a gunbuilding tutorial by mike brooks - american …americanlongrifles.org/pdf/tutorial.pdf · page...

of 117 Copyright 2007 by Mike Brooks permission to use granted to AmericanLongrifles.org/forum 3/22/2014

A Gunbuilding Tutorial by

Mike Brooks

Here's how I do it, others may do this differently. Over the next couple weeks we're going to build a gun. If you have any questions just ask

along the way. It has a .40 cal 45 3/4" Getz swamped barrel. Chambers Virginia lock and Goehring mounts. This first picture is straight out of the

box from Fred Miller. Barrel channel, Ram rod channel and RR hole are already done.

This one is after the stock has been ban sawed to my pattern profile.

The barrel has been seated here and we're ready to inlet the breech plug.


The next step is to shape the tang. I've chosen a thumb nail design and

drawn it on, ready to hack saw and file it to shape.


The VIOLA! it's ready to let into the stock.


I've chopped in the bolster for the plug so we can start to set it on in.


This is the completed inlet for the breech plug.


This is how it looks all put together.

Tomorrow we're making underlugs and dovetailing them in and drilling

the pins in and then probably we'll inlet the lock too and bolt that in.

Today we're going to start with making under lugs for the barrel. I start with brass that is roughly .030 and I cut it in strips that look to be about

3/8" wide. After several bends they look like underlugs.... I hope you'll get the idea from the pictures.


Did everyone get how to make these? Here's a high quality blurry picture

of the lug getting the dovetail bevel filed in.


Here's where most people become unhinged. :shocked2: Time to saw in the slots for the lugs. Make a series of cuts with your trusty hack saw

then file out what's left. Then take your three cornered file and cut the under cuts for the dove tail and fit and try till your lug fits the slot and

stake it in and clean off the excess hanging over the sides.


At this point file the tops of the lugs flat and hit them with some inletting black and put the barrel back in the stock so they mark where they'll sit

in the barrel channel.


Then I made this handy dandy depth drill out of one of those nifty all in one hinge driller thingies. Anyway, I've got this set right at the depth of

the height of my lugs. Drill a series of holes making your slot about

1/8" long on both ends to allow for barrel/stock expansion.


Then get out your 18th century high speed slotting machine and hog

out the webs left over from drilling.

Should end up looking like this... Do this for all your lugs then clamp the

barrel in the stock and see if your slots are deep enough.


If you'll notice in the background there's a gun with a horse head patch

box I've been working on in the evenings while you guys are loafing.... :winking: Ok, our barrel is clamped in and now we scribe a line on the top

line of the stock.


Then remove the barrel out of the stock and measure form the scribe

line down to where you want your pin to go thru.

Then transfer those measurements onto the side of the stock and mark and punch the "spot". I drill mine with a hand drill and a 1/16" drill bit.


Get it all lined up by eye, hold your tongue just right and stand on you

left foot and drill your pin holes thru...

I hit 100% just where I wanted them to go. :blah: Time to set in the lock. At this point I've filed the bolster flat where it will rest against the barrel

and filed a little draft on the lock plate edges. The lock needs a 1/4" of wood to inlet it into, so I leave a little leeway here and leave 3/8" of wood

after I band saw off the extra. This picture shows the lines that represent

3/8 of stock that will be left. You'll notice how a swamped barrel naturally kicks the tail of the lock out.


Now I lay my lock on the stock where I want it. I've got the bottom of the

barrel marked on the stock and I orient the lock so the lock screws will

pass just under the barrel. The other reference point is the mark where the vent will later go. I center the pan and get it in relation in height to

where it should go. Then I draw a pencil line around the bolster.


Then I chop out the area the bolster will occupy, then fit the lock down so

the bolster fits in the inlet I made for it. Usually a couple fit and tries till it gets where I want it to be.


Now the lock is setting precisely where I want it to be and I draw a pencil line around it.


Time to set in the inlet. I use a 3/16 chisel that You see here. Stay inside

the line and go all the way around the lock. I use a shallow gouge for the lock nose.


Then chop out the wood. A 1/2" chisel and a mallet is handy here.


