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Ruggles Patent Underhammer Pistol

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But let me show you how I started my stock, which I plan to make from an odd piece of maple.

Your "odd" piece of maple has a several birdseye spots and some nice wide grain. I think it will look fantastic when finished, but please don't stain it dark!

Regards,

Jim
 
Very nice! Thank you very much with sharing with us. I really admire people with this kind of talent and patience!
 
Enjoying this thread enfield, You are a perfect example of what a man can do in a home shop with basic hand tools an a little imagination. A tip of my Texas sombrero to you Sir, I wish you lived in my neighborhood.
 
Stock starting to get it's shape ... Since each single part , even bolts , screws . piston etc, has been made by myself from old material , old technics and tools , I plan to finish it also in old finish , rust browning the barrel and treating the stock with iron nitrate , heating and oiling it for a authentic finish , too . Thanks to Mr. Fordyce and Aldin Ruggles for this great draft of 1826 !
This gun will not be made for a beauty contest but for competition shooting !

I'm sure , it will ! ( But I'm still searching for a mould of .290 RB ) 21.jpg 22.jpg
 
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Your project is coming along really nicely!
Speaking of Ruggles, I have a Ruggles underhammer drilling. 2xshotgun with rifle underneath. Barrel selection is made by a swinging hammer nose. Not the Ruggles who started the underhammer business, perhaps a family member.
 
Your project is coming along really nicely!
Speaking of Ruggles, I have a Ruggles underhammer drilling. 2xshotgun with rifle underneath. Barrel selection is made by a swinging hammer nose. Not the Ruggles who started the underhammer business, perhaps a family member.
Got photos ?
 
Today , I started to finish the barrel and stock after sanding . Barrel will be browned with Homer Dangler Gun Brown , somewhat slow but very nice in the end . The stock has been wiped with iron nitrate , as they did in the old days , but instead of heating it with fire , I used a heat gun . Not that authentic , but I was a little impatient . Out came a very nice figure with some birds eyes , now I'll finish with tru oil . ( Also not authentic , but this gun is planned to become a shooter ! ) :ghostly:


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Today , I started to finish the barrel and stock after sanding . Barrel will be browned with Homer Dangler Gun Brown , somewhat slow but very nice in the end . The stock has been wiped with iron nitrate , as they did in the old days , but instead of heating it with fire , I used a heat gun . Not that authentic , but I was a little impatient . Out came a very nice figure with some birds eyes , now I'll finish with tru oil . ( Also not authentic , but this gun is planned to become a shooter ! ) :ghostly:


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A really interesting article, congratulations on making a beautiful under-hammer!
 
Really nice work! I too have a barrel cutoff and breech plug intended for a similar pistol. One day, it will happen.
 
Hello from the Lüneburger Heide,
I admire your work, but I wonder,
a little surprised, no grain, no rear sight?
And yet it has become a dark handle;
The old brown would also go well with light wood.
Fadenbaum 3.jpg
Fadenbaum 5.jpg
mit was man so schießt.jpg
I once made a grip out of burl wood from a Japanese string tree (Styphnolobium japonicum).
Bought at "fine wood", the stock is breathtaking.
Let me insert a photo.
 
Hello from the Lüneburger Heide,
I admire your work, but I wonder,
a little surprised, no grain, no rear sight?
And yet it has become a dark handle;
The old brown would also go well with light wood.View attachment 25566 View attachment 25567 View attachment 25568
I once made a grip out of burl wood from a Japanese string tree (Styphnolobium japonicum).
Bought at "fine wood", the stock is breathtaking.
Let me insert a photo.

Hallo ! Leider kann ich mir keine Baumkirchner leisten , meine Idee ist , eine Unterhammer nach dem Ruggles - Patent von 1825 möglichst originalgetreu mit altem Material , altem Originalwerkzeug und den alten Techniken nachzubauen . Der "Topstrap" mit dem Visier kommt noch ! Gruß zurück in die Lüneburger Heide ! Schön , daß es auch hier in Ol'Germany interessierte Schwarzpulverschützen gibt !

Hi there ! Unfortunately I can not afford a Baumkirchner , my idea is to recreate a underhammer according to the Ruggles patent from 1825 as true to the original as possible with old material, old original tools and the old techniques . The idea came from an original pistol in my collection and the great book of Herschel C. Logan " Underhammer Guns " .

Stock is kind of a Billinghurst , but will be completed with an attachable shoulder stock ( "buggy gun " )

The "topstrap" with the sight is already planned !

Greetings back to the Lüneburger Heide ! Nice that there are interested black powder shooters here in Ol'Germany , too !
 
I think , here comes the place to say THANK YOU to my good friend in Blotzheim , Alsace/France who lets me work in his home shop whenever I have some spare time to tinker with my project .
Seems , it will become an international project , being an old American pattern , built by a German in France ...
 
Hallo ! Leider kann ich mir keine Baumkirchner leisten , meine Idee ist , eine Unterhammer nach dem Ruggles - Patent von 1825 möglichst originalgetreu mit altem Material , altem Originalwerkzeug und den alten Techniken nachzubauen . Der "Topstrap" mit dem Visier kommt noch ! Gruß zurück in die Lüneburger Heide ! Schön , daß es auch hier in Ol'Germany interessierte Schwarzpulverschützen gibt !

Hi there ! Unfortunately I can not afford a Baumkirchner , my idea is to recreate a underhammer according to the Ruggles patent from 1825 as true to the original as possible with old material, old original tools and the old techniques . The idea came from an original pistol in my collection and the great book of Herschel C. Logan " Underhammer Guns " .

Stock is kind of a Billinghurst , but will be completed with an attachable shoulder stock ( "buggy gun " )

The "topstrap" with the sight is already planned !

Greetings back to the Lüneburger Heide ! Nice that there are interested black powder shooters here in Ol'Germany , too !

Actually two modified Baumkirchner and one Dedinski, all three used for small money bought from egun.
New guns would also be too expensive for me.
 
Yesterday and today , I filed the topstrap with its integral sight , made the screws and attatched them all .
The entire gun starts to look , like I planned it , and also starts to look , as if it is an original vintage one . The barrel has taken a great old times brown , and after tinkering a little with the finish of the stock , it also looks a little like a vintage 1830s , too .
I really don't want to make a top grade Billinghurst , please remember , it's gonna to become a new made New England "poor man's " gun . ( But with the best performance possible ! )

I'm very pleased with the grain of the stock , showing a rather nice surface after having treated it with iron nitrate and heating it .

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Next step is to file the blade sight and the shoulder stock .
 
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Just for getting an idea of my workbench ...

As all of You can see , nothing unusual , and even my old , over 100 years old lathe is sufficient with not more than ( most selfmade ) basic tools !

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