New pistol build

[kmolett]

I am wanting to build a pistol that matches my rifle. I know that in the day they probablly had rifles with different calibers than their pistols, but for economy sake I am going to try and make a pistol of .54 caliber.

I have a gun that was copied off of a smooth rifle from the North Carolina area around the Revolutionary war. It has a Swamped octagonal to round barrel and wooden patchbox. Its kind of a poor boy rifle. Didn't cost poor boy bucks though. LOL! Anyways the side plate is just 2 square brass screws. Ok to get to my point I would like to make a poor boy kind of pistol to match it. Let me tell you want I want to do and I need help to know if this is a "Fantasy" gun or realistic.

I can't describe the pistol stocks or the barrels so I drew them.

I would like to do the bottom stock. For lack of a better term its kinda like a dragoon grip. I want to do that with an octoganal to round barrel and do square brass washers for side plate. I will not do an entry thimble or a nose cap. My rifle has a large Queen Anne lock on it. Not sure if I would go with a large Queen Anne or a small one for the pistol.

Am I creating a Fantasy gun that would not be historical?

 

[pecos clay]

My vote is:
1. #2 butt
2. #4 barrel
3. small Queen Anne

 

[Davemuzz]

I'm building one now....and my barrel is just like your #4, and my stock is like your #2....with just a hint of the bottom curl like #1.

And the lock is a Queen Anne...small. It won't be ready for this years Pa. muzzle loader deer season, but I'm not in any rush. BTW...12" barrel and 50 caliber. :thumbsup:

Dave

 

[kmolett]

Where are you getting your octagonal to round barrel?

 

[bwhoffman]

#2 stock, #2 barrel and a small framed lock!

 

[Davemuzz]

Where are you getting your octagonal to round barrel?

I bought a custom kit from this guy.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Kmollet,
If you are leaning toward a Revolutionary War period pistol I would choose either stocks 1 or 3. Stock 2 is too late a style. If stock 1, use a straight octagon, swamped octagon, or octagon to round barrel. If choosing stock 3, use an octagon to round or tapered round barrel. Muzzleloading Builders Supply and Stone Creek Outfitters both sell those kinds of barrels. The pistol could be rifled but most likely it would be smoothbore. A small-flat faced lock or a small Queen Anne round-faced lock would work very well. With stock number 1, try to use the smallest lock you can find. That way the handle begins to curve downward right behind the breech. The photos below illustrate that design although the pistols shown are late 18th century and post Rev War. That enables your hand to grip the stock without your trigger finger brushing any wood. That was one of the secrets to well designed dueling pistols. The straighter holster pistol stock (#3) can use a larger lock.

dave

 

[hawk]

nice lookin' shooters :thumbsup:

 

[kmolett]

Those are really nice pistols. I can only wish that I could make a pistol like that one. I am trying to psyche myself into building a pistol from just a blank and not getting a kit, but I may get a kit so that I can take baby steps and make the pistol look decent. I am surprised at the cost of the components. I guess I better start saving my dollars. I want to get a rifled barrel because the club shoots that I do involve rifled pistol shoots. Thanks.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Kmolett,
I posted the pictures to illustrate a design feature, not to affect your enthusiasm for the project. A pistol is an excellent project to try your hand at building from scratch but think it through well. If you want a pistol for accurate shooting, I suggest you choose stock 1 and look closely at the design of the pistols in my photos. They are shooters and the design evolved during the late 1760's and early 1770's; therefore, they could represent Rev War period guns. Your holster pistol design is also very appropriate but those pistols were made for virtually unaimed shooting during close combat and are not the best for target shooting. So think about your objectives and I urge you to go forward with the project from scratch. There are some excellent pistol kit makers (e.g; Jim Chambers, Chris Atland) but making a pistol from scratch is a good way to learn gunmaking. Good components are expensive but on a simple pistol representing a rurally-made Rev War-period American-made gun, all you really need to buy is the lock, barrel, and wood. Everything else, including the triggerguard, can be made by hand.

dave

 

[kmolett]

You don't happen to have photos from above and below on those pistols do you?

Kevin

 

[jerrywh]

Dave . Are those barrels real damascus or did you do that???

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Below are photos of the pistols and their case. Almost everything (except the barrels and lock castings) were handmade by me. Unfortunately, my below shot does not show all of the pistol and the low angle light doesn't show the semi-gloss finish to its best advantage.

Hi Jerry,
I faked the stub twist by painting the inverse pattern on the barrels using ground and etching them with acid. They came out pretty well but next time I'll do even better.

dave

 

[jerrywh]

Pretty nice job on the danascus. It's really hard to get a pefect fake -pattern on that. The whole job looks very realistic and origina. The box is great also. Most don't know how hard the box is to make. Again. good job.

 

[kmolett]

Awesome!

 

[chance]

WoW!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dave_person]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the compliments but I really did not want to distract folks from KMolett's thread. The pistols are well designed (they are inspired by the 18th century gunsmith Robert Wogdon) and give you an example of architecture well suited for accurate shooting if that is your objective. Hopefully, seeing them will help and inspire you.

Jerry,
Thanks for the comments. Coming from you they mean a lot to me. I have 2 English walnut stocks that I bought from you, a pair of wonderful smoothbore swamped barrels from Bob Hoyt, and a pair of Wogdon lock casting sets coming from Kevin Blackley. My next set of pistols should be even better. I am very happy with my casehardening results and I can thank you for that. I simply followed your advice of long ago concerning wrapping with wire, heat temp and duration of the soak. I keep getting great results each time I do it. Thanks again for that information.

dave

 

[kmolett]

How hard is it to cut and crown a pistol barrel. What tools would I need. I found a few .54 barrels. but I don't want a 12" barrel I want to cut it down to 8" or 10". Thanks

 

[hawk]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[kmolett]

How hard is it to cut and crown a pistol barrel. What tools would I need. I found a few .54 barrels. but I don't want a 12" barrel I want to cut it down to 8" or 10". Thanks