Our Shop is Humming With British Gun Work

[dave_person]

Hi,
We are very busy. I have not posted much because I have so much work to get done before "Battle Road" in April. Maria was here over her Christmas break and worked on her British officer's fusil. We cast and then she began sculpting the sideplate and wrist plate.









I have 2 pattern 1742 Brown Besses to make but am also working on 2 English sporting rifles. The first is full stocked and inspired by the two famous Twigg rifles shown in Neal's Great British Gunmakers: 1740-1790. I am not copying the rifles because the owner wants some changes. He does not like single set triggers, which were used on the originals but want double sets. I have never seen double set triggers on English flintlock rifles from the 18th and early 19th centuries. That is OK and I will tuck the set trigger in close to the rear of the trigger guard bow so it won't be obvious. Unfortunately, our choices for steel hardware for British guns is dismal. So many options disappeared during the last decade. Anyway, I made do with a trigger guard from TOW. The bow of the guard is much too big and it was probably copied from a double barreled gun. If you use it as is it looks so awkward. So I cut off the forward curl of the bow and made the bow smaller. No set triggers you can buy look anything like triggers used on British sporting guns but the best option for double sets are triggers for Hawken rifles. They have to be modified a lot but they can work although the double triggers probably are a fantasy for British sporting guns. Anyway, I reshaped the trigger guard, welded in a threaded stud and drastically reshaped a Hwken trigger set from L&R.











It will work out pretty well. The Davis Twigg lock needed a lot of work. I changed the geometry of the lock and replaced all of the tiny screws they use to hold the internals. On this rifle, the lock is secured by one bolt with the nose of the lock held in place by a hook and screw stud. Here is the hook I made. It is threaded through the lock plate but I will eventually countersink the outside of the hole, cut off the threads leaving about 1/8 inch of excess above the lock plate. Then I will melt that excess with a welding torch to fill the countersink, permanently attaching the lug. When file flush, the hole will disappear.








More to come.

dave

 

[Brokennock]

Hi,
We are very busy. I have not posted much because I have so much work to get done before "Battle Road" in April. Maria was here over her Christmas break and worked on her British officer's fusil. We cast and then she began sculpting the sideplate and wrist plate.









I have 2 pattern 1742 Brown Besses to make but am also working on 2 English sporting rifles. The first is full stocked and inspired by the two famous Twigg rifles shown in Neal's Great British Gunmakers: 1740-1790. I am not copying the rifles because the owner wants some changes. He does not like single set triggers, which were used on the originals but want double sets. I have never seen double set triggers on English flintlock rifles from the 18th and early 19th centuries. That is OK and I will tuck the set trigger in close to the rear of the trigger guard bow so it won't be obvious. Unfortunately, our choices for steel hardware for British guns is dismal. So many options disappeared during the last decade. Anyway, I made do with a trigger guard from TOW. The bow of the guard is much too big and it was probably copied from a double barreled gun. If you use it as is it looks so awkward. So I cut off the forward curl of the bow and made the bow smaller. No set triggers you can buy look anything like triggers used on British sporting guns but the best option for double sets are triggers for Hawken rifles. They have to be modified a lot but they can work although the double triggers probably are a fantasy for British sporting guns. Anyway, I reshaped the trigger guard, welded in a threaded stud and drastically reshaped a Hwken trigger set from L&R.











It will work out pretty well. The Davis Twigg lock needed a lot of work. I changed the geometry of the lock and replaced all of the tiny screws they use to hold the internals. On this rifle, the lock is secured by one bolt with the nose of the lock held in place by a hook and screw stud. Here is the hook I made. It is threaded through the lock plate but I will eventually countersink the outside of the hole, cut off the threads leaving about 1/8 inch of excess above the lock plate. Then I will melt that excess with a welding torch to fill the countersink, permanently attaching the lug. When file flush, the hole will disappear.








More to come.

dave

Thank you so much for making the time in your busy schedule to share with us the way you do. It is appreciated even more than you know.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Thank you so much for making the time in your busy schedule to share with us the way you do. It is appreciated even more than you know.

Second that.

 

[Spikebuck]

Good to see that Maria is still engaged in the shop!

 

[dave_person]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for looking and commenting. Maria is back at school but I am busy as I can handle. Here is where I am on my latest English sporting rifle. As I wrote previously, I am not copying the Twigg rifles that inspire this project but am trying to keep to a plausible example made in England during the late 1770s and early 1780s. The rifle is not of the generation including the Mantons, Richards, Langs, Purdey's etc. It is of the last generation of English makers who never experienced the percussion era. However, it is supposed to represent a fine English gun and that means very high quality. I shaped the stock and installed most of the components, all of which required extensive modifications. The plain black walnut is very light colored and I may use ferric nitrate on it to darken it.



Inletting on English guns should look like the metal grew into the wood.







There will be a highly figure walnut patch box lid that will complement the butt stock. The cheek piece will also add a nice touch to the butt stock.


