My first rifle Kit

[oldarmy]

I checked my mail this morning and it's on the way HOT D@#M
I have a book, and Rootnoks web page. Plus I am in contact with a gentalmen in southern NH that has build many rifles. Thanks to Muzzleloading forum. :thanks:
He has been e-mailing me with advise and has a shop down state. If I realy get stuck I can bring it down.
I will remove the breech plug. I was wondering about how TO make sure the vent liner wasn't too long.
I don't want to turn my investment into junk.
Thanks and I will hopefully have some pictures when I get done.
If I am not embaressed to show it.

 

[Packdog]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Good luck and be sure to post some pics as you go.

PD

 

[oldarmy]

I have been working hard on my project.
I have the barrel inletted. The breech plug came off just fine and the smith put a witness mark on it so I could re-inline it. They marked the cal on the bottom flat. Is that normal???
I just inletted the lock plate and now I am working on the innerds.I never took a flintlock apart and now I have the parts in a mason jar. I sure hope I can put it back together.I printed the picture of the lock off the TOTWO web sight and can reservse eng. it
The touch hole looks like it is going to line up fine. It is high and a little forward of the center of the pan, I can shift it back a little I think. The L&R lock that came with it sure is different then the SILER on my TVM.
I just bought the standard liner not the "whitelightening" did I get penny wise and dollar foolish? What do you all think?
I can buy a different liner and the tools.
It sure is a mess right now. The wood is covered with transer color and grime from my hands.
I am taking pictures of my project as I go along. It's an old style camera and I need to get the developed and then post them.

 

[chuck-ia]

Yup, I can relate to what you are going through. I put my first totw kit together about 15 years ago, then a trade gun kit from north star west, then a lyman kit, then a lancaster kit, and just finished a john armstrong kit last month. My first one turned out pretty crappy to the experienced eye, but shoots really good. I try to do a better job on each one. the first one I built I was totally obsessed, worked on it every night, weekends, noon hours. As for the vent liner, I sure do like the white lightning liners, all my flintlocks have them. To put these guns together, a guy really has to enjoy building them, sounds like you are having a pretty good time of it. I hope you have room for more guns, cause once ya finish this one-------- flinch

 

[oldarmy]

I have made a few misstakes with it so far, not the last ones I am sure.
Nothing I can't cover up I hope. A good experianced eye will pick them out, but hopefully they will not be too glaring.
I have a question about the trigger guard. The one I have has lugs so you can pin it to the stock. Is it suppose to be inletted into the stock or just flush mounted?
It is a little rough, sand casted and bent,is taking a while to clean up.
I am unsure how to mount it to the stock.
Any advise would be appricated
It a bedford county kit.

 

[Geoff Jones]

Trigger guard should be inlet slightly to contour properly with the stock. I file a slight bevel on the forward and rear tangs and inlet the depth of the bevel. Careful with the rear tang...it will creep forward as you inlet because of the angle.

I usually file the forward lug rather narrow, but leave it pretty long. The intent is for the pin to fall under the sideplate. Ok if it doesn't....just looks neater. Also, good idea to anneal the triggerguard before you bend it to the exact shape. Heat till red and quench in water....softens the brass and makes it safer / easier to work with.

Good Luck!

 

[Zonie]

The trigger guard should be inletted so the vertical sides of the forward and rear "feet" stop even with the surface of the wood. The angular surfaces of the trigger guard then seem to be flowing into the surface of the wood. The guard is then pinned in place by drilling thru the tangs.
Obviously you will have to chisel the pockets for these tangs but they don't have to be works of art. No one except some future gunsmith will ever see them.
Don't forget to check to see if the front tang is sticking into the ramrod hole. If it is, trim off the end leaving as much material as possible without the ramrod interference.

I inlet the forward "foot" first and rough the pocket for the rear tang.
As your getting the trigger guard down into the stock, you may find it starts interfering with the trigger plate.
I usually file the offending material off of the underside of the trigger guard just a little at a time. This leaves a little step to clear the trigger plate.
Ideally, I want the trigger guard to seat out in the bottom of the woods pocket at the same time it just touches the trigger plate. That keeps the trigger plate in place when the barrel tang screw is removed.

