new guy here

[Metalshaper03]

Hey to the Gang!
new guy here, Metalshaper to some, Dagwood to others.. ( last name Bumstead so go figure ) See some familiar names as I have been reading the topics and such .. <for you guys, sorry to trot out pics you've already seen >

Been shooting something BP since I was 16. Bud of mine from High school said " Hey, lets go shoot my family's
muzzleloader?"  I was hooked from the first shot!  an Old CVA .45 percussion, but that's all it took. Started playing around at trying to build them around 1998 or so.. My wife n I lived in an apartment and the storage cage downstairs became my shop   I'd do the laundry and work on my first gun.. made the furniture myself and stocked it from a blank... few years later I started on my next gun a Mule ear rifle. then two internet friends got me looking at underhammers.. built a couple of them as well.   Learned to blacksmith, so I could make knives and build 'parts' for long guns. even made a few powder horns for some nephews, to help spark their interest.

Made most all of my recent "locks"  in my shop. as well as a lot of the extra pieces that go into a gun. have helped make a couple of rifling machines and used the Junkyard sine bar, to rifle my Bud Marlow's Buggy gun!  we drilled the barrel on his lathe for that one! kind of been distracted by a mordern gun, my son challenged me to build.. but hankering to get back to my Muleys and Underhammers.. early on I had a drill press, a hacksaw, router, belt/disc sander, drill bits, chisels and files. Later on, I got a few other power tools to help out!!

here are some of my builds..

Miss Muley

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baby golf ball coehern

double set underhammer

new muleys, I have yet to finish

and some parts for a Jenks carbine.. cut/shaped by hand from scrap steel!

Well enough of this.. Hope to be a contribution to the group..

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

 

[Sharpsman]

Looks to me like you've got some talent Dude! Hang in there....and keep it up! I'd love to have a mini-cannon that I could roll out in my front yard and say "HELLO" on the 4th July!!

 

[Muley Hunter]

Welcome to the forum.


Shouldn't Muley own Miss Muley? 

 

[OSR]

Welcome to the forum.


Shouldn't Muley own Miss Muley? 

Nah! First thing that came to my mind was does that rifle belong to Muleys daughter?

 

[BigAl52]

Welcome Miss Muley look cool Al

 

[exMember]

Welcome to the forum metalshaper!

That underhammer is just flat out gorgeous! And double set triggers? I don't even think I've seen DT's on an UH before.

If you ever go to sell it, I was my name on the top of that list! I love how the stock is, looks like the Hawken style and just a beautiful flow with that UH action set up :Red tup: :Red tup:

 

[Metalshaper03]

Welcome to the forum metalshaper!

 I love how the stock is, looks like the Hawken style and just a beautiful flow with that UH action set up :Red tup: :Red tup:

guys, Thanks for the positive Welcomes

here is the slide show of the Underhammers features
https://s5.photobucket.com/user/metalshaper/slideshow/Double%20Set%20Underhammer

my Billinghurst inspired pistol

the hand fitting of the Jenks breech parts..done when I had the minimal equipment (gap/angle at the back of the
  lever facilitates opening the action a full stroke )

another one of the underhammers

anyways

Respect always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

 

[Metalshaper03]

the Banded Underhammer is kind of a vanity build   it was always going to be built for me..
but during a BP shoot one of the 'experts', responding to another asking me when I was going to build a DS underhammer?.. the 'spurt' went on and on expounding why nobody has ever built a DS action into a UH ( Wrong btw )
and "far better engineers that I would ever play at being.. couldn't do it!! So don't feel bad, better men than you have failed at making one!!"

So I went home, redrew the parts and came up with the action you see hiding in the rifle!!   The real trick was getting it all into about 3.75" of working space and I had always planned on an internal mainspring.. so I had to work that in as well..  Need to go back a rebuild the action.. I realized a better way ??? of arranging the parts maybe.. and I noticed I had a crack in the insert bar, the last time I had the action out of the gun :cry:   I had created a weak spot, where a pin went through.. it may end up as a single trigger, cuz the DS is actually superfluous if I was to be honest..

So there is my confession

Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

Fun stuff!