Gunsmithing, Muskets, Flintlocks etc

Thought I'd start a thread to chronical my new build, partly to drive myself to actually keep moving forward on it. This is my 2nd build from a blank, last year I did a .36 flinter with a Rice 42" squirrel-weight barrel. That rifle handles like a dream, so now I want one built for deer hunting. Going for an early Lancaster style, largely J. P. Beck influences, heavier build and much wider through the butt than my 1st build. Barrel is another 42" Rice, Golden-age swamped profile in .54 cal, radius groove rifling. Lock is a Jim Chambers Large Siler Deluxe, tripped by a simple single trigger that will be homemade. So far I've got the barrel draw-filed and polished, stock rou…

I have an old replica 1847 Colt Walker revolver that somehow I bent the loading lever. It was made by <ASM> an old Italian gun maker in 1962 and the loading lever is no longer available. I took the lever off and into the blacksmith shop and was able to straighten it cold on the anvil. Made my day because I was concerned it may break but it worked and I'm happy. Before with the bent lever. After what it should look like. I can’t control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails ~ Semper Paratus~

This is a T/C upgrade stock from Track Of The Wolf ML supply in Elk River MN. Lock and furniture are from the donor for the Renegade stock repair. Barrel is a New green mountain .54 cal with 1:66 twist rifling. Round ball gun. This was my first very frustrated attempt at butt plate and nose cap. Nose cap and but plate top extension are Ebony wood and the rear end of the buttplate is buffalo horn.

So I was looking at the Cannons on Dixie Gun works and that opened a rabbit hole that lasted most of Sunday, I looked at probably around 20+ Cannon makers as well as mold makers for cannon balls, watched a bunch of videos on YouTube ect… I ended up looking at Hern Ironworks that makes historical reproductions of cannons specifically some of the little 1/2 sized cannons that fire a 1-3/4” projectile, (mostly because it said that’s the size perfect for shooting golf balls) I was just curious, Does anyone here have cannons or mess around with them? anyone have any experience with the hern ironworks cannons? their small cannons are cast around 1/…

It's sad that Hershal passed away on January, 10 2024 may he rest in peace. He was a true National treasure in the blacksmithing, gunsmith's and knifesmith's communities. He was truly a master craftsman. I was fortunate enough to be able to handle & shoot one of his flintlock rifles several years ago. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.~ Semper Paratus

The sock was broken at the nose so cut and installed the front end of another stock broken through the lock mortice. First pic the lower stock is the donor. The lock and other parts were used in another ML build.

Here are some pics of the Pewter nose cap poured onto my 1884 trapdoor project.

I have a M1 carbine that wasn't in a stock a customer brought in. It isn't rusted just frozen up where it has sit for so long. I have all the Blacksmith solutions I can think of in the shop but, still I cannot get the trigger and hammer to move. Finally got the slide and magazine buttons to move. Safety and trigger till won't budge. Lane Custom Hydrographics

ok ive done the google yahoo search and forum search and i have come up empty does any one know what type of steel m2 50. cal barrels are? low carbon high carbon?

Anyone familiar with fabricating the old fashioned flat screw plates that were replaced by dies and handles. I watched Wallace Gussler in the Colonial Gunsmith of Williamsburg using one he made to fabricate a breechplug for a muzzle loader. He said he makes them, but didn't say how. I have an odd ball 11/16 x 20 breech plug thread in a section of rifle barrel I thought making up a screw plate might be a good starter project to get out a suitable threaded plug. Anybody know any of the tricks before I start reinventing the wheel?

Hello I was looking on some input on whether or not a rifled barrel liner could be flared at the chamber end? I need the twist rate for the 32/40 black powder barrel 1-14" but I want to chamber for a larger diameter cartridge. If the chamber area of the liner could be expanded to a diameter somewhat smaller than the chamber, then reamed as normal you would not wind up with the thin barrel wall around the chamber where you need metal most. These liners are designed for straight wall cartridges, and they have limitations for anything ese. Near as I can tell the liners are constructed from 4130 tubing, probably barrel quality stuff. A blacksmith would make up a pro…

I have been a metals craftsman for 53 years. From fine jewelry to tunnel boring machines. Along the way enjoyed building a variety of scale historic cannon. Recently i have created a table top scale Puckle Gun. A repeating cannon invented by James Puckle in 1718. It is a functioning concept model with the idea of building a 40mm rifled version.

