First build finally complete!!!!!!!

[Onojutta]

It has taken me seven years to make this post. My first build, that I started back in the winter of 2009, is finally complete!!!!

I started out for "early" Lancaster but I think it ended up a little more towards "golden age". The adornment was loosely influenced by Dickert's #19, but never intended to be a replica.

Since I live in Lancaster County, maybe that makes this one a "very late" Lancaster. :haha:

Blank stock from Wayne Dunlap
.50 44" swamped Rice barrel
L&R Dickert lock and sideplate
The rest of the components from TOTW & MBS.

Constructive criticism is very welcomed.

Also, a very sincere THANK YOU to everyone on this forum who has so generously answered my questions and given advice. The familiar books were very helpful, but I certainly would not have been able to pull this off without so much help from the folks on here. I am truly indebted. :applause:
http://s318.photobucket.com/user/DTS419/Longrifle/Finished/story

 

[MSW]

that looks great !

go out and Make Good Smoke!
:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[chawbeef]

Very nice work. Are you sure it's your "first". Impressive to say the least :thumbsup: ..........Daniel

 

[Cowboy]

That sure is a beautiful rifle. You did a great job!

Now all there is left to do is to GO MAKE SMOKE! :haha:

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:

 

[Onojutta]

I forgot to mention, I did shoot it yesterday. It was very windy but it was still driving tacks. I was using .490 balls with .020 patches and it was so tight it was tough to load even with my steel range rod. I'm going to try .015 patches before I make any adjustments to the sights.

What's most important though, is that I shot it about a dozen times and nothing cracked, popped, or went flying off the rifle!!

 

[Spikebuck]

You have done yourself very proud! Great job. :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

It is obvious that you spent a lot of time on it, and that time paid off. :hatsoff:

Fantastic. :grin:

 

[wattlebuster]

I think it looks darn good. Now burn some powder with it :thumbsup:

 

[mooman76]

Looks like it was worth the wait. Great job! :hatsoff:

 

[Micah Clark]

For some reason I couldn't get the pic to open.

 

[Silky921]

Very nice. Be proud.

 

[frogwalking]

God Job. Your first rifle is fairly equivalent to my 10th one.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Very nice looking rifle. Great color on the stock too! :thumbsup:

 

[Daveco]

Very nice!

 

[DanRum]

Looks great!

 

[Wes/Tex]

Down here we'd say, "Yah done good, partner!" :wink: :hatsoff:

 

[54ball]

I think you know it's an excellent rifle and also think you know where and what your strengths and weaknesses are.
First and foremost I think a builder, a serous builder, wants input from their peers. Anyone can say nice rifle or wow! This is in no way meant to take away from those who have have shown their approval with short responses. Since you took the time to build and post this most excellent rifle, I'm going to take the time to give an honest review.
Architecture...
I can find no major architectural flaws with this rifle in the photos provided. This is what makes a rifle truly great. Great architecture trumps great decoration. A rifle with great architecture and mediocre decoration is still a great rifle. A rifle with mediocre architecture and great decoration can only be mediocre. A show winner maybe but still not a great rifle.
Architecture-Excellent
Furniture...
Fit, finish, all excellent.
Metal finish (barrel, lock)...
At first glance I thought the barrel finish was blotchy, then it dawned on me; if that's real charcoal blue or if it's another process purposely or accidentally trying to mimic charcoal blue, it turned out excellent. Lock finish is great as well.
Carving and embellishment...
It's unbalanced. Some elements are great, others good, others mediocre and some missing entirely(engraving).
carving...
Most of your Volutes approach perfection for a 18th Century piece in my opinion.
The C scrolls behind the cheek did not turn out as well. Either you did not do enough to them as far as finishing out the details or tried to do too much too heavy and called them done....a prudent call if things are not working out as well as hoped.
The forestock moulding line could have terminated more finely but it's still what I would call average for 18th Century work.
The tang moulding needs more, but again maybe the more prudent call was to keep it simple.
As well as you did the volutes and forestock moulding I think you could have had very good beaver tail lock mouldings, again, maybe another prudent call.
The great good and fair carving is what I meant by unbalanced. Also in some aspects there is maybe a conflict in whether this was to be a plain rifle which works see (Frogwalkings recent Lancaster) or a decorated one. This rifles seems to be in between.
Recommendations...
This fine rifle is begging to be engraved on the patchbox, cheek star and side plate. It does not have to be much but I think that would really balance it out. It's such a nice rifle I would consider having a master engrave those pieces or in time if you were well practiced maybe that's something you can do in the future.

Thanks for sharing such a nice and carefully made rifle.

 

[Onojutta]

54ball,
Thank you for your valuable feedback. You nailed it 100%.

Carving - I didn't have a plan in mind when I started, mostly because since I had no experience or training, I didn't know what I was capable of. Because of that, I aimed to keep it simple, and pushed the envelope some as I gained confidence, which is probably why it appears unbalanced. The termination of the forestock moulding is the one thing I did in kind of a hurry. It was one of those nights that I tried to get it done in a small window of opportunity after the kids were in bed and before it got too late - interesting that you picked up on that. What I learned from this experience was that it is important to know where you are going before you begin. But I also realized that while I think I possess the technical skill to do carving, I struggle with the artistic part of design. Carving seems like one of those things that once you get started it can be difficult to know when to stop, hence the importance of a well thought out design.

Barrel finish - That finish is simply Birchwood Casey Super Blue. The barrel was first draw filed, then dry sanded with 220 grit paper. After each application of the cold blue it was carded with 000 steel wool. BLO was then applied by hand after the cold bluing. The blotchiness I believe is the result of a rather heavy coat of CLP Break Free. I actually wanted to keep the barrel lighter, but I wasn't able to get the evenness I wanted with fewer applications of the cold blue. I tried sanding up to 600 grit, but found that 220 gave the most uniform result.

Engraving - Totally agree that the brass could use some engraving. However, I have zero experience in that endeavor which is a whole skill set in and of itself. As I believe Obi Wan Canoli said in a recent post, by the time the novice gets to carving, he has acquired many hours of experience and confidence with wood chisels, gouges, and veniers, but zero with the graver. I did not want to risk screwing that up and so decided to keep it simple figuring that un-engraved brass looked better than poorly engraved brass. Engraving is a skill that I someday hope to learn, but after 7 years of this build it was time to gitter done. The engraving will just have to wait for another day and I would certainly consider farming that out for this one if I knew of a good local engraver.

Thank you again for taking the time to provide critical feedback that I hope to apply someday on my next build.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Orientation of inlays (including PB's) is always tricky. Do you make them so they're parallel with the comb, or the cheek rest. Or something in between. I'm not making an observation, but asking. How was it generally done in ye olde days?

 

[excess650]

Are you aware that you live in close proximity to where the first guns were built in Lancaster County? Actually, it was Chester County until 1729, but the Bakers were between you and the river along the Pequea Creek prior to 1720.

BTW, very nice first build! :hatsoff: