Black Powder Rifle Build Primer

Mike Brooks Gunbuilding Tutorial Page 1 of 28
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 chanel 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 brech plug.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/tutorials/brooks/Brooks1.html 4/18/2007
The next step is to shape the tang. I've choosen 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 marke where they'll sit
in the barrel channel.
Then I made this handy dandy depth drill out of one of those nift all in
one hinge driller thingies. Anyway, I've got this set right at the depth of
the higth of my lugs. Dril 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 sloting machine and hog out
the webs left over from drilling.
Should end up looking like this... Do this for all your lugs then clamb 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 ine
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 toungue 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 liitle 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 wher I want it. I've got the bottom of the
barrel marked on the stock and I orient the lock so the lock screw will pas
just under the barrel. The other reference point is the mark where the
vent will later go. I center tha pan and get it in realtion in heigth 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 trys 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 fist print of inletting black. Frome 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 athickness that you can't actuall
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 thake the whole thing over to the drill press and drill and tap your
lock bolts in.
Now mark where all of you 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" foresner 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 thatr all the guts of the lock
are inlet except for the mainspring, and that has just been hogged out
with the forestner 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!
<next page>
by
Mike Brooks
<previous page> Page 2
Ok, here we go with the buttplate. Firsty 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 enouph to screw down. You'll see a few gaps that are left, then
the next picture shows these gaps are gone afte I've peaned 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 tothe
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 gring 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 explanitory, 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. Clearnce 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 tigger 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 bottompart of
the upper forestock so you end up showing a little more than 1/2 of the ram rod. I
take it of quckly 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 an 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 with out the pipe.
<next page>
by
Mike Brooks
Now we're ready to put in the upper pipes which is easy compared to the
rear pipe. I postition 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 untill it is flush with the bottom of thr RR channel.
Now, clamp your pipes down and scrib 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 attatched 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 smalest part of the wrist 1 7/16 for no, this may chang 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 positon and trace the line on the paper, thus transfering 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. Alway 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 an 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 alittle more with a 1" chisel and a
little more planing.
Ok, here we go. In this picture I've got the cheek piece side pretty well
shaped up with a #49 cabinet rasp The cheeckpiece has also been
reduced in heigth 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.
<next page>
by
Mike Brooks
Now to the toe. It's hard to see in the picthure, 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 peaning 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 stike 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 it's 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 e'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 chanel 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 prearation 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!
<next page>
by
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 you 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 arts we've inlet.
<next page>
by
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 wisker the stock
three times with 220. Then it's time to cut in the relief carving.
At this point I've made a paper patern and transfered it to the stock. You
can se 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 layed out and relieved the lower buttstock moulding.
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....
<next page>
by
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 jewlers 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.
Unfortunalely, I forgot to photogragh the release mechanism. I'll do a seperate tutorial on

that at a later date.
Now the thumb piece. I start out with an old silver 50 cent piece and pean it out untill 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 jewler's saw.
Place the inlay on the stock and trace around it. remove the wood untill it fits properly
then attatch it. I used two home made 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 redish 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 untill
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 jewler'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.
<next page>
by
Mike Brooks
The Finished Product
Remember how we started out?

Black Powder Rifle Build Primer

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Mike Brooks Gunbuilding Tutorial Page 1 of 28

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

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

Here's where most people become unhinged. :shocked2: Time to saw in

Here's the finished inlet.

This last picture is the finished lock mortise.

<previous page> Page 2

<previous page> Page 3

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

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

Now, chisel away the excess wood.

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

Here's your finished product.

Tomorrow we have to do some work on the toe of the buttstock, then

<previous page> Page 4

Then clamp it down to your stock where it needs to go and bend it

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

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

<previous page> Page 5

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

<previous page> Page 6

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

Here the beavertail is done.

<previous page> Page 7

Here we are partially inleted.

Unfortunalely, I forgot to photogragh the release mechanism. I'll do a seperate tutorial on

Who likes pumpkin colored stocks?

Here's the redish brown over the other two.

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

<previous page> Page 8

The Finished Product

Remember how we started out?

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