Thursday, February 11, 2016

New $15 squirrel rifle is finished.

Test fired the new rifle today.  It has a small Siler with the golden age lock tumbler and a 3/4" x 42" green Mountain barrel.  I used the single lever triggers because I liked the way they fit the guard.  Don't really need a double lever trigger anyway.  The wood is a second I picked up from TVM at a rendezvous.  Not a bad piece of wood after a little knot repair.  Also gave me a chance to do my first moldings.  It is also the first time I scraped a stock instead of sanding.  For some reason scraping is a more satisfying way of smoothing the wood.  Maybe more of a physical connection with the wood.  Sort of a Zen finishing technique.  Also gives you these neat little tactile ripples.  I changed the lock a bit to keep it from looking like all the other Silers.  Bobbed the tail and rounded the pan.  The tumbler gives the cock a longer throw and more room for a larger flint at half cock.  With the longer throw the cock really gets a running start on the frizzen.  I used two full sized thimbles and cut the third one in half to make a couple of smaller thimbles in the middle.  This is a characteristic of the little-known Autauga Co. school.




Half cock.



 Full cock.





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