My gun, tell me what's wrong with it.

[bnail]

Soccer, :crackup: :crackup: We already Own Man U! :blah:

However, I'm an LFC fan :redface:

 

[robinghewitt]

Do you really want me to pick on that gun? ::

Well, if you don't mind. I don't want to waste your time but it would be fascinating to read :thumbsup:

It's midnight GMT :sleep: I'll be back at 8 :front:

 

[fatboy]

Must of been one of them dang english americans , My folks came over on the big boat from Germany in like 1770 ::. Now back on the backside kickin you guys got , bored you say yea ok :says: :youcrazy:

 

[robinghewitt]

Soccer, :crackup: :crackup: We already Own Man U! :blah:

I own this quality, early Virginia, Isaac Hayes long rifle.

Doesn't mean I know how to shoot it :blah:

 

[bnail]

Robin: I have three simple rules I try to live by:
1. No one is allowed to be better looking than Me.
2. No one is allowed to be richer than me.
3. No one is allowed to be more talented than me.

Your rifle has already broken two of my cardinal rules!

I'll lay odds ya can shoot better too. But where in the world can you find Black Powder in the U.K?

 

[Slowpoke]

I'll lay odds ya can shoot better too.

You have never seen him shoot driven clays.... <snicker>... but he's H**L on foxes at close range.

Oh..... your front sight is to low.

SP

 

[Scott Evans]

Robin you have great skills and are obviously a superb craftsman.

However; sensing your disappointment so far

 

[rickC]

AS to it being chromed like a bath fixture,why not hang it over the loo??? a wallhanger to admire whilst you ponder the worlds problems and wait for your scones and tea at breakfast?? :hmm: :: :crackup:

 

[AZ-Robert]

I hate the barrel wedges.

Hey Scott, still trying to figure things out here.... do you not like the wedges because they don't match the period / style? Or is it a personal preference?

 

[Mike Brooks]

First let me say your craftsman ship is good, you should keep on building rifles. eace: You need to get ahold of Shumways "Colonial Rifles Vol I & II. They will set you straight as to the different "schools" and what can be mixed together and what can't or shouldn't.
Your carving is good, but maybe just a little too high. The butt stock moulding is different, but maybe would look better on a euro gun...just a little too far outside american kentuck rifle work. I n fact with a second look, the panel should rise above the wood, not be lower...you've got it reversed I think. The Isac Haines carving behing the cheek piece is well done, but out of place on a virginia rifle. The box lid is a little ornate for an early Virginia gun.....maybe something that would look better on a jeager.
They keys are a nice touch, I would have left off the escutchions, early virginia guns didn't have escutchions.
The plated brass...... I don't know what to say...not my cup of tea.... eace: Next time you use AQ kill it after words with a baking soda bath, and you'll not have trouble with brass discoloration.
And lastly, and this is a common problem for fellows that havn't built alot of these, there's too much wood left. The fore stock from the lock forward looks a little bulky...not bad, but it could have been a little slimer.
Every one develops their own "style". I have mine, and my guns can be recognized from a distance because of it. Lucky for me other people like it and I'm able to sell guns for a living. If you pursue gunmaking you will have a style of your own too, I can already see it and it will be pleasant to view. This really isn't a bad gun, and you should be pleased with it.
This is meant as constuctive critisism, and not as a slight in any way. It is the rare few that will ask for a critque and fewer still that will listen and benifit from it.
So, in the end, Good job, get some books and study up, and try another one....thats how we all start out on the road to making these things, alot of trial and error.

:hatsoff:

 

[Dave K]

Good question, I have 2 J.P. Becks'. I have one with barrel pins and the other with wedges. Now, I didn't use escusions with the wedges, but I did with the pins. Both according to orginial Beck's are accurate to the time period. Personally, I like the looks of the wedges now that I can look at both guns together. :m2c:

 

[bob1961]

i have a tomato plant that needs support :sorry:....but really it does look nice..................bob

 

[Donny]

To be truly American, haul it around in the back of your pickup for six months with the axe, chainsaw and posthole diggers, etc. Store it outside, under the rose trellis. ::

 

[tzvia]

Well, for it to REALLY look like an 'American' gun, it would need the words "U.S. Property" on the lock. :kid: :crackup: Then, after getting it for zero $$ from us, you would have to give/sell it to another country for a spell, who will have the b@lls to actually SELL it back to us. It then ends up at a Big 5 sporting goods store and I end up buying it, even though my parents and relatives paid for it over 60 years ago through their tax dollars. :hmm: :huh: It would still say, "U.S. Property", but it would also have South African or New Zeland markings on it as well.

Seriously, nice looking gun.

Lois
I think I own one to many Enfields...

 

[musketman]

Isn't it a little sub-caliber for your liking?

I was under the impression you had a .75 caliber minimum...

I like the carved letters on the patch box lid, "RO", however, isn't your initials "RH"?

 

[Scott Evans]

Both reasons on the wedges.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Improved American copy of a cheap Brit piece? :blah: :kid:

 

[rich pierce]

Squire, I still owe you the big Dutch lock. Sitting on my bench when it should be in the mail!

Nice effort, good workmanship. Mr. Brooks did a good critique.

I'll add a couple of pointers. The patchbox should taper down to the stock at the front- looks a little square-edged. The profile of the lower part of the stock as mentioned is unusual but it also looks as though it has a little bulge mid-buttstock on the patchbox side to accomodate the carving. The forestock should flow into the nosecap.

You carve marvelously and creatively, fit and finish are very good. Handle more longrifles! Perhaps you should unload a few Mantons and get yourself a Dickert, if that were possible. Come over for next year's CLA show.

 

[robinghewitt]

And lastly, and this is a common problem for fellows that havn't built alot of these, there's too much wood left. The fore stock from the lock forward looks a little bulky...not bad, but it could have been a little slimer.

I think my big mistake was starting from a precarved stock and then trying to modify it. I knew I had to slim the wrist because I didn't like it fat. Unfortunately the gun was a fait accompli with barrel, tang, lock and bow fixed in place. When I tried bending the trigger bow it instantly broke, the plating hides my brazed joint.

I eventuall used the IH under rib on the stock so I could keep the wrist height but have it slim and round.

I couldn't take that rib all the way to the butt because that would have meant slimming down the butt plate. I couldn't slim the butt plate because the patch box was in place and already starting to stand out in a great lump.

It was going fine until the staining which caused the wood to bloat whisker and change characteristic, if I do another it's got to be walnut. Even with a new scalpel blade this maple dents before it cuts, is easy to chip and so waxy you can't glue it when it does.

Anyway, that roasting wasn't at all painful, so who's going to be next to put their neck on the block and invite the axeman to swing? ::

 

[robinghewitt]

PS: I didn't actaully mean that bit about all American's being limp sissies who couldn't punch their collective way out of a paper bag, it was merely a goad :thumbsup: