Matt Moore
Active member
Here's what I've been up to instead of getting any yard work done. I built a muzzleloading shutzen rifle for my dad. He'd given me the stock blank years ago, and then later gave me the barrel. At that point I decided to build him a rifle with the parts he'd given me, almost free I thought, boy was I wrong.
Jim Heyden, "The Book Peddler", had a book on american muzzleloading shutzen rifles, so I decided that's what I'd build my dad, since he likes shooting shutzen rifles. 100 bucks later, I had the book. I bought an L & R shutzen lock, and picked up a suitable trigger guard and buttplate casting. I also bought a solid tang breach plug, and a single set trigger. Shutzen is off hand and bench target shooting at 200 yards. It was very popular prior to the 1st world war, especially among german immigrants. Most guys that do it now shoot singleshot cartridge guns, usually on Winchester highwall rifles.
This had alot of extra work over a standard muzzleloader. I wanted a false muzzle on the barrel, and after a complex operation was able to to this, using the last 1 1/2 inches of the existing muzzle. I won't go into how I did it, I don't want to bore everyone.
The stock is configured like no other gun I'd built, and my dad is several inches taller than I am, with longer arms and neck. It took a few dry fits to figure the comb height, pull length etc. It's way easier to build a gun the fits yourself, or at least someone you're still living with.
The trigger guard was a pain in the butt. the casting had the front tang attached to the guard, this isn't correct, the tang should be a separate piece, and the guard hooks under it. I didn't know this until I'd already inletted the tang, and had a bolt to hold it on installed under the barrel tang. I was not satisfied with the installation, but had done the best I could figure out at the time. When I found out the right way, I broke down and sawed off the tang, and made a new one that's held on by two screws in the barrel channel. This worked much better.
My dad had grumbled that it didn't have a tip out breach, and I didn't like that part either. So after I'd already inletted the solid tang plug in the stock, I changed coarse, and sawed off the tang and filed a hook to the breach. I sawed out a false breach from a piece of channel iron, and tried to fit it to the tip out breach. I'd built one of these once before from scratch, but had no luck with this one, and eventually bought a new plug and tang. The factory tang and plug didn't fit together especially well either, but with some peening I closed the gaps to a better fit, but still not what I was really after.
The original set trigger I'd picked out wasn't working out, so I bought another that worked well. More money out the door!
When I drilled the hole for the ramrod, it ran off center. Something that had always gone well for me before. I ultimately decided it's a target rifle, and he'd have to carry a loading rod with the rest of the tool box full of stuff you take to a day of shutzen shooting.
The stock was very coarse grained, and it took forever to fill the grain, and was miserable to checker, very fuzzy cutting. I'd had thoughts of carving the stock as well, but I didn't trust that corky wood. I'm glad now I didn't, the wood is pretty enough without it anyway.
The barrel was somewhat beat up, and took alot of hours to get the rust and dings out of it, but it went well. The triggerguard was a very hard casting, with lots of nooks to clean up. If I had to do it over, I'd have gotten the same hardware cast in brass, especially since it got plated. The nickle plating was a last minute decision that I'm glad I had done, but more money out the door. The lock and other parts were easy, except the cock had nooks and crannies. The rest of the parts I made from mild steel. I wanted to color case harden them, but was leery of trying that without experience, and at last minute as well, so I niter blued the whole mess. I feel I did ok on the engraving, but I need to spend much more time drawing scrolls to get where I should be.
This gun took the longest to build of any I've done, both in actual work hours, and calendar years. When I started it I was working out of town a lot. Then my knees went bad, and I was in and out of surgery for a couple of years. Then I spent a year on the road learning my current job, then we moved to Astoria, and I had to build my shop so I had a place to work, so it got mothballed for long periods of time. I hate to admit it took my wife to getting after me to get it going again.
While I really struggled with this rifle, seeing the old man's face when I handed it to him made it all worth the effort. I also feel I advanced a lot in experience with this gun. I had to figure out a lot from pictures and gut feeling alone. It's definitely a different style of rifle!
Here's my Dad trying it out, the false muzzle wouldn't be on it if he were really shooting, and I see the front site isn't in the up position.
Close up of the lock. He'll probably have to cut the stem of the peep site shorter. I didn't build the site, it's one my dad had.
