
The problem is, the drum must be supported by the lock plate when the barrel is installed.
Think of it this way:
When the hammer falls and hits the nipple, all of the force is transmitted into the drum.
If the drum is just hanging by its threads in the barrel, the threads must transmit the blow into the barrel.
The mass of the barrel will resist the blow as it absorbs the energy and transmits it to the stock which transmits it back to the lockplate.
The weak link in all of this is the drums threads.
It's like having a bolt screwed into a steel plate and then you sitting there whacking the side of the bolt with a hammer.
Sooner or later, the bolt is going to break, usually, right at the threads.
Now, if the drum is supported by the lock plate when the hammer hits the nipple, the force goes from the nipple into the drum. The force then goes from the drum directly back to the lock plate. Think of it like the hammer and lock plate are just pinching the nipple and drum. The drum doesn't even have to be screwed into a barrel for this pinching to fire a cap.
The threads on the drum are just standing to the side and watching this from a distance and not getting stressed at all.
This is why it is so important for a side mounted drum to contact the top of the lockplate.
That said, even if you can only slip one piece of paper into the gap (printer paper being about .003 thick), that is too much gap.
I would suggest that you go to a hardware store and buy the thinnest piece of brass sheet metal they have that is equal to or just a tiny bit thicker than the gap between the drum and the lock.
Cut a narrow strip of this slightly narrower than the lock plate and bend it so it matches the outside diameter of the drum. Cut its length so it is about 3/8" long.
Lightly sand the bottom surface of the drum and flux up the underside with soldering flux.
Position the brass piece on the bottom of the drum and hold it in place with some needle nosed, self locking pliers. Then heat the area and solder the brass in place.
If the soldered brass strip keeps the barrel from seating, use some inletting black or lipstick on the brass and insert the barrel back into the gun so the area seats on the lock plate.
Remove the barrel and look for areas where the inletting black or lipstick transferred.
Carefully file the lockplate where the transfer medium is located. Repeat this until the barrel seats at the same time the brass strip bottoms out on the lock.
Now, your gun will shoot thousands of shots while your drum threads only have to worry about containing the breech pressure. :grin:
After posting the last post, I guess I should mention that the guns with a snail type breech should also have the underside of the snail supported by the lock plate, just like the drum.
It isn't as important with the snail type because the beefy threads on a breech plug can take a lot more abuse but, if the snail isn't supported by the lock plate the blow of the hammer will have to be transmitted to the stock.
That can soften the impact the hammer gives to the percussion cap.
If the snail is resting directly on the lockplate, the impact goes directly thru the nipple/snail back to the lock.
It isn't as important with the snail type because the beefy threads on a breech plug can take a lot more abuse but, if the snail isn't supported by the lock plate the blow of the hammer will have to be transmitted to the stock.
That can soften the impact the hammer gives to the percussion cap.
If the snail is resting directly on the lockplate, the impact goes directly thru the nipple/snail back to the lock.
Ken Cormier
50 Cal.
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I like it
Man, how do people get their stocks to look so smooth? You must have sanded that stock for days.
Good build though, and i doubt you get any alarming rise in gunpowder residue in there since its a percussion (or do the cap leak it?)rifle...
Good build though, and i doubt you get any alarming rise in gunpowder residue in there since its a percussion (or do the cap leak it?)rifle...
I don't know what he sanded the stock with but my rule for sanding unfinished wood is never use a grit finer than 220.
Finer grits will plug the wood grain and not actually make the surface smoother.
Plugged wood grain makes staining difficult if an even unblotchy appearance is wanted.
Finer grits also does not cut off the whiskers raised by wetting the wood and letting it dry.
It only crushes the whiskers back down where they came from so they can rise again when the stain/aqua-fortis is applied.
Finer grits will plug the wood grain and not actually make the surface smoother.
Plugged wood grain makes staining difficult if an even unblotchy appearance is wanted.
Finer grits also does not cut off the whiskers raised by wetting the wood and letting it dry.
It only crushes the whiskers back down where they came from so they can rise again when the stain/aqua-fortis is applied.
Col. Batguano
75 Cal.
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Whisker it at least 3 times. Do NOT use steel wool if you are planning on using AF! After staining, seal it with a very dilute mix of shellac (mix your own with the flakes) Use 4-0 steel wool between coats of varnish, and let them thoroughly dry between very thin coats. If done this way finishing will take you about a month, but the key is to use thin coats of everything so that it can all dry reasonably quickly. If you try to rush things to get the finish on you can, but it might take a year (or more) before the finish is hard. I finished a totem pole one time with a heavy coat of spar varnish, and that took 3 years before a fingernail wouldn't dent it. Of course, in AZ in January things dry faster than they do in Rangoon in August.
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