Finished my Colonial

A heart felt thanks to Jim and his "how to" videos. Here is my humble submission of his Colonial rifle kit. It is bone stock 50 cal, extra fancy maple, round bottom rifling. Finished with aquafortis, wipe on poly (i know), and wax. Plan on this being my deer rifle.









Metal is finished with the brass patina solution. Sorry for the picture quality, but was so excited to be done, i wanted to post them tonight!! No smoke yet.

Such as she is!!

Doc

Absolutely beautiful my friend! Can’t think of anyone here who wouldn’t be proud to own and carry your rifle. I Love it!

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:

Simply gorgeous! :hatsoff:

Nicely done, a good rifle gun you should be proud of. I’ve seen too many kit guns that were worth less than the price of the kit when finished. Yours is definitely one of them. Keep up the nice work. BJH

Good job. Got that all business look which is my favorite

Wipe on poly... :shocked2:

Lol, good job my friend, you finished before me. I'm still applying permalyn finish. My plan is to assemble this coming weekend.

There is no comparison between any other parts rifles and Jims true "kit rifle".

Well done. :thumbsup:

Please forgive my lack of proofreading, my post was ment to read as a complement not a slap. My apologies are extended. BJH

A few friendly tips or critics, please don't take any the wrong way! Often times people on here can't take healthy criticism... Just trying to offer some friendly advice that will help down the road! :thumbsup:

Looks as if you could have given the stock a bit more heat during staining. Aqua fortis needs a good amount of heat for the reaction to properly take place. It can get scary, but with more heat the yellow tinge will go away. Obviously pictures are a little harder to decipher than seeing it in person.

Did you raise the grain and fill the pours of the wood? Also mounting to wood fitment as in contouring certain areas. Example, the front of the trigger guard in relation to the wood. It's nice to transfer the contour or angle's of the brass to the wood. I can't see the top of your tang area but that's a good area to shape, along with the lock areas.

Spend a little more time finishing the lock, I can see numerous rough areas from the casting process. Good quality jewelers files are a must have along with varying grits of a good quality wet/dry paper. I personally will spend many hours tediously filing my lock and all parts leaving a baby bum smooth surface, all parting lines and roughness removed.

Also finishing the brass, I can see some rough areas that remain. I despise polishing and finishing brass! However the results and efforts are worth it. Same process applies with your brass mountings as it does with your lock. Pictures again are hard to decipher.

How far did you go with draw filing? A fine mill file and finer grits of paper backed with a sanding block will give you a flawless finish.

Again, just some observations to help build skills down the road. Not trying to be mean, judgmental or start any arguments... I'm a VERY particular builder and the smallest of details will drive me personally :youcrazy: Haha! Well done though, be proud and enjoy that beautiful rifle! :hatsoff:

Just a few examples









You may find the mainspring and frizzen spring to be a tad bit strong. If so that is easily fixed by filing the springs and polishing all imperfections out. Most judge a locks reliability by speed which is good, but I myself like to judge reliability after multiple shots were the lock is fouled and dirty. That particular Virgina style lock is a workhorse and tank! You'll be very happy with it!

I personally don't see anything to criticize :v . It is a VERY fine rifle and to me the color & finish is spot on for this rifle. I tend to like a light to medium brown color than a darker brown look. Some maple reacts to AF differently when heated - I did a Hawken style rifle in maple one time and stained it with AF and when I hit it with the heat gun it turned almost black on the first pass. I left it at that color because it fit the rifle but I would not like it on the OP style of rifle. :hmm: :surrender: :thumbsup: :wink: .

The word criticize is thrown loosely to much... My form of "criticize" is not negative, nowhere did I imply that it wasn't a fine rifle. The OP did a wonderful job, just throwing out a few suggestions on things I noticed. They can do whatever they wish with them, It helps to have different eyes see things from different avenues and angles, that is all. :thumbsup:

Very nice, you should be proud of your rifle.

Nicely done, a good rifle gun you should be proud of. I’ve seen too many kit guns that were worth less than the price of the kit when finished. Yours is definitely one of them. Keep up the nice work. BJH

Click to expand...

:rotf: :rotf: :grin: :grin: Almost snotted on that one!! That was funny!!! No offense taken at all brother!!


Crew, all valid critiques for sure. Patience is not a strong quality for me on finishing. Every one I build gets better, but I have a LONG way to go. Also, on the aquafortis blush, It doesn't help that I am red/green color blind.

When it initially turns green, I can kind of see it, but once it darkens, I can no longer see any of the green patina. I did have a couple spots that actually scorched a bit and had to re do them. I think that is also a patience issue.

Still blessed to have a 36 mt rifle and a 54 Colonial to do. Then I will take a break, unless he comes out with a fowler!!

Doc

Hey no problems! What counts is you continue to progress and refine your skills which indeed happens in do time!

Being color blind within that spectrum certainly wouldn't be fun! I can imagine that would indeed come into play and be a nuisance.

That rifle gun will shoot very well and hopefully score you a nice deer for the freezer and table!

That looks great! The honey colored stock is pretty. A lot better than going too dark.
I have a Kibler SMR in .45 that I assembled 2 years ago. I’m getting a Colonial kit soon.

Disgusting!! You better send that to me immediately so you won't have to suffer the embarrassment!!

Nice work. While I build primarily fowling pieces, if I were to want another rifle (and it may be sone than later) I will just order one of Jim's colonial rifles.

I’m glad you have a sense of humor, I was mortified at what I’d unwittingly wrote. I didn’t catch it till after the editing period the forum has, had expired. I really do think you did a nice job. BJH

Personally, I LOVE the look you have achieved for this rifle..the color, is spot on ( for my taste). I love the small imperfections in the wood...it all just POPS... Great job!

That really looks good! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

A job well done. :thumbsup: