For you rock bangers....

[new2bp]

Enjoy -

 

[Blaze]

Enjoy it, I did. Thanks for posting.

 

[Will]

I watched that video about a month ago. It is quite amazing.

 

[kyron4]

I watched that video about a month ago. It is quite amazing.

I did too.

I went there a few years ago ; wife couldn't get me to leave,

 

[Will]

I did too.

I went there a few years ago ; wife couldn't get me to leave,

You are very fortunate. I would have liked very much to have seen him in action. Amazing talent.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Rock bangers?

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Flinters

The first 25 seconds had me.

Using a patch box, no short starter, and his horn to prime with.
Just dont get no better than that.

Ive known how to do this for decades, this is the first time Ive ever seen it done.

 

[Some_Mook]

From the January 2004 Muzzle Blasts:

Wallace Gusler Retires

 

[Zutt-man]

I recently talked to a family friend of ours who is a known gun builder here in Kansas. I was always under the impression barrels were forged solid pieces of metal and then bored. I had no idea they were flattened, folded and welded until he informed me.

Outstanding video to watch

 

[Dale Allen Raby]

Enjoy -

I am a hobby blacksmith, so while I can certainly appreciate all the procedures involved in making a rifle like that, I will be the first to admit that I could not begin to approach this man's level of expertise. Mostly, when I was doing quite a bit of 'smithing, I worked alone, though I did occasionally do the lead hammer/follower hammer procedure... on one occasion with a smith who was in his eighties. In a case like that, there is sometimes a disagreement as to who is following and who is leading, but the two of us managed to straighten a bent draw bar with light hammers (as neither of us expected to be hammering anything larger than 3/8" stock).

I think that this skill level is pretty much lost in today's society... or almost so. Kind of a sad state of affairs, but realistically, not unexpected. I found much useful information in this video and only wish I were still young enough to attempt some of these procedures... particularly their method of tempering springs.

I cannot imagine how many hours went into making that rifle and I have no idea what a rifle like that could cost in today's dollars, but if the opportunity presented itself... I might be tempted to acquire enough cash to buy one.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I first watched that video in 1968.

I once watched Hershel House and Melvin Lytton forge a barrel out of a skelp. Took 90 minutes to do it. Melvin did the hammering with a 8lb hammer. Hershel operated the mandrel and held the barrel on the anvil and moved it back and forth to the forge. Then I watched Bruce LePage make a pistol barrel by winding a 1/2 strip of iron around a mandrel and forge welding it. Took him about an hour. Many myths around forging barrels.

 

[mushka]

I visited Williamsburg in the early 80's and watched the man making a gun for a couple of hours. He probably isn't there any longer but I guess they train someone for years to take over. My daughter lives in Williamsburg and if I ever visit I'll probably spend most of my time in the gun making shop.

 

[Jaeger]

Quite a few years ago in Williamsburg I watched two guys doing an operation called "barrel straightening". They were working on a semi-finished gun barrel and giving it hammer blows, eyeballing it, then another hammer strike, more eyeballing, and so on.. Very interesting to watch. Then I went inside the shop and looked at the waiting list to buy one of their hand-made rifles. Holy manure.... Holy manure? I wrote something else and it changed automatically.....lol

 

[akroguy]

The guy is legendary. Making a rifle from iron, brass and a plank of wood with little else...simply amazing.

 

[Shadowalker164]

Dale…
I did a bit of math, 300 hours to build at $50 an hour $15,000 plus materials

 

[Jim K]

Thank you for posting this. It was fascinating!

 

[BillyC]

Absolutely amazing the varied skills that man had.

 

[toot]

wow, he was so young then.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

BTW thats rock slider, not banger.

It slides down the frizzen, if it bangs your at the wrong angle

 

[The Damned Yankee]

Informative!! Thanks for posting. I have a number of Compatriots to pass this on too. TDY