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This practice of forging buttplates in two pieces from iron, and brazing them together, seems to have been practiced between about 1790 to 1880, mostly on guns from North Carolina and Tennessee in the flintlock period. Then it became more widespread as the so called Southern Mountain Rifle style...

I picked up an original smoothbore barrel years ago. The bore was rough but it is a stout round barrel about 36” long and about 16 gauge more or less. In its latest iteration it was a percussion halfstock, based on the attached rib. Step 1 was to cut an inch off the breech and have a friend face...

Yesterday I received an original Lancaster buck and ball gun I’d purchased. Some may call it a smooth rifle. I love the guard and tang carving. The gun is in attic condition. Barrel is 44.5” long, was probably 46” long or even quite longer, based on front sight location, another ramrod thimble...

Seeking advice from those with much experience sewing fairly complicated projects. If I’m biting off more than I can chew, don’t hesitate to say so. I’m sewing a 1750s era civilian frock coat similar to an officers regimental coat. This is a new level for me. I’ve sewn shirts, a waistcoat, and a...

I picked this up. Probably Germanic 1740-1760. Seller thought it was Dutch. It was converted to percussion in the European style. Darn cute engraved hammer.

I’m hand sewing a greatcoat, using heavy gray coat-weight wool. I want to line the body. I have quite a few yards of white shirt-weight linen. I could A) use the white linen; B ) dye the linen gray or brown and use it or C) buy some lightweight wool for lining and thus have even MORE fabric on hand.

I’m about done sourcing and fabricating the main parts for a Hudson Valley Fowler and so am at the layout stage. It will use a 54” long, round 12 gauge barrel from Charles Burton. I assembled castings for a large Dutch lock from The Rifle Shoppe. I’ve got a long piece of sugar maple a friend...

In our ML club we were blessed to have a lot of old timers who had been match shooting since the 1950s. These guys were simply following a tradition that never completely died out. As an example there’s a local ML shoot that has been an annual highlight since the end of the Civil War. One of our...

I’ve finished a New England fowler based mostly on NE 11 with bits from NE 13 in Grinslade’s book on American fowlers. It has a 43” octagon to round, .58 Longhammock barrel, a Chambers round faced English lock, cherry stock. I made the buttplate, sideplate, trigger, wrist inlay, and thimbles...

For sale, a new, never fired Deringer Trade rifle in .54 caliber flintlock. PRICE IS $2500 with blanket case, tow worm, and wiping stick (heavy duty extra ramrod). The build is detailed here:Starting a Deringer trade rifle The gun is very closely modeled after the Deringer trade rifle in the...

I’m starting a custom New England fowler. Many characteristics are from gun called NE 11 in Grinslade’s Flintlock Fowlers book. That one has an unusual buttplate of French design with a raised panel on the comb extension. No commercial buttplates had enough comb extension to modify as the comb...

I am a fan of the work of George Frederick Fainot, a France-born gunsmith who worked in Lancaster Pennsylvania from the 1770s through about 1800. I built a fowling piece based on his work a couple years ago. This build is a rifle based on his earliest known rifle. Not meant to be a true copy but...

This is a gun built for a story. Let’s say it belongs to a retired Vermont farmer. Well, farmers don’t retire they just slow down and let their sons do more. The old man carried this musket in the War for Independence. It was all he could “muster” - a gun put together from parts from a French...

Discussing wiping sticks supplied with trade rifles (in addition to, and different from, the ramrod). Orders for trade rifles often specified that a blanket case, tow worm, built mold, and wiping rod be supplied with each rifle. I’m finishing a Deringer trade rifle and getting the accessories...

From different places and for different reasons people decide to get a semi custom or custom flintlock. Let’s not argue definitions but for me a custom flintlock is made to order not from a list of options but from a discussion starting with a blank slate or an original rifle or a group of...

I checked with Zonie on this as it’s a bit unusual (multiple items). For sale: Yellow sheet brass good for toeplates, sturdy patchboxes, inlays, engraving practice, or other fun projects. 0.050” thick, plastic film protected on one side, cut into 5” x 8” sheets. $8 per sheet plus postage...

I bought a heavy percussion muzzleloader target rifle. It weighs 25.5 pounds. They are used in chunk gun shoots at 60 yards. Prone position, over a chunk rest. The heel of the gun must not touch the ground. A series of 10 card sized targets with an X printed on them are used for scoring. You...

I seldom post work in progress here because my progress is often slow, but this build is new and interesting to me as I seldom build “later” flint rifles. I’m starting a Deringer trade rifle on a whim, because I saw an ad for parts for a Deringer trade rifle. Basically the deal was a stock...

Tried .600 balls in a .620 bore, with a 0.015 wet patch. 70 grains of FFG. I got 3 or 4” groups at 20 yards. This is with a rear sight. Very disappointing. This is in a 1” octagon, 32” Green Mountain barrel, percussion gun. I can’t think about using a tighter load. This loaded ok but...

Frederick Fainot was a French-born gunsmith who emigrated to Canada, then to NY state, then Lancaster Pennsylvania by the mid 1770s. His work is very distinctive and his patchbox designs were unique and complicated. I admire his work and researched his guns and construction of patchboxes, and...