The first NMLRA Gunsmithing Workshop and Seminar of the
21st century took place May 30 through June 8, 2001 at
Western Kentucky University at Bowling Green. The
seminar was attended by fifty-nine skilled, amateur and
beginning NMLRA gunsmiths all eager to learn, practice
and perfect a variety of the skills necessary to produce
18th century rifles, fowlers, pistols and horns. As in
past years, the seminar began with several three-day
short courses as preliminaries to the main six-day
classes.
In 2001 the short courses included:
• Gary Brumfield and Wallace Gusler: Drawing.
Gary and Wallace co-taught a class on design and drawing
for the American longrifle. They used new rifles,
because the carving is still sharp, as well as
originals, slides and close-ups of a variety of samples.
Gary and Wallace talked about Baroque and Rocco styles
as well as American versus European art and how they
were used and applied to the American longrifle. They
talked about how to see where lines originate and flow
and how to learn to look before you draw and draw before
you design.
• Mark Silver: Traditional Stock Architecture,
Preparation and Finishing.
Mark’s 10 students shaped a stock from a rough blank
using planes, rasps and files. They then finished the
stock to the point of being ready for staining using
only steel bladed scrapers. No sandpaper or steel wool
was used. The results demonstrate that stock shaping
with edged tools is not only traditional but is also
quick and efficient. Mark’s class also experimented with
traditional stock staining on maple and walnut using
traditional dyes such as nitric acid, pine tar and bee’s
wax as well as modern aniline dyes.
• Jack Brooks: c.1815 English Lock.
Jack had 8 students who took a fine Jim Chambers c. 1760
pistol flintlock and modified it to look like a c. 1815
London Warranted Pennsylvania style lock. All the
changes were cosmetic. Jack made cocks and roller
frizzen springs to match the original. He taught his
class how to fit the cock and temper and fit the frizzen
spring. They worked on some introductory engraving as
well as lock filing and polishing to make it look
correct for the pistols in Jack’s weeklong class.
• Hershel and John House: Forging Iron Mounts.
Hershel’s blacksmith shop at his home became the
classroom for 9 students to forge, shape and finish the
trigger guard, sideplate and buttplate for the southern
mountain rifle. All the students quickly picked up the
knowledge to make nicely shaped mounts. On Friday
evening the women of Woodbury, KY treated the House’s
forging class to a dinner. Nobody complained or went
away hungry.
• Ron Ehlert: Powder Horns.
Ron’s 9 students started with a raw horn and finished
with a partially scrimshawed French & Indian or
Revolutionary War antique. In between Ron explained and
demonstrated how to select a horn based on color,
thickness, curve and weight. Ron talked about plugging
and sculpting, engrailing, shaping the horn and making
and installing the butt plug. They located and drilled
the small hole for the fiddle keys Ron provided. Ron
also gave instruction on scrimshaw with a knife, scribe
and graver and explained his method of artificial
antiquing. Ron had several books with many photos of
original horns for examples and ideas.
(top)
Shoot and Picnic:
After the completion of the three-day classes at noon on
Saturday we had a much-needed break. The manager of the
Scottish Inn, Jim Smith, where most of the seminar
participants were staying, offered to let us use his
farm for a Saturday afternoon shoot. Most of the seminar
folks were there and about 50 neighbors. Some of the
spectators had never fired a muzzleloader before. There
were several rifles, and one pistol, in nearly constant
use. Mine got shot a total of 26 times by probably 10
different people. If each of the eight to ten guns
present was fired by that many people, and I believe
most were, that’s a total of 80+ people who were
introduced to black powder and the NMLRA in one
afternoon.
We ate well, too. Jim’s family, and the family of John
DuVall from Sweeden, KY, prepared a barbecue dinner for
all the seminar participants. It was good friendship,
good eatin’ and good shootin’ all in one afternoon. Life
is good!
(top)
On Sunday morning we began the six-day classes. These
classes are the primary focus of the seminar and
included:
• Ron Ehlert: Fowler.
Ron furnished his 8 students with a stock blank with the
barrel and ramrod channels pre-inlet. He furnished a
lock, buttplate and trigger guard. The students then
inlet the breech plug, tang, lock and buttplate. They
made the trigger and trigger plate from sheet and inlet
both. They shaped the buttstock profile from lock to
buttplate in the style of the American Fowler from the
Revolutionary War period. Ron had two original fowlers
for his students to copy or use as examples. One of
these is a J.P. Beck of the Lebanon school while the
other is unsigned. Both had the original flintlocks and
made excellent guns for patterns. The buttstock of the
American Fowler is unique and completely different from
the American Longrifle.
