A Left-handed Half-stock Rifle

 A .54 caliber half-stock percussion rifle for my friend, Mike in Montana. It's a unique piece, with a barrel that goes from straight octagon, wedding band, 16-sided, tapering back to octagon at the muzzle, with a twist, so the peak is at the top instead of the flat.

The stock has a fair amount of cast-off, and sufficient drop to the comb to make it a very comfortable offhand hold. The cheekpiece is accented with wire, and a little relief carving with inlay nestles in the space between cheekpiece and buttplate.

This picture shows the ramrod thimble pads, which help to lighten the weight.

Muzzle Loading Tip: Safety on the range; Don't be in a hurry to fire that next shot! Sometimes powder residue in the bore can smoulder for a while after a shot has been fired, and a load of powder poured down the barrel can ignite prematurely. This is even more likely if the breech plug has a recess or a smaller diameter powder chamber in its face, or if there is a groove or channel from the vent to the bore. Keep vent holes and spark channels clean and dry. If you wrap your flint with leather, check to make sure it hasn't caught a spark and is smouldering. NEVER NEVER NEVER put your face or any other body part over the muzzle when loading, and avoid placing your hand over the end of the ramrod, 'lest you wind up with a big nasty hole in your hand! ALWAYS have that barrel pointed in a safe direction, and don't cap or prime the pan until you are on the firing line and ready to shoot. If you have a hang fire, wait a while with your muzzle pointed down range before recapping or priming.

Check it out!

"Building a Fowler:" A page dedicated to the process of building a long gun from start to finish.  Click on "Building a Fowler" in the navigation column, top left. 

Below and Right;

A Spanish Pistol From 1866,

Repairing a Broken Mainspring 

This interesting pistol, with a backlock, belongs to my neighbor, Frank. He wanted the lock to be functional, so I undertook the replacement of the mainspring. I was able to find one that was reasonably close through Dixie Gun Works, which I then reshaped to make it fit. The lower arm needed to be reshaped to allow the sear to engage the hammer, both arms needed to be shortened, and the whole spring needed to be thinned down to fit the mortise in the stock, and to approximate the strength of the original spring. I then sanded and polished it to remove all scratches, which can weaken and cause a spring to break. Sand springs "with the grain," lengthwise, because scratches across the spring will create fracture points.

   I recommended not snapping the trigger, as the 144 year-old lock has very delicate parts, but now it actually works. The nipple is broken, but after attempting to remove it using solvent, I decided to leave it in original condition, rather than alter the exterior appearance of the gun, as the only way to get it out would to be to drill it, retap, and put in a new nipple.

The barrel is browned, with a gold band at the muzzle, and a brass ring between barrel and breech plug. Some nice inlay and wire work sets off the sideplate.

The toeplate is my standard style, with the Dogwood blossom finial and the star piercing with "four directions" lines.

The long tang has two bolts through to the long trigger plate, which makes a strong wrist.

Below; Proud owner, Mike "Neveready" Iacono, with his new rifle, at the 1838 Rendezvous in Riverton, Wyoming. With his very first shot, he lobotomized the turkey head target at 25 yards!

The pistol is approximately 20 guage smoothbore.

Above, silver inlay and engraving adorn the breech. "En Eibar, Por Gastelu,' and "Ano 1866," with trident images.

Left, the lock with new spring, old spring, and my new "mainspring pliers," which I had to make, since a normal mainspring vise would not do the job.