Best architectual features

[gizamo]

No particular school, not particularly discussing strictly HC, but it is on the table....

What features do you look for in a guns architecture? Some just seem to have all the various elements combined in such a manner to make a outstanding presentation.

What are those elements that contribute to what we often discuss here.... As a guns Architecture ?

Giz

 

[jdkerstetter]

You answered your own question....the architecture.

No one feature makes the gun. It has to be taken in its entirety.

Everyday guys turn $1000 worth of parts into a $300 gun. You don't have to look hard to find 'em.

In the same grain there are guys who can build a barn gun with just a piece of wood, barrel, lock, ramrod, one thimble and some screws and pins and people will line up to buy it for $1000+.....but the architecture is perfect.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[gizamo]

It is in the eye of the Beholder, then ?

Or are there tangible , yet individual features, that make it seem right?

 

[tg]

I really prefer the sharp angular lines that terminate in flat areas :stir:

 

[gizamo]

I really prefer the sharp angular lines that terminate in flat areas :stir:

I saw that thread...

Good one, tg... :grin:

 

[Elnathan]

No particular school, not particularly discussing strictly HC, but it is on the table....

What features do you look for in a guns architecture? Some just seem to have all the various elements combined in such a manner to make a outstanding presentation.

What are those elements that contribute to what we often discuss here.... As a guns Architecture ?

Giz

Hard to come up with stuff that is both specific and universally applicable, but I'll give it a shot:

As a rule you want to avoid parallel lines, and generally you want the lines to point towards the lock area. Exceptions exist, particularly on 19th century guns.

Straight lines should be used with care,
You want a thin web between barrel and ramrod groove - that is one thing that is true for just about every gun, I think.

Lines should transistion into and out of different radii smoothly and without obvious "breaks."

Lock panels are tricky as depending on school they can range from nearly non-existant (Many European guns and 18th century American pieces) to quite visible (19th century American with round-tailed locks, but should not too large and should not detract from the overall flow of the wrist. This is probably a lot easier to see with the gun in hand than in a picture.

 

[jdkerstetter]

I really prefer the sharp angular lines that terminate in flat areas :stir:

I saw that thread...

Good one, tg... :grin:

:rotf: OH, that's rich :rotf:

 

[Stumpkiller]

It's not individual bits of architecture. It's the whole picture. How it ALL fits together. A rifle or smoothbore should look good from any distance.

I love the Lehighs - few straight lines.

 

[gizamo]

I think that each of the elements contribute to the whole.

As an example - take the patchbox. If it doesn't follow a line that is pleasing to the eye, by angling to far up or down.... it throws off the look of the buttstock.

Guess I am trying to quantify what are some of the architectural features that contribute to the overall impression of the gun. We have all read posts where someone blanketly rejects someone else's gun, saying its due to poor architecture...without qualifying their reasoning.

Elnathan did a pretty good job of putting together some of these elements or features....in his post above.

 

Everyday guys turn $1000 worth of parts into a $300 gun. You don't have to look hard to find 'em.

That describes me almost perfectly. If you'd said $100 it would have been perfect.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

For me its all about the wrist, if you leave to much material there it just stands out as being unfinished. Also it should be a gracefull transition from the lock area into the wrist, as well as an uninterrupted flow of the wrist into the butt stock.

I like the Lancaster style,

There are a few things about the wrist that are fairly common among the more recognized makers, wrist is about 1 3/8" wide X 1 1/2" tall or there abouts, there were some small variations but generally not by alot.

Easy way to tell about the wrist on your Lancaster is to grab the paper towel tube that you threw in the trash, if it feels about right then the wrist on your Lancaster is wrong.
:wink:

 

[Dphar]

There are lots of fine Kentucky rifles with straight lines.
Some of the clunkiest and least useful guns have no straight lines in the buttstock profile.

How its all tied together is the important part.
But its not something that can be explained in any sort of detail on a web site.

Dan

 

[jdkerstetter]

That describes me almost perfectly. If you'd said $100 it would have been perfect.

Yea, I have that t-shirt too...that's how I know. :hatsoff:

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[Elnathan]

There are lots of fine Kentucky rifles with straight lines.
Some of the clunkiest and least useful guns have no straight lines in the buttstock profile.

That is why I said they should be used with care, not that they shouldn't be used.

Also, stock fit is a separate issue from architecture, imo.

 

[rich pierce]

"Architecture" is hard to define but easy to see. Horses have architecture, so do dolphins and whooping cranes.

 

[Stumpkiller]

But if you took a couple bits off a horse, some of a dolphin and a few whooping crane features it would likely not make a very good critter.

 

[jdkerstetter]

But if you took a couple bits off a horse, some of a dolphin and a few whooping crane features it would likely not make a very good critter.

Ain't that the truth. :thumbsup:

J.D.

 

[Robby]

You mean like a camel? Ugly but practical. :grin:
Robby

 

[jdkerstetter]

No, in this context I think means more like a platypus.

Where the animal's "architecture" makes you back up and say "What the heck is that!!!" first time you see it. :wink:

...and there's no pratical use for a platypus.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

No, in this context I think means more like a platypus.

Where the animal's "architecture" makes you back up and say "What the heck is that!!!" first time you see it. :wink:

...and there's no pratical use for a platypus.

Enjoy, J.D.

Its funny that this discussion has turned this way, I am building a platypus and will post pics by the end of the month before the engraving and carving.