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DIY from scratch ... possible? References?
- Thread starter aldebaran
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Doc Arroyo
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Sure, like the man said, anything is possible. Now you have to decide on your definition of "from scratch". Are you going to make your own lock? Barrel? Hardware? Plant your own tree? :haha:
Pistols aren't that much different from rifles to build, so the "gunsmith of Grenville County" is a good reference. High end antique dealers have go quality photos, often from numerous angles, and lock internals. then you can scale photos up, and print them full size for patterns.
That is how my dragoon came about, but I did buy a lock and barrel, so I can't call it a scratch build.
Pistols aren't that much different from rifles to build, so the "gunsmith of Grenville County" is a good reference. High end antique dealers have go quality photos, often from numerous angles, and lock internals. then you can scale photos up, and print them full size for patterns.
That is how my dragoon came about, but I did buy a lock and barrel, so I can't call it a scratch build.
Doc Arroyo
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billk said:
It is a .58 cal smoothbore with a 10" or 12" barrel....I can't remember right now! :redface:
No, I can't wait 30 years for the tree ... but for the other parts ... yes!Doc Arroyo said:
Doc Arroyo said:
Do you have the book? How is it? Are there enough informations about every aspect of the building phases?
Doc Arroyo said:That is how my dragoon came about, but I did buy a lock and barrel, so I can't call it a scratch build.
Very nice piece of work!
50cal.cliff
58 Cal.
Looking good! Scratch enough for me to be called "from scratch"! :hatsoff:
I found Mike Miller's DVD very helpful...
BUILDING A KENTUCKY PISTOL featuring Mike Miller, DVD, 2-disc set, 3 hours, $29.95
Google it and you can find the cheapest price. I didn't build a flinter, but just watching his procedures was much help. He is a great maker, IMHO.
If you want a book, ditto on Gunsmiths of Grenville. It has way more information that you may need starting out, but everything is in there just about.
BUILDING A KENTUCKY PISTOL featuring Mike Miller, DVD, 2-disc set, 3 hours, $29.95
Google it and you can find the cheapest price. I didn't build a flinter, but just watching his procedures was much help. He is a great maker, IMHO.
If you want a book, ditto on Gunsmiths of Grenville. It has way more information that you may need starting out, but everything is in there just about.
Doc Arroyo
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aldebaran said:
Yep, I have the book, and recommend it. But no, it doesn't really go into alotof detail on barrel and lock making. In the day, barrel and lock making were forged and filed. Today most are made by stock removal with lathes and milling machines. I ain't much of a machinist, so I can't be more help on those skills.
Good luck with what may become a long term project! :hatsoff:
FYI - You can rent Miller's DVD and others related to ML's on[url] smartflix.com[/url]
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Just for your information, I got the DVD but wasn't exactly what I was looking for! :shake:
Anyway, I got from a friend the Jaco BP lock blueprints for a horse pistol and for a Hawken rifle ... so I think I can start with my project (at least I can Buy what I need)!
Anyway, I got from a friend the Jaco BP lock blueprints for a horse pistol and for a Hawken rifle ... so I think I can start with my project (at least I can Buy what I need)!
Mike Brooks
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This ought to help. Gun Building Tutorial
If you want to bore and rifle your own barrel, I highly reccomend you get on Bookies site and order a copy of his book on the Iowa Rifling Bench. He gives detailed instructions on building the rifler he uses in his shop. It is simple, economic and it works( I have taken a turn on it).[url]
http://www.iowatelecom.net/~toadhall/[/url]
Also for those of you who have his site book marked his site, the address has changed as of Tuesday. The above link is his new address.
Also for those of you who have his site book marked his site, the address has changed as of Tuesday. The above link is his new address.
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Mountainman56
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Hats off to you Doc :hatsoff: ....that is surely a purdy gun and I agree with 50cal.cliff, that is from scratch enough to be "scratch built" in my books
Mountainman56 said:
I totally agree on both counts!
But there are some who simply have to say I did it "all myself" or have to try it for themselves.
While I hav'nt yet, I may get there one day.
But locks and barrels(and sometimes furniture are things I totally understand one using store bought. And many the so-called masters of the past
also used furniture made by others, so that is PC.
Only Round
36 Cal.
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Another excellent video would be "Builiding Muzzleloading Pistols" by James Turpin. $30 for the DVD/ or again, it's rentable on smartflix.
Bill Bounds
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Hey Aldebaran:
I got time too. I've made two lock, stock and not the barrel rifles. It's my current hobby.A couple of hours now and then down in my little dungeon workshop, I'll whip up a gun each winter. Locks aren't so hard to make, each part has it's own difficulty. The hard part for me is a decent buttplate& trigger guard. I'm not about to get into casting brass or forgeing at this time. It all depends on how much stuff you have available, tools, machinery etc. A smooth barrel pistol should be a good first effort. A smaller rifleing broacher for a pistol barrel should be something you can do if you study Bookies web page. I think he's got some books for sale that would be advantageous to a from scratch guy. He's done it all. Some things that would be good to have is a Machinist handbook, an old one from a used book store is good. Search this forum for heat treating, Shumway books for furniture and such, I think the title is building the PA longrifle. Search your local library card catalog for flintlock books.
Bill
I got time too. I've made two lock, stock and not the barrel rifles. It's my current hobby.A couple of hours now and then down in my little dungeon workshop, I'll whip up a gun each winter. Locks aren't so hard to make, each part has it's own difficulty. The hard part for me is a decent buttplate& trigger guard. I'm not about to get into casting brass or forgeing at this time. It all depends on how much stuff you have available, tools, machinery etc. A smooth barrel pistol should be a good first effort. A smaller rifleing broacher for a pistol barrel should be something you can do if you study Bookies web page. I think he's got some books for sale that would be advantageous to a from scratch guy. He's done it all. Some things that would be good to have is a Machinist handbook, an old one from a used book store is good. Search this forum for heat treating, Shumway books for furniture and such, I think the title is building the PA longrifle. Search your local library card catalog for flintlock books.
Bill
