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Building a Late Flint English Rifle

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Hi Folks,
Here are some photos of a late flint English rifle in progress.

dave

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Nice work, Dave, What's the caliber? The English certainly built big bore Mlers that were comfortable to shoot and the comb angle is what enabled that?....Fred
 
Thanks for looking and commenting folks,
Fred, the caliber is 54 so not huge by any means but the chambered breech I had made for the gun should increase the force of any given powder charge. It was made by Burton. The lock is a Davis late English flintlock and the English walnut stock is from Ron Scott. The trigger guard is one from TOW that I modified a lot to make the bow smaller and create the proper pineapple finial. The nose cap is ebony and the butt plate is from a 19th century gun. The wrist will be checkered and there will be a silver washer around the lock bolt, silver plates for the barrel keys and a silver oval on the wrist. The lock will be color cased hardened and the other hardware browned. I also will attach sling swivels. The gun handles very well and you are right that the stock design works very well for hunting with big loads but it is also very nice for target shooting. However, the other dominant English stock design during the time period had a very low comb that almost blended into the wrist and the wrist was very short. I don't find that style very appealing but I guess it worked well. I definitely prefer the high straight comb. My comb is not perfectly straight. I originally made it that way and checked it with a straight edge, then I noticed that the comb looked to have a sag in the middle. It was completely an illusion but did not look good. So I gave the comb a very, very slight curve downward toward the wrist and that made it look perfectly straight. Our senses are so imperfect.

dave
 
Dave, it's lovely. There is something about the butt architecture of English sporting rifles of the late flint and percussion eras that makes them come up and shoulder beautifully -- and handle recoil better than any other. I met Ron Scott back home in Oregon. Very nice guy.
 
WOW!!!!

OK, OK, I must have a fetish for British Guns and am tickled pink you keep feeding it. :haha:

What size barrel did you use and is it straight tapered?

Gus
 
Hi Gus,
It is a 54 cal barrel by Charlie Burton with a chambered breech I had custom made for it. The barrel breech is 1.0625" tapering to 0.937" at the muzzle. The chambered breech has a polished powder chamber 0.375" in diameter with a radiused bottom and a rounded, funneled shoulder into the bore of the barrel. The vent hole and white lightning liner is positioned right at the bottom of the powder chamber and any drill marks or threads entering the chamber were ground and polished smooth so there is nothing to catch fouling. It should clean easily. The trigger is simple but pinned high and should have a light crisp pull when I am done. I would like to mount a fine folding leaf rear sight but I am having trouble finding one that will work. Ideally, I would like one that has spring tension on the leaf to hold it in position up or down. All of the steel hardware will eventually be engraved. Gus, the the feel of the gun makes the Pedersoli Mortimer rifle feel like a hockey stick with a brick hanging from the muzzle end.

dave
 
Thanks for the reply, Dave.

I appreciate the reference to the Pedersoli Mortimer Rifle. I was thinking about buying one until a Team Member brought one to the World Championships at Wedgenock, UK in 1998. Though his was percussion, it didn't shoulder/handle well and quite frankly, it was also a bit disappointing as to the accuracy, though I'm not sure he had a really good load for it.

I am intrigued by the single trigger and I fully understand you don't need a "set" trigger for a good trigger pull. I would be very interested to read what trigger pull weight it has, when you get to that point.

Looking VERY NICE so far and really looking forward to seeing more updates as you go along.

Gus
 
Hi Gus,
I am pretty sure the trigger pull will be about 2lbs, maybe a little more and with no creep. I typically can do this with a simple trigger and using only the sear on the lock for tensioning the trigger and eliminating any trigger rattle. Usually, I do not have to resort to a leaf or feather spring on the trigger itself to keep tension.

dave
 
Can't tell from the pics, but do the front of the lock panels kick outward the way later English guns do?
 
Hi David,
No, they are parallel. During the flint era, what you are describing usually involves a stepped breech which allows the rear of the lock plate to taper inward. This was most popular on double guns because it thinned the lock panels and wrist considerably. It was also popular on some single barrel guns. Later during the percussion era, most English guns had the lock tails tapering in and it did not require a stepped breech.

dave
 
Dave Person said:
Hi Gus,
I am pretty sure the trigger pull will be about 2lbs, maybe a little more and with no creep. I typically can do this with a simple trigger and using only the sear on the lock for tensioning the trigger and eliminating any trigger rattle. Usually, I do not have to resort to a leaf or feather spring on the trigger itself to keep tension.

dave

That will be an exceptional trigger pull weight! MUCH MORE than good enough and no need then for any kind of set trigger!

My comment is from many years of working on and weighing triggers for both Modern and ML Rifles and Pistols. (One International/Olympic Pistol we worked on had a trigger so light that it would go off when raised a little over 45 degrees from level and by the force of gravity alone.) A really fine trigger on many rifles is often 3 lbs. or more, so yours will be exceptional.

Gus
 
Hi Gus,
It will be light and safe. There is a little secret to this, which I will share. I try to make the angle of the top of the trigger lever the same as the angle that the sear makes on the lock plate from its pivot screw. They should be parallel and the contact about the middle or slightly closer to the trigger pin of the trigger lever. That gives optimum leverage and minimum creep to the trigger. By the way, my lock inlet is vacuum tight, meaning that when you remove the lock you almost hear a sucking sound. The lock cannot be removed unless it is pushed straight out by tapping on the lock bolt. Any angle to the plate makes removal impossible.

Frank, I finished inletting the silver lock screw washer and escutcheon plates for the barrel keys on the English rifle and am now back working on your rifle. I am also starting to work on the hardware and lock for a New England fowler based on the Hawks gun in historic Deerfield, MA so I am juggling 3 guns. I never thought I would be this busy in retirement. It is all good but I am working 7 days a week in my shop. It is good that I really love this stuff.

dave
 
Frank, I finished inletting the silver lock screw washer and escutcheon plates for the barrel keys on the English rifle and am now back working on your rifle. I am also starting to work on the hardware and lock for a New England fowler based on the Hawks gun in historic Deerfield, MA so I am juggling 3 guns. I never thought I would be this busy in retirement. It is all good but I am working 7 days a week in my shop. It is good that I really love this stuff.

:applause: Enjoy as long as you can. The next page in your life script may be blank or garbled. I know. :v
 
Hi,
I understand Frank, which is why I am pushing myself to be the best I ever can be. Just a few photos showing that I can inlet stuff. I added the silver barrel key escutcheons and the lock bolt washer. That is where the gun stands for now as I work on some other things for a bit.

dave

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