My current Project

[CowboyCS]

I am new here but I thought you all might like to see what I am working on. It's a 500 Black Powder Express side by side muzzleloader (circa 1870-1880). I'm building every piece from scratch except the barrels. The barrels were a really good deal they are take offs from an inline muzzleloader. The bore is .500 the grooves are .510 with 1-24 twist. So I am setting it up to shoot .510 dia, 500 grain bullets over 140 grains of FFg. I cut off a little of the barrels to make a resizing die out of, so I can use a .515 500 bullet mold and size the bullets down to .510, this will also give me pre-rifled bullets so I won't need to use a patch.
On with the show:
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The hammers were roughed out with a hacksaw and then hand filed to shape.
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Most of these pictures are pretty self explainitary but if you have any questions just ask.

[CowboyCS]

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This last one here shows the inertia lock that interrupts the tumbler so recoil won't set off the second lock.

[CowboyCS]

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I do own a Mill and a Lathe but you can tell that most of these kinds of part are shaped by hand.

[CowboyCS]

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It took me most of an afternoon to make this grip cap with hacksaw and files, when I could have just bought one for $8.00, but what fun would that be?

[CowboyCS]

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You can see things get changed and modified as I go, I'm not working off of any set plan and since the rifle is for me I can do what ever I want.

[CowboyCS]

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I use every resource in my shop when I need to, this was hacksaw, files, 4" grinder, oxy/acty torch, and 12" bench grinder shaped.

[inchr48]

Now that's what I call custom. Great job! Keep the reports coming, and welcome to JHO.

[CowboyCS]

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With the barrels being take offs they have both an external thread and an internal thread, so I had to machine a set of sleeves to bring them out to full diameter before I could weld them together, this actually worked out really well it sort of made like a monoblock out of it. The gap in the barrels prior to welding is so they will cross sooner and make it easier to regulate later.

[CowboyCS]

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This is the forend tip pipe to accept the ramrod, you are probably starting to notice the spear head theme to this thing.

[CowboyCS]

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Breech plugs turned, threaded, and shaped. This was almost all lathe and mill work, all but a little bit of touch up filing.

[CowboyCS]

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Here's the tang, it took more than a few hours to shape the inside of the hooks to match the hooks on the breech plugs, a lot of smoke and file, smoke and file, wipe, smoke and file. But it was worth it, everything is a smooth fit with very light resistance.

[CowboyCS]

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I worked my lock geometry out on paper, then I set everything up in the mill and machined the nipple seats with the mill. Then I used a 1/4' pneumatic die grinder with a 1/2" HSS ball bit to open up the fence area and give it a more pleasing shape.

[CowboyCS]

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And the regulation wedge, it's notched together in two halves, tapered and contoured to fit the barrels, then soldered together and finally soldered to the barrels.

[CowboyCS]

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Here's the ramrod tip I turned out of brass and the maple ramrod attached. And a little teaser shot of what it is going to look like underneath when it's done.
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[CowboyCS]

I have worked on this thing Off and On for about three weeks to get it to were it is now. I'm currently waiting on material and a stock blank to show up so i can continue. I'll update this when I get more done. Hope you enjoyed it so far.

C

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (inchr48 @ Jun 25 2008, 02:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1010607)</div>
Now that&#39;s what I call custom. Great job! Keep the reports coming, and welcome to JHO.[/b]
Thanks for the welcome, and the compliment. I&#39;ll update it as I go hopefully. Unfortunately I don&#39;t have a digital camera, so the pics are all taken with my webcam (poor quality sorry).

C

[myfriendis410]

You&#39;re giving us great shots and a nice sequential run. I am also interested in seeing your progress. It&#39;s nice to have a fully equipped shop. Do you have any engraving skills? That would really top it off, wouldn&#39;t it?

[CowboyCS]

Yeah I engrave a little.
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I did this signature block for a friend/mentor of mine.
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And this is a floor plate on a Mauser I did.

[barel74]

you do very nice work, can&#39;t wait to see the end product http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

[BelchFire]

Cowboy,

Welcome to JHO! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

I&#39;m looking at some AWESOME work and to think you did it in three weeks! You &#39;da man, Cowboy! I can&#39;t wait to see the rest of this as it unfolds. Keep coming back and post whatever you can even if you have to use your cell phone! GREAT WORK!

~Belch~

[CowboyCS]

Thanks for the compliments, I can&#39;t wait to hunt with it, it should tip most things in this country right over. I love double rifles, the nostalgia and classic lines and all that, I just can&#39;t afford them. So I learned to build them, at least that way I can afford one once in a while. I got some metal yesterday for the upper and lower ribs, so if I get some time I should be able to get them made in a few days. Then I&#39;m just waiting on wood to arrive.

C

[Bwana Turtle]

Whew ! Pretty Impressive.

[CowboyCS]

I got a little more done tonight, I managed to get the top rib fitted up, it&#39;s not attached in the pic it&#39;s just sitting there for the visual. I also got the fences on the tang and shaped them out, that took most of the evening, and I built my ramrod pipe with the front sling swivel attached.
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[Speckmisser]

Nice stuff, Cowboy! Pretty impressive work, no doubt. Can&#39;t wait to see it turn into a finished rifle.

[CowboyCS]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. Glad I can provide a little diversion.

C

[Taos]

Cowboy that is a very fine bit of work!! I can&#39;t wait to see the finished product. Please keep us posted and thanks a bunch!!

[CowboyCS]

Worked on the sights today, the front site is soldered to the rib, it&#39;ll get filed down and final shaping when I do the final sight in, the rear sight is two pieces the blade and the base, the base is screwed on and allows me to adjust for windage, when I do final sight in. The blade that is in it right now is just a temporary for regulating, I&#39;ll build a better looking one before I do final sight in.
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[CowboyCS]

Time for an update since I haven&#39;t posted in a few days.
I think I finally have all the metal parts made(roughed out), so it&#39;s time to start doing some real assembly. I got the bottom rib sections roughed out yesterday no pics of them right now they are just a trough that lays between the pipes, you&#39;ll see when I get them soldered on, later today (maybe). I did get the top rib soldered on this morning.
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Pretty ugly right now.
Lots of dental pick and small brass chisel work ahead to clean that all up, so that none of it show through when I blue it.