Someone wanted to know how to make Damascus gun barrels, well this is what I found. PictureTrail: Online Photo Sharing, Social Network, Image Hosting, Online Photo Albums There is another pic gallery that shows what happens when you use smokeless powder in the wrong gun.:o

Something I have been working on for a while. A mate forged the lock many years ago, and sent it to me recently. I have forged the pan out of a railway spike, drilled with my blacksmiths post drill, forged the pan cover, triggers, but plate. Still to forge the trigger guard, and ram rod pipe. Have to drill the ram rod hole in the fore end, finish shaping the stock, make a fore end cap. The barrel is smoothbore .50 made from carbon steel hollow bar, a mate turned it for me as I have no lathe. Stock I cut from an old jarrah plank I had lying around with the bandsaw. Lock inletting is not the greatest as I need more practice !

First off thank you for taking the time to help someone with virtually no knowledge in this area. I am a gunsmith by trade and am working on a personal project as a gift for one of my sons. I am building a rifle and would like it to have a damascus barrel. Obviously that isn’t terribly practical but I’ve had a barrel blank made that would essentially be a liner that I would like to put a damascus sleeve over. The barrel is 1.125” for the first three inches or so then it takes a step down to .550” for the rest of its length. My original plan was to buy a round bar of Damascus that is 32mm (that seems to be a pretty common diameter) and 20” long. I would then drill it out t…

O.K., I don't know much about forging and smithing, only what I've read here and there on the information highway. I'm mainly interested in damascus and have a question about it. I'm a 'gun nut' and think that the old double barreled shotguns with damascus barrels of yesteryear are BEAUTIFUL, unfortunately most of them are not capable of firing todays high pressure ammunition. I was just wandering if with todays advancements in damascus, is it possible to create gun barrels and/or cylinders with it capable of handling todays high pressure ammo?

If you had to make a forge welded tube a la Wallace Gusler for a rifle barrel, by yourself and without a power hammer, how would you do it? The bit I can't figure out is how to insert a mandrel and make a weld without losing the heat. Also, does anyone know if there is a scarf and what it looks like? Thanks, Rob

Most of the parts are fairly self-explanatory, and the most complicated for a heat treating standpoint are the springs, sear and tumbler. I am wondering, however, about how to forge the hammer, or cock. I am thinking of starting with a piece of half-inch square stock and forging and flattening to get the relatively thin, flat curve of the arm and elbow, but leaving full thickness to work out the jaw. Anyone else forged their own locks?

So due to having to help relocate my dad and the shop i havnt been able to get my forge set up for the last couple months (in the process of putting in a 4000sqft building with my dad). This leads me to the issue of hunting season being around to corner and my dads rifle in need of a new trigger guard since i broke the plastic one. Now i could have ordered a metal replacement for $30 and been done with it but why order one when you can spend way more time and money trying to make your own lol. I ended up starting with a 7/8 thick plate and drilled/ filed out the hole, i never liked how small the original guard was so i decided i might as well make it bigger whi…

Maybe You know this already, but if You don't, I strongly recommend to take a look at this........Boys, I am down on my knees for this master! Watch and enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAzJOULyx5c

Has anyone ever tried making grips out of damascus what would be the best way to do this and what metal would you use?

Gentlemen I have been working up a mates little Baker Fusil, I actually suspect it is an English sporting rifle with a Baker Rifled barrel. It has a ver slow twist 1 in 110 .62. The bore is somewhat pitted so when I shot it the other day I used a greased hard felt wad over 2 1/2 drams of FFg goes, .61 ball and a heavy greased denim patch. 50 yards off had after the first 5 shots it settled down and put the last 6 nicely in the black. I did put over 30 rounds through and the greased felt wad did a great job of keeping the fouling in order and easy loading. But !! the ball and patch feels somewhat rough going down so I thought a trip to the smithy and a lead lapping would …

This was built from Pedersoli's kit. Not bad. I sure enjoyed working on it. I think I'm going to strip the original bluing on it and brown it so it's more historically accurate.

Hey all. I realize theres a gunsmithing section of this forum, but thats a very low traffic section near the bottom, as such i thought i could receive more information by placing this thread in General HT. Traditionally, the frizzen of a flintlock was case hardened, to provide a sufficient surface for the flint to create sparks from. My question; could you simply through harden a piece of, say, 1095 and do a low temper at 350-400° F? While i am no expert, i imagine frizzens were typically case hardened because it was simply easier, given the materials of the time. When demand for rifles was high, using high carbon blister steel would likely be too time c…