I finally finished the Cut-N-Shoot project, that I have been working on for months. I fired it for the first time on April 22, 2013. Below are some photos that I took in my studio and a video of the first two shots fired from the completed piece. I will soon have professional photos taken of it.
This is the first combination weapon that I have built. The completed piece was test fired on April 22, 2013. Except for the top jaw screw, all of the damascus parts are made of 1084 and 15N20 steel. The top jaw screw is 1084 and 1018 steel.
The barrel is 3 1/2 inches long, in .50 caliber. It is a spiral welded barrel in the damascus pattern, two iron Crolle. The breech plug is also damascus steel, with ladder pattern in the tang.
The flint-lock mechanism was designed and built by me. All of the exterior lock parts are made of damascus steel. The lock plate damascus pattern, matches the damascus pattern used in the knife blade. The only parts of this lock that are not damascus are the tumbler, sear, bridle, main spring, sear spring and internal screws.
The 12 inch long blade is in the Woodhead pattern. In this style of blade, the spine slopes downward towards the point. This provides for the blade to be out of view when aiming the pistol, so that it is not a distraction. The blade's tang is sculptured to resemble the lock mortise on the opposite side of the pistol stock. The lower portion of the tang lies flush with the surface of the pistol grip. The blade damascus is w-pattern, that has been pressed with West Texas Wind dies.
The pistol stock is made from fiddle-back maple. It is styled after French dueling and target pistol stocks of the late 1800s. The fluting on the grip is reminiscent of decorations commonly found on French pistols of this era.
The damascus steel ramrod screws into the ladder pattern damascus butt cap and stores in the grip of the pistol stock.
The trigger guard is in ladder pattern damascus. It was forged to shape and hand sculptured to its final form. The trigger and trigger plate are also damascus steel.
Each of the screws used on the exterior of the piece have been engraved with a flower design.
The overall length of this piece is 17 1/4 inches. The overall height is 6 3/8 inches, from the top of the cock to the bottom of the pistol grip.
Below is a link to a video of the first two shots fired from the finished piece. The load was 26 grains of FFF black powder. .490 round ball with a .015" patch. FFF powder was also used in the flash pan.
[media] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy4UKpNep4c [/media]
Steve that turned out beautiful! What a treat to see this finished with so much detail to look at from every angle. That is quite an impressive trigger guard.
Brian
Steve,
Incredible, beautiful...you give us all something to aspire to!
Thanks
Steve
This is very impressive and outstanding work!
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
All I can say is awesome.
Wow, Steve.
You set the bar pretty high, don'tcha? <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//ohmy.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':o' />
Karl B. Andersen
Journeyman Smith
Very impressive Steve. You done good on that piece. A big WOW!! from here. DO you have a special sheath for it or having one made? And how hard is it to clean the powder residue off the blade? One very lucky customer.
Just excellent.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Outstanding Steve!
Dale
Dale Huckabee
Journeyman Smith
dalehuckabeeknives.weebly.com
Thanks for the compliments!!
You set the bar pretty high, don'tcha?
Karl, LOL!!! I tried to!!!!! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />
And how hard is it to clean the powder residue off the blade?
Brion, cleaning the powder residue isn't too difficult. A couple shots of Windex will neutralize the acids and clean the residue easily. A fresh coat of oil completes the cleaning. The difficult part is having to take the piece entirely apart to clean it. Got to use proper fitting gunsmith screwdrivers to not damage the screw heads and be careful not scratch up any of the parts or stock.
I don't have definite plans to make a sheath for it. Though, I have an idea of one that would be fun. I'm going to visit Huey Gun Cases to see how much it would cost for a fitted display case for it.
I can't even describe how much fun it is to build something like this and use it to fire a ball through a pine board. I so much want to shoot it some more but, don't want to risk wear and tear on it and the possibility of scratching it up.
Truely inspiring. I've enjoyed seeing this project come together. Congratulations Steve.
That's awesome Steve!!!! Very Cool!!!!
That turned out great!
Thanks for the compliments guys!!
I visited Huey Gun Cases last Friday to see about a case for this piece. I had a great time talking to Marvin Huey. If you are ever looking for a PREMIUM case for one of your projects, Huey can certainly supply it. He has built a number of knife cases. Huey cases are well known for being the finest cases available. I intended to add a link to Huey's web site here, but can't get it to open right now. I'll see if it will work later.
I've been told by several people that I MUST name this piece. So, I'm working on a name for it.
Wow Steve that is just too cool. Beautiful work, especially the barrel. It makes me cringe though, thinking about sanding all those surfaces. Did you use EDM stones?
Absolutely fantastic!!! Thanks for your efforts in sharing it with us!
Will you have it on display at the Blade show?
Russell