[CowboyCS]

I finally got a digital camera today, so now I can get some work in progress shots out in the shop. Here&#39;s a few pics of soldering the under rib sections and sling swivel pipe on.
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You&#39;ll notice the pipe for the cross wedge is missing, I&#39;ll put that on after I inlet the barrels into the stock, it will save time having to fight it all the way through the inletting process.
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The sling swivel pipe is welded to a strip of metal that runs the whole length of the gap between the barrels, this piece isn&#39;t a snug fit, it kinda free floats and gives me more surface area to solder to, without making regulation difficult later. The originals, would often times have round stock or nails with the heads cut off laid in between the barrels under the ribs.
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This last section of barrels won&#39;t get the pipe and rib attached until after regulation.

[BelchFire]

Man Cowboy, I&#39;m LOVING this thread! Awesome work. I can&#39;t wait to learn more about how the regulations process works.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Jul 7 2008, 07:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1013799)</div>
Man Cowboy, I&#39;m LOVING this thread! Awesome work. I can&#39;t wait to learn more about how the regulations process works.[/b]
Thank you, I&#39;m glad you are enjoying this build. As to regulation it&#39;s really not some magic voodoo like most people think, it&#39;s just a lot of patience. I&#39;m fortunate because I live on 160 acres 3 miles form town so I have my own rifle range. I don&#39;t have to load everything up and take it anywhere to do my regulating. It&#39;s really just a matter of shoot a right and a left and then heat the wedge up and adjust it, then let it cool and repeat until it shoots the size of group you want at the point of impact that you want. I know that sounds over simplified and I suppose it kinda is, but not much. I start my regulation process by bringing both barrels shooting to the same horizon line(heat the wedge and twist them), once I have them on the same horizon, then I start bringing them to the same vertical line (heat the wedge and usually drive it in, but not always). With this gun I&#39;m gonna try to get it to shoot goose egg size groups at 75 yards POI. For this type of rifle I consider that to be more than enough accuracy, it&#39;s not like it&#39;s a bench gun, a lot for double rifles I&#39;ve seen are considered to be well regulated if they will hold a 6 shot, 3 from the right, 3 from the left at a hundred yards into a 3 inch circle.
Now that I have a new camera, I&#39;m gonna try to get my wife to take some pics while I&#39;m regulating it, so everybody can see what I&#39;m doing.

C

[CowboyCS]

I patterned the stock on paper, it helps to do this just to make sure everything is going to fit the way you think it will, it also gives you a chance to check the locks and other parts for any interference points, as well as roughly check your sight elevations. I always draw these up in 1:1 scale so there is no doubt about fit. It also gives me a chance to step back and see the gun from a distance and make sure everything looks dimensionally correct(that whole form following function thing) before I ruin a piece of wood.
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[CowboyCS]

After looking at the drawing for a while I realized the grip curve didn&#39;t match the lock plates so I re-drew it. I think this looks much better:
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[BelchFire]

Man, that&#39;s beautiful Cowboy, but that sure looks like a lotta drop. I realize that you&#39;re not going to scope it, but the comb still looks low to me. Is that something that you freehanded, or do you have a dimension you&#39;re shooting for?

[CowboyCS]

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I use the classic british method for measuring, It would be alot for the average guy I suppose, but I&#39;m 6&#39;5", 240 pounds with a LOP that is just over 15 inches. So for me it&#39;s just right. I have several Side by Sides (Rifles and Shotguns) that are all stocked to that same dimension and they come to shoulder and I&#39;m right on my sights everytime(very Quick).

[CowboyCS]

In my first post on this thread I mentioned that I was going to make a resizing die out of a piece of the barrel. Well since I&#39;m still waiting on wood to arrive so I can proceed, I decided I might as well make the die today.
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I bored out a portion of the rifling so it would have a nice lead in, and then threaded the outside to match my press. Then I turned a ram that is just a few thousands under bore size.

[CowboyCS]

I made a couple of covers out of brass shim stock to cover up the threads I machine through when I cut in for the nipple seats. [attachment=53090:Picture0091.jpg]
While I was digging through my brass scrap box, I also found enough to make a copy of one of my Knight Powders measures. I still have to put the increment marks on it, but that shouldn&#39;t take much I&#39;ll just copy the increments off of the original 40-150 grain.
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[Bulleye]

Wow what an amazing project you have going. I can&#39;t wait to see the progress.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bulleye @ Jul 12 2008, 04:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1015387)</div>
Wow what an amazing project you have going. I can&#39;t wait to see the progress.[/b]
Thank you, I&#39;m enjoying it. If the wood ever gets here I might be able to make a little more serious progress.

[Bulleye]

What will you use this rifle for when its complete?

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bulleye @ Jul 13 2008, 09:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1015475)</div>
What will you use this rifle for when its complete?[/b]
I do plan to hunt with it, but it will mostly be a show piece when it is done. I apprenticed for two years under Steve Zihn back in 2000-2001. I&#39;ve been part time gunsmithing for the last 6 years, but now I think my skill level is to a point were I can go full time and make a living doing it, so this is going to be my marketing rifle. I&#39;ve decided on kinda of a niche market, there aren&#39;t to many builders doing Custom SxS Muzzleloaders. I&#39;m hoping with a booth at SCI Convention and at SHOT Show in probably 2009 and 2010 I can make a go of it. I&#39;m also planning to send it to one of the writers for the Double Gun Journal and have him do an evalution and write-up. Hopefully with the write-up and the shows and Steve&#39;s backing, since he already has an established name, I&#39;ll be in full time business by 2010.

[CowboyCS]

A whole lot of lay-out and a little bit of cutting.
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[CowboyCS]

And the lay-out for the barrels.
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[CowboyCS]

I also did a bit of bullet casting and resizing this morning while it was cool.
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[BelchFire]

MAN! I love the way you matched the grain of the wood to the pistol grip. That&#39;s gonna be a super cool rifle; I wish I could see it up close. What kind of wood is that?