Once you get the first layer out, tap in the lock and see where you're at.


Here's the first print of inletting black. From this point on it's just fit and

try over and over till you get the lock bolster resting against the barrel.

Only remove the black on the lock edges, otherwise you'll end up with a sloppy lock fit. Most people go wrong here by using too little or too much

inletting black. I put it on only in a thickness that you can't actually measure, but will still leave an obvious print. Too much black is the

WORST.


Ok, the lock is now down and the bolster is resting against the barrel.


Here's the finished inlet.

Now take the whole thing over to the drill press and drill and tap your

lock bolts in.


Now mark where all of your lock gut are going to go.


Now remove your lock and lay the bridle over the marked spots and trace around it.

I use a 5/6" forester bit to remove the bulk of the wood. Just kind stay

inside your lines more or less and only go as deep as you need to.


Remove the wood that gets in the way as you add the rest of the lock pieces one at a time. this next picture shows that all the guts of the lock

are inlet except for the mainspring, and that has just been hogged out with the forester bit.

This last picture is the finished lock mortise.


I'm sure I didn't make some of this clear enough, so ask as many

questions as you like. Tomorrow is BUTTPLATE DAY!



Mike Brooks

Ok, here we go with the buttplate. First you got to figure out what your trigger pull is

going to be by placing the triggers on the side of the stock where they will (hopefully)

end up. Then measure and mark where your buttplate should end up , 14

1/4" pull in thei case. Then lay your buttplate on the stock and tace around the inside

of it. Now flip you stock over and establish your center line and cast off. I start cast

off at the end of the breech tang. I was only able to get about 1/16" with this stock

and Buttplate combo.


Then band saw off the wood you need to take off to start inletting your buttplate.


Here you can see we're well on the way to getting this thing near fitting.

Now we have it close enough to screw down. You'll see a few gaps that are left, then


the next picture shows these gaps are gone after I've peened the edge with a hammer

to close everything up. I bent and tweaked this butplate a couple times to get it to

conform more to the stock. There are no hard and fast rules here, just show the

buttplate who's boss and get it to go where you want.


Now it's time to get ready to inlet the triggers. This gun is getting a set of L&R

triggers. First level out the bottom of the forestock down to the final level it will have

when finished. Then strike a centerline from the rear ram rod pipe area to the

buttplate. There will be some cast off involved here again.


Now lay out your triggers, trigger guard and tang screw out and move these all

around till you can ge everything to work right. I had to grind some of the rear

trigger off to shorten it and bend and file the trigger guard bow out. I also had to cut

off both ends of the trigger plate....then it finally all worked out.


Now strip your trigger plate and mark out on the stock where it needs to go and start

the inletting procedure just like we did on the lock.

Inlet the plate and all the guts and get the guts so they work properly. I always put a


wood screw in the rear off the trigger plate to keep it in place. Once all of that's in it's

time to drill the tang screw thru, Center punch the tang and the trigger plate where

you want them to go. The screw should be 90 degrees to the tang. Here's my drilling

jig gizmo, I think it's self-explanatory, if not ask what ever questions you need so we

can all get it figured out.

Here's the gun in the rig, ready to be drilled. The bottom centering pillar is in the

punch mark in the trigger plate at this point. Clearance drill from the top, then flip

it over and use your tap drill to go into the trigger plate.


Now, run your tap down thru the stock and tap the threads into your trigger plate,

then counter sink the tang using the drill press jig.


Here's a picture of the trigger installed and bolted in, then a view of the tang and

tang screw.


Tomorrow will mess around with the trigger guard. But, I'll warn you it's going to be

50 degrees here tomorrow and I'm likely to be in the barn most of the day building

chicken pens for the Old English Games I have coming from New York next week.

:thumbsup: Well after many delays and obligations we're finally back to gunbuilding.

Here we go with the trigger guard. Fill a little draft on the edges and drill a series of

holes for the lug on the forward extension to fit into.

Once you get your hole dug out, place the guard where it needs to go and draw

around it. Before you do this you should do any bending you need to do to get the

rear finial to line up with your cast off.


