If you've ever wanted to build a muzzleloader, flintlock or black powder rifle from a kit, this is for you. With complete instructions from start to finish for muzzleloader rifle kit assembly.
This page is photograph intensive and may take several minutes to completely
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Fashioning the Bottom of Butt Section and Area of Trigger Guard
Regrettably I had already worked on the bottom of the butt section before it
occurred to me that I should document the project. Therefore, I have no
pictures of this part of the stock as it arrived to me from the vendor. The
stock was not wide enough, for my taste, from toe to comb to flatten the bottom
all the way to brass butt piece. It had been cut flat at trigger guard inlet,
forward of inlet and just rearward of inlet by the vendor's machine (which is
proper for a Hawken). Using a sanding block I continued the flat up the butt
section in line with guard inlet and ending in a slow tapper.
I elected to bring the lines closer to the inlet at trigger guard, giving this
section a more curved appearance. The picture on the left shows
this section of stock as it arrived from the vendor. As always, the sanding
was performed in direction of grain flow while using a sanding block.
From the vendor the lock fit too tight in its inletting. It needed to be
relieved a little to prevent future problems caused by stock swelling.
Using a small brush handle as a sanding form and 100 grit paper to enlarge
curved ends of lock
inlet.
Here a sliver cut from a plastic eraser and 100 grit paper is used as a sanding
block to remove wood from the straight runs of lock inlet. Only small amounts
are uniformly removed before checking for fit.
After fitting the lock wood was sanded level with face of lock in the same
manner the
tang
area was fashioned. One exception is that no inletting black was used here.
Instead only small amounts of wood was removed before fitting
lock to check.
The stock is shaped and ready to be sealed. Before sealing the stock the brass
fixtures will be polished to a mirror finish, after which they will be
reassembled to the stock to make sure brass and wood are still level with each
other.
All foundry and machine marks must be removed and brass polished to a mirror
surface.
Left - Brass fixtures before polishing. Right - 180 grit sand paper highlights
foundry marks that must be removed.
Left - Draw filing foundry marks out of brass. Right - Filed and ready for
sanding.
Left to right - After sanding to180 grit, 320 grit, 600 grit, 0000 steel wool
All sanding was done by hand. The part was sanded in a circular motion.
The trigger guard does not have to be polished before sealing the stock. It
will be worked while the sealer is curing.
The patch box and butt plate do not need further draw filing because the butt
plate was
filed
before shaping the stock and the patch box was
sanded
while shaping the stock. Those pieces will be sanded and buffed in the same
manner as the tip cap above. The stock will then be reassembled and checked for
wood removal. Later the brass fixtures will be further polished using stock
rubbing compounds.
Bottom view of
CVA
Hawken style patch box
Not all areas of patch box lid are accessible for polishing while assembled.
Left - Polishing patch box with
Brownells
Three F Stock Rubbing Compound.
Right - Trigger guard after polishing with Brownells Original, then Three F,
then Five F stock rubbing compound. Notice the reflection of me taking the
picture.
Sealing
the stock will help stabilise it by protecting it from moisture. The sealer is
thinned to cause it to penetrate deeper into the wood.
The stock was lightly sanded using sanding blocks and 400 grit paper then all
dust removed. For the sealer four parts mineral spirits was mixed with one
part tung oil. The tung oil used here is a product of
Waterlox
by the name of Waterlox Original Sealer/Finish. It is not the only oil that
could have been used but I had it on hand and it performs very well as a sealer
and for
wet sanding
dust into the grain.
First all screw holes and other small holes were saturated with the sealer.
Then all inletting (patch box inlet, lock inlet, fore-tip, butt, and barrel
channel) was painted well using a small brush. The sealer was allowed to soak
into the wood for a couple minutes before turning the stock to seal other areas.
Left - using mineral spirits/tung oil mixture and tooth pick to seal screw
holes.
Right - painting inletting with mineral spirits/tung oil mixture.
The stock, one side at a time, was then saturated with the sealing mixture.
The sealer is allowed to soak into wood for a couple minutes before applying
sealer to other sides.
The ram rod is also painted with sealer. The ram rod came from the vendor
assembled with the well polished brass ends attached with pins. Being
careful not to scratch the brass ends the ram rod wood was polished smooth to
320 grit with sand paper before applying sealer.
The sealer coat helps to highlight errors. After sealer has been applied to
all parts of stock and stock is no longer tacky to the touch the stock is
inspected for over looked errors in shaping. Errors are noted and corrected
after sealer has cured, at least 24 hours. A second sealer coat, mixed three
parts mineral spirits to one part tung oil, is then applied to the entire
stock and ram rod. The stock is then allowed to dry at ambient room temperature
for no less than two days before wet sanding.
During a previous project I damaged the cap on the original can and transfered
the tung oil to a glass bottle. Bottle shows small gravel added to evacuate
air thereby giving the oil longer shelf life. I sure hope the bottom doesn't
fall out.
