English Rifle Completed

[davec2]

Stock - Walnut
Barrel - .58 caliber Rice, swamped
Lock - Chambers Round Faced English
Barrel Finish - Partial browning followed by scrub down with Scotch Bright and bronze aging solution
Wood Finish - Sutherland & Wells Polymerized Tung Oil
Lock Finish - Case hardened and lightly buffed back to remove color
Ram Rod - Hickory "ebonized" with tannic acid and aqua fortis, black horn turned tip
Thumb Piece - Sterling silver
Patch Box Decoration - Sterling silver
Sights - Rear peep with conventional blade front sight

 

[galamb]

David,

you leave me speechless.

 

[ron wehmeyer]

Beautiful work!

 

[DanRum]

Beautiful.

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

:shocked2:

 

[Silky921]

Absolutely delightful. I bet it's a perfect hunting companion.

 

[Vaino]

Besides being an exquisitely beautiful rifle, it would also be an A-ONE hunting rifle...especially for elk.....Fred

 

[S.Kenton]

VERY NICE!

 

[mike garner]

a really nice rifle.....

 

[Artificer]

Absolutely Awe-Inspiring!!!

OK, I have GOT to ask about where you got the idea for the aperture rear sight?

Gus

 

[akapennypincher]

PHOTOS ILLISTRATED WHAT A WONDERFUL JOB YOU DID, VERY NICE.

 

[wattlebuster]

Great work again Dave :bow:

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Well done! Super nice Dave!

 

[chawbeef]

Outstanding!!! Thanks for sharing.............Daniel

 

[davec2]

Thank you to all for the kind comments.

Artificer,

As far as the rear sight goes, some time back I was perusing photos of a large bore English rifle built by one of my favorite contemporary makers, Stephen Alexander.  This rifle had a rear "ghost ring" sight mounted very close to the breech which peaked my interest.  I made up some dummy sights and glued them to the barrel of a build I am working on and I love the sight picture through them.  In querying Stephen on the rear sight, he told me that this type of sight was frequently used on Turkish flint firearms and on some English and Continental ones as well.  
These are pictures of Stephen's rifle........

And I did find a few peep sighted Turkish flintlock photos and, apparently, peep sights have been around since Roman days (museum pieces, crossbows from Roman to middle age Europe with peep sights),

 

[eggwelder]

:bow:

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Splendid!

 

[Kansas Jake]

Again, as so many fine pieces that are posted here, a work of art.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Really fine looking rifle, thank you for sharing with us!

Also thank you for sharing the pictures of an antique Turkish rifle sights.
It will certainly quiet the traditional police that peep sights are not historically correct.
Fred

 

[jerrywh]

Dave.
You use to be a good gun maker. Now you are on the verge of being great. If you would only quit goofing off with being a rocket scientist and get serious about guns you could really go somewhere.
You must have fit that butt plate with a microscope.