Rebuilding an old Indian made 1756 Brown Bess Musket

[trackpin]

When someone posts things about their own gun (or whatever) on your thread. It’s extremely rude.

I was sharing my method of dealing with a India made example that most likely used the same type of wood and since he is working on correcting his India made example I thought he would appreciate an example of what can be done using different methods. No rudeness there at all. Or certainly not intended.

 

[Millford_P]

Hi everyone,

I had the chance to add a few coats of stain and finish to the musket, so I'll consider it "done" for now. There is still some finish work I'd like to do on the brass (especially the buttplate) and some work on the lock, but it should suffice for my brother's reenacting needs for now. I'm not 100% happy with how the stain and finish looks, not to mention it has made my mistakes much more visible! I'll likely take another go at this sometime next year - using a card scraper to give the wood a nicer texture and then taking my time and trying out some different techniques with stain and finish.

I know the bayonet is wrong for this one (1730s-40s)... but I had made it for another project and it fit perfectly on this musket. I kind of like the earlier bayonet look, so I'll keep it on this one.

Overall though, it looks a whole lot better than when it started!

Before:

After:

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Good on you! It came out pretty well. The handrail is a little too long and the shaping of the side plate panel is a little off but those are minor things. It looks a lot better than the stock India-made Besses. Hopefully the lock is good inside and out. Well done.

dave

 

[FlinterNick]

Hi everyone,

I had the chance to add a few coats of stain and finish to the musket, so I'll consider it "done" for now. There is still some finish work I'd like to do on the brass (especially the buttplate) and some work on the lock, but it should suffice for my brother's reenacting needs for now. I'm not 100% happy with how the stain and finish looks, not to mention it has made my mistakes much more visible! I'll likely take another go at this sometime next year - using a card scraper to give the wood a nicer texture and then taking my time and trying out some different techniques with stain and finish.

I know the bayonet is wrong for this one (1730s-40s)... but I had made it for another project and it fit perfectly on this musket. I kind of like the earlier bayonet look, so I'll keep it on this one.

Overall though, it looks a whole lot better than when it started!

Before:
View attachment 345663

After:
View attachment 345664View attachment 345665View attachment 345666View attachment 345667
View attachment 345672View attachment 345673

Nice job on the color !