Queen Anne pistol

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Agreed Brokennock! And yet another big thanks to you Dave!

Thus far I have just been using a sanding drum on my dremel to knock off the casting surface, doing the rough filing with a large file and then moving to a small needle size warding file to touch up the edges, and then using 500, 1000, and 1500 grit sand paper to hand sand the surfaces. Next I plan to touch up the engraving and then will finish polish with your suggestion of using fine stones and oil.

Thank you again for your help and insights Dave. It is greatly appreciated (as always!) and I am certain that my finished piece will turn out that much better because of it.

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Took some time with the files and re-shaped the trigger guard a bit. The castings had left the bordered edge slightly uneven and instead of trying to clean up the lines with a palm graver I decided to file it all flat, cut in new bordering, and add a radius to the middle section of the trigger guard.

I wish that I had taken a "before" photo, but it was one of those things I just picked up and started working on and didn't think of it until I was mostly done.

There is final dressing and engraving to do yet followed by final polishing yet, but I am happy with the result thus far.

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Progress update! Most of the mechanical pieces are prepped and ready for engraving and fitment, then final polishing.

I will be working on the final three pieces of the mechanics this evening. Part of the safety slide, the tab for mounting the tang, and the top jaw. Hopefully I will have those completed tonight and be ready to drill and tap all of the parts for assembly and fitment.

The next phase will be turning that hunk of walnut into a stock! I also have access to some pretty nice pieces of lumber that have some beautiful figuring that I may make a second stock out of.

Unfortunately the boards are only an inch thick. Fortunately they are wide enough to allow me to bookmatch two halves together to make a piece thick enough to make a stock out of. Thankfully modern adhesives properly clamped make a stronger bond than the wood itself and the two halves should blend together well enough to make the seam reasonably decent looking.

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Made some more headway on the pistol today. I got further with the inletting, down to around a quarter of an inch to seat the strap of the handle further back and a little over a sixteenth of an inch dimensionally around the frame until it will seat into the handle.

Getting a lot closer now though!

 

[Jared S]

Hey Jeff, Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you’ve had a good customer experience with Kevin, it took me ten years of back and forth to get my hands on my kit after ordering it. I’m just getting into the handle stage of it now so it’s great to see someone else tackling that same step!
The whole thing has been a fun learning experience for me since I really don’t have any experience with this sort of fine metalworking. Still need to do a final round of cleanup and polishing/hardening once the handle is in place but happy to have it in working order now. We’ll see if I’m adventurous enough to try and sharpen up the metal engravings as you mention you are doing.
I’ve found all of your suggestions very useful, I should have posted on here months ago!

Cheers!
Jared

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Progress! I have gotten a quite a bit done on the Queen Anne. I have not inlet the grotesque mask butt plate yet, and there are a few bits that I would like to re-polish. I have Big Island rendezvous this coming week and wanted to be able to use it for the event. So I gave it a light coat of tung oil and then used a piece of linen fabric soaked in lamp oil to hand rub six coats of beeswax into the wood for a temporary finish. All in all I am pretty happy with the results!

 

[Jared S]

Looking good Jeff, nice to see your progress. I have some catching up to do on my Queen Anne!

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Started on the silver wire inlay today. So far I just did a simple border around the frame and tang. Still haven't decided on what I want to do on the handle yet. Debating between the more typical spiral shell design or something of a floral motif. Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Oh! I completely forgot that I hadn't updated this post on how it shoots! I finally got out to the farm and set up some sand bags and gave it the first test firings. I bored the chamber out to hold 25 grains of 3f which seems to be plenty of pop for this pistol. I was pretty astonished at how much more powerful this is as a breech loaded tapered barrel than a standard muzzle stuffer. No exaggeration when I say that with 25 grains of powder, this has the same oomph as 50 to 60 grains in a muzzleloader. I need to get a hold of a chronograph and find out what the actual muzzle velocity is.

3/4" plywood at about 20 feet, it was awfully satisfying hearing the ball crashing through the woods, you could hear the ball tearing through all the brush, sticks, and branches until it thumped into the hill. There is a quite a bit of momentum in a .625 caliber ball!

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

I finally got around to taking a few pictures since I got done with the wire inlay work and put a decent finish on the stock. All in all I am pretty pleased with how it turned out for being my first build.

 

[Brokennock]

That came out great. 1st build? Really? Hard to believe.
Please let us know how it shoots.

 

[toot]

a beautiful piece!

 

[Jeff Kaufmann]

Thanks for the compliments! I probably should have started with something a bit easier to build for my first time out, but this was the pistol that I wanted and I have had experience with both wood and metal working. Not sure yet what I want to tackle for my next project, although I have been eyeing up the Nock Volley gun from The Rifle Shoppe... Will have to see if I can talk the wife into that one. I don't particularly have a need or use for one, but I kind of like the novelty of seven 50 cal barrels.

 

[toot]

please keep us in the loop!!

 

[WRussell]

Not sure yet what I want to tackle for my next project

Hi, Jeff - Sorry I stumbled on this thread after it's all over; I've been a Queen Anne fan for a long time. For your next project, how about a Queen Anne carbine, or, for a real challenge, a Lorenzoni - type repeater. I have a good deal of info on the Lorenzoni and would be more than happy to share. For one thing, folks worry about the magazine exploding; simple solution - don't fill it at first (or ever, to keep your wife happy).

 

[Rudyard]

Silver wire work is fine if you like it , many do but I regard it as an abomination & gingerbread. It just begs to pop out and the cotton gloves museums insist on will invariably snag any bit protruding .
Mr Russell I like your imagination Kalthoffs ,Kolbys air rifles , 7 barrel goose rifles .All good stuff . This last I do plan to get up its not that exotic if the geese will likley object .Ive had 7x 303 barrels turned to 1/2" uniform one day Ile get round to it . Maybe .
Rudyard

 

[WRussell]

The volley guns were short-lived, I've read; not many shoulders can handle that much recoil. Now a Kolbe airgun - that would be a good project. Kolbe was a master gunmaker, brought to England by George I (or was it George II?) only to find that the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers required him to serve 7 years as an apprentice(!) before he could make a firearm. He made airguns. Famously. Some firearms, too, in defiance, including Queen Anne pistols.[/QUOTE]

 

[Rudyard]

Agree military volley gun not the best idea . I made one a 2nd contract, it was fun but not all it was intended . Bligh took one on the' Pandora' but only used it to scare natives . Harper's choice seem's pure fiction by the author .But as a sporting gun many where made if smaller in bore and mostly smooth but the 303 barrels where factory seconds( WW2) look perfect bores and I reckon three balls in each & a half dram or so powder should reach out to far geese which was the thinking. Though Colonel Thornton thought them the bee's knees for hunting .The idea went on into Rim fire BL days (Whatever 22 RF is !)Kolbe did make very fine guns the many exile Huganot's ? where a big stimulus to the trade .France's loss England's gain . Regards Rudyard

 

[Commodore Swab]

I built one a while back and have a couple more kits from TRS, Best feeling pistol Ive had. The sliding tg safety was a bit of a job to get right but did work well.

 

[WRussell]

I built one a while back and have a couple more kits from TRS, Best feeling pistol Ive had. The sliding tg safety was a bit of a job to get right but did work well.

Here is an article on Queen Anne pistols:
https://www.ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?sn=fFRmEncdBF&id=LSnDoncaster/QueenAnne