So I'm learning why brass is used on more guns than steel...



Steel is a bugger to work on! Lol. I've cut and filed and sanded brass...now I'm working on my steel furniture and wonder why I chose steel! Lol.


The real question....i see waxed cast and sand cast furniture sold...

What are the differences???

I went with waxed cast figuring the exterior would be cleaner....

It still had a fine "line" in the center of it and the exterior was rough...like a pitting...i took 120 grit to it and it basically laughed at me...a file is doing the job...of course have to sand after filing..

Not sure what to do about the nooks n crannys.. especially the trigger guard..

I'm not going for a deep lustrous blue so I'm not sure it'll matter...


I wish I took some good pics of this project before I started...really the finished rifle will never show the work that's going into it... doesn't really matter..at the end of the day it's MY rifle and I know what went into it...

I have 7 holes to drill into the stock and have this sick fear that I'm going to crack the stock lol.

Wax cast is generally far smoother and usually requires minimal finish work. Sand cast, especially in brass is very rough, crude and usually has lots of tiny voids. I have seen wax cast brass furniture that was almost ready to install as it came out of the mould. Wax cast can be used to duplicate much more detail. A rotary tool with a set of fine buffing wheels and progressively finer polishing compounds can make some parts easier to finish.

The work it takes is rarely evident in the finished product, except to those who have done it themselves.

Thanx zimm! That's what I thought with wax vs sand cast...


My Dremel is dead...i need to try to get if running again...itd help some of the areas for sure....


Brass on a rifle just doesn't do it for me...i ammonia fumed the brass on my TC because I didn't like it lol...the "brass black" worked and looked good...but didnt last..



This steel I'm going to blue and then try to age..or maybe leave it blue...I'm not gunna mess with the blued barrel right now...just because it's a brand new factory blued green mountain...



I'm still on track to have a nice finished product... especially considering I've never done anything like this..i mean...an oil change is about the extent of my abilities lol...I'm learning a lot and taking my time...the second frustration starts to set I shut the lights and leave for the night...


I'm anxiously waiting to finish it.... planning to put in a good day tomorrow and get some work done on it...

I find it all very enjoyable even though a lot of time and work...so much in planning the next build...thinking a big bore long rifle of some sort..

So...heard of precarve stock issues...


Seems youre very committed to the whole kit...


I wanted a steel nose piece to match...

Ordered a half stock steel 1" nose piece...

I never looked...i knew it seems small...

Today I realized the web between the ramrod channel and the groove of the nose piece is significant...

I have a nickel silver entry pipe I was looking forward to using..


I think I'm going to order pewter and pour a nose piece...


Why not learn how to do that while I am at it? Lol.



That's the only way I can get around not using a normal TV style nose piece that I can think of...which...nothing wrong with that...i just can't find one in 1" steel...

On my last build I used brass furniture. Turned out nice enough, but brass dulls and needs to be shined up once in a while. The gun I'm building now has all steel furniture and I've not found it any harder to work with, other than it is a little more involved to sand than brass, but not prohibitively so. Not sure what kind of tools you have, but if you have access to an air compressor and a die grinder with abrasive and scotchbrite discs, you can get those sand or wax cast parts looking shiny in a short amount of time. I used my die grinder and the aforementioned pads and discs to good effect. A Dremel is meant for minute work and can't hold a candle to a die grinder for removing/polishing metal.

My "workshop" is crude at best...I'm acquiring more/better tools as I go...like I said...my mechanical abilities is an oil change lol..

My buddies have all kinda tools I have access to...I'm largely doing everything by hand...and for my finish I don't think I need highly polished steel..



Got my entry pipe 75% in tonight...didnt work on the rifle as much as I planned...but I am gunna pour the nose piece....have a cool idea for it and from what I've read and watched seems like it's pretty simple..


Kinda part of building a rifle I guess...running into something that just doesn't work and finding a way around it...

When I realized the error I was frustrated...and I hate having to place another order..knowing I need one part..i end up with $100+ order lol...

And that's part of not planning properly...all I wanted was a new stock for my TC lol...now I'm gunna have a custom rifle built and designed by me..that's crazy to think about! The only TC part is the tang and right now barrel pin inlays..but I'm thinking of a way around those too lol..mainly because they won't match..but the stock came inlet for them..

Started this morning and couldn't stand the clutter and mess....most of it wasn't mine...

Still have another shelf to bolt to the wall...lol. Turned into an all day event...but my workshop/storage room will be a heck of a lot better to work in...

I have a working flintlock rifle!!!!!


I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!!


I hit a wall with the lock bolt...the pre-made female end for the TC lock bolt hit the tang...i whacked it off completely...figured I'd drill and tap a lock bolt into the lock face...well...there ain't much room...

The owner of Cooperstown Trading Post recommended drilling out a bolt in the bridle right out the lock face and tapping it and running my bolt through it...


Worked like a charm...

But my triggers wouldn't work....


Looked at diagrams and it took a minute but I moved the triggers back and both triggers work perfectly!!!


I can now literally load it and shoot it!


I have a ways to go....but most the hard stuff is done!!!!

you seem to have things under control
....

It's slow going...but it's coming along!!! It's a huge relief knowing the gun will work...i guess next time I should start there and make sure everything will work properly before investing too much time lol...


I'm learning as I go...step by step....my next one should go much easier and quicker now that I've built some knowledge and experience...

As long as I am do alright shaping and finishing this one aughta turn out pretty decent for my first build...