I've been building a matchlock of the late 16th / early 17th century. I'm about 60 hours into it. It's a light, Dutch sporting piece. I made the lock and pan and filed the Track 20 gauge barrel to remove the modern machine marks and improve the harmonics. The stock is a plank of walnut. After inletting the barrel in the uncut plank, I sawed out the shape; and using a brace and long bitt, drilled the rammer channel. I use hand planers to hog down the rough cut stock and bring it to near finish size. To shape the upper butt part of the stock, I'm using half round chisels and a tool called a cheese grader. They're great for removing a lot of wood fast. There are some pics of the lock being inlet attached. The lock mortise of original matchlocks show identical tool marks. This piece uses a tiller rather than a trigger. The tiller is turned from a piece of 1/4 mild steel round stock with a taper and decorative finial at its end. At the time of this post, I still have to cut the facets on the fore stock, do the flutes and molding work on the butt, and make the sights. The front sight will be either a globe or blade. The rear will be the tube(Orthopitic)sight. There's always some engraving period correct of course and adjustment work. Hope to finish it be early next month. I'll ad to this post as the next batch of work is done. G.S.
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