Fun With Flintlocks

The novice gunsmith is faced with learning many skills that can only be perfected through practice. Be it stock repair, refinishing, bedding a stock, adding a forearm tip, checkering, adding a recoil pad or an inlay, they are all woodworking skills that must be mastered. Then there is metal work, including polishing, rust removal, filing out pits, and refinishing, not to mention the mechanics of trigger work and repair of broken parts or the fitting of new ones.

For anyone that wants to work on guns and do a good job—whether it be on just his own and a few friends guns or in a commercial shop—the beginner has a lot to learn. Probably the worst way to learn is to work on a perfectly good gun and mess it up. Next in line for worst is to only practice on a flat piece of wood or apiece of metal that, when finished, inspires no real confidence.

Beyond early, initial practice, I have always been an advocate of learning on an inexpensive gun where the monetary loss of poor workmanship is negligible. For example, I have a Stevens 311 side-by-side shotgun that has been the test bed of so many first-time jobs there is literally nothing else I can think of to do to it. It was the first gun I ever installed a recoil pad on—and the second and the third—until I was satisfied with the job I did.

It was also the first gun I refinished, installed lighter springs, modified to hang far enough open to insert shells without having to hold it open, slim the receiver, checker the stock and forend, cut long forcing cones in, and make Top: Ultra Hi Tower-style flintlock. The bulky appearance is typical of the Tower-style large caliber coach pistols. This inexpensive sample is a perfect test bed for learning or honing gunsmithing skills. The first step is the totally disassembly of the pistol.

Notice this was likely sold as a kit. The brass is as cast and no pins have been installed to hold the ramrod pipe or trigger guard in to the stock. into a straight English-style grip and a splinter forend. That is eight jobs I learned to do on that one gun. The key is to haunt gun shops and gun shows looking for broken or abused guns that you can buy

The grip area shows a rather odd bump in front of the butt cap. Simple file and sandpaper work will reshape the stock along more traditional lines. cheaply. Many gun shops have guns they have taken in on trade that are in no condition to resell and aren’t worth repairing. Usually all you have to do is ask. You can often pick up single-shot .22s or shotguns for very reasonable prices.

As an example, I recently picked up two pieces that I could work on to improve my abilities at inlaying and inletting, a skill I am not satisfied with. Both were muzzleloading pistols and the total outlay for the two pieces was under $100. The first pistol was what was sold back in the 70s as a Tower-style reproduction. It is a .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock made in Japan and marked "Ultra Hi" and was a blocky, unadorned beast of a club.

The butt cap was loose and badly fitted, there was some rust from just hanging over someone’s fireplace, and it didn’t look to have ever been fired as the face of the frizzen didn’t have a mark on it. To me it was the perfect project to totally disassemble and render into something any self-respecting pirate would be proud to own (assuming there ever was a "self-respecting pirate.") The first job was to totally disassemble the gun. After laying the parts aside I decided to tackle the woodwork first.

I reshaped what looked to me as a clumsy grip section into a more traditional style. That consisted of simple file and sandpaper work. Looking to the lockplate, I wanted to make anew one in the same style I use on all my muzzleloaders. Using the brass lockplate supplied as a pattern, I cut and filed apiece of walnut to glue into the inletting on the stock to fill it. Later, I drew the lockplate I wanted on paper and glued it to apiece of sheet brass to use as a guide to cut out the new piece.

To finish up the woodwork, I stripped the finish, purchased a nose cap, fitted it to the front of the stock, and sculpted the wood behind it to give the pistol a sleeker, more custom look. From there it was a matter of inletting the new lockplate, sanding and finishing the wood, and refitting the butt cap. The touch hole was a simple hole drilled through the sidewall of the barrel, so I fitted anew touch hole liner to make ignition nearly instantaneous.

Using Birchwood Casey Plum Brown Barrel Finish, I browned the barrel, the lock, and the steel ramrod. The only forend cap I could find to fit the 1 1/16-wide octagon barrel was steel. To make it match the lockplate, butt cap, and trigger guard I used a Texas Platers Supply 2453 W. Five Mile Parkway, Dallas, TX 75233) Brass Plating Kit to give the forend capa brass-plated finish.

