Building an Alexander Henry Target Rifle from a Rod England Kit

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My Rigby is the same as my AH. But, my AH falling block has the rear boarder... one can only wonder if it’s more prevalent later in their work?
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Hmmm, I notice there is no border on the backside of the checkering ? I have photos of some different originals done both ways, with and without. Also notice some bone black.... thinner borders.... Okay, I give up, I need another hint!

I still have some wiggle room on the mullered borders to cut a bit differently so it may not be to late to make a change!

Curtis
 
Oops, I didn't see your last post before I wrote the above....

I think the rear border was dependent on who did the checkering. I pretty much had to use one because of overruns. :(

Here is a nice AH target rifle done that way - also notice the screw in the patent breech instead of a plug.

Alexander-Henry-Target-Rifle-Belonging-to-Col-Frederick-Trench-Gascoi_101016043_19081_17427FFB...jpg
Alexander-Henry-Target-Rifle-Belonging-to-Col-Frederick-Trench-Gascoi_101016043_19081_A534A61B...jpg
Alexander-Henry-Target-Rifle-Belonging-to-Col-Frederick-Trench-Gascoi_101016043_19081_C9EC438A...jpg

Curtis
 
Curtis good pic.
Your checkering looks great, don’t worry about the back border. It’s just something I’ve always noticed (unusual) that gives some sort of depth appearance-imo.
i understand overruns- I’ve recheckered a few, but I’ve only attempted checkering once. Not for me.ha
That screw on the breech is typical Rigby, I believe I’ve seen photos of that piece as it’s been rebarreled with a Rigby bbl long ago.
Like today - most have to have the latest and greatest (so they’re told). lol
 
Thanks Rick!

Your old EM Reilly Cousins Whitworth is a dandy! The pics of the AH 451 double didn't come through....
 
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Layin' down some more lines..... Getting a little faster at it, but not much.
::)









Curtis
 
Had some more shop time this week, made good progress on the forestock. I still have a little more work to do on the borders, as well as some cleanup.

Using an 18th century style checkering tool:









After the checkering was finished I ran the flat-bottom tool in all the grooves. It is a pain to go over all those lines again, but in my opinion it really makes the checkering look more period, and makes the checks look taller.






Made a new mullering tool and modified one previously made to get into the corners of the borders better.







What I have so far:





When I finish up the forestock I will go back and do a little more work on the pistol grip borders.

Curtis

Modify message
 
Someone was working late at night or in the early morning. Excellent results
 
Had some more shop time this week, made good progress on the forestock. I still have a little more work to do on the borders, as well as some cleanup.

Using an 18th century style checkering tool:









After the checkering was finished I ran the flat-bottom tool in all the grooves. It is a pain to go over all those lines again, but in my opinion it really makes the checkering look more period, and makes the checks look taller.






Made a new mullering tool and modified one previously made to get into the corners of the borders better.







What I have so far:





When I finish up the forestock I will go back and do a little more work on the pistol grip borders.

Curtis

Modify message
very nice lookin work. I appreciate the dedication to craftsmanship & detail. It's a joy watchin your project progress along on an incredible rifle.
 
You guys are way too nice! But thanks for the positive input!!

Someone was working late at night or in the early morning. Excellent results

That was due to my innatention to detail in setting up my profile... I went and looked at my time zone and It had a Dublin time set! It is now set to central US time. All this time I thought the forum time was off, turned out to be my time zone selected! :oops:
 
Outstanding work on everything. The checkering is just...perfect. Do you apply some oil finish to the checkering or let it weather in so to speak.
 
Yes Mr. Tom, and thanks for the compliment! I used some LMF sealer with a few drops of LMF maple stain in it, followed wit a good scrubbing with a toothbrush to keep the valleys from gumming up. Will be adding some bone black w/linseed oil for period effect soon.

Curtis
 
After finishing the forestock, I returned to the pistol grip area and re-worked the borders to match what I did on the forestock. I didn't quite get the results I was after on the borders, but felt I was rapidly leaving the realm of minor improvements and about to enter the land of unrecoverable errors - so I quit while I was ahead.
;)
I then made a burnishing tool and burnished the mullered borders.

The next step was to add some patina to the checkered zones and borders to help achieve a more "period" look. I was given the idea by 52bore and got the lowdown on how to do it from Jim Westburg. I used a linseed oil and LMF sealer blend, mixed with a healthy dose of Kibler bone black applied with an artist brush, then worked it over with a couple of different toothbrushes. When I had an area that was resistant to taking a good darkening I dipped the toothbrush into some boneblack and applied it directly to the oil dampened area. Here are a few photos of the process:









And here are the results:











Photos of an original for comparison:





Thanks for looking,
Curtis
 
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Excellent!
Hope to see you and the rifle in September!
Guess I am jumping ahead, Metal finishes are next. what are your thoughts?
 
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