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Jul 14 2008, 07:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1015907)</div>
MAN! I love the way you matched the grain of the wood to the pistol grip. That&#39;s gonna be a super cool rifle; I wish I could see it up close. What kind of wood is that?[/b]
Oregon Black Walnut, it was the best (that had all the right qualities structurally) I could afford right now.
Did you give me the 5 star review? I don&#39;t know if i can live up to expectations like that. LOL

C

[BelchFire]

Yeah, I gave the 5 stars. This thread is EXACTLY what we like to see here on JHO; great looking work, lots of pictures, very informative writeups; this is DEFINITELY a five-star thread! I&#39;ll leave the rating of the rifle itself to someone who can see it up close (but I&#39;d LOVE to be that person). Did I say I&#39;m loving this thread? Keep &#39;em coming........ http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wnk-yellow.gif

[snoopdogg]

One of the cooler threads I&#39;ve read in a while--love the blow-by-blow and the pictures. Keep&#39;em coming!

[CowboyCS]

Thank you both for the compliments, I&#39;m glad you like the project.
After the barrel inletting, then I moved onto the tang, nothing really fancy here, just good layout and a days worth of prussian blue for inletting, to show me the high spots, I use nothing but hand tools to do this work, Chisels, Gouges, Scrapers, and sand paper. Just have to pay close attention to the outside edges so I don&#39;t take out to much, that would leave a gap showing.
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And here&#39;s the results of about 8 hours work.
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[Bulleye]

This thread is only getting better. Your rifle is coming together nicely.

[CowboyCS]

The next step was to attach the pipe with the wedge or in my case I decided t go with a bottom screw. Then I inlet for the ramrod and the Forearm tip. The piece of steel laying in the ramrod trough is O-1 tool steel that I squared off and then I leave the burr on the edge and use it for a scraper.
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[tmoniz]

This is way too much eye candy for me.
I worked in a small shop part time.
You are very gifted.
Keep posting up.
I or we all must see the end product.

Very nice work.

T

[CowboyCS]

Thank you very much. I&#39;m not sure about gifted but I am well practiced.

C

[CowboyCS]

This afternoon I went to the other end of the stock and inlet for the butt plate. Next it&#39;s onto the bottom metal and the locks.
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[CowboyCS]

Tonight I planed everything down pretty close to the lines and then shaved some of the grip down, so I could start inletting for the locks. I managed to get the left side lock plate in before I called it quits. It&#39;s starting to take on the shape of a rifle now.
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[BelchFire]

Shweeeeeeet ! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-faces-toast-beers.gif

[ltdann]

The talent and skill set on this project is amazing!

[CowboyCS]

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen, you&#39;re gonna give me a huge ego.

This morning I finished inletting the left lock, It&#39;s the same process as the rest, just add one piece at a time and inlet it down to depth then add another. Just have to give a little clearance around the moving part and try to get as much bearing surface on the rest as possible, so that when I run the screws through and tighten everything up it doesn&#39;t draw it down.
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[CowboyCS]

I got the other side installed this afternoon.
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[CowboyCS]

This evening I shaped the bottom metal/trigger plate down and then inlet it, then I drilled for the tang screws, they come in from the bottom so no screws will be showing on the top of the tang. The trigger guard acts as the front screw. The back screw will get turned down and then countersunk into the plate so it disappears under the trigger guard.
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[CowboyCS]

I installed the triggers this morning and put the bottom screw and escutcheon in. I&#39;m down to a couple screws through the locks and inletting the trigger guard, and then I can start doing some serious shaping.
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[tmoniz]

Very nice.
I can&#39;t wait to see some shape to that wood.
I know Belchfire is gonna have a stroke when that starts to happen.

Keep it comin.

T

[CowboyCS]

Finally, all the metal is inlet to the wood. All the screws you see sticking out will be countersunk and at final assembly replaced with fresh ones that are flush to the surface.
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[Hitechhunter]

Wow! What a thread!!

[CowboyCS]

They say all you have to do when working a stock blank is remove everything that&#39;s not part of a rifle.
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And this is what you get.
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Lots of sanding, and finish before I can take it out and regulate it.

[Bulleye]

Looking better everyday! A double barreled muzzle loader makes so much sense I am surprised that there aren&#39;t many on the market.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bulleye @ Jul 19 2008, 02:10 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1017559)</div>
Looking better everyday! A double barreled muzzle loader makes so much sense I am surprised that there aren&#39;t many on the market.[/b]
I think there are several reasons why you don&#39;t see more companies making them. The first is they are cost prohibitive to produce, Pedersoli is making several models of SxS muzzleloaders but they keep costs down by sacrificing quality in the regulation department. Pedersoli&#39;s are only regulated to shoot 5" left/right groups at 55 yards, not very accurate for a $1000.00 rifle. I heard that many of them won&#39;t even do that and get sent back and swapped out. The more time a company has to spend regulating a rifle the more expensive it is going to be, and to do it right takes time. The second reason I think you don&#39;t see more of them is because a lot of states have laws limiting the number of barrels you can have during muzzleloader season, so that cuts out a portion of the market. The third reason is what a person gets for the money they spend, it doesn&#39;t cost much less to build a custom SxS muzzleloader than it does to buy a new Merkel 140a right off the shelf, what I mean is you can buy a new Merkel for about $7000.00 and have a nice cartridge gun or you can spend $5000.00 and have a custom made muzzleloader. Most guys will go for the cartridge gun, not all of course some will want the custom muzzleloader but for a company to produce a model line, doesn&#39;t make a lot of sense for marketability. And the last reason is tied to the other reasons in that the market for double rifles is fairly small to begin with, they have always been out of the reach of the average guy, most people aren&#39;t going to spend $5000.00 to multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars on a rifle they only use a few times a year. This is of course just my opinion and worth what you paid for it.

[CowboyCS]

The way I finish a walnut stock is to sand it down to 320 grit wetting it in between grits to raise the hairs and show me any spots I&#39;ve missed. Then when I go to 400 grit I wet sand with a 50/50 mix of Boiled Linseed oil and Turpentine. With this stock it&#39;s going to take a few wet sandings to fill in the pores, they are pretty open. But it&#39;s starting to show nice figure, I think with a few more wet sandings it will real show through nice. When I get everything filled in then I will go to tung oil and hand rub as many coats as needed into it with 000000 steel wool.
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[myfriendis410]

Really superb and meticulous work; my hat&#39;s off to you.