This work resulted in a betterlooking pistol, however, anything with a .69 caliber barrel that is 1 1/16" across the flats is going to be a beast and I am looking forward to taking it out to the range. I discovered that two .36 caliber lead balls fit snugly sideways in the bore and I’m thinking a 35 or 40 grain charge of FFg under four .36 balls should make a very impressive boarding pistol load.

With the first project out of the way, I took the Traditions "Pirate Pistol" kit I had acquired and thought I’d really challenge myself and see if I could convert it to a lefthanded model. I happened to have a left-handed flintlock I had picked up just waiting for a project for it to be used on and this seemed the perfect opportunity. Keep in mind that what we are doing here are exercises to improve skill and ingenuity when faced with an unusual situation.

It may not be very likely to ever have a friend or customer that wants you to convert a right-handed muzzleloader to a left-hand gun but the skills developed here will be useful in other work you may do. In this case the major job was to fill in the inletting for the lock on the right side of the stock and then inlet the left-handed lock into the left side of the pistol.

I have found poplar to be an excellent choice of wood when trying to match almost any birch or walnut stock because it is easy to work and will take stain to as near the same

The original brass lockplate was used as a pattern to create a wooden insert to fill the inletting cut and allow changing to a custom-made lockplate. Wooden insert is glued into old inletting and sanded flush with the surface. color as the other woods such that it is almost impossible to see any seems if it is closely fitted. I took apiece of plain white paper (stole it right out of my paper copier), laid it over the lock inletting, and made an outline of the opening using the side of a pencil.

Then, the outline is cut out and glued to apiece of sheet brass to use as a cutting guide. Then it was plated to match the brass furniture. Scallops were cut on each side of the ramrod channel to reduce some of the bulky look at the front end. I then cut the resulting outline out and glued it to the wood as a guide for the insert I was making. It was a simple matter of cutting the poplar to the outline on the paper and gluing the insert in place.

Inletting the lock and all of its related components into the left side of the stock is a more challenging proposition. The first step is to completely disassemble the lock. It is necessary to make sure the lock will line up with the screws that pass through the stock to hold it securely in place. By disassembling completely, you can use the screws as guides by pushing them through the stock. Screwing them into the back of the lock will positively locate it so the holes will align after it is inletted.

To disassemble the lock, hold the mainspring in compression to remove it. The best tool for this is a Track Of The Wolf Mainspring Vise (Brownells 870-000-001AQ or TrackOfTheWolf.com). There are other ways to compress such main-

Top: The lockplate has been inletted, the stock stained, and the butt cap reinstalled. springs using pliers or vise grips but the vise is the safest way. Also, consider the prospect of finding a replacement flat V-spring of exactly the dimensions that you broke using the wrong tool is too horrible to contemplate. This Traditions "Pirate Pistol" came as a kit. By filling the inletting for the lock on the right side and inletting a lefthanded lock, this was converted to a left-handed flintlock.

With the lock located on the stock and held in place by the screws passing through the stock, trace around the lock with a pencil. Then, either inscribe a line around the lock with it in place, or remove it and inscribe a line using a thin-bladed knife. Remove the wood inside the outline. Continue deepening the inletting until the pan contacts the barrel and fits flush against it. Now you can locate the flash hole just below the top of the pan. Drill and tap the flash hole and install a flash hole liner.

In this case there was already a flash hole on the right side of the barrel so I drilled and tapped that hole and installed a screw to the same depth as the thickness of the side of the barrel and cut it off to block the old flash hole. With this done, add one part at a time to the lock and inlet that part until the lock contacts the barrel once again. Continue adding parts to the lock one at a time and inletting them.

To aid you in removing wood in the correct places, use a candle to smoke (deposit soot on) the part and press the lock in place. The soot will leave a black impression where it touches the wood and you then remove the blackened wood, repeating as necessary. If you’re not comfortable having a burning candle on your bench, Jerrow’s Inletting Black (Brownells 457-001-050AQ) can be applied to the part with a brush. Continue this process until the lock is entirely assembled and will function correctly.

Either of these projects will go along way toward teaching you some of the skills necessary for the gunsmith—either hobbyist or professional—to master before attempting to customize a customer’s prized and/or expensive gun. AG