Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Finished my B.P. rifle kit

Like I mentioned recently, I finished my Cabelas .54 cal. black powder rifle kit. Heck of a lot of work. I think it turned out nice. I browned the barrel.

that turned out beautiful. One hell of a job!

What kind of clear did you put on it?

Thank you. I just used Tru-Oil. I should have done a better job fitting everything but the wood is very hard.

yeah i know what you mean. When ever i build great plains rifles " lyman" i have to use wood rasps and files along with a sanding block to get all the edges nicely shaped and fitted.

nicely done .

while it may seem so , the European walnut that Lyman uses isnt really all that hard .
it is however much harder then the beech that traditions and CVA use .

i would say my most used tool is a big heavy Foyers rasp . that�s followed by a group of less aggressive round and flat rasps then into files and scrapers and chisels for shaping

That look great, You will like the 54 also

The Italians make some pretty nice rifles. Good job!

Looks great Patrick, good job. Better than the finished rifle you would have bought from Cabela's no doubt.

Great choice in browning the barrel. Also beautiful job finishing the wood.

Doc

Very nice job!

Outstanding job and kudos on the browning..your wood to metal fit ?..better than many production rifles

Yes sir, that looks nice.

Very nice job! You won't regret putting your time into a real muzzleloader. (Sorry. Couldn't help yanking the chains of my in-line shooting brothers).

I picked up a Thompson-Center .54 Renegade (VERY clean!) a few weeks ago. Mine has the 48" twist barrel. I'm still trying to fine tune a round ball load. The barrel is new enough that I'm still getting some abraded patches, but the load work is coming along. My last trip to the range, my last three shots all cut the 10 ring @ 50 yards, albeit on three corners. The group size was about 2" center-to-center. That's not great, but it's certainly minute of whitetail. By the way, the 50 yard limitation is an accommodation to my aging eyes and open sights.

Good luck with your good look'n rifle!

PC

Very good job. I understand hard wood. Made my rifles from curly maple planks I bought from a kiln long ago. Have to do all cutting cross grain.
A secret for all of you, make your own "V" chisels out of old triangular files with a Moto tool. I never, ever found a bought one that cut. One from a file will cut clean forever. They cut so good you can follow a curved line all over for carving.
This was done with a few.



I used to make all the brass and silver parts and engrave them. This is a swamped barrel flinter, took 2 weeks just to fit the barrel.
It is hard to carve like this with a pre formed stock. You need extra wood.

Very nice job on the rifle! You won't regret your choice of finishes. Even my dining room table is finished with Tru Oil. Never had a stain in 20 years.

What twist does the barrel have?

John

Patrick,

Very nice!

I have two .54 cal T/C's with the 1:48 twist and they both love a Hornady .535 swaged round ball with a .015 lubed patch over 85gr GOEX FFFg. Yes, FFFg. If I use FFg, I need to jump to 90gr using GOEX and if I am luck enough to find Swiss, I can drop back to 85gr FFg.

The next accuracy node with the same ball and patch comes in at 110gr GOEX FFg. Strange, but true...

Best wishes for your ML adventures!

Ed

Looks great, brown barrel gets bonus points!

I've owned a few like this your work is excellent.

Patrick did very well, I can't find fault. Make your own tools and life gets easier.
Also see my post on using Tru Oil, it is wonderful stuff.
The best stain is Laural Mountain, it will not raise grain and goes deep into wood for pure beauty.
If you want fear, have someone bring you a $300 blank and a rifle action for a custom with fancy hand checkering!
I made this one for myself. 6.5 Swede, chunk of cherry from my woods, chainsawed out.


I can't take the fear anymore, too old!

Many and almost all of you can do wonderful work. I love to see what you fellas do. Get over fear, it has been a bad feeling with all of the guns I have built by hand. It will go away as things take shape. In the end, you can pat yourself on the back and I will also. It is something to be proud of, making your own gun and then having a good hunt.
Most of you don't realize the talent you have. You can do it.