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Chief's grade trade musket
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Booshway
Picture of MountainRanger
posted
Finally decided on a smoothbore rifle... went to a friend who builds rifles and he had a Chief's Grade Trade Gun in progress and offered it to me for a great price... it has a straight grain maple stock, an L&R Queen Ann lock that he has already taken apart, hardened the frizzen and tuned it up... will stamp a fox on the lock. Has the brass butt plate and serpent side piece... a Colerain octaganal to round barrel, 36" in 20ga (.62 caliber) flavor. Both lock and barrel will be polished bright.

He's going to put a white lightning vent hole liner in it. The barrel is fitted to the stock and the breech is in place. I'm going to have him put sling swivels on it... Yes, I know that that's probably not 100% authentic, but you know what? It's my rifle and if'en I want a danged CD player on it, I'm going to order it that way hehe.


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
Picture of Leonard
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You should love it ... I sure do love mine ... only gun I've shot since I got it !!!
 
Posts: 46 | Location: Iowa | Registered: 28 November 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hivernant
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You will love the White Lightning touch hole liner. I had one in a Jackie Brown trade gun and it went off like it's namesake --lightning.


God Bless
Whisler
 
Posts: 123 | Location: Northern Kaintuckee | Registered: 21 December 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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Sounds like it'll be nice! Look forward to seeing some pics when its done.


Experience is the best teacher, hunger good sauce.
Osborne Russell Journal of a Trapper
 
Posts: 212 | Location: SW Montana | Registered: 17 December 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of MountainRanger
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I love the white lightning liners... Mark put one in the SW Virginia rifle he built for me the other year. It has never not gone off unless the flint needed knapping.... and fast.... wow!

This Chief's Grade won't be finished until around February. Maybe the groundhog will bring it to me as a late BD present. Turning 70, I danged well better get something nice! Eeker

Greenhorn, I love your rifle. Mine will look different given that it's maple. Looks like yours is walnut. Really is nice.

Anyone know where you can pick up the medallion inlay that the original Chief's Grade rifles had and that folks like North Star West and Loyalist Arms put on their repros? I have searched TOW, Log Cabin and everywhere else I can think of... I've googled all possible variations of 'Indian Head Medallion or inlay for Chief's Grade Rifle' and all I get are links to North Star West (pics) and auction sites for original Chief's Grades... HELP!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MountainRanger,


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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I also have a white lightning liner in my smooth bore. friends who don't use real black powder can't believe the speed it goes off with.
 
Posts: 353 | Location: Pocono Mts. in PA | Registered: 12 June 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Greenhorn
Picture of Leonard
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NSW sells the medallion - $15.

As Matt's is copied from an original, you can't beat that!
 
Posts: 46 | Location: Iowa | Registered: 28 November 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of MountainRanger
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Thank you Leonard. Will get it ordered.


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Graybeard
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You'll love a Chief's grade musket. I have a .62 NSW one with a 36" barrel and sling swivels. It's my favorite long gun.
 
Posts: 214 | Location: Big Arm Montana | Registered: 17 September 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Free Trapper
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A Chief's trade gun has been on my wish list for a long time. All of the guns that I have built have the Chamber's white lightnin' touch hole liner installed in them and I can tell you they are the fastest by far over a few others I have owned without them. I like to drill the T\H out a little bigger than it comes using a 1\16" drill bit. Mountain Ranger, your project really floats my boat and I look forward to all of the details of your friend's build! Very Cool!
 
Posts: 197 | Registered: 15 January 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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I will sure pass progress reports. I expect that I'll see it pretty often since John and I shoot together. I ordered the medallion from NSW and should get it this week, of course John is headed up to New Brunswick to hunt elk, moose or martians this weekend and will be gone about two weeks.


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Sounds like that will be one very nice gun. I sure like my Caywood NW trade gun. It has a 36" barrel and of .62 caliber persuasion.

The hardest choice I had to made was the 36" barrel rather than a 31 1/2" barrel.

Load fast and aim slow.
 
Posts: 1726 | Location: Pacific Northwest | Registered: 08 March 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
Picture of Notchy Bob
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It sounds as if you will have a gun you will enjoy!

I will be the dissenting opinion with regard to touchhole liners, though. I currently have four flintlocks. One (the rifle) has a White Lightnin' vent liner, and the other three (all smoothbores) just have a traditional touchhole bored in the side. One of the smoothbores is relatively new and I have not had time to shoot it yet, but I have shot the other two and the rifle enough to get to know them. I honestly can't tell that much difference in ignition time, between the rifle with the liner and the guns without.

