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Building the Rifle Shop's Hakenbusche Kit

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Griz44Mag

70 Cal.
Joined
Nov 12, 2017
Messages
4,326
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4,379
Location
Republic of Texas, District of Krum
Kit has finally arrived - in spite of the virus and the mail....
I have unpacked the parts.
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Yesterdays progress, I did not have a lot of time to work on it, but did make some progress.
I had to take .017 off the tail of the barrel to get it to line up with it's place between the barrel bands.
I did not want to open the hole anymore thereby keeping a nice tight fit.
When fitted, the hook base is held firmly in place by the barrel bands.
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The hook is filed to remove casting slag and brought to a point (a lot of filing)
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The hook is now filed and fit to the pre-cut hole in the stock. The hook base sits firmly between the barrel gussets in the stock.
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Next work session will be to widen the barrel gusset channels to fit the barrel to the stock.
 
Got up early today and worked on the project for a few hours. It's starting to look the way I wanted it to.
Fitting the Haken (hook) into the tiller. I had to remove some wood and concave the top of the casting so the barrel would drop all the way into the stock.
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Got all the gussets fitted for the barrel
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Got the Haken filed and sanded out to remove all the casting surfaces.
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Sanded the stock out to remove all the pretty machine cuts and the lines they leave. It looks more like a hand carved stock now.

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Did a mock up - all parts laid in final arrangement. - The straps will be cut and aged before the final assembly
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Looks like I never hit the post button on yesterdays progress.
It was still waiting for me this morning.

So much for that.
Today was another early rising day.
I got the first coat of tung oil on the tiller and really like the way it brought out the grains in the walnut. It will get a few more coats before it's over with. I spent the rest of the morning hours attempting to antique rust the steel parts. The rust solution I got is fast, and if you are looking for patterning or patching like I was, then go at it with variable quantities swabbed on with a q-tip or dabbed on, otherwise it will produce a very flat uniform finish. The key to this stuff is CLEAN EVERYTHING THREE TIMES, and don't touch the metal with bare fingers.
I had to make three runs at the rust to get it to patchwork and build up in the sides of the gussets. I finally stood the barrel up and ran a soaking ring on the gussets to get a dark circle.
It's pretty much what I was looking for, maybe not quite as patchy as I wanted it, but it will improve with usage.
One change of plans, I really hated the looks of the wide barrel bands, so I scrapped them. I have some heavier but narrower flat bar stock on the way to make bands out of.
Pictures - of course! I tried to keep them in order.
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That a great piece of work, I really like it! I never dabbed in this field before but that looks like a great project to build and shoot. Nice work Griz44mag!
 
I kike that the stock and metal are the same color of plumb brown? I'LL bet that you are the only kid on the block that has one of these GIZZIES?
 
I kike that the stock and metal are the same color of plumb brown?
That was the goal. I used the cutoff from the front end and tail end of the stock and some scrap steel to test the finishes.
I tried some Homer Dangler browning and it looked more like brown paneling. The Mark Lee express #2 is not an exact match but is pretty darn close. The walnut stock was sanded and tung oil applied direct. I loved to color and the way the oil brought out the grain. I will get a couple of more coats on the stock to get a nice protective coating. It's smooth enough to be pleasant but roughed enough to be look real.
This is my first real build of anything from scratch and this is a very forgiving kit. The woodwork trimming to fit the barrel bands was the hardest part and would have been easier if it had not been pre-inletted since the cuts were not all in the exact right place and were not wide enough.
Overall, it's been a really fun project. I am targeting next weekend for the trial run and barrel proofing.
 
OK, it's as done as it is going to get until the local craft forge opens back up. I will have her (yes - her) hammer forge a split tongue spike to put on the tail of the tiller. That will complete the battle readiness of the piece.
It's solid! Weighs in at 5# 1oz. No too bad. It swings like a battle axe.
For the most part, it came out like my vision of what I wanted it to look like, maybe just a bit more pristine, but I am going to change that!
I have 1f powder, .735 balls, frizzled hemp tow, some hog tallow and a good length of match cord.
It remains to be seen what the range is going to allow as they have a strict no smoking policy on the line of fire.
I am going to request a tactical bay to isolate me from the line while I proof test it.
I will start at 30 grains, progressive add 10 more until I reach 120 grains. Operational load should be close to what I shoot in the Bess, around 70 grains (of 2f).
This was a really fun project, did not take up too much of my time and was very rewarding.
SMOKE IS ON THE WAY - probably next week - I'll go when I know the range is normally very un-occupied....
Critique is welcome. This will not be my last medieval project. So what I learned from doing, and what I learned from listening to the wisdom here amongst the experts will fuel the next one.

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Very interesting. I did some reading on them after seeing this. I thought the hook looked unwieldy and thick for a weapon, which is what I figure most people would assume it is. Turns out it was used to hook the wall of the parapet to help displace recoil as the gun was used to defend the wall. None of the articles mentioned it, but, I could see the hook being used to grab the deck rail of a ship being boarded, and loaded with shot, being used to help clear an opposing deck.
 
Very interesting. I did some reading on them after seeing this. I thought the hook looked unwieldy and thick for a weapon, which is what I figure most people would assume it is. Turns out it was used to hook the wall of the parapet to help displace recoil as the gun was used to defend the wall. None of the articles mentioned it, but, I could see the hook being used to grab the deck rail of a ship being boarded, and loaded with shot, being used to help clear an opposing deck.
The medieval references are unclear as to exact use, however, the pictures in the ancient references show sharpened points on the hooks. You don't need a sharpened point to hook a wall, but it sure would come in handy for penetrating an armored breast, back plate or penetrating a steel helmet. That hook is heavy cast iron and sharpened, it was made to penetrate and with the weight of the barrel on top of it, would have the kinetic energy to do just that! A typical battle axe has many of the same attributes, in my mind, only one shot but a nice backup defensive weapon. It handles well, and many offensive and defensive postures can be taken to use a sharp tail spike or the hook point to inflict a lot of damage. It's all just imagination, but a lot of fun to speculate too!
 
Uhhhhhhh ... usually the standard ‘pistol’ barrel length loads are 1/2 that of a rifle. Do what you want, but I’d advise that a 70-grn charge isn’t advisable and I surely wouldn’t use 1Fg powdah on any barrel that length.

FWIW I’m not taking out my .... , but am sincerely trying to be helpful, as I have hand gonnes older in design that I shoot regularly, plus 75-cal matchlock/combo boarding axes (similar barrel length) and 75-cals flint smoothies with 60” barrels - which is where I use 1Fg powdah. I limit myself to 1/2 charges for pistol-length barrels, but you will do as you wish, I guess ... good luck.
 
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