The image for this boar was stolen off of a german made shutzen built on a martini action. The boar was engraved on the side of the action.
My dad and I the day he got it.
Jim Heyden, "The Book Peddler", had a book on american muzzleloading shutzen rifles, so I decided that's what I'd build my dad, since he likes shooting shutzen rifles. 100 bucks later, I had the book. I bought an L & R shutzen lock, and picked up a suitable trigger guard and buttplate casting. I also bought a solid tang breach plug, and a single set trigger. Shutzen is off hand and bench target shooting at 200 yards. It was very popular prior to the 1st world war, especially among german immigrants. Most guys that do it now shoot singleshot cartridge guns, usually on Winchester highwall rifles.
This had alot of extra work over a standard muzzleloader. I wanted a false muzzle on the barrel, and after a complex operation was able to to this, using the last 1 1/2 inches of the existing muzzle. I won't go into how I did it, I don't want to bore everyone.
The stock is configured like no other gun I'd built, and my dad is several inches taller than I am, with longer arms and neck. It took a few dry fits to figure the comb height, pull length etc. It's way easier to build a gun the fits yourself, or at least someone you're still living with.
The trigger guard was a pain in the butt. the casting had the front tang attached to the guard, this isn't correct, the tang should be a separate piece, and the guard hooks under it. I didn't know this until I'd already inletted the tang, and had a bolt to hold it on installed under the barrel tang. I was not satisfied with the installation, but had done the best I could figure out at the time. When I found out the right way, I broke down and sawed off the tang, and made a new one that's held on by two screws in the barrel channel. This worked much better.
My dad had grumbled that it didn't have a tip out breach, and I didn't like that part either. So after I'd already inletted the solid tang plug in the stock, I changed coarse, and sawed off the tang and filed a hook to the breach. I sawed out a false breach from a piece of channel iron, and tried to fit it to the tip out breach. I'd built one of these once before from scratch, but had no luck with this one, and eventually bought a new plug and tang. The factory tang and plug didn't fit together especially well either, but with some peening I closed the gaps to a better fit, but still not what I was really after.
The original set trigger I'd picked out wasn't working out, so I bought another that worked well. More money out the door!
When I drilled the hole for the ramrod, it ran off center. Something that had always gone well for me before. I ultimately decided it's a target rifle, and he'd have to carry a loading rod with the rest of the tool box full of stuff you take to a day of shutzen shooting.
The stock was very coarse grained, and it took forever to fill the grain, and was miserable to checker, very fuzzy cutting. I'd had thoughts of carving the stock as well, but I didn't trust that corky wood. I'm glad now I didn't, the wood is pretty enough without it anyway.
The barrel was somewhat beat up, and took alot of hours to get the rust and dings out of it, but it went well. The triggerguard was a very hard casting, with lots of nooks to clean up. If I had to do it over, I'd have gotten the same hardware cast in brass, especially since it got plated. The nickle plating was a last minute decision that I'm glad I had done, but more money out the door. The lock and other parts were easy, except the cock had nooks and crannies. The rest of the parts I made from mild steel. I wanted to color case harden them, but was leery of trying that without experience, and at last minute as well, so I niter blued the whole mess. I feel I did ok on the engraving, but I need to spend much more time drawing scrolls to get where I should be.
This gun took the longest to build of any I've done, both in actual work hours, and calendar years. When I started it I was working out of town a lot. Then my knees went bad, and I was in and out of surgery for a couple of years. Then I spent a year on the road learning my current job, then we moved to Astoria, and I had to build my shop so I had a place to work, so it got mothballed for long periods of time. I hate to admit it took my wife to getting after me to get it going again.
While I really struggled with this rifle, seeing the old man's face when I handed it to him made it all worth the effort. I also feel I advanced a lot in experience with this gun. I had to figure out a lot from pictures and gut feeling alone. It's definitely a different style of rifle!
Here's my Dad trying it out, the false muzzle wouldn't be on it if he were really shooting, and I see the front site isn't in the up position.
Close up of the lock. He'll probably have to cut the stem of the peep site shorter. I didn't build the site, it's one my dad had.
The image for this boar was stolen off of a german made shutzen built on a martini action. The boar was engraved on the side of the action.
My dad and I the day he got it.
