History Re-created: Flintlock Longrifle - Eastern PA style 50 Cal.

Discussion and slides of the re-creation process and finished muzzleloading flintlock rifle. This is a 50 cal. Flintlock rifle representative of the type build in Pennsylvania during the first quarter of the 18th Century. This type of rifle would have been at home on the frontier or in the Pennsylvania woods hunting deer and other game to feed the family. It is a rather plain rifle as some of the PA goes. I built this as a common man's hunting rifle to represent what someone like me could have afforded in 1820.
Specifics:
Flintlock - Jim Chambers Large Siler
Barrel - 7/8" straight. 42" long 50 caliber Green Mountain
Stock - moderately curly maple
Trigger: Simple single trigger - breaks slightly under 3 pounds
Sights: traditional fixed iron.
Mountings - brass
Weight: 8.4 pounds (3.8kg).
Trigger Pull length - 13.75"
#longrifle
#flintlock
#muzzleloader
#Pennsylvaniarifle
The camera gear I use:
Canon EOS R7 #canonr7 #canon
Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM #canon100-500 #canon100500
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM #canon24-105f4 #24105
Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM #canon100mmF2.8macro #100macro
Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM #canon16mmf2.8 #16mm
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV. #sonyrx10iv #sonyrx10iv

[@selectiveimagery]

Wow that looks fantastic, great job, thanks for sharing. Just like in photography you need a lot of patience to do this and you do it well, nicely presented video. - Jeff

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thanks Jeffrey.

[@longrider9551]

👍✌️

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thank you

[@gaucphotography]

Simply beautiful, How long does it take you to make one of those? Does the metal and the flint need to treated/modify to produce a good a reliable spark?

[@JeffandLeslie]

Thank you Gustavo. It takes approximately 100 hours from start to finish. The flint is chipped (knapped) to form a sharp edge. The steel striker (Frizzen) is heat treated to harden it so that it will make a spark. In the photos and while I'm building one, I use a block of wood instead of a flint during function testing and building since it has to be cycled many times. Flints are expensive (2 to 3 dollars each) and no need to break one or use them up in function testing so a block of wood allows me to be sure all the parts are moving freely and working properly. Usually the frizzen is already heat treated when you get them but sometimes not. The process is to use a torch to heat it cherry red and quench it in oil. The heating and quenching changes the crystal structures of the steel. Once hardened that way they are brittle like glass. Then they have to be heat cycled again to about 600 degrees or so to take some of the brittleness out. Lots of methods, one way is to heat it slowly with a torch to a straw color and let it cool slowly. Another way is to melt a pot of lead, float the steel on the molten lead (steel floats on top of the melted lead) and let it cool slowly. Lead melts at about 600 degrees plus or minus. I've used both methods and can't tell the difference in the end result.

[@jeannieheard1465]

Did you draw file the barrel and cold blue it? Did you buff off any part of the lock plate on the outside? Were you at all worried about the front machine bolt interfering with the ramrod hole?

[@JeffandLeslie]

First thank you for watching. I will try to answer your questions in order:
1) Yes I draw filed the barrel and then sanded with 220 and 400 grit wet/dry paper soaked in oil. I cold blued it and carded the bluing off using 600 grit oil soaked paper until I had the color I like. I did the same for the lock.
2) I did not buff it as that ruins the lines. I used files and oil soaked wet/dry paper wrapped around files. I polished the inside lock plate with honing stones as well as the bolster where it meets the barrel to ensure as flat of a surface as I can get with hand tools, files and stones. I finished the outside of the lock plate the same way
3) that is always a concern. Before I inlet the lock plate, I mark the lock plate side where the bottom of the barrel channel is. I then mark where the bottom of the ramrod hole is (I drill a very small hole through the web at the bottom of the barrel channel and use a depth gauge (an old caliper with the plunger ground down to about 1/16" diameter). I transfer these measurements to the outside of the stock. When I position the lock, I ensure the "nose" of the lock will line up between the two lines. If I measured right and drilled straight, the lock bolt will go through the web and neither interfere with the barrel channel or the ramrod hole. I mount the parts in a drill press vice and drill through with my drill press to tackle the "drill straight" issue. In 30 some rifles I've built, I've had maybe 2 where the lock bolt was slightly in the ramrod channel. It's pretty easy to mark the screw and then file a small notch in it for clearance or if it is barely in there just taper the ramrod a little. Mostly, though, if one measures accurately, it's not a problem.
Hope this helps.