Here we are with the lug hole chopped in and the pencil line around the guard finial.

The go ahead and inlet it down to where it needs to be. The last picture shows the

inlet when it's finished.


Measure the lug on the guard and figure out where your pin should go thru, Then

place the guard in the stock, clamp it down measure where and mark where you

need to drill , then drill your pin hole thru.


Here we are with the trigger guard fully inlet and pined and screwed in. The chunk of

brass on the left is how much I cut off of the back end of the guard. Somehow I

completely missed showing the inletting of the rear extension. It's done after you get

the fron fully inlet, and clamped down with a C clamp. Then just draw around it and

inlet it like the front. I chose to use a wood screw to hold the rear finial.

I file and polish as much of the trigger guard as I can at this stage while it is secured

to the stock. It's just an easy way to hold the guard while you work on it. (I HATE

filing and polishing brass)


Now we're ready to install the pipes. First take the wood down on the bottom part of

the upper forestock so you end up showing a little more than 1/2 of the ram rod. I

take it of quickly with a cabinet rasp if I don't have to take much off.

I get my pipes as blanks or "kits" from MSB. I solder the tabs closed then shorten the

tab to a reasonable length.


I cut my slot for the tab then rasp a 45 degree angle on the stock for the pipe to lay

against. I also round the stock a bit in this area when I start too. I get the front

started then just keep on inlaying the rear straight down.


At this point I got tired and hung up my chisel for the day. Tomorrow we'll finish the

pipes and start the fun stuff... shaping the stock! :thumbsup: Ok, on with the rear

pipe. Just keep inleting the rear extension down till you get it all the way down and

level with the forestock. The first picture shows almost there, then the final fit as it is

all the way in. The last picture shows the finished inlet without the pipe.



Mike Brooks

Now we're ready to put in the upper pipes which is easy compared to the

rear pipe. I position the upper pipe a little ways back from the forward barrel pin and then i position the middle one by measuring the distance

between the forward pipe and the rear and putting it in the middle of those two pipes.

Slot your ram rod channel for the tab, place the pipe in and draw around it, then inlet it down until it is flush with the bottom of thru RR channel.


Now, clamp your pipes down and scribe a short line on the side, take

the pipe out and measure where you want the pin to go, reinstall and clamp the pie , measure on the side of the stock where you pin will go

thru, mark it and drill it.


Ok, now for what you've all been waiting for! Time to make this square block of wood with the various parts attached look like a gun. I start with

the lock area. I install the lock and bolt it down. Then relieve the extra wood away with a chisel down to the bevel on the lock. This gives you a

guide as to how much wood you have to rasp away.


Here we are with the wood rasped away and the lock panel area at the

correct and finished level.

Ok, now we measure how far from the centerline the lock panel is and

transfer that measurement on to the off side lock panel.


In the next picture the profiles have been established in pencil. In this

case the tails of the lock panels ended up to be about 1 3/4" , I decided to make the smallest part of the wrist 1 7/16 for no, this may change some

later as I see how all of this looks. The butt plate is 2 1/6" wide.


Now, transfer all of these measurements to the top side.


And don't forget to leave wood for your cheek piece!

Then, take your stock over to your trusty band saw and saw off all the

extra wood, I stay 1bout an 1/8" outside of the line because with 5" or more of your blade showing it likes to twist and bobble and wander from

where it's supposed to be. Here’s what it looks like fresh from the saw. had a bobble on the right side near the butt plate, but as you'll see later

it's gone by the time I shape the stock round in that area.


Now we're going to start to round things up a bit. Draw out how you want

your lock panel to look and rasp down to that line.


Here’s the finished lock area....I often come back to this ond other areas

to tweak them as I notice things out of kilter.

Now git you a piece of paper to use as a carbon paper. Lay it over your

finished lock area and trace the edges. Flip the paper over and transfer the line thru on the other side, then flip your paper over again and

scribble a bunch more pencil lead over your original line to transfer the line to your stock.


Then carefully measure and position your nifty piece of paper into the correct position and trace the line on the paper, thus transferring the

line to your stock....