A suggestion on the finishing process (I was a master woodworker): an article several years ago regarding the permeability of water through a variety of different finishes. I think this was in Fine Woodworking magazine. They used a number of finishes on baked maple blocks, weighed then immersed for twenty four hours and weighed again. Surprisingly the best finish was pure boiled linseed oil, but did require about a year to get the number of coats on the blocks. It beat marine epoxy, lacquer (not surprising), tung oil, marine varnish, varathane (yuck) and conversion varnish. The second best was conversion varnish.

I might suggest you stick with the linseed oil and omit the tung oil. I do like the scent of tung oil, but linseed oil isn&#39;t bad either.

Do you plan to checker this gun? Carving? And what metal treatment? Plum brown or blue? (It&#39;s all good to me, I&#39;m just curious).

I agree with everyone else; this is the best subject line in quite some time!

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (myfriendis410 @ Jul 20 2008, 12:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1017778)</div>
Really superb and meticulous work; my hat&#39;s off to you.

A suggestion on the finishing process (I was a master woodworker): an article several years ago regarding the permeability of water through a variety of different finishes. I think this was in Fine Woodworking magazine. They used a number of finishes on baked maple blocks, weighed then immersed for twenty four hours and weighed again. Surprisingly the best finish was pure boiled linseed oil, but did require about a year to get the number of coats on the blocks. It beat marine epoxy, lacquer (not surprising), tung oil, marine varnish, varathane (yuck) and conversion varnish. The second best was conversion varnish.

I might suggest you stick with the linseed oil and omit the tung oil. I do like the scent of tung oil, but linseed oil isn&#39;t bad either.

Do you plan to checker this gun? Carving? And what metal treatment? Plum brown or blue? (It&#39;s all good to me, I&#39;m just curious).

I agree with everyone else; this is the best subject line in quite some time![/b]
Thank you
One of the reasons straight boiled linseed oil is such a good water proofer is because it doesn&#39;t air dry it only dries in direct sunlight. I have a steel pipe that is 8" in diameter and 4 feet long full of 50/50 boiled linseed oil and turpentine, I didn&#39;t do it with this stock, but I have in the past completely submerged the stock for a couple of days and then left it out in a window for a week, then buffed it down. That gives a lasting finish that penetrates about 1/2" deep. The tung oil when buffed down to a nice luster gives a deep looking finish that is fairly durable. I appreciate the suggestion and I&#39;m always looking at options, but it&#39;s to heavy to go swimming with http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-newlaugh-yellow.gif , so the finish only has to be as durable as normal weather conditions during hunting season require.

My checkering is my week point in gun building, I&#39;m still learning, so I will probably send the stock up to Pat Taylor in Oregon when I&#39;m done and have her checker it for me.

I&#39;m planning to rust blue and sperm whale oil it.

[tmoniz]

I&#39;ve restored a lot of long guns. I was a part of a group of individuals with different talents. We produced some fine work. I&#39;m not a "master" at anything. But one thing is for sure. The work that you are doing is outstanding.
Fine gun making in this country has dwindled. Nice to see some one step up to the plate.
I want to see pics of when you cook a few rounds off out of that gun.


T

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tmoniz @ Jul 20 2008, 06:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1017874)</div>
I&#39;ve restored a lot of long guns. I was a part of a group of individuals with different talents. We produced some fine work. I&#39;m not a "master" at anything. But one thing is for sure. The work that you are doing is outstanding.
Fine gun making in this country has dwindled. Nice to see some one step up to the plate.
I want to see pics of when you cook a few rounds off out of that gun.


T[/b]
Thank you, I kinda place myself at a low journeyman level in my skills, now the man I apprenticed under he is a true master in the black powder market. I just enjoy building them and once in a while I make a little money at it. I agree that the skilled craftsman in this country has dwindled down to almost none these days, in every field not just guns, and unfortunately as they retired or got replaced with machinery the skills were never passed on to the next generation.
I&#39;ll keep posting pics as the project progresses right down to a few of final sight in targets, I don&#39;t like to do a halfway jobs at anything. It ought to make a nice big cloud of smoke, especially with a fast one/two out of it.

C

[CowboyCS]

Just a little shot of how the finish is starting to luster up. Maybe another 8-10 more rub downs and it should have a nice deep luster.
[attachment=53295:Picture0111.jpg]

[tmoniz]

That is very nice.

[BelchFire]

I&#39;m just amazed at what I&#39;m seeing. The speed and the quality just don&#39;t jive in my mind. First of all, I couldn&#39;t hope to do anything like that, but if I had the skill set, I could imagine it taking me YEARS to get to the point you have in just 6 or 7 weeks. Just astounding. And shaping up to be a BEAUTIFUL rifle. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bowdown-purple.gif

[CowboyCS]

I modified/tweaked the hammers to day and got them hitting the nipples square, so I think I&#39;m ready to take it out and regulate it tomorrow morning.
[attachment=53305:Picture0112.jpg]

[tmoniz]

Man!

T

[snoopdogg]

Damn fine work, sir! Can&#39;t wait to see your regulating pictures.

[BackCountryHNTR]

Man, that is a beauty!! Can&#39;t wait to see it in action.

Thank you for sharing your project. You have amazing skills!

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-thumbs-up-aqua.gif

[fishnhuntfreak]

All I can say is WOW! that is one of the most amazing projects i have ever seen, you have some major skills. can&#39;t wait to see the final project but you better keep us updated after this is done with you future projects. do you have any pic&#39;s of any other rifes you&#39;ve built id love to see them as im sure the rest of jho would also. keep up the good work!

[CowboyCS]

You guys are gonna give me a huge ego with all the compliments, and my wife says I don&#39;t need anymore ego.
This morning I got out to my range while it was still cool and calm, and started working up a load. I went through several brands of powder and more than a few charge variation. I finally settled on Pyrodex P at 100 gr with a cardboard wad, 500 grain resized, pre-rifled bullet. The squares are 3" and the target was at 25 yrds. This is the final group lefts and rights shooting at same POI and I haven&#39;t even started the regulation process this was just to work up a load. The wind is blowing about 40 mph now, so I&#39;m shut down for the day, but hopefully in the morning I can move back to 100 yrds and see what it does. If it doesn&#39;t open up to much, I think this one might regulate in only a hand full of adjustments. It would sure be nice if it does work out that way.
It shoots very nice, comfortable (almost light) recoil. And other than being slightly muzzle heavy it swings nice, balance point is about 4 inches in front of the breech instead of 3 inches like it should be, but I can live with that.
[attachment=53325:Picture0113.jpg]

[tmoniz]

Looks to be a shooter to me.