Builders often fret about barrel keys. On this gun there will be no escutcheon plates so the fit of the keys must be perfect.



I have a question to put to all of you. There will be a simple oval wrist plate but I am considering checkering the wrist. The barrel tang will have a rolling shell carved its end. The original Twigg rifles have no checkering but I like the style, appropriate for the time, that I did on this rifle.





It is appropriate for the time period. Should I do it or leave the wrist plain?

dave

 

[Brokennock]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for looking and commenting. Maria is back at school but I am busy as I can handle. Here is where I am on my latest English sporting rifle. As I wrote previously, I am not copying the Twigg rifles that inspire this project but am trying to keep to a plausible example made in England during the late 1770s and early 1780s. The rifle is not of the generation including the Mantons, Richards, Langs, Purdey's etc. It is of the last generation of English makers who never experienced the percussion era. However, it is supposed to represent a fine English gun and that means very high quality. I shaped the stock and installed most of the components, all of which required extensive modifications. The plain black walnut is very light colored and I may use ferric nitrate on it to darken it.



Inletting on English guns should look like the metal grew into the wood.







There will be a highly figure walnut patch box lid that will complement the butt stock. The cheek piece will also add a nice touch to the butt stock.


Builders often fret about barrel keys. On this gun there will be no escutcheon plates so the fit of the keys must be perfect.



I have a question to put to all of you. There will be a simple oval wrist plate but I am considering checkering the wrist. The barrel tang will have a rolling shell carved its end. The original Twigg rifles have no checkering but I like the style, appropriate for the time, that I did on this rifle.





It is appropriate for the time period. Should I do it or leave the wrist plain?

dave

I prefer the plain, uncheckered, wrist myself. But, I'm sure when I see the job you do of it you will win me over.

 

[FlaminCrow]

I believe with the simple oval inlay, and no escutcheons, etc… checkering my be much. I’m far from a scholar on the subject but haven’t seen checkering without accompanying fancy furniture.

 

[dave_person]

Hi FlaminCrow,
There were very few plain "poor boy" English rifles. Rifles were for wealthy patrons who had access to lands for hunting big game. The lack of plates around the barrel keys was the common practice during the 1770s. Those came later and were more popular in the 1800s. Checkering was just becoming popular in the 1770s and most was the coarse wide flat checkering in the rifle I showed. Within a decade, checkering started to become smaller and more modern looking usually with flat tops rather than points. Also in the 1770s, the fashion was turning away from ornate wrist plates and inlays and toward simpler designs like ovals and shields as well as half stocks . Here is an early 1800s English rifle showing those traits.

The rifle I am making represents a rifle made 20-30 years earlier during a period of transition in styles. Consequently, a simple oval with checkering or without is entirely appropriate for the period.

dave

 

[longcruise]

Are those screws holding the TG common for the period?

 

[rich pierce]

Dave, my good friend, I admire your dedication to sharing the craft of outstanding gun work as much as the work itself. Without your detailed and informative updates on current work, this forum’s value to gun builders would fall through the floor. Keep it up!

 

[FlaminCrow]

Hi FlaminCrow,
There were very few plain "poor boy" English rifles. Rifles were for wealthy patrons who had access to lands for hunting big game. The lack of plates around the barrel keys was the common practice during the 1770s. Those came later and were more popular in the 1800s. Checkering was just becoming popular in the 1770s and most was the coarse wide flat checkering in the rifle I showed. Within a decade, checkering started to become smaller and more modern looking usually with flat tops rather than points. Also in the 1770s, the fashion was turning away from ornate wrist plates and inlays and toward simpler designs like ovals and shields as well as half stocks . Here is an early 1800s English rifle showing those traits.

The rifle I am making represents a rifle made 20-30 years earlier during a period of transition in styles. Consequently, a simple oval with checkering or without is entirely appropriate for the period.

dave

Hey Dave, Thank you for sharing the knowledge. With that, I have a much better understanding. I would lean towards checkering for sure.
I would like to understand your process, and end result, with the ferric nitrate on the black walnut. I know it will darken considerably but do you add color afterward?

 

[pamtnman]

Really fantastic photos and descriptions, Dave. Thank you. I am interested in building / having built another British Sporting Rifle, in percussion this time. I share your frustration with the poor choices for appropriate grips. Track is selling something that bears poor resemblance to the one they sold prior to 2012. Perhaps bending steel strapping and welding it together is the answer.

 

[springfield art]

Hi,
We are very busy. I have not posted much because I have so much work to get done before "Battle Road" in April. Maria was here over her Christmas break and worked on her British officer's fusil. We cast and then she began sculpting the sideplate and wrist plate.









