icebones
Member
i have a flintlock kentucky long rifle ive had for about 5 or 6 years now, but ive always wanted to get my hands on a matchlock musket. now seeing as the only one ive ever seen was at antique and modern firearms in lexington (i think, memory is rusty) kentucky.
im not interested in spending several thousand for some antique rifle, because i actually want to fire this musket, so i got to thinking, i can run a lathe and im fairly decent in the art of wood working... so why not make my own?
i want this to look like the antique matchlock musket from the 1600's, by that i mean i want it to look authentic...
i was thinking about getting some 1.25'' or maybe 1.5'' bar-sock for the barrel, and getting a 4x4 post of walnut for the stock. the lock will be made of steel barstock also. i was planning on this rifle being .75 caliber and having a bbl length of at least 36''. now here is where the machininst comes into play... its gonna be one heck of a pain in the butt to bore out a bbl that long with the tools and bits i have, so im guessing that maybe i could find thick walled conduit piping somewhere, but i want at least a good 1/2'' of thickness in the barrel walls. tapping the breach and turning a breach plug and welding that sucker in place would be no problem though. i wanted a steel ramrod too for durability's sake, and 1/4'' steel stock with something on the end to seat the ball would be a snap to make. i was planning on making a simple serpentine and trigger to hold the match cord
no comes the big question... what kind of finish? i want this musket to have that old look. petina i think its called. you know that deep brown color...
ive read in the old days gunsmiths yould use cow urine and heat the metal and pour the urine on the hot steel, seems it would oxidise the metal and give it that deep chestnut color im looking for. any suggestions that dont involve cow pee?
also, anybody know where i could find match cord to use in this rifle?
before anybody says that this would be dangerous i was going to do a simple low tech proof test by tieing a string around the trigger and firing it from a safe distance with a heavier powder charge than i plan on using, probably from behind something thick, hard and heavy (like hiding behind my old chevy truck)
now i was planning on using 23/32'' or 3/4'' ball bearings or maybe making another mold on the CNC at the shop i used to work in, i already made one for my .50 flintlock, and its fairly easy.
my regular load for this musket would be around 20 or 30 grains of 2ffg or 3ffg powder behind a ball held inplace by paper. i know this wont be powerful or give smoking hot velocity, but this thing will lob a .75 caliber ball. and i think thats a big enough hole...
also from the legal standpoint, im almost certain you dont need any registration or paperwork to manufacture a blackpowder weapon. although i will check with the local boys in blue to confirm this.
any thoughts? comments?
im not interested in spending several thousand for some antique rifle, because i actually want to fire this musket, so i got to thinking, i can run a lathe and im fairly decent in the art of wood working... so why not make my own?
i want this to look like the antique matchlock musket from the 1600's, by that i mean i want it to look authentic...
i was thinking about getting some 1.25'' or maybe 1.5'' bar-sock for the barrel, and getting a 4x4 post of walnut for the stock. the lock will be made of steel barstock also. i was planning on this rifle being .75 caliber and having a bbl length of at least 36''. now here is where the machininst comes into play... its gonna be one heck of a pain in the butt to bore out a bbl that long with the tools and bits i have, so im guessing that maybe i could find thick walled conduit piping somewhere, but i want at least a good 1/2'' of thickness in the barrel walls. tapping the breach and turning a breach plug and welding that sucker in place would be no problem though. i wanted a steel ramrod too for durability's sake, and 1/4'' steel stock with something on the end to seat the ball would be a snap to make. i was planning on making a simple serpentine and trigger to hold the match cord
no comes the big question... what kind of finish? i want this musket to have that old look. petina i think its called. you know that deep brown color...
ive read in the old days gunsmiths yould use cow urine and heat the metal and pour the urine on the hot steel, seems it would oxidise the metal and give it that deep chestnut color im looking for. any suggestions that dont involve cow pee?
also, anybody know where i could find match cord to use in this rifle?
before anybody says that this would be dangerous i was going to do a simple low tech proof test by tieing a string around the trigger and firing it from a safe distance with a heavier powder charge than i plan on using, probably from behind something thick, hard and heavy (like hiding behind my old chevy truck)
now i was planning on using 23/32'' or 3/4'' ball bearings or maybe making another mold on the CNC at the shop i used to work in, i already made one for my .50 flintlock, and its fairly easy.
my regular load for this musket would be around 20 or 30 grains of 2ffg or 3ffg powder behind a ball held inplace by paper. i know this wont be powerful or give smoking hot velocity, but this thing will lob a .75 caliber ball. and i think thats a big enough hole...
also from the legal standpoint, im almost certain you dont need any registration or paperwork to manufacture a blackpowder weapon. although i will check with the local boys in blue to confirm this.
any thoughts? comments?