Nosecap?

[Desert Ratxx]

I'm building a rifle and messed up on the nosecap. It is going to be a trade/contract rifle from the early 1800's (at least that's my plan so far). Without getting into to much detail, mostly because it's embarrassing, I can't use the nosecap I was planning on, a shallow crescent. In the Mountain Man sketch book 1 they show many rifles without a nosecap. My question is how common was it for a rifle to not have a nosecap and how far back can the stock be from the end of the barrel before it just looks dorky (I think I'm there already). The only other option I can think of is messing with a nosecap that has the ramrod grove in it. The barrel is a octagon to round barrel so I have a round barrel end to work with and would have to try and alter the groved one to work or....make one based on the wonderful tutorial on the board. I'm not sure my skills are up to making one though.

 

[Goldhunter]

Can you pour one? A pewter nose cap is no that bad to do.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Ditto, first rock lock I built I screwed up on NC, poured one & shaped, it turned out good.

 

[George Holton]

Strip off all the shiney stuff and make a real slim poor boy ?

 

[BLAHMAN]

Here's a simple way to solve your problem:

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[Desert Ratxx]

I wouldn't mind doing a poured cap, I don't know much about it so I'd have to do some research. How do they look with brass furniture? I've seen the striped ones, the one I would need would have to be solid. I'd like to do the no nosecap route but I'd have to cut the "screw up" off and the nose would be about 2" off the tip of the barrel which I think might be to far to look good. After reviewing the "tutorial" I'm still thinking making a cap might work best. Is brass annealed the same as steel? get it red hot and let it cool naturally? Should the cap he re-hardened once it has been shaped? and is it again the same process as steel?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Annealing brass is the opposite of annealing steel. To anneal BRASS, het it red hot, and then douse it in cold water. To harden Brass, Heat it Red Hot, and let it cool slowly.

 

[Zonie]

I agree with paul about the annealing process but I have never seen brass become hardened using a thermal process.

The only way to harden brass that I know of is to bend it, hammer it or run it thru a die which changes the materials shape or size.
This process is known as work hardening.

zonie

 

[paulvallandigham]

Zonie I have done it both ways. Either way, the biggest danger is that the hard brass will develop stress fractures.

 

[Goldhunter]

Brass and pewter doesn't look to bad.
If you order the 1 lb. inget of pewter from Track it comes with pretty good instructions on how to pour a nose cape.

 

I have a poor boy that is going to get a bone cap as soon as I can find the right piece of bone. :thumbsup:

 

[Desert Ratxx]

Goldhunter that is a great looking nosecap, in fact I think a little to great for what I'm trying to achieve. I found some sheet brass at the local hardware store so I'm going to try to make one first, if it doesn't work the poured cap may be my next best option.

 

[Goldhunter]

Na, you should see it up close!

Good luck on the nose cap. :thumbsup: Let us know how it goes.

 

[Birddog6]

If you decide to pour a nosecap, I suggest you make 3-4 sample wood ends & practice doing it on them until you are Sure you can do it successfully, so when ya do the nosecap it is correct & not another error. And if by chance the first effort does comne out correctly, don't assume the next one will, do 3-4 & be Sure.

Making a brass nosecap with a soldered squared end is not real difficult. But making one & forming a rounded end is a whole dif. horse & one you may not be ready to tackle yet. :hmm:

 

[davy]

Practise anything you do first, whether it be rounded or poured .. thats the ticket! :hatsoff:

Davy

 

[Desert Ratxx]

OK, I went with the home made brass cap with a squared end. It turned out pretty good. I still have to do some final finishing but I think it is going to work out good for the rifle I'm trying to build. Hopefully I can touch up and hide my other errors as well :grin:

Thanks for everyones input. :hatsoff: