Yesterday's Weapons Forums

VERY happy today!!!!!!
I still don't have a drill press to drill the holes and tap them....so when I say I am scared....I mean I"M SCARED!...But it all went well, and the 2 lock plate holes drilled, and lock tapped by hand~
Just so you folks know....the drill had to angle downward from right to left just at about 12degrees....it has to position the left side hole lower so the top of the stock will 'blend' to the angle of the barrel flats and the wrist.....and the front lock bolt needs to miss the ramrod on the bottom side of it....and then go UNDER the barrel.....it happened that the drill bit just cut a very shallow grove on the bottom of my barrel.....which i smoothed out with a file. there was NO clearance on this hole!!! *whew**




and to, the pan needs to be tight up against the barrel to keep powder grains from sifting into the lock parts....so a small amount of 'letting' was needed...now she's buttoned up tighter than Paris Hilton~
now here's Gary's rifle...it came in today's mail~ it's a 50cal Rice 44" swamped barrel, Cherry stock(wood from mom's tree in Ky I cut)...I cheated some by having Dave Keck cut and inlet the barrel channel, and ramrod hole, semi-inlet the buttplate...this iwll speed things up for me.
all the brass parts and lock were shipped to me and they are VERY nice parts!...Dave will get my biz from now on~very nice cast brass means very little file work....which saves my tired old elbows!
Gary's rifle will be finished in a 'violin red' deep cherry color~ but here she is in the 'ruff'...

his and sis's side-by-side



the walnut rifle is noticeably heavier then the cherry.......sis's is a 40cal, and gary's 50cal may be why~?
anyway....I have something to do for the next year or two!

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im having a problem here - i know i posted to this [and a couple others earlier] you have tallent i could only dream about , i enjoy your photos - keep posting them

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well - i admire the fact that you will try , but even more that you succede , it shows you plan and calculate what needs doing ,

while i can appreciate and perhaps execute that first part - yes its the drilling - the act of actually doing that really puts me off , i can draw it , i can plan it , i can think it through , its cutting that kills me