Now rasp away all the wood on the outside of your lock panel, making it

look the same shape as the lock side.

Now it's time to start shaping the buttstock. You can use any tool you

want to do this, but I use a plane to do quite a bit of it now a days. Any


time I rasp I have to wear a mask (severe dust allergies), and I find that

to be a pain in the butt, so I plane all I can. Anyway, I start by removing

wood down to my comb line and the toe line. I get real close to the line with the plane, then rasp down the rest of the way. Always keep a

centerline drawn on your stock to keep a reference point as to where the center is.


Always use a straight edge to keep your high and low bumps and dips to

a minimum.


Now it's time to flip the stock over and work on the cheek piece side. I've

used the plane here to remove the bulk of the wood between the comb and the cheek piece.

Now we have to set the bottom of the cheek piece in, so get your little

saw and saw straight down, somewhere near where you think it ought to

be. I might have to deepen this cut a time or two as I shape the buttstock out.


Now, chisel away the excess wood.

Here's how it looks with the excess wood chiseled away.


And, here's the buttstock roughed out a little more with a 1" chisel and a little more planning.

Ok, here we go. In this picture I've got the cheek piece side pretty well shaped up with a #49 cabinet rasp The cheek piece has also been

reduced in height with the plane.


Now I'm going to hollow out the area where the comb meets the wrist. I

use one of those round sure form files followed by a barrel channel scraper...just kind of lends itself well for these kinds of applications.


Now I'm going to draw the line that separates the comb from the

buttstock. It follows the line that the buttplate return makes, draw the line on both sides, then round off the top of the buttstock down to your

line.


Here's your finished product.


Tomorrow we have to do some work on the toe of the buttstock, then we'll go onto shaping the forestock.



Mike Brooks

Now to the toe. It's hard to see in the picture, but there's about 1/16" too much wood sticking out of the bottom. Time to rasp everything off

level, checking with the straight edge as I go. I ought to mention, I modified the buttplate some by peening before I ever used it. I gained

about 1/8" in both width and height by doing so.


Then, as you can see I have to readjust the corner line of the bottom

edge of the buttstock again.

Then, after checking out Shumway's book I sculpt the cheek piece similar

to the "Brass Barreled Gun".


Now, on to the forestock! First off we have to strike a line along the upper forestock that will expose just a little bit more that 1/2 of the

barrel when the extra wood is removed. Then we have to measure down from

that line 1/3 of the distance of the thickness of the stock. I always put an "insurance line 1/8" above below the 1/3rd line to I don't get a diamond

shaped effect. The 1/3rd line will end up being the widest part of the

forestock. I hope all of that made sense.

Now, after removing the barrel, rasp off the extra wood that is above the

top line and now we should have a little more than 1/2 of the barrel showing.

Then flip the stock on its side and start rounding off the upper part of


the forestock down to the 1/3rd line. I do it in several facets then round

them off. I leave about a 1/32" or less flat next to the barrel.


Now, the barrel is put back into the stock and pinned in and we move on

to shaping the lower part of the upper forestock. It' done in a series of facets, just like I did before. Here’s a picture sequence of the operation.


Now we're going to do the same thing with the lower forestock.

Same thing, a bunch of facets that eventually end up being rounded off.


Now there are a few nasty areas that need to be cleaned up, one of them

is the rear ram rod thimble.


I cut some away with a chisel then smooth things up with a half round file.

Then there is the clunky area around the front of the lock panels.


I take out the wood here with a 7/16" rat tail and clean it up with a half round file and my ever handy round barrel channel scraper.


You've probably noticed the nice worm hole that's shown up as we've

shaped the stock out...I thought worm holes were only on Star Trek?


Then, we have to shape the muzzle area in preparation for the

muzzle cap.


I make a paper pattern for the muzzle cap like this. You just wrap a

piece of paper around the stock and draw a line.

Transfer this pattern to a piece of brass, cut it out, then anneal it.


Then clamp it down to your stock where it needs to go and bend it around the stock, you can just use your fingers, the brass is pretty soft

at this point.

Once it's bent around draw a line around the back end of it.


Here's what it should look like at this point.