T

[inchr48]

Have you weighed the rifle now that you are getting close to completion. Those 500 grainers should pack a whallop.

Nice work!

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (inchr48 @ Jul 22 2008, 03:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1018552)</div>
Have you weighed the rifle now that you are getting close to completion. Those 500 grainers should pack a whallop.

Nice work![/b]
11 pounds 8 ounces, it will gain an ounce maybe 2 when I finish the under rib and the last pipe. So it will be slightly on the heavy side but well within reason for a double rifle of this caliber.

[tmoniz]

Are you going to stay with just muzzle loaders or are you going to work on other things Cowboy.
Saw Quigley Down Under last night.
I like those big lever singles.

T

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tmoniz @ Jul 22 2008, 05:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1018625)</div>
Are you going to stay with just muzzle loaders or are you going to work on other things Cowboy.
Saw Quigley Down Under last night.
I like those big lever singles.

T[/b]
I used to build custom bolt guns, but I don&#39;t have an FFL anymore. Besides there are so many guys out there building custom bolt guns, I can&#39;t compete at my skill level. I am working on a joint build with another gunsmith, we are putting together a single shot Jones underlever in an 8 bore.
I&#39;m copying this action:
[attachment=53335:sp767_open.jpg]

[BelchFire]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
And other than being slightly muzzle heavy ......[/b]
Well golly GEE, Cowboy; it&#39;s not like you didn&#39;t mount TWO .50 cal barrels to it or anything like that. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wnk-yellow.gif It&#39;s gonna take a STUD to lug that thang all over the mountain, that&#39;s fer sure.

All things being equal, your group should open up by a factor of 4 when you move from 25 yards to 100 yards. (i.e. a 2" group at 25 yards should be an 8" group at 100 yards.) BUT, factor in the SxS aspect, and I wouldn&#39;t hazard a guess as to what it does. That would add some variability that I can&#39;t predict.

Keep &#39;em coming Cowboy, I&#39;m loving this thread like food! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-cheeburga-yellow.gif

[CowboyCS]

Well I&#39;m 6&#39;5" and 245 pounds so I think I can probably lug it around, and actually if I use the African carry it&#39;s quite comfortable. But that aside I have two teenage boys, so one of them can be my gun bearer this season. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wnk-yellow.gif

C

[CowboyCS]

After a little bit of load tweaking and some minor changes to the regulation, this was the final for the day. The one that has a WJS beside was the last shot of the day by my son, he only fired the one barrel just to see how it shot. That&#39;s a 3 inch bull, 100 yrds.
[attachment=53375:Picture0114.jpg]

[BelchFire]

Nothing shabby about that! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Jul 24 2008, 07:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1019250)</div>
Nothing shabby about that! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif[/b]
Since you can&#39;t sight a double in off the bench, you have to do it off-hand, I probably can&#39;t tighten those groups up anymore anyways. But since it&#39;s 4 shots 2 lefts and 2 rights inside of 3 inches, it&#39;s more than adequate to be lethal on medium sized game and bigger, out to about 150 yards. I&#39;m pretty happy with the way it shoots and the relative ease that it regulated.

I&#39;ve never had one do this to me, but I&#39;ve heard from other double makers that they sometimes will cross 4 or 5 feet at 100 yards. That would be a bear to regulate.

[BelchFire]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CowboyCS @ Jul 24 2008, 09:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1019267)</div>
Since you can&#39;t sight a double in off the bench,[/b]
Why not?

(you can tell who&#39;s never owned a double, can&#39;t you?) http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bag-on-head.gif

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Jul 24 2008, 12:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1019355)</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CowboyCS @ Jul 24 2008, 09:52 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1019267)
Since you can&#39;t sight a double in off the bench,[/b]
Why not?

(you can tell who&#39;s never owned a double, can&#39;t you?) http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bag-on-head.gif
[/b][/quote]
Because of barrel harmonics, and the time lapse between when you pull the trigger and when the bullet leaves the muzzle. With single barrel guns usually the best shooters are the ones that have the barrels floated, allowing the barrel to distort as necessary without touching anything. But with a double the barrels are anchored to each other, so they aren&#39;t allowed to resonate freely. So if they are touching anything like a shooting bag, or shooting sticks, it compounds the harmonics problem. The only truelly reliable way to regulate and sight them in is free standing, shooting off hand, just like you would hunting, that way the gun can free recoil and the barrels can be regulated to shoot to the same POI as you will have during normal hunting conditions. There are a couple of slow motion videos of rifles being shot floating around the Net, watch one of those and then imagine that distortion being limited by having another barrel attached to it.

C

[Bulleye]

Way to go Cowboy. Your rifle is looking really nice! Those groups aren&#39;t to shabby either. That will surely put a hole in a deer.

[FTTPOW]

I&#39;m a little late in joining in on the eye-candy fest. I&#39;m drooling. That wood is exceptional. Nothing like lots of figure in a gunstck. Not only will it be a joy to handle/shoot, but it looks like a labor of love to build.

Only one question. Where do the flints go?? LOL

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (FTTPOW @ Jul 24 2008, 08:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1019516)</div>
I&#39;m a little late in joining in on the eye-candy fest. I&#39;m drooling. That wood is exceptional. Nothing like lots of figure in a gunstck. Not only will it be a joy to handle/shoot, but it looks like a labor of love to build.

Only one question. Where do the flints go?? LOL[/b]
In my pocket so I can start a fire at the end of a day of hunting. I like flintlocks just not in a double, they end up being very wide at the breech/locks and don&#39;t look right.

C

[CowboyCS]

I thought you all might like to see it, since it is basically a finished rifle the rest is just dress-up, except the rust blue it&#39;s going to get. All that&#39;s left is engraving, checkering and blueing. I put a quick coat of cold blue on it just to prevent it from rusting (high humidity here) while I work on the engraving, and finish the rest.
[attachment=53436:Picture0115.jpg]
When it&#39;s done I&#39;ll get better pics in better lighting, so it will do justice to the wood.

[snoopdogg]

Cowboy, that&#39;s a pretty gun. I think your work is awesome!

[BelchFire]

Are the barrels stainless?

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Jul 28 2008, 03:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1020434)</div>
Are the barrels stainless?[/b]
Yep, sure are. That&#39;s actually a first for me, I&#39;ve never done a double in stainless before now. There was no special reason for it, other than I got a really good deal on them. Both barrels shipped to my house for $80.00. That&#39;s less than I usually pay for even one barrel. Most of the time I build in carbon, it&#39;s more traditional, it&#39;s also easier to solder carbon than stainless.

C

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (snoopdogg @ Jul 28 2008, 10:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1020329)</div>
Cowboy, that&#39;s a pretty gun. I think your work is awesome![/b]
Thank you. Just let me know when you&#39;d like to order yours? http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-yellow.gif

[barel74]

beautiful work cowboy, can&#39;t wait to see how it looks after the engraving http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

I would LIKE to order one right now....... whether I could afford it or not, thats another question.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (barel74 @ Jul 28 2008, 05:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1020481)</div>
beautiful work cowboy, can&#39;t wait to see how it looks after the engraving http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

I would LIKE to order one right now....... whether I could afford it or not, thats another question.[/b]
You might be surprised what can be worked out, I&#39;ve managed to work some pretty good deals for people in the past, and I&#39;ve done it on payment plans. I don&#39;t think that fine custom rifles should be limited to the rich, everybody should have the opportunity to own them, so I&#39;m willing to work with guys on building them a rifle.

[tmoniz]

If you have the time Cowboy. Could you explain to me your process for rust bluing. I have only done it once.
And what solutions you will be using.



Tmon.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tmoniz @ Jul 29 2008, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1020716)</div>
If you have the time Cowboy. Could you explain to me your process for rust bluing. I have only done it once.
And what solutions you will be using.



Tmon.[/b]
Sure, I can describe the process, I&#39;ll add pictures later as I do the process.
What I use is a combination of products:
Pilkington Classic American Rust Blue 4 oz bottle
Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown & Degreaser 2.5 oz bottle

Take one cap full of LMF Barrel Brown and Degreaser and pour it into the bottle of Pilkingtons, shake it well(You only do this once per bottle) shake it everytime you plan to use it. The reason I do this is Pilkingtons applies really spotty by itself but with a cap full of LMF in it, it applies as smooth as glass.

1. I polish all my metal down to 400 grit, there is no point in going any further because the rust blue is going to eat into the metal and leave it rougher than 400 anyways.
2. Rubber gloves or soft cotton gloves from this point on. never handle the metal with your bare hands as it will leave the oils from your skin.
3. I then degrease everything, by starting with brake degreaser. then I rinse throughly with water then I degrease again with laquer thinner to displace the water it evaporates fast.
4. I then apply the rust blue solution using cotton cloth strips about a 1" long by a 1/2" wide folded in half and held with a clothes pin. I dip the cloth in the rust blue and work in long smooth strokes, applying a thin even coat to all the metal parts. The barrels are the hardest because of the length and trying to get one even stroke the whole length of the barrel. (In this case it won&#39;t be a big deal cause they are stainless)
5. Then I set everything aside and let it rust, here in Kansas it films up in about 4 hours, due to the humidity. When I lived in Wyoming I used my bathroom as a sweat box, I would take everything in the shop bathroom and run the sink full of hot water and close the door. (You can build a sweat box really easy if you want to, have a look on the NET there are several good plans for free)
6. Remember to put your gloves back on if you are using latex just put on new ones they are cheap and you don&#39;t want contaminates getting in the rust process, if you are using cotton make sure you keep them very clean.
7. Then card the rust off, I use .020" wire, wire wheels for the larger parts, and fine wire wheels on my dremel for getting the smaller parts and into close areas. Don&#39;t get aggressive with the carding you just want to take the top powder off. you don&#39;t want to bare the metal.
8. Then repeat the application process starting at step 4. going to step 7. How many times you will have to do this depends on type of metal. and humidity, and a dozen other factors, but after you do it a few times you get a feel for how many coats you need.
9. Then bring distilled water (or in my case my well water is very good so I just use my tap water)to a boil in a container that is big enough to put the largest part in completely submerged,(I have a stainless steel box that I made out of scraps it&#39;s 5"x5"x 40" and a three burner propane camp stove) boil every part completely submerged, and it will turn blue/black in the boiling water. If you aren&#39;t happy with the depth of the blue then start at step 2 and repeat the degreasing and rusting process a few more times.
10. When it comes out of the water and you are satisfied with the blue, then thoroughly dry everything, and apply a protective coat of oil.

I like Automatic Transmission Fluid for all external metals and Mobil Synthetic Motor Oil for internal lubricant and protection, and for very special jobs I have Sperm Whale Oil (It&#39;s very expensive and hard to come by these days).
Yes I know none of those is an approved product made by the gun companies, but ATF has synthetics and additives in it that are tried and true for performance in things that are more prone to wear and rust than anything a gun will ever go through in normal use. The Mobil synthetic is also tried and true by our troops in the sand box, the Marines and Army use it in their M-16&#39;s with excellent results. And I&#39;m sure that most of those weapons are going to see much worse use and wear than any of my firearms.
As to the Sperm Whale Oil it was at one time just about the only lube/oil the gun industry used, but that was prior to the advent of the petroleum industry when whaling ruled the seas and provided oil for almost every thing including lamp oil. That might be why the whale population is kinda reduced today.

Hope that helps.

C

[tmoniz]

You know whats&#39;s funny Cowboy is that I used the same products but couldn&#39;t remember what they were.
I took and ran a tube from my clothes dryer and ran it thru the bottom of my home made steam cabinet.
While drying a load of laundry.
I botched it the first few times but finally got a good result.
Hey thanks for the info.
Gonna try your process on the next 2 projects.

Tmon.

[inchr48]

I used the LMF when I redid my TC Renegade last year. I put a pot of boiling water in a large cooler for the sweat box.

LMF is made in my neck of the woods, but I think I bought it from Midway.

[CowboyCS]

Getting things to rust were I live isn&#39;t a problem, it&#39;s getting them to stop rusting that&#39;s the problem.

[snoopdogg]

Cowboy, do you do other work besides blackpowder? Also, how do I get a hold of you?

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (snoopdogg @ Jul 30 2008, 01:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1021170)</div>
Cowboy, do you do other work besides blackpowder? Also, how do I get a hold of you?[/b]
I posted some pictures of some of my past projects here: Other builds (http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=176482&pid=1019816&st=0&#entry1019816)
I&#39;ve got pictures of some other builds, I just have to find them and get them on my computer.
You can email me at: cstolzer338athotmail.com replace the "at" with "@"

C

[tmoniz]

Cowboy.

You gonna Smith fulltime?

Tmon

[snoopdogg]

Cowboy, e-mail sent.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tmoniz @ Jul 30 2008, 02:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1021217)</div>
Cowboy.

You gonna Smith fulltime?

Tmon[/b]
That and the Ranch/Farm (160 acres) is about all I&#39;m doing these days, I used to have a small handyman/light construction business, but with the economy the way it is lately I haven&#39;t had much business, nobody around here can afford to have their place worked on.

C

[hntnnut]

Cowboy,
I&#39;ve been following this thread with great intrest, and your talent is A1 to say the least.
I do have a question about the browning process. Will this paticular process work with Win. Mdl. 94 recievers from the seventies that wont take bluing? I have my first deer rifle and and its in desperate need of being refinished and think browning might be just the ticket as I really dont want to spray it with a gun-kote type of finnish.


Richard

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hntnnut @ Jul 30 2008, 11:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1021413)</div>
Cowboy,
I&#39;ve been following this thread with great intrest, and your talent is A1 to say the least.
I do have a question about the browning process. Will this paticular process work with Win. Mdl. 94 recievers from the seventies that wont take bluing? I have my first deer rifle and and its in desperate need of being refinished and think browning might be just the ticket as I really dont want to spray it with a gun-kote type of finnish.


Richard[/b]
I don&#39;t know for sure, I&#39;ve never refinished one. I know that during the 70&#39;s and 80&#39;s that Winchester was using some odd metals (read that as cheap in my opinion) in a lot of their guns. I know from other gunsmiths that the results of tank blueing vary greatly, sometimes it works fine and other times you get very odd colors and sometimes very spotty finishes. My opinion is that if it will rust evenly then it will probably work, but that&#39;s just my opinion and worth what ya paid for it. As far as a dura-coat finish goes that really wouldn&#39;t be out of place, because by the late 70&#39;s Winchester was painting their finishes on, I suspect because of the blueing problems they were having. I will try and get a hold of another gunsmith I know, who has worked on lots of them and find out what he thinks.

Now if it was mine, what I would probably do is strip the action apart find a nice spot on the inside that isn&#39;t going to hurt anything or be seen once assembled and prep a little spot and apply a little rust blue solution and see what it does. If it rusts up in a day and you dunk it in boiling water and it turns, then the whole thing could probably be refinished without a problem, if it doesn&#39;t rust up then you&#39;re only out a little time and a few bucks for solution. IF it doesn&#39;t rust up and turn, then clean the solution off good, and just put a little clear finish (clear nail polish) over the spot to protect it, until you decide what the next best thing is.


C

[CowboyCS]

OK I have some information on the WIN 94 blueing. I talked to my friend about it and he said polish everything up then Iron plate it and it will blue like any other action. The action is made from "graphitic metal" also known as "cinder metal". As to rust blueing he didn&#39;t know he had never tried it. I then dug through my GUNSMITH KINKS Volumes 1 thru 4 and in GKIII pages 199-200 gives a full detailed description of how to blue this action using Oxynate No.84. I&#39;m not sure if the Gunsmith Kinks books are copyrighted or not so I don&#39;t want to post it until I&#39;m sure. But you can get a copy of the books from Brownells. They are good reading even if you aren&#39;t a gunsmith.
Hope this helps.

C

[hntnnut]

Thanks a bunch Cowboy, I think I may try the browning on it. If I do I&#39;ll post the resaults.

Richard

[guyintx]

WOW. I just found this thread and have spent the last hour drooling over the pictures and the quality of craftsmanship. You are a rare breed Cowboy and if it was in the budget i would deffinatly order a gun from you. Be sure and post some pictures when you get the stock finished.

GREAT THREAD!!!!!!!!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-jaw-drop-purple.gif

[CowboyCS]

Sorry it&#39;s been so long since I updated this, I was gone to Wyoming for two weeks, preaching at a Cowboy Gathering. The engraving and metal finish are done now though.
[attachment=54263:Picture0116.jpg]
[attachment=54264:Picture0117.jpg]
[attachment=54265:Picture0118.jpg]
[attachment=54266:Picture0119.jpg]
[attachment=54267:Picture0120.jpg]
[attachment=54268:Picture0121.jpg]

[CowboyCS]

A few more:
[attachment=54269:Picture0122.jpg]
[attachment=54270:Picture0123.jpg]
[attachment=54271:Picture0124.jpg]
[attachment=54272:Picture0125.jpg]
On to the checkering. This is just a quick shot of the checkering stand I built, it rotates and swivels in just about every direction a man could want for checkering and makes the job a lot easier.
[attachment=54273:Picture0126.jpg]

[BelchFire]

Hooooooo, BOY! I think I&#39;m in looooooove!

CS, I was really getting worried about you. For 3 or 4 days now, I&#39;ve been threatening to e-mail you and make sure you were OK. That rifle&#39;s looking better than FANTASTIC and I just don&#39;t know the word to use for it. And the best part of all is that you built the whole dang thing from raw metal. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif I&#39;m amazed. You&#39;re going to do WELL if you put this much finesse into all your projects.

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BelchFire @ Aug 25 2008, 07:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1030500)</div>
Hooooooo, BOY! I think I&#39;m in looooooove!

CS, I was really getting worried about you. For 3 or 4 days now, I&#39;ve been threatening to e-mail you and make sure you were OK. That rifle&#39;s looking better than FANTASTIC and I just don&#39;t know the word to use for it. And the best part of all is that you built the whole dang thing from raw metal. http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif I&#39;m amazed. You&#39;re going to do WELL if you put this much finesse into all your projects.[/b]
That&#39;s very flattering but I&#39;m married and straight, oh wait you probably meant the rifle....:)
No need to worry I was just out of state for a while, have to spread the Gospel of Christ whenever I can.
Quality makes all the difference in the world, now all I have to do is find some people with money who want one.

