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Did a bit of research tonight on some stuff I read some years ago about how the early Appalachian Gun Builders smelted there iron.
They would split boards or use hollow logs as pipes to catch falling water and with the water a great deal of air would also be mixed in. As it force accumulated at the bottom of the pipe the water would compress the air mixed in which was siphoned off into a capture box. It then was directed into an earthen forge that had a mixture of raw iron ore and charcoal contain there in. This was a blast forge not just a charcoal fire. When the blast was completed the bottom of the forge would yield a small amount of charcoal iron. This rough smelted iron was in turn reheated in a bellows forge and hammered into flat bars a bit longer than the finished barrel was to be, of suitable gun barrel quality iron.
These where formed in a U shaped die and then forge welded into a tube over a mandrel. They were than straightened , reamed , straightened, rifled, straightened again and then flat were filed on them to form octagons,hexagons, pentagons or round barrels as desired.
Chamber plug threads were cut with a file and barrel threads with a plug thread die. All made by hand. Truly amazing and is why I maintain we are rifle assemblers not true gun builders of this ilk.
Some years ago here in Alaska there was a fella up near Palmer on the Knik river that collected and smelted his own iron ore and forge beautiful Samurai Damascus swords. The local paper did a big spread on his work that was absolutely fascinating to me. He said some of the original and best quality swords had 250,000 folds or laminates in them.
Any way the early Appalachian smiths did indeed build there guns from beginning to end with what the earth provided. I think that "is" kind of romantic let alone phenomenal.
I'm also reminded of the gun mechanic that was along on the Lewis and Clark expedition that freshed out a barrel while in winter quarters at Fort Clapsop with nothing but a piece of broken file he fashioned into a groove saw, reamed the bore and freshed out the grooves. It was reported to be as accurate as ever it was before. Stuff like that is what keeps what ever abilities I have accumulated over the years in perspective. MD
They would split boards or use hollow logs as pipes to catch falling water and with the water a great deal of air would also be mixed in. As it force accumulated at the bottom of the pipe the water would compress the air mixed in which was siphoned off into a capture box. It then was directed into an earthen forge that had a mixture of raw iron ore and charcoal contain there in. This was a blast forge not just a charcoal fire. When the blast was completed the bottom of the forge would yield a small amount of charcoal iron. This rough smelted iron was in turn reheated in a bellows forge and hammered into flat bars a bit longer than the finished barrel was to be, of suitable gun barrel quality iron.
These where formed in a U shaped die and then forge welded into a tube over a mandrel. They were than straightened , reamed , straightened, rifled, straightened again and then flat were filed on them to form octagons,hexagons, pentagons or round barrels as desired.
Chamber plug threads were cut with a file and barrel threads with a plug thread die. All made by hand. Truly amazing and is why I maintain we are rifle assemblers not true gun builders of this ilk.
Some years ago here in Alaska there was a fella up near Palmer on the Knik river that collected and smelted his own iron ore and forge beautiful Samurai Damascus swords. The local paper did a big spread on his work that was absolutely fascinating to me. He said some of the original and best quality swords had 250,000 folds or laminates in them.
Any way the early Appalachian smiths did indeed build there guns from beginning to end with what the earth provided. I think that "is" kind of romantic let alone phenomenal.
I'm also reminded of the gun mechanic that was along on the Lewis and Clark expedition that freshed out a barrel while in winter quarters at Fort Clapsop with nothing but a piece of broken file he fashioned into a groove saw, reamed the bore and freshed out the grooves. It was reported to be as accurate as ever it was before. Stuff like that is what keeps what ever abilities I have accumulated over the years in perspective. MD