Flintlock

Go for it! Of the rifles listed, I'd go the the jaeger style as made by Christian Edwards. There is one major advantage of a shorter jaeger - they're shorter. When I finished my first rifle, I couldn't shoot it until I got a long enough cleaning rod. A forty two inch barrel requires a very long rod (I don't use the ramrod for cleaning).

The rifle I built for myself is left hand flint with a L&R lock, double set triggers, brass hardware and roman nose, inlaid fish (symbol of Christ), eight point star (so I don't get lost), acorns (I'm crazy), brass patchbox and a brass bleeding heart (Passion of Christ) on the wrist. Over a three day process, the barrel was browned in the garage.

Most of assembly is the woodwork and not being trained in cabinet making, I took a 6 day class offered by the Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, Ohio on how to build these things. John Plybon is the instructor and is very skilled and modest about his work. I'm now studying woodworking techniques under my uncle who is a cabinet maker.

Now I have to learn how to engrave - something I've been avoiding for years.

DZ, go for it. You'll have lots of fun and have a product you will be proud to bring to the range.
 
Most definitely - go for it! I like the Mark Silver Virginia (RK - 8) but any choice is good - or any othert muzzle loader project - as Gary says - lots of fun and you'll be proud of it...
Now... how the heck can one go about learning to engrave - from a book - don't have nay chance to go t classes here...
Peter Knight
 
On engraving...

Another problem facing the beginner is just to study styles of engraving. Roccoco with a flourish. Germanic oakleaves and acorns. You virtually have to be an art major to know what is good taste and what isn't. Of course, there are ready made patterns you can transfer onto your blank metal. All work must be done with the Golden Proportion in mind too. It must blend not only in the engraved piece, but also with the rest of the rifle. So, besides being a gun builder, you have to be an ARTIST. Yuck! I appreciate art but don't want to study it and try to reproduce it in a balanced, tasteful design. That is not the type of mental work I enjoy.

There are certain advantages to the Brown Bess, Charleville, Trade Gun and Fowler.
 
Someone just getting started in engraving would find it time well spent to look at one of the power engravers such as the magnagraver. These power units duplicate the traditional hammer method, but are much easier to control. GRS also has some excellent tutorials on tape and books that are great helps. With one of these tools you can do good work in a few short hours of practice (though I'm not saying you'll be doing any deep relief Custer battle scenes, the complicated stuff takes years to master). As far as picking what your going to engrave on, I would look at the American longrifles. The American gunsmith was by necessity a "Jack of all trades", and as a result he rarely mastered all aspects pertaining to gunsmithing. Engraving on the original longrifles varies from adequite to excellent. With some practice you should be able to acheive an authentic quality engraving job, if not a pretty good one. I would stay away from the European works however, these rifles were originally engraved by people who specialized in engraving. It is much more difficult to acheive this level of quality unless you spend more time engraving than making gunstocks. One option is to concentrate on doing a first class stocking job and let a professional engraver handle the rest. Lots of luck with your project
smile.gif
 
I second the motion. While I shoot just about everything, flinters are my passion! A good friend of mine is putting the finishing touches in a Mark Silver Early Virginia rifle. He took it to a gunmaker's fair in Oregon this past weekend and charcoal blued the barrel. VERY cool process! It took him almost a year to complete, but he has a rifle that just about anyone would be proud to own. So, hey, jump on in; the water's fine!

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Mossyrock
Curmudgeon In Training
 
Should mention that a good book for beginners is "The Art of Building the Pennslyvannia Rifle" by Dixon, et. al. It takes a beginner through a step by step process of building one of these rifles with simple hand tools. It's one of the best books I've seen on the topic.
 
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