I have 2 pattern 1742 Brown Besses to make but am also working on 2 English sporting rifles. The first is full stocked and inspired by the two famous Twigg rifles shown in Neal's Great British Gunmakers: 1740-1790. I am not copying the rifles because the owner wants some changes. He does not like single set triggers, which were used on the originals but want double sets. I have never seen double set triggers on English flintlock rifles from the 18th and early 19th centuries. That is OK and I will tuck the set trigger in close to the rear of the trigger guard bow so it won't be obvious. Unfortunately, our choices for steel hardware for British guns is dismal. So many options disappeared during the last decade. Anyway, I made do with a trigger guard from TOW. The bow of the guard is much too big and it was probably copied from a double barreled gun. If you use it as is it looks so awkward. So I cut off the forward curl of the bow and made the bow smaller. No set triggers you can buy look anything like triggers used on British sporting guns but the best option for double sets are triggers for Hawken rifles. They have to be modified a lot but they can work although the double triggers probably are a fantasy for British sporting guns. Anyway, I reshaped the trigger guard, welded in a threaded stud and drastically reshaped a Hwken trigger set from L&R.











It will work out pretty well. The Davis Twigg lock needed a lot of work. I changed the geometry of the lock and replaced all of the tiny screws they use to hold the internals. On this rifle, the lock is secured by one bolt with the nose of the lock held in place by a hook and screw stud. Here is the hook I made. It is threaded through the lock plate but I will eventually countersink the outside of the hole, cut off the threads leaving about 1/8 inch of excess above the lock plate. Then I will melt that excess with a welding torch to fill the countersink, permanently attaching the lug. When file flush, the hole will disappear.








More to come.

dave

This is what happens when young people are not staring at their "phones" all day long!...

 

[dave_person]

This is what happens when young people are not staring at their "phones" all day long!...

Hi,
You are exactly right and I ask Maria to turn her phone off when in the shop. Her generation and the previous one are too addicted to their mobile devices. For example, the officer's fusil she is making is for client. She kept texting him and sending photos of her progress. I urged her to stop doing that because he will drive you crazy wanting a constant stream of little changes to be made. I was right and she learned to turn the phone off. I told her he commissioned a human not a machine and creative humans need some level of detachment to do their best work.

dave

 

[dave_person]

Are those screws holding the TG common for the period?

Hi,
Yes. Pinned guards became much less common on quality guns. Moreover, the front screw is a bolt that threads into the bottom of the standing breech holding it down tight in the barrel channel along with the tang screw. All the screw heads will be counter bored, filed flush with the guard and engraved like this.

dave

 

[dave_person]

Hey Dave, Thank you for sharing the knowledge. With that, I have a much better understanding. I would lean towards checkering for sure.
I would like to understand your process, and end result, with the ferric nitrate on the black walnut. I know it will darken considerably but do you add color afterward?

Hi,
That is a good question and I am not sure yet what my procedure will be. Ferric nitrate reacts strongly with tannin and usually turns walnut way too dark. However, a test piece of the light walnut came out nice reddish brown like maple. That may be all I will need but I don't know for sure yet. I have to experiment more and I have plenty of scrap wood from the stock blank.

dave

 

[Relic shooter]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for looking and commenting. Maria is back at school but I am busy as I can handle. Here is where I am on my latest English sporting rifle. As I wrote previously, I am not copying the Twigg rifles that inspire this project but am trying to keep to a plausible example made in England during the late 1770s and early 1780s. The rifle is not of the generation including the Mantons, Richards, Langs, Purdey's etc. It is of the last generation of English makers who never experienced the percussion era. However, it is supposed to represent a fine English gun and that means very high quality. I shaped the stock and installed most of the components, all of which required extensive modifications. The plain black walnut is very light colored and I may use ferric nitrate on it to darken it.



Inletting on English guns should look like the metal grew into the wood.







There will be a highly figure walnut patch box lid that will complement the butt stock. The cheek piece will also add a nice touch to the butt stock.


Builders often fret about barrel keys. On this gun there will be no escutcheon plates so the fit of the keys must be perfect.



I have a question to put to all of you. There will be a simple oval wrist plate but I am considering checkering the wrist. The barrel tang will have a rolling shell carved its end. The original Twigg rifles have no checkering but I like the style, appropriate for the time, that I did on this rifle.





It is appropriate for the time period. Should I do it or leave the wrist plain?

dave

Go with ornate wrist Dave !

 

[dave_person]

Dave, my good friend, I admire your dedication to sharing the craft of outstanding gun work as much as the work itself. Without your detailed and informative updates on current work, this forum’s value to gun builders would fall through the floor. Keep it up!

Hi Rich,
Thank you and I could say the same about you.

dave

 

[Loja man]

Love seeing your work and reading your posts! Personally I would skip the checkering. My two cents.

 

[Brokennock]

Dave, my good friend, I admire your dedication to sharing the craft of outstanding gun work as much as the work itself. Without your detailed and informative updates on current work, this forum’s value to gun builders would fall through the floor. Keep it up!

I'm not a muzzleoading gun builder, have no interest in ever building my own muzzleloader.
But, @dave_person posts and topics are so informative, interesting, and well written that they are some of my favorite things to read here and a huge reason I can't stop coming back to this forum.