History Re-created: Flintlock Longrifle - Eastern PA style 50 Cal.

[@mountainmancaraway6431]

Pretty finish on that rifle, nice work

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thank you

[@selectiveimagery]

Wow that looks fantastic, great job, thanks for sharing. Just like in photography you need a lot of patience to do this and you do it well, nicely presented video. - Jeff

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thanks Jeffrey.

[@charlesmckinley29]

Very nice!

[@JeffandLeslie]

thank. you

[@gaucphotography]

Simply beautiful, How long does it take you to make one of those? Does the metal and the flint need to treated/modify to produce a good a reliable spark?

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thank you Gustavo. It takes approximately 100 hours from start to finish. The flint is chipped (knapped) to form a sharp edge. The steel striker (Frizzen) is heat treated to harden it so that it will make a spark. In the photos and while I'm building one, I use a block of wood instead of a flint during function testing and building since it has to be cycled many times. Flints are expensive (2 to 3 dollars each) and no need to break one or use them up in function testing so a block of wood allows me to be sure all the parts are moving freely and working properly. Usually the frizzen is already heat treated when you get them but sometimes not. The process is to use a torch to heat it cherry red and quench it in oil. The heating and quenching changes the crystal structures of the steel. Once hardened that way they are brittle like glass. Then they have to be heat cycled again to about 600 degrees or so to take some of the brittleness out. Lots of methods, one way is to heat it slowly with a torch to a straw color and let it cool slowly. Another way is to melt a pot of lead, float the steel on the molten lead (steel floats on top of the melted lead) and let it cool slowly. Lead melts at about 600 degrees plus or minus. I've used both methods and can't tell the difference in the end result.

[@jeannieheard1465]

Did you draw file the barrel and cold blue it? Did you buff off any part of the lock plate on the outside? Were you at all worried about the front machine bolt interfering with the ramrod hole?

[@JeffandLeslie]

First thank you for watching. I will try to answer your questions in order: 1) Yes I draw filed the barrel and then sanded with 220 and 400 grit wet/dry paper soaked in oil. I cold blued it and carded the bluing off using 600 grit oil soaked paper until I had the color I like. I did the same for the lock. 2) I did not buff it as that ruins the lines. I used files and oil soaked wet/dry paper wrapped around files. I polished the inside lock plate with honing stones as well as the bolster where it meets the barrel to ensure as flat of a surface as I can get with hand tools, files and stones. I finished the outside of the lock plate the same way 3) that is always a concern. Before I inlet the lock plate, I mark the lock plate side where the bottom of the barrel channel is. I then mark where the bottom of the ramrod hole is (I drill a very small hole through the web at the bottom of the barrel channel and use a depth gauge (an old caliper with the plunger ground down to about 1/16" diameter). I transfer these measurements to the outside of the stock. When I position the lock, I ensure the "nose" of the lock will line up between the two lines. If I measured right and drilled straight, the lock bolt will go through the web and neither interfere with the barrel channel or the ramrod hole. I mount the parts in a drill press vice and drill through with my drill press to tackle the "drill straight" issue. In 30 some rifles I've built, I've had maybe 2 where the lock bolt was slightly in the ramrod channel. It's pretty easy to mark the screw and then file a small notch in it for clearance or if it is barely in there just taper the ramrod a little. Mostly, though, if one measures accurately, it's not a problem. Hope this helps.

[@jeannieheard1465]

@@JeffandLeslie Thank you. Today 7 Dec '24 I made the punch dimple for a flash hole small pilot hole. I'm confident that tomorrow that flash hole job will be finished. I have yet to do the butt plate work, but I can see now, because of your pencil work, just how to tackle it. Also I have the L&R double trigger inlet and held with the tang screw and a rear screw. Inletting the guard, pipes, and muzzle cap + a patch box will seem easy in comparison.

[@JeffandLeslie]

@ sounds like great progress. Hope to see the finished flintlock.

[@RNSOutdoors]

Can you explain how you finish your stock. I am making my first flintlock and would like a similar result as what you have here. I dislike all the red colored maple stocks that seem popular and would like something that looks more like what you have here. Thank you very much

[@JeffandLeslie]

happy to help. For wood finishing, I sand and whisker down to about 320 grit. On particularly fuzzy maple, I will go to 400 grit. I "whisker" the stock by wetting it down between sanding grits. Since the stain I use is alcohol based, I whisker with rubbing alcohol (nothing special, just the cheapest stuff you can get at the grocery store). Actually it does 2 things, 1) raises the grain so your next grit of sandpaper can ut the fuzzy ends off, and 2) alcohol is a decent degreaser and will help remove some of your fingerprints from the wood which could interfere with the final finish. For stain, I use alcohol based stain (leather dye). I put a base coat of a reddish brown. If it looks too red (some wood will absorb stain differently than others even of the same species), being alcohol based, I can wet a cloth with rubbing alcohol and wipe over the stock. As long as the stain hasn't set for an hour or so, the alcohol soaked cloth will remove some of it from the wood, do this until the color is desired. On top of the reddish brown I put a golden brown alcohol based stain. I build up coats until it looks like I want. Go about 1 shade darker than you want the final since the oil finish will lift some stain so I always go a little darker than I want the final. For top finish I use, don't laugh, Minwax Tung Oil Finish. It's not really tung oil (although a bottle of tung oil may have been located somewhere in the factory as it was made) but it is an oil based finish with a touch of hardener. It provides a reasonably durable finish that ages well. I have a couple flintlocks I built 30 years ago and have received a lot of use. The finish has worn to a dull sheen, some areas around wrist and forearm have worn almost through. They look just like a 30 year flintlock should look. Stain I use is Homer Dangler's Stain that I get from Pecatonica River Longrifle Supply. However, just about any alcohol based aniline dye will give the same results. Hope this helps.

[@RNSOutdoors]

@@JeffandLesliethank you very much for your generosity of knowledge!

[@RNSOutdoors]

@@JeffandLeslieI now feel like I have a good game plan for my first flintlock build.

[@JeffandLeslie]

@@RNSOutdoors best wishes on the build. Hope you will put up some photos of it when you're done.

[@RNSOutdoors]

Will do.

[@stojanletica6079]

Koja je merna jedinica tj žilavost čelika puščane cevi

[@JeffandLeslie]

The barrel is 42" long (106.6 cm) and is .50 caliber (12.7mm). Hope this helps.

[@longrider9551]

👍✌️

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thank you