Wheel-lock pistol build

[bioprof]

I drew out plans for my Brescian wheel-lock today and realized that the English walnut blank that I wanted to use was too short. I could have built a snub-nosed wheel-lock, but it just didn't look right.

So, I decided to use a piece of walnut that I had left over from building my snaphaunce (I never throw anything away). It doesn't show very well in the picture, but it does have some light figure.

I also ordered a barrel from Muzzleloaders Builders Supply today. It is a .45 caliber, 13/16" barrel, 12 inches in length. It's still a little short, but I couldn't afford a longer one.

I'm going to wait until I can lay the barrel along the side of the blank before I cut down the forestock.

 

[ChrisPer]

Brilliant!
I will watch with interest.

Don't feel you have to have feature wood. The old makers didn't seem to care about that. I plan to lacquer my first one, then build one with loads of inlays.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

A question? Did any of the original wheel lock pistols ever have brass or bronze barrels? Or was this a feature of the 18th Century?
Don't know why this just came to me!

:thumbsup:

 

[ChrisPer]

Mostly iron as far as I can see.

Remember what drove the use of brass - Industrial Revolution manufacturing technology. It was the pot metal of its heyday.

 

[PitchyPine]

Looking forward to seeing the build bro. :thumbsup:

 

[Leonredbeard]

Bioprof,
Can't wait! puff, puff.
I agree, don't do anything beyond what you have done before you have the barrel in hand.
volatpluvia

 

[ChrisPer]

gzrob, I just found one with a brass barrel. The web page appears to have been taken down, but I saved it in 2006. This is what it says:

An important Swiss Wheel-lock pistol with thin brass two stage barrel, octagonal then polygonal, engraved at the muzzle and breech with hatched scrolls and foliage, engraved lock of characteristic beveled form with internal steel-spring and iron wheel and cock. Inside the lock signed FELIX WEERDER FECIT ANO. Brass engraved pan and sliding cover, ebonized fruit wood full stock. Brass triggerguard cut with floral pattern, brass pommel cast with a grotesque mask in high relief by Felix Werder of Zurich, circa 1640. (Stock refinished and possibly an old replacement. Ramrod replaced).

Provenance:
General Ossario collection.

Literature:
Hayward, Vol. 1, PL. 258.
Hoff, "The significance of Inventor in Felix Werders' signature. P. 169.
The Armory of their serene Highness the prince Zu Salm Reifferscheidt Dyck, (Part 1).
Lot # 270. Christes, London. April 15, 1992

 

[bioprof]

The barrel came in today, so the fun can begin. The barrel is already half inletted. I just have to chop out the diagonal flats. So far so good. This one is already going much faster than my last build.

 

[Leonredbeard]

Bioprof,
Excellent!! So you used a router to get that far? Also you left the wood full height so you could rout all the way back to the breech and then just make square corners with the chisel? Good job! Keep the pics coming.
volatpluvia

 

[bioprof]

Yep, I cheated. :redface: I didn't use a router, but did use my old Craftsman table saw that has a cast iron top and an aluminum fence. Worked pretty good after I made sure that the blank was all squared up. Sure went faster than the last one which I did by hand. I still had to chop out the breech by hand though.

 

[PGTMG]

Wow can not wait to see it done. :hatsoff:

 

[wulf]

Faster than the one before means experience in
action.....I'd use a router and get to within one
half inch of the breech area..But thats just me
I use a router for everything i can.

 

[bioprof]

Wulf,

I bought a router last winter, but don't have enough confidence yet to use it without a router table. Maybe I will use it next time.

 

[Leonredbeard]

Hey, Bioprof,
I have done some pretty exacting stuff with the table saw in my work in the past. When you get close to the end of the channel you gotta check pretty often that aren't going too far. It can be real nerve wracking.
volatpluvia

 

[bioprof]

Yep, it is nerve-wracking. It took me about another 3 hours this afternoon to get the barrel inletted the rest of the way. I also slabbed off the top to expose 1/2 of the barrel. I'm pretty pleased with how the barrel inletting turned out.

I even nibbled away most of the diagonal flat with the table saw.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

ChrisPer, Thanks! That is one fine looking wheelie!

So they were using brass barrels in the 1600s
It starts the mind to thinking!

:thumbsup:

 

[Leonredbeard]

Bioprof,
Great! Keep the pics coming. How about a pic of the inletting on the breech end with the barrel in the channel? :bow: :hmm:
volatpluvia

 

[bioprof]

After replacing another blade on my bandsaw :cursing: and adjusting the roller guides, I cut-off the bottom of my forestock. I scribed the sides of the ramrod channel and after removing about 1/4" of wood with a gouge, I roughed out the ramrod channel the rest of the way with a scraper. It's not perfect, so I'll straighten it out with a dowel wraped with sandpaper later. It'll also look better after I remove more wood from the bottom of the forestock.

Because I head back to work on Monday, I probably won't make as much progress on it for a while. Tomorrow I will drill out the ramrod hole though.

 

[bioprof]

I bought an 18" x 5/16" twist drill from a local hardware store, and the drilling went well. :grin: It didn't break through the bottom of the barrel flat, nor did it come out the bottom of the lower forestock. It may have drifted off a little bit to the side opposite the lock, but I would rather have it there than closer to the lock where it might get in the way of the mainspring.

 

[ChrisPer]

Glad it worked well. Sounds a lot simpler than brazing a short bit to a rod.