.50 Cal. Underhammer Build In Progress.

[Razor62]

Definitely going to scope this one Underlocked. Thanks for the kudos.

Dwayne, so glad to hear that. One word of warning...Building guns is habit forming.

 

[Razor62]

Cut back the grip section today to accept an ebony grip cap

Modified the forend for a decorative nose piece also of ebony.

Once blended into the stock lines these two modifications should add an interesting and attractive touch to the overall look of the rifle.

 

[mcp]

Man that is starting to take shape! Looks great

 

[Razor62]

Installed the grip cap and nosepiece. Also began working on the forend. Got it inlet for the barrel and hammer. Little by little we're getting there...

Grip cap installed:

Nosepiece installed:

Forend installed:

Inlet for hammer and nipple:

Some of these photos were taken in different light. Almost makes it look like a different piece of wood but it's not.

 

[oldfox]

Lookin' good Razor! :yeah:

 

[ShawnT]

Looking very good Razor. For a $35 peice of wood, I think you done good. There is some nice figure in it. I would bet if you wet it down a bit you would really see how nice it will be. I really like the shape you made the ebony forend tip. It is quite different and should look very striking against that walnut. Have you decided on what you will finish it with? I would vote for a nice hand rubbed satin oil finish. Keep up the good work!

 

[Razor62]

Got a little more done on the forend. Made a brass escussion for the attachment screw out of a plumbing fitting that was rolling around in my junk drawer. Got the ebony diamond and escussion in place and slimmed things up a little more. I'm a little disappointed though because I didn't quite get the escussion centered in the diamond. A mistake that'll haunt me forever.
Now you can see the nose piece and how it dresses up the overall look.

Forend progress:

Waiting on a router bit to run the ramrod channel. I can't begin rounding off the profile until after I rout that channel because I need thos straight edges to guide the router.


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[akapennypincher]

Thanks for sharing your project.

 

[Razor62]

Absolutely my pleasure akapennypincher. I'm enjoying this.

Got my ramrod thimbles dovetailed into the barrel today. First time doing that. Forward one is a little sloppy but I think a little solder will fix that. I tried to tighten it up with a punch but it's still not perfect.

Thimbles Installed:

Loose dovetail:

Another realization presented itself to me today. With the forend designed the way I had originally planned the process of loading / unloading a #11 cap will be cumbersom at best and in all likelihood it'll border on an impossibility. There's simply no way to get my fat fingers down into that little recess in order to accomplish this task the way that I have things laid out now. As much as I don't like the idea of reshaping the forend at the nipple area into something simillar to what we see on virtually all underhammers, it seems as though I have very few options.

Example of a typical underhammer forend:

I'm thinking of removing the wood shown in the shaded area or at least simillar to the shaded area in the next photo. I'm open to ideas which may create a more graceful flow to the forend. I'm having trouble coming up with an option that I like.

Wood to be removed:

Did some more detail work on the buttstock too:

She's shaping up nicely. Lookin' forward to hunting with her next season.


.

 

[WV Hunter]

Man its really taking shape. That is some nice looking wood, I bet its beautiful when its finished

Are there any cappers that might work or is there any way you could modify a capper to make it work so you don't need to modify the forend? I know I couldn't...but you seem very capable

 

[Razor62]

Thanks WV Hunter. I gave a capper some thought and did a search for one that would work but I came up empty. I did considder making a notch on either side of the forend to allow for an inline capper to reach the nipple.
The more I think about it though, the more a stock modification makes sense. I don't want be dependent on a capper to load the rifle. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[Semisane]

Razor62, I think what I would do is use a four-inch length of 3/8" hardwood dowel. Drill a shallow hole in the end of a diameter just big enough to hold a cap snugly. Place the cap in the end of the dowel and push it on the nipple. It would be a one-at-a-time kind of deal, but it would work.[/b]

 

[JStanley]

How about a strip of stiff leather, 3/4" wide or so, with holes punched that give a snug fit on the caps? You could easily lay that over the nipple and push the cap on without having to use the pinching movement with your fingers. Kind of like having a cap stuck on your fingertip with a booger, er I mean a little rubber cement.

Just thinkin' out loud....

 

[ShawnT]

I think if it were me, I would wait until I had the final fitting and final profile of the forearm done. That way you can really see what your final profile dimentions will be. It might end up a non-issue.

 

[Razor62]

Really good ideas folks.
Shawn, I think that I'll take your advice and continue toward the final dimensions before I commit to something that I can't reverse.
Thanks guys.

The booger thing cracked me up.

 

[Razor62]

Well, lots of folks seemed to be as reluctant as I was to change the profile of the forend when polled for advice. I've decided to put up with having to resort to using a capper or some other method of capping the rifle in favor of leaving the forend as originally planned. I did open up the recess some and I may in fact open it up some more but today I finally routed the ramrod channel and began contouring the forend. Have a look. Let me know what ya' think....

Ramrod Channel Routed:

Shaping Up!:

 

[JStanley]

It looks mahhvelous!

 

[ShawnT]

Looking mighty fine. I like the shape you made the hole for capping the nipple.

 

[ewald]

How about releaving for finger clearance on just one side. You would still have the nice side profile. And if you releaved the right side the wood on the other side would shield the shooter from cap bits.

 

[ewald]

Opps