FlinterNick
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I can help with middle band pm me
Rebuilding a 1728 French Musket
- Thread starter Millford_P
- Start date
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I can help with middle band pm me
Wow, great work OP!
Millford_P
36 Cl.
I spent quite a bit of time on the front porch today, and the musket is 98% done.
Today's work was mostly (fixing previous mistakes) and finishing the barrel bands. Let's start with the middle band.
Overall, this one fit OK, but I still wasn't 100% happy with the shape (it was a bit lopsided). I worked on it for a while, but eventually decided to size it down a bit by cutting it, filing the ends and soldering it back together. The fit was much better after that.
The rear barrel band was a bigger project. I used a small piece of scrap metal to remake the top of the band, since previously I had made the band too small. The wall thickness on this was also filed down to size and fitted to the musket.
All bands now (finally) complete. If I ever rebuild another French musket.. I think I'm definitely buying Rifle Shoppe parts!
Another task was filling the old pin hole in the tab of the trigger guard (just soldered a bit of metal inside), filing that, and then redrilling a new hole for the pin. This had to happen since there was a bit of wood removed from the belly of the stock, causing misalignment with the original holes. The fore end of the stock got some adjustments to fit the new bands after all the metal work was complete.
Last (but actually happened yesterday, mostly) was reducing the wrist. I had originally measured the wrist at about 1.75in wide, this was reduced down to just under 1.6in, which felt/looked a little more accurate and comfortable to hold. Once the height and width were figured out, I filed everything down to blend it.
Then sanding, staining and finish (not pictured).
At this point, I'm just waiting for the finish on the stock to dry. Hopefully I can get everything assembled later in the week and take some photos... and we'll be done! Last step (which I'll get to another day...) will be adding a front sight.
Today's work was mostly (fixing previous mistakes) and finishing the barrel bands. Let's start with the middle band.
Overall, this one fit OK, but I still wasn't 100% happy with the shape (it was a bit lopsided). I worked on it for a while, but eventually decided to size it down a bit by cutting it, filing the ends and soldering it back together. The fit was much better after that.
The rear barrel band was a bigger project. I used a small piece of scrap metal to remake the top of the band, since previously I had made the band too small. The wall thickness on this was also filed down to size and fitted to the musket.
All bands now (finally) complete. If I ever rebuild another French musket.. I think I'm definitely buying Rifle Shoppe parts!
Another task was filling the old pin hole in the tab of the trigger guard (just soldered a bit of metal inside), filing that, and then redrilling a new hole for the pin. This had to happen since there was a bit of wood removed from the belly of the stock, causing misalignment with the original holes. The fore end of the stock got some adjustments to fit the new bands after all the metal work was complete.
Last (but actually happened yesterday, mostly) was reducing the wrist. I had originally measured the wrist at about 1.75in wide, this was reduced down to just under 1.6in, which felt/looked a little more accurate and comfortable to hold. Once the height and width were figured out, I filed everything down to blend it.
Then sanding, staining and finish (not pictured).
At this point, I'm just waiting for the finish on the stock to dry. Hopefully I can get everything assembled later in the week and take some photos... and we'll be done! Last step (which I'll get to another day...) will be adding a front sight.
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You’re getting it done!
FlinterNick
69 Cal.
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Great job on the bands, that’s the hardest part.
FYI dont’ be fooled about the bands being robust and heavy, originals were not. Thick heavy bands is a reproduction thing.
I recommend looking at orignal 1728s as much as possible, the bands were ‘Paper thin’. So thin you could bend them with your thumb. Once i had seen how thin them were i started making my own from two pieces of steel folded over and welded .
I’ve made them from scratch, i the thickest barrel bands I’ve seen were on model 1774 and 1777 charleville for obvious reasons they began fastening screws to them for things like rammer spoons and barrel tenons.
Millford_P
36 Cl.
That makes sense. Maybe one day I'll give that a try. I almost wonder if starting from scratch would have been easier than adjusting the existing ones.
I have to admit, you might turn that thing into a silk purse after all 
You do have some skills. I bet you could hit a grand slam with a parts kit.
You do have some skills. I bet you could hit a grand slam with a parts kit.
Millford_P
36 Cl.
Alright, finish is dry and the musket is assembled! I'd say that I'm about 95% done - I just need to add a bayonet lug and bayonet (waiting to purchase a bayonet first). I'm also planning on adding a little bit of patina just so it looks "used, but not abused" vs "out of the crate", since I plan to use this for Revolutionary War reenacting. Ideally it should look about 25-30 years old. I sanded all of the metal up to about 240 grit, so hopefully when a patina as added it helps some of the scratches stand out a look a little more "used".
Nothing fancy was done with the wood - just some off the shelf dark walnut stain from Home Depot and sealed with a few coats of Danish oil. I tried to wipe a little bit of stain away from the raised areas to help with the "used" look, but didn't go in and add any patina of weathering. I didn't want to over do it, since I think it should darken over time.
The butt doesn't have as an extreme of a concave shape on the bottom as some pictures of originals I've seen, but it definitely fits within the realm of plausibility now, compared to where it started.
