TOTW Vincent Ohio Rifle Build

[Chowmif16]

I slimmed down the wrist quite a bit, and brought it to the same height as the plans and the example. It looks a lot better. I probably took off about 3/8".
It makes the wrist flow into the butt a lot better.

I'll have a look to see what needs to be done about the barrel misalignment. It's probably rotated about 2-3 degrees left. Strangely, if I shoulder the rifle quickly and look down the sights, the barrel is perfectly level. Seems to fit me that way.

Thanks for all the replies,
Cheers,
Chowmi

 

[Col. Batguano]

I deliberately built some "toe in" in to my stock to achieve the same result. Guns shot off the crook of the bicep have a tendency to have the toe move further inboard when seated than guns shot off the shoulder do. If your barrel is off level, you will instinctively correct your shooting position to achieve it when you lock in.

 

[frogwalking]

Your rifle is fine. Shoot the hell out of it. O have made and shot many with the drum more crooked than that one. For a first attempt, you did great.
Shoot that one, and when You are ready, build another. Next time chuck the tap for the drum in your drillpress and turn by hand. Even if the hole is drilled straight, it is very easy to tap the hole crooked.

 

[Chowmif16]

Frogwalking,

I think you nailed it on the head there. I'm reasonably sure the angle occurred during tapping, which I did by hand. I will use the drill press next time, turning by hand.

I checked and re-checked that the drill bit was square when I drilled the hole, which makes me think it was in tapping.

Cheers,
Chowmi

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I think it is looking very good. I liked the nose cap pour too. :thumbsup:

 

[MSW]

I would advise you to take the rifle into the woods.

After doing this, you should shoot the rifle until ball and powder are expended.

Return to 'civilization' for more supplies.

Repeat as necessary.


all kidding aside - the rifle looks quite nice. looking forward to more photos!

 

[Onojutta]

I started this rifle nearly 3 years ago, but life gets in the way. It's main purpose in life is to be a practice run for building golden age flintlocks.

You know, every time I read your posts I am reminded of my own very similar experiences!

I am currently finishing up my first build that I started 7 years ago- just as you say, life got in the way. Not to mention I have practically built the rifle three times considering how much time and effort I have spent correcting mistakes.

If there is one thing I wish I would have done, it would have been to keep a journal as I went to document all the lessons learned.

 

[jimmy82]

Looks better than my first build. The only reason mine shoots straight is that I had to bed the last 3" of the barrel because of the crappy job I did inletting the breech and tang.

 

[Chowmif16]

MSW,
I plan to do that exact thing!

Little Buffalo,
I'm glad I am not the only one. This has felt like a monkey on my back. However, I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Jimmy,
There's a good reason there are no pictures of my barrel inlet. I'm too embarrassed to post them!

My Chamber's Early Lancaster kit is calling to me now. It has sat idle for nearly three years. I might just take a breather from the Vincent and begin on the Lancaster. Give me a chance to refocus and not hurry the Vincent. I'm quickly edging towards hurrying it, and I don't want to.

Not sure yet. I won't have a chance to do any building for 4-5 days, so I'll let my mind settle first.

 

[frogwalking]

I made a rig so that I could drill the lock bolt and tang bolt hole accurately on the drill press. Then I hand tapped the holes crooked. For that one, I bought some long taps with shaft small enough to fit through the clearance holes. These holes are now tapped perfectly in line where the bolt goes. I guess I could have just done as I said earlier and chucked the tap in the drill press. Too soon old and too late smart.

 

[Col. Batguano]

You have to be careful when tapping holes on the opposite side of the gun when using the tap locked in the drill press. There's a lot of torque on them a long way from the chuck, and it's very easy to break a tap off that way, and then you're really in deep doo-doo. Those taps are hardened tool steel, and about impossible to drill through with a standard drill bit. And they NEVER break off where you can get any kind of a grip on the remaining stub either.

 

[Chowmif16]

Col,
thanks for the point out.
I was specifically talking about tapping the hole for the nipple drum, which shouldn't have that problem of distance from the chuck on the drill press. If I am tapping through the stock (as in the trigger plate for example) I plan in future to do it by hand and through the stock to keep it straight.

On another note, I have made progress on finishing the stock.

I did two applications of Aqua Fortis which seemed to turn out a bit less red and more brown than I expected after heating. So, I then used some LMF Lancaster Maple stain, and it is looking pretty darn good.
I've done 4 coats of Permalyn sealer, and am pleased with the results. Red and red/gold are coming through and the striping is really nice.
When the Permalyn sealer was wet, I got the irredescence that I was looking for.
I'll let it sit and fully cure and then start with Chamber's Traditional Oil Finish.

I'm still working the brass trigger guard and buttplate a bit, but am close to done with them. That is another lesson I have learned. I've probably spent close to 20 hours on that damn trigger guard. I was clearly not doing it right at first.

I'm browning the lock plate right now with LMF cold Brown. I've done one pistol barrel before with LMF with limited success. I'm doing the lock plate on it's own as an experiment. It's going slowly. 24 hours in, and there is a spotty, very light coat of sort of brown on it. It's been on the bathroom counter the whole time and I've run the shower 3 times.
Luckily, so far, there is no coppery color. It's low humidity here, and the house is kept at 68 degrees, so I wasn't expecting a lot of progress, but this is going way slower than it should.

Looks like it's time to build a sweat box.

Cheers

 

[Chowmif16]

while I was writing the previous post, I had the shower running again.
25 minutes of hot shower, and that has provided some progress. Still too early to tell, but I'll keep you posted.

 

[Gustavo Hoefs]

Never use a tap if it feels cold to the touch such as in the garage in the winter warm it up first then it is much less likely to snap.

 

[Col. Batguano]

I busted a tap when tapping a front lock bolt once. It was quite a chore to hog out the hole in the web, and re-drill for the lock bolt. The remains of the tap's stub are still in the lock, but it's covered by the frizzen spring. One of those lessons in life you only get the hard way it seems.

 

[Chowmif16]

Col,

I'm sure the stuck tap in your lock is one of those secrets you think about when others comment on what a nice rifle it is.
I will have several of those for sure.

 

[Pete G]

The tool needed is called a tap extractor. They have fingers that slide down the flutes of the broken tap and a hex piece on top to grasp with a wrench. The tap breaks because it is jammed going forward, so as soon as it is reversed it is freed up and easily removed. They are available through Amazon and are ordered by screw size and no. of flutes.

 

[Zonie]

Now that we are talking about tapping, for the newbies I'll just mention a few words of advice.

ALWAYS use the correct size tap drill for the threads you going to make.

ALWAYS lubricate the tap and hole with a "Thread Cutting Oil".

NEVER try to force a tap if it shows any strong resistance to screwing in further.

ALWAYS turn the tap backwards 1/2 turn for every 1 to 1 1/2 turns you screwed it in.

If you are tapping a blind hole, use a taper tap to start threading the hole and then a bottom tap for finishing it (assuming you want the threads to run to the bottom of the hole).

 

[mah7039]

Your build is looking great, I especially like your photo journal too! :bow:

 

[Chowmif16]

Mah,
thank you. I've made more progress, but have been so busy I don't have more photos yet.
Eventually I will post some more!