Old Matchlock Project I Need To Finish

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I started this project well over 20 years ago and have meant to finish this, but put it up in a closet shelf for a very long time.

I have always wanted to build or even just own a matchlock since I was very young and read a American RM magazine article that gave some generalized instructions on how to build a sort of ECW replica, including scant instructions on a 12 apostle powder bandolier and bell flask.

However, I believe it did offer some small but detailed instructions on determining one's own personal length of pull or length of reach to the trigger when it comes to making rifle stocks. I really don't understand why, because I would tend to think that ECW matchlock muskets or most military muskets would be in standard lengths.

The project looked neat, but also it looked dangerous because of what was called for being used as a barrel. I did not really want what might be described by some as a .50 caliber 'zip' musket.

I found this article again many years later and decided to research more about matchlocks and after looking through what I could find I settled on a stock design.

Well almost.

In some obscure and now unknown library book I found an aristocratic French hunting matchlock rifle and copied it as best I could to some degree and then enlarged it, but I wanted to change the lockplate shape, use a ball trigger with a talon shape holding the ball, also use a more pronounced dragon serpentine shape, and make the stock applicable to my trigger reach length.

Well, by the time I started shaping the hard rock maple stock, problems arose by trying to eliminate some saw marks made by too deep a kerf on the breech end of the stock. I still have much shaping and carving to do on this stock.

At the time I could not afford the octagon to round smoothbore barrels that were made by Getz barrels and I wanted a rifled barrel anyway for hunting so I bought a 42 inch rifled octagonal barrel which has DGW stamps and some Italian stamps on it. The breech plug tang needs to be brought down a bit as well as shaped and drilled. It is .45 caliber with a round ball rifling twist and seems like a very nice barrel.

I am thinking of pinning the barrel to the stock by using a couple of barrel bands with pin or screw inserts below where the scouring stick will be kept.

I have already made the lockplate, sear, and shaped serpentine (I may decide differently on the serpentine) where they have been shaped with handsaws and files from rolled steel. These are in the bottom of a box in my garage somewhere, but I have not been able to locate them yet. I would also like to have the flash pan connected to the lockplate rather than the barrel.

The lockplate when I had it last, fits tightly into the mortise and had some minor pitting because I tried to plum brown it unsuccessfully, so I removed the finish as best I could. I am sure glad I did not do this on the barrel.

I have never made a rifle from scratch before and every bit of what you see so far was made and done by handtools only.

I may decide to change a few things about this project and it still has a long way to go, unless I decide to switch the barrel over to a different project, but first of all I would like to know if there is any hope to finish it from some of the mistakes I have already made on it.

If I ever finish it, I would like to use it for hunting.

Any advice, comments, or suggested on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wulf]

Your doing well. Keep at it when you feel like it.
Don't make it into a job...like I do....
Wulf

 

[matthew.heilgmail.com]

Please keep us updated, I would love to see how this turns out!

I also have the American Rifleman article I think you're talking about, and it would be really interesting to see how you're modifying their ideas. Plus matchlock builds are so few and far between!

 

[old ugly]

I like it. keep going and keep the progress reports coming.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Looks to be a very interesting project :thumbsup:

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

On Wednesday I was cleaning areas of my garage and found some parts to this project that have been missing for years in some obscure drawer of a parts chest hidden in a cobwebbed corner very rarely visited.

As can be seen they have fallen victim to some rust, but nothing that can't be remedied.



The serpentine seems to have the worst of it, but the internal sear which was browned back then as practice has held up fairly well.

The lock plate has held up also but it had only been covered with a light coat protecting oil.

The sear spring is actually a frizzen spring sawed down it's length to make it a bit more narrow in the lock plate setting. It has not lost much of it's spring temper from what I can tell and is quite stout in strength.



I will probably have to move the serpentine pivot hole a little more forward so that it will find a space further away from the center of the lock plate and the proper distance away from the breech vent and flash pan.



Even though it was a lot of work back then to initially shape the serpentine into this dragon head shape, I am still not completely sure I want to use this and might consider a more traditional serpentine.

Also the screws are just there temporarily to see how everything fit within, I will be using larger metal pins later.

I still have to shape a trigger to cam the internal sear and an internal cam for the serpentine and figure out how to mount horizontal pins to the sear ends.

Overall, I would suggest if someone else wants to build a matchlock, it might be a good idea to work out the working parts in card stock or cardboard first; doing so will help avoid future mechanical and fitting issues later on.

I may do a few of these parts over again, but at least now I won't have to do them completely from scratch.

 

[frogwalking]

I love the dragon. Stay with it.

 

[kruzer1]

Keep up the good work. I like to see your progress. I am building my first matchlock as well.

I have run across straight and tapered octagon in 16th century research and of course they had rifling all the way back to the 15th century. There are at least some petronel barrels that are under .50 caliber. So while maybe not the "norm" your barrel would work.. and in the end if you like it who cares if it is historically correct- we all do some amount of compromises and guess work on guns this far back-