The new sideplate definitely helps give it that 1728 look, compared to how it started.
The flats on the barrel also now look 1000% better (they now exist, for starters).
Front and back of the rear - feels much better to hold now.
Still some thickness on the interior of the barrel, but I'm happy with the exterior dimensions. If I ever decide to have it reamed out, it would take off about 1.3lbs according to my calculations. But, for safety's sake I may just live with it for now.
I'm also happy with the barrel bands - my first time making/adjusting bands, so it took several hours longer than it should have, but I'm happy with it. Next time it should hopefully go much quicker, now that I (sort of) know what I'm doing.
For anyone who's curious, here's a look at the weight before and after work:
I forgot to weigh the lock/sideplate, but I don't think there is much of a difference at all since very little material was removed. Maybe just a few ounces.
Overall, the musket went from weighing just over 12lbs to just under 10 and a half lbs. I think if the barrel was thinned out, it would be pretty close to the original weight of just over 9lbs (or a little more with an iron rammer, instead of wood).
Thanks for all of the super supportive and helpful feedback on this project. More photos will be coming once it's fixed with a bayonet and I add a little patina.
Nothing fancy was done with the wood - just some off the shelf dark walnut stain from Home Depot and sealed with a few coats of Danish oil. I tried to wipe a little bit of stain away from the raised areas to help with the "used" look, but didn't go in and add any patina of weathering. I didn't want to over do it, since I think it should darken over time.
The butt doesn't have as an extreme of a concave shape on the bottom as some pictures of originals I've seen, but it definitely fits within the realm of plausibility now, compared to where it started.
The new sideplate definitely helps give it that 1728 look, compared to how it started.
The flats on the barrel also now look 1000% better (they now exist, for starters).
Front and back of the rear - feels much better to hold now.
Still some thickness on the interior of the barrel, but I'm happy with the exterior dimensions. If I ever decide to have it reamed out, it would take off about 1.3lbs according to my calculations. But, for safety's sake I may just live with it for now.
I'm also happy with the barrel bands - my first time making/adjusting bands, so it took several hours longer than it should have, but I'm happy with it. Next time it should hopefully go much quicker, now that I (sort of) know what I'm doing.
For anyone who's curious, here's a look at the weight before and after work:
I forgot to weigh the lock/sideplate, but I don't think there is much of a difference at all since very little material was removed. Maybe just a few ounces.
Overall, the musket went from weighing just over 12lbs to just under 10 and a half lbs. I think if the barrel was thinned out, it would be pretty close to the original weight of just over 9lbs (or a little more with an iron rammer, instead of wood).
| AFTER WORK: | |||
| Part | Weight in grams | Previous Weight | Difference g |
| Rammer | 255 | 255 | 0 |
| Barrel | 2479 | 3016 | 537 |
| Front Barrel Band | 40 | 48 | 8 |
| Middle Barrel Band | 31 | 39.6 | 8.6 |
| Rear Barrrl Band | 30 | 42.5 | 12.5 |
| Trigger guard Assembly | 126 | 147.5 | 21.5 |
| Lock assembly | 524.5 | 524.5 | 0 |
| Stock and buttplate | 1250 | 1431.5 | 181.5 |
| TOTAL | 4735.5 | 5504.6 | 769.1 |
| Part | Weight in lbs | Previous Weight | Difference lbs |
| Rammer | 0.561 | 0.561 | 0 |
| Barrel | 5.4538 | 6.6352 | 1.1814 |
| Front Barrel Band | 0.088 | 0.1056 | 0.0176 |
| Middle Barrel Band | 0.0682 | 0.08712 | 0.01892 |
| Rear Barrrl Band | 0.066 | 0.0935 | 0.0275 |
| Trigger guard Assembly | 0.2772 | 0.3245 | 0.0473 |
| Lock assembly | 1.1539 | 1.1539 | 0 |
| Stock and buttplate | 2.75 | 3.1493 | 0.3993 |
| TOTAL | 10.4181 | 12.11012 | 1.69202 |
Thanks for all of the super supportive and helpful feedback on this project. More photos will be coming once it's fixed with a bayonet and I add a little patina.
Nice work. As a friend of mine used to say, it looks a lot more like it does now, than it did before!
Really terrific job on the musket – I’m impressed.
Now if only someone would come along and actually make them like that out of the box, the world would be a better place IMO. ;-)
Now if only someone would come along and actually make them like that out of the box, the world would be a better place IMO. ;-)
Indeed!
Millford_P
36 Cl.
Yes, a couple people pointed that out! It's better in real life than in the picture, but I'll definitely need to go in there to adjust the mortise and tighten the bolts a bit.
Fitzhugh Williams
40 Cal
The bolts should be just snug with very little pressure needed to turn them. I watched Simeon England tighten them with only his thumb nail to make his point. It's the fit that matters.
Last edited:
FlinterNick
69 Cal.
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This is an Indian made musket, its not a fine English sporting rifle or Fowler. The lock just needs to be tight against the barrel with a very limited or no gap between the pan and barrel, tight bolts or tight fit.
Fitzhugh Williams
40 Cal
It's up to the builder to make it fit.
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