A change of pace.

[mdeland]

Wish I would be there to do the photos and watch the show when you do it. We'd have a hoot of a time bantering and laughing our fanny's off! Can you imagine at a public range when the folks see you down on the matt contorted around the 77. "WHAT THE HEY IS THIS"? Not one in ten would know what you were about.
I've tried several of the different positions on my table in the shop but never have actually shot a round so situated. But then I don't have a heel mounted sight base or I sure would have. You are all set up correctly for the experiment.
Will the tang sight transfer directly without any hardware change?
One of the supine positions I've seen even uses a bite strap to support the neck and steady the aim.

[mdeland]

Shaped and melded the butt stock, now I have to take it apart to shape the fore stock to the fore end cap profile. The instructions say this area is one of the prime places to screw up the original shape and profile of this Tennessee, So. mtn. style of rifle. There are no flats on the fore arm and the edge into the barrel is almost sharp at the top with just a bit of round off to discourage chipping out.
I think I've got the butt stock pretty close to original profile according the the plan diagram.

[mdeland]

2 more

[Woody]

Looking good Mike.

Woody

[mdeland]

Boy Woody, I sure am amazed at the difference in feel between walnut and maple after sanding. I could definitely tell the difference with my eyes closed by feel alone. Works totally different for me as well when using the chisels and scrapers.

[Woody]

Yep. I think walnut is more forgiving.

Woody

[Kurt]

Wish I would be there to do the photos and watch the show when you do it. We'd have a hoot of a time bantering and laughing our fanny's off! Can you imagine at a public range when the folks see you down on the matt contorted around the 77. "WHAT THE HEY IS THIS"? Not one in ten would know what you were about.
I've tried several of the different positions on my table in the shop but never have actually shot a round so situated. But then I don't have a heel mounted sight base or I sure would have. You are all set up correctly for the experiment.
Will the tang sight transfer directly without any hardware change?
One of the supine positions I've seen even uses a bite strap to support the neck and steady the aim.

You don't need a heal sight. I seen pictures of the ODG's do it with the tang sights also.

That sparker is starting to look like a fine looking shooter. Just wait till you get the oil on that wood it will be a fine piece.
Every time I see these photo's I look up at mine hanging over the Kitchen window thinking I should pull it down and use it for the frostbite. It does good at 100 yards but I haven't tried it at 200.

[mdeland]

I totally agree. Neat stuff this maple.
Got to looking at the prospective next build, last night . I was given a tight 44 Stevens in 32-40 that is begging to be relined or something and get shooting again. It is one of the center extraction, later models but is still tight. DeHaas says Stevens made some of their best target rifles on the 44 instead of the 44.5 which is a much stronger design ( falling block as apposed to tipping) for high pressure rounds.
I kind of thought the 44s were crappy actions but DeHaas said they were Stevens bread and butter until about 1947. To my surprise they were chambered from the factory in 32-40 and 38-55 and worked fine until these loads were loaded with smokeless then they would loosen up.

[mdeland]

I've done some round ball shooting at muzzle loader silhouettes and at 200 yards the ball is coming down like a meteorite! I could see them plainly through the spotting scope.
Makes one wonder about the Revolutionary sniper, Timothy something or other ,taking down the red coat officer at 3-400 yards from a tree perch. I guess he did indeed "hole" the tunic of one of Her Majesties finest. In those days of Brown and Bess smooth bores it was said a fella had to be extremely unlucky to be hit regularly at 50 meters from an aimed shot. Apparently this was the reason for volley fire .

[Kurt]

Here is my Southern .54 with a Rice barrel at 50 yards. I intended cutting a hole at the bottom of the V with out cutting the lines. Those 5 shots are 1" outside to outside, not center to center. That rifle holds very good with it's 42" swamped barrel. I have seen 5 shots at 100 that a golf ball would not go through without tearing the paper.
This target I was testing teflon patches.

IMG_1856.jpeg

[mdeland]

That kind of accuracy is not uncommon for Rice barrels from what I'm told by several of my muzzle loading friends. I have one good friend "Pat Reed" who has done real well at Friendship with I think his Rice barreled .40 cal percussion. He once shot a 49 of a possible 50 at 100 yards offhand. Shoot when I occasionally break into the 40s at that range I'm doing really well! A 40 will usually place high or win at our territorial matches up here.
I believe the 12L14 is OK for muzzle loading pressure if of the hot rolled version which I think is what Rice uses because it machines so smoothly but where I worry about it is if shooting in extreme cold as it has very low shock load numbers, especially as the temperature plummets. I'm quite sure my .54 Douglas barrel is of the very poor 12L14 cold rolled steel that has even worse shock load numbers but also has been one of the most accurate muzzle loaders I have. I don't usually shoot it in real cold weather.

[Kurt]

I have three rifles with Douglas barrels and they all shoot very good, but they are black powder cartridge rifles. I used GM barrels for the front stuffers and they shot well but they needed a lot of hand work to get them there.
My .58 Hawken has a GM but I spent several days lapping the bore. When I ran the first patch through it I felt it grabbing lint.

[Woody]

My .50 Hawkins shoots "lights out" to 150 yards, but then falls apart past that. Not only accuracy, but umph. Last year while shooting the O/H Silhouette at the NMLRA Spring Match in Friendship, I somehow managed to hit four of the bear targets, center of mass. All four hunched their shoulders and just stood there. That round ball had nothing left. Before moving back to Indiana, 14 years ago, I lived in NW Colorado. There, that same Hawkins brought many an elk home for the larder, with one shot kills.

Woody

[kenny sd]

when sanding, always us the paper wrapped around a 4 inch block of hard wood. prevents 'scooped' ' out spots.sand wood to metal together.then buff the round edges with a 2 inch wide long piece of sandpaper the way you would polish shoes. wood to metal should end up perfect.
nice job so far....fit looks very good....Ken

[mdeland]

When ever I'm fitting wood to steel I always think of Shiloh Sharps fit and try to emulate it but never quite succeed. I have yet to see a Shiloh with anything but nearly perfect wood to metal fit. To me, quality of fit, proper architecture , fine wood, good checkering and finally, accuracy are what make a rifle attractive. Never could stand a gun with a bunch of glitter crap on it that looks like it was made from a crows collection and shines like a guitar made in Warez Mexico.