I suspect the touchhole liner coned on the inside may be a real advantage if you have a rifle with a swamped barrel, with a really thick sidewall at the breech. I think the advantage may be lost if the sidewall is thinner, and there could potentially be a safety issue with fewer threads to retain the liner in the barrel with the thinner sidewall.

One other issue is that the White Lightnin' vent liner on my rifle extends into the bore. You can't get a scraper down there to clean the breech face, nor will a jag and patch hit bottom. I have worked out some creative ways to deal with this, but it's sort of a pain. I was advised that the portion of the liner that extends into the bore is supposed to be radiused to match the bore and prevent the problem noted above, but the gunsmith who built my rifle, a craftsman of some repute, did not do this.

I have seen photos of some original firearms with lined vent holes, but all that I recall were high-end luxury pieces. I don't believe the typical guns on the frontier were thus equipped. Stainless steel was unknown back in the day, as well. You made it clear that you aren't worried about details of authenticity, and I respect that, but this is one more thing that a lot of us think about.

So, in my opinion, vent liners are greatly overrated. Clearly, others disagree, but they are entitled to their opinions, also.

In any event, I hope you enjoy your new gun. It sounds like it's going to be a nice one.

Notchy Bob


"Should have kept the old ways just as much as I could, and the tradition that guarded us. Should have rode horses. Kept dogs."

from The Antelope Wife
 
Posts: 333 | Location: Florida | Registered: 24 May 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Booshway
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Sorry you had a bad experience with vent hole liners, Bob. I have had four flintlocks since my entry to this sport in 1976 and three of them were custom. All the customs had vent hole liners, but only this last one was made with a White Lightning liner. The first rifle made for me was by Don Eads of west Tennessee in about 1977 and his liner was made from scratch. As far as I can recall, it was about as fast as the White Lightning liners. The middle one was garbage as was the rifle the liner was in and I won't even go there... that transaction and experience still gives me indigestion and a major case of the scratchy butt. The last rife had made was by Mark Elliott and has the WL liner and I'm completely satisfied with both his rifle and its liner. I will say though, that even on the rifle where I think the builder did the worst possible job, had the appropriate length on the liner such that it didn't extent into the barrel. Of course, the way he chose to handle the length of the liner was to allow it to stick out and keep the lock from seating correctly. Maybe someday, someone will introduce that gentleman to a file!

I respect anyone's adherence to complete authenticity if such a thing is actually possible. There are times (at our big weekend shoots, or if I travel to another club's big shoots) when I dress out and enjoy trying to recreate the period of the F&I War through the Revolutionary periods. At our regular monthly shoots, no one dresses out.. we like to make loud noises, punch paper and ring the targets in the trees rather than recreate an era. Hence, my less than fussy adherence to absolute authenticity.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MountainRanger,


Sua Sponte
 
Posts: 460 | Location: SW Virginia (New River Valley) | Registered: 13 August 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Factor
Picture of Dick
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Mountain Ranger,
I hope you enjoy your finished Chief's Grade. I got one from Matt at North Star West and really like mine. Please don't call it a rifle unless it has rifling in the barrel! It's a smoothbore.

And I don't see why you couldn't contact Matt at NSW, as he is responsible for making those thumbpieces. He'd sell you one, and no one else makes them as far as I know.

Dick

quote:
Originally posted by MountainRanger:
I love the white lightning liners... Mark put one in the SW Virginia rifle he built for me the other year. It has never not gone off unless the flint needed knapping.... and fast.... wow!

This Chief's Grade won't be finished until around February. Maybe the groundhog will bring it to me as a late BD present. Turning 70, I danged well better get something nice! Eeker

Greenhorn, I love your rifle. Mine will look different given that it's maple. Looks like yours is walnut. Really is nice.

Anyone know where you can pick up the medallion inlay that the original Chief's Grade rifles had and that folks like North Star West and Loyalist Arms put on their repros? I have searched TOW, Log Cabin and everywhere else I can think of... I've googled all possible variations of 'Indian Head Medallion or inlay for Chief's Grade Rifle' and all I get are links to North Star West (pics) and auction sites for original Chief's Grades... HELP!


"Est Deus in Nobis"
 
Posts: 2902 | Location: Helena, Montana | Registered: 10 December 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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