[CowboyCS]

So here&#39;s how I checker, since I don&#39;t checker very often and am usually way out of practice, I start with the simplest flat areas first and then do the curved areas last.
[attachment=54286:Picture0127.jpg]
I do all my layout in pencil then cut in the outside edges and the primary lines.
[attachment=54287:Picture0128.jpg]
Then I cut in all of one direction in one panel.
[attachment=54288:Picture0129.jpg]
Then I cut all the cross lines in and lastly I cut the edge a little deeper just to clean up any over runs.
This is 16 LPI flat top checkering without a border.
I usually use a magnifying visor and stop whenever I have to, just to take a break and let my eyes rest so they don&#39;t get overly strained.
Now just three more panels to go.

[myfriendis410]

It&#39;s nice to see someone who doesn&#39;t go in for the fine line checkering. In my opinion, the "coarser" cut--16-18 lpi is perfect for a carry rifle. I love the "bite" of good pointed up diamonds.

We are all watching the progress of this project and look forward to your next set of posts. Great job!

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (myfriendis410 @ Aug 26 2008, 09:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1030732)</div>
It&#39;s nice to see someone who doesn&#39;t go in for the fine line checkering. In my opinion, the "coarser" cut--16-18 lpi is perfect for a carry rifle. I love the "bite" of good pointed up diamonds.

We are all watching the progress of this project and look forward to your next set of posts. Great job![/b]
Thank You.
20 or 22lpi skip line is actually my favorite, I like a good bite in my hand also, but this stock is slightly on the soft side and I don&#39;t think it will raise a point very well, also most of the originals I have seen of this era of rifle had flat top checkering so that&#39;s why I&#39;m going this route.

[CowboyCS]

I finished checkering the forearm this morning.
[attachment=54329:Picture0130.jpg]

[barel74]

It just keeps getting better and better http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-bowdown-purple.gif

[tmoniz]

This topic is way cool.

Tmoney.

[tmoniz]

And CS. You&#39;ll have to Excuse Belch. He gets a little excited.
HaHa!

Tmoney.

[CowboyCS]

Well I got the checkering done today, I now have a pounding headache which usually happens when I do close work with a magnifier on, but it should go away now that I&#39;m done.
[attachment=54346:Picture0131.jpg]
[attachment=54347:Picture0132.jpg]
[attachment=54348:Picture0133.jpg]

[tmoniz]

That is very nice.

Tmoney.

[myfriendis410]

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???? PUT IT TOGETHER!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!

http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-green-bouncing.gif

[CowboyCS]

OK for all those who have watched and waited so patiently:
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0138.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0139.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0143.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0142.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0141.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0147.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0149.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0148.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0150.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0152.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0153.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0154.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0155.jpg
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/Picture0157.jpg
And there you have it, from beginning to end.
I hope you all enjoyed watching this as much as I did building it.

C

[Hitechhunter]

This is AWESOME! I wish I had patience and talent like that!

How about some bids, guys? Who wants to buy it?

You should put the text and photo&#39;s into a Word document and publish it. have it printed up real nice on thick, glossy paper, bound and sign it to go along with the rifle.

[BelchFire]

Although it&#39;s a beautiful rifle and I&#39;d love to have it, I think he intended to keep it. At least that&#39;s what he was thinking when he engraved his name on the barrels. CS, I&#39;m highly impressed. You will do well if you put that much effort into your customer&#39;s rifles. And a pictorial build like this will be a very high plus to some builders if you do it for them as well. Kind of like owning the blueprints to your home; it really doesn&#39;t add anything to the home, but it&#39;s cool to have.

I give this whole thread and project a http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

[CowboyCS]

Thank you, I was happy to share this build.
I do intend to keep this one, but I usually sign my builds along the barrel, most of the custom gun makers of yester year signed either the lock or the barrel.
I would be more than happy to build another one for someone though, or a different kind of rifle or pistol for that matter.

My next project is in the works already and it will be for sale, I brought back an 8 bore barrel from Wyoming and the action for it should be here in a couple of days.

C

[tmoniz]

What a nice rifle and work.
When you get started on the next one.
Give us progress reports on it as well.

Tmoney.

[snoopdogg]

Been a while since I visited this post--awesome work! Damn....

[CowboyCS]

Today is opening day of early muzzleloader season here. So I got up not to early as I never see any deer on my place before 8:00am anyways. Got all my gear ready to go, had a cup of coffee with my wife, and then walked down to the trees on the north end of my property, about a 1/2 mile away. I climbed up into my stand and hung my shooting bag and rifle on their hooks and was just getting comfy when a Doe and two yearlings came up out of my field and into the trees. When they walked behind some brush and couldn&#39;t see me I grabbed my Double rifle off the hook and stood up. I watched them walk in and out of the trees until the big doe got in the clear about 40 yards away. She was mostly broadside and slightly quartering away from me, when I pulled the trigger on the right barrel. She folded up like a house of playing cards. The 500gr bullet entered a little high on her left shoulder and exited a little low and forward on her right shoulder. When I gutted her the bullet had decimated both lungs and broke both shoulder.
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/cstolzer338/500%20BPE%20Muzzleloader/FirstKill1.jpg
I slit her throat, filled out my tag and called back up to the house to have my wife bring the truck down. I finished dressing her out and got the pictures up by the front of my shop. It&#39;s nice to drop them close to the house were I can use the garden house to clean everything out and get them cooled down fast. I&#39;m very happy with the performance of my double rifle, and their is nothing like the feeling of knowing you harvested a nice animal, with a firearm you built yourself. It has been a great morning.

C

[D3Lifer]

Cowboy, thank you for sharing the process of building that rifle. I must say it has been the best thread I&#39;ve had the pleasure of reading in quite some time. Your work is admirable, great job!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif

[CowboyCS]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (D3Lifer @ Sep 25 2008, 08:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1042004)</div>
Cowboy, thank you for sharing the process of building that rifle. I must say it has been the best thread I&#39;ve had the pleasure of reading in quite some time. Your work is admirable, great job!! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley_10sign.gif[/b]
Thank you, Glad you enjoyed it, I&#39;ve got another build going now. I&#39;m slowly adding pictures to it, check out the 8 bore thread occasionally for updates if it interests you.

C