Stay tuned in tomorrow when we continue making the muzzle cap!



Mike Brooks

On with the nose cap. I cut just on the inside of my pencil mark with a

jeweler's saw then rasp off the extra wood.


Then wrap the brass back around the stock and strike a line even with

the top of the fore stock on both sides and remove the excess brass.

Here's the muzzle cap trimmed up and pinched in so it sets properly

against the barrel sides.


Now, solder on the front piece and cut out your octagon shape to fit

against the barrel.


Now, it's time to pin it down. I use copper wire as a rivet, it's about

5/64", so I drill a 5/64ths hole thru the cap and the stock and stop when it hits the barrel.

Now grasp your short piece of copper wire in the vice and dink on the

end to mushroom the top.


Take your barrel out and put your copper rivet you just made thru the

stock and cap. Counter sink the hole on both ends first by the way.

Now peen the end down against the cap and you're done!


Now we're going to make a side plate. I suppose the stock I use is .090

or so. Get your paper side panel pattern back out that you made before and place it on the side panel and draw out your side plate.

Cut out and glue your pattern on your brass and cut and file till it looks

like a side plate.


Now, inlet your side plate just like all the other parts we've inlet.



Mike Brooks

Now it's time to sand or scrape, which ever you choose to do. I've always

sanded. I start with 100 grit then go to 150, then 220. I whisker the stock three times with 220. Then it's time to cut in the relief carving.

At this point I've made a paper pattern and transferred it to the stock.

You can see the pattern in the background.

I cut much of my carving in with a V shaped parting tool. I chase it with

a mallet, I don't push it.


I'm doing a lot of chip carving on this gun too. I use a small gouge and

drive it straight down into the wood, then come back and take the chip

out.


Here I'm cutting away the background wood to make the carving stand

out in relief. Take your time and taper everything off and blend it all in with the existing plane of the wood.


Here the beavertail is done.


In this picture I've laid out and relieved the lower buttstock molding.

This decoration I'm applying was done on the "brass barreled rifle" in

Shumway's book. You just use a gouge of the appropriate size and drive it in to make the design. No wood removal is needed. The circles are

done with a nail set.


Still carving, all the previous techniques are being used as before....



Mike Brooks

Ok, off to the patchbox. This is a patch box "kit" from MBS.

I drew out a paper pattern and glued it to the brass, then cut it out with a jewelers saw.

Here we are partially inleted.


Once the patchbox is inleted, I drill out the box cavity with a forestner's bit.. It's probably about 1 1/4" deep.

Here's the box with the cavity all cleaned out. I've installed the kick open spring here too,

it's held in place with the same screw that holds the front finial of the box down.


Unfortunately, I forgot to photography the release mechanism. I'll do a separate tutorial on that at a later date.

Now the thumb piece. I start out with an old silver 50 cent piece and peen it out until it's big enough for the inlay I want to cut out of it. I then glue my pattern on it and cut it out

with a jeweler’s saw.


Place the inlay on the stock and trace around it. Remove the wood until it fits properly then attach it. I used two homemade 1/16" nails.


Who likes pumpkin colored stocks?

I stained with Jim Klien's stains, two coats of orange, one dark brown and one reddish

brown. Here's the dark brown over orange.


Here's the reddish brown over the other two.

Here I've burnished the stock with 0000 steel wool.

At this point I apple the finish that Jim Chambers sells, flooding it on the first coat until

the stock won't take any more. After that I put one coat a day on for 4 or 5 days, then assemble the gun.


Here's how I slot my barrel lugs by the way, I use my jeweler’s saw.

I antique my steel parts using LMF browning solution and a sweat box. I use about three

applications then let it set for a couple days and rust.


I also cut in the sights at this time, they are done just like the underlugs.


I antique the stock to a certain extent with rustoleum flat black spray paint. I shoot the whole gun than take most all of it back off with 0000 steel wool. The stock will need

about three more coats of finish after this procedure.



Mike Brooks

The Finished Product


Remember how we started out?

a gunbuilding tutorial by mike brooks - american …americanlongrifles.org/pdf/tutorial.pdf · page...

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