CurleyGrimes
32 Cal
Good afternoon,
I figured I would document my attempt at turning a Pedersoli Bess into a Committee of Safety musket. Aside from a Jukar derringer kit, I haven't done much gunsmithing, so this will certainly be a challenge. I purchased this Bess used back in 2015 and it was my first flintlock firearm. I enjoy shooting it, however I was always irked by the undersized buttstock and incorrect lock plate markings. After reading about the various committee of safety muskets produced in the colonies, I decided this conversation would be a good fix. Specifically I wanted to do a Maryland CoS musket as I was stationed there in the army and I really liked the area. I found four examples online of original Maryland muskets with high quality pictures. One from ilovemuzzleloading.com, one from Rock Island auction house, and two from Morphys. I decided rather than make a 100% accurate clone of any one musket, for simplicity's sake I would draw features from all of them to make something representative of the muskets being produced at the time.
The first step was to scrub off the incorrect pedersoli lock markings. I did this with flat and round files, a Dremel sanding drum, and lots of elbow grease.
Once I got the majority of the engraving off the the cock and lock plate I polished them with 60 grit all the way to 3000 grit sandpaper. There are still a few small file marks, but I can live with those. Given the conditions these muskets were made under, a fine grade finish was probably a low priority. This part took me about two weekends to complete. Luckily one of the originals had the same double engraved lines around the frizzen and top jaw as the pedersoli, so I decided to leave those. Next I will try to recontour the stock to look more like the originals.
Original lock plate
Original engraved top jaw
Removing the markings
Original frizzen spring
All back together!
I figured I would document my attempt at turning a Pedersoli Bess into a Committee of Safety musket. Aside from a Jukar derringer kit, I haven't done much gunsmithing, so this will certainly be a challenge. I purchased this Bess used back in 2015 and it was my first flintlock firearm. I enjoy shooting it, however I was always irked by the undersized buttstock and incorrect lock plate markings. After reading about the various committee of safety muskets produced in the colonies, I decided this conversation would be a good fix. Specifically I wanted to do a Maryland CoS musket as I was stationed there in the army and I really liked the area. I found four examples online of original Maryland muskets with high quality pictures. One from ilovemuzzleloading.com, one from Rock Island auction house, and two from Morphys. I decided rather than make a 100% accurate clone of any one musket, for simplicity's sake I would draw features from all of them to make something representative of the muskets being produced at the time.
The first step was to scrub off the incorrect pedersoli lock markings. I did this with flat and round files, a Dremel sanding drum, and lots of elbow grease.
Once I got the majority of the engraving off the the cock and lock plate I polished them with 60 grit all the way to 3000 grit sandpaper. There are still a few small file marks, but I can live with those. Given the conditions these muskets were made under, a fine grade finish was probably a low priority. This part took me about two weekends to complete. Luckily one of the originals had the same double engraved lines around the frizzen and top jaw as the pedersoli, so I decided to leave those. Next I will try to recontour the stock to look more like the originals.
Original lock plate
Original engraved top jaw
Removing the markings
Original frizzen spring
All back together!