 

[oldarmy]

Thanks,
Now I have a couple of more questions.
The front of the stock is a square piece of wood with the ramrod grove and the barrel pined in it.
I did get the underlungs installed with not too much trouble.
I did break through the web, but I can cover that up.
My question is what do I use to hog off all that extra wood??

 

[rich pierce]

Dang you need someone to work with. Barring that you need books. Everybody has their favorite methods of wood removal. I use drawknives, planes, spokeshaves, rasps, scrapers in that order. But until you study originals and get hands on advice, it will be very hard to get profiles right. I've seen extremely well built guns, where the builder had superb wood-shaping skills, but got the shapes wrong or left too much wood. There's a lot of slab-sided rifles out there because folks go ahead and do it the first time w/o someone looking over their shoulder and giving advice. Barring hands-on advice, you need an original or a well-designed recreated rifle to guide you.

 

[oldarmy]

Sorry to be such a pest :redface:
The more I get into this project the more respect I have for gun builders.
Now I know why well made flinters cost so much.

 

[rich pierce]

You're no pest- I'm just trolling for apprentices!

 

[LSU TIGER]

A set of blue prints from TOW would help with profile shapes.

 

[CrackStock]

You're no pest- I'm just trolling for apprentices!

Gee, you looking to move to South Carolina any time soon?

Oh well, had ta try.

CS

 

[bioprof]

Thanks,
Now I have a couple of more questions.
The front of the stock is a square piece of wood with the ramrod grove and the barrel pined in it.
I did get the underlungs installed with not too much trouble.
I did break through the web, but I can cover that up.
My question is what do I use to hog off all that extra wood??

Old Army,

I'm starting to build a Bedford rifle from TOW, and the precarved stock sounds similar to yours. On my stock, the first 5 or 6 inches behind the squared off portion of the forestock is carved to the finished dimensions. If this is the case on yours, you could use this as a guide to shape the rest of the forend. I bet that TOW's blueprints show the correct cross-sectional profile too.

 

[Finnwolf]

Most of us would love the opportunity Rich. I'd love to have somebody knowledgeable looking over my shoulder, keeping me from making mistakes, showing me the better way, etc. I know of nobody around here that can/would do that. Most of us buy a book or a DVD and do the best we can. This forum is the closest we'll get to the experienced hand. A tough, expensive, frustrating way to learn.
Finnwolf

 

[AeroE]

You're no pest- I'm just trolling for apprentices!

I wondered about that from at least one other post you made - how serious are you?

 

behind the squared off portion of the forestock is carved to the finished dimensions

Bioprof, that precarve still is about 1/16" fat to allow for raised carving and such. The lines of a Bedford might be in the ballpark but there is still plenty of wood to be removed on a precarved. Beleive me it's scarey at first removing all that wood until ya only got sides that are a little more than a 3/16" thick. My suggestion is to go to some of the builders sites and look at the svelteness of their rifles, you'll see that there isn't much wood there. Rich has got it right. By the fourth or fifth gun you'll get-er-done, and be comfortable with it. I'm on my fifth, and never built one from precarve, always a slab. I think it's easier, cause all you do is remove all the wood that don't belong :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: Bill

 

[bioprof]

Bill,

You're right, but at least one could use this as a guide to get it roughed out.

 

You're no pest- I'm just trolling for apprentices!

If I lived close to you I'd be all over you like ugly on an ape. Ditto what Finnwolf said.

 

[oldarmy]

Schimmelsmith has been helping me via e-mail.
he told me I needed to buy a planer first and I should get a spokeshave/contor plane.
"Work on the wood around around the lock first and make the rifle is slim and thin, beginners always leave too much wood". It's very scary to see all the shaving on the floor.
I really do appricate the help and would love to be able to work with an experianced builder
""""I'd be all over you like ugly on an ape"""""""
I almost found an antique spokeshave at a builders salvage yard, missed it by a couple of days.