• Hershel and John House: Southern Mountain Rifle.
Hershel and John House co-taught a class of 8 students
the architecture and traditional building techniques of
the southern mountain rifle. One of their students used
walnut while the rest used maple stock blanks with the
barrel channel and ramrod already inlet. They shaped the
stock, inlet the tang, trigger, buttplate and iron
mounts. Five of these students worked on rifles of an
early style, with three of a later period. All studied
different styles and construction techniques. These
students will go home with a nearly completed rifle.
None of them were finished but all can be completed at
home. Hershel and John also hosted a “porch sing” at
John’s cabin on the last Thursday evening. It’s a great
way to end the seminar with new and old friends.
• Jack Brooks: Kentucky Pistol.
Jack had photos of an original c. 1820 Pennsylvania
pistol probably made by John Rupp or Jacob Kuntz (Kunz).
Jack had made two pistols from the photographs for
examples to be used by his 8 students. Bob Elka supplied
high quality blanks of hard maple with the ramrod
channel and a round, partial, barrel channel already
inlet. Jack supplied Getz octagon to round .45 caliber,
9” barrels, investment cast trigger guards and materials
for the class to make the trigger, trigger plate,
thimbles, barrel lugs and pins. He also supplied sheet
silver for the escutcheon pin inlays. The class inlet
the barrel, drilled the ramrod hole, inlet the lock,
trigger and trigger plate, cut dovetails in the barrel
for lugs and made and installed the lugs. Everyone got
the forestock shaped but only Bob Elka succeeded in
getting the stock completely shaped with buttplate
installed. One student used an L & R Bailes lock while
the rest used stock Jim Chambers locks or the locks from
Jack’s lock preparation class. This is the class I took
this year. Jack has been teaching a Pennsylvania rifle
class for several years and decided to offer a pistol
class as a change. I signed up for the same reason. I
can verify the skills and techniques are the same for a
pistol as for a rifle, except that it’s a lot easier to
inlet a 9” barrel than a 44” barrel!
• Mark Silver: Engraving.
Mark’s 8 students received instruction on American
design and styles of engraving found on original
longrifles. His instruction included scrolls, leaf work,
shading and lettering. Mark supplied his students with
gravers he had prepared. This way each student began
with a tool that was correctly sharpened. His
instruction included how, and why, to keep the graver
correctly sharpened, planning, design, layout and
execution. Mark also taught how to hold the graver and
chasing hammer and how heavy each tap should be to get
the correct depth of cut. Their “finial” exam was to
copy a finial from an original patchbox. Many thanks to
Dixie Gun Works and Sharon Cunningham for the brass
practice plates they supplied for this class.
• Gary Brumfield: Making and Inletting the Brass
Patchbox.
Gary’s 8 students followed his 15-step procedure to make
and inlet a brass patchbox from sheet. This class also
used stock blanks because the objective is to learn the
techniques rather than to complete a rifle. Dixie Gun
Works supplied the sheet brass and buttplates. Gary’s
instruction included designing a patchbox or duplicating
an original as well as shaping and inletting a brass
buttplate. His procedures include how to cut the pieces
to make and fit a curved hinge, and how to design, cut
and inlet the sideplates, finial and door. Gary’s
students experimented with hidden latches and a variety
of spring and button locations. They learned how to heat
temper and work harden iron and brass and how to make
springs.
• Wallace Gusler: Sheet and Wire Inlay.
Wallace taught 8 students his technique for sheet and
wire inlays. He started with the basics of stock
preparation and how to lay out a pattern. Wallace then
progressed to wire inlay and the procedure of setting in
with a “V” cut, the use and shape of a bottoming tool
and how to make miters and other angle fits. He also
instructed his students in thinning wire for tapering
elements and methods of securing wire by shape upsetting
the bottom edge. Wallace explained how to inlay wire
around curved surfaces and methods of controlling depth
and curve distortion. His students worked with wire of
.004 and .007 thickness and learned how to hammer the
wire to make other thickness. Wallace instructed his
students in how to design inlays, make patterns, cut out
the inlay from sheet and file the proper angles on the
edges to make a tight fit. They next worked on bending
the inlay to shape, scribing and how to remove the
proper wood to get a good fit. Wallace also included
making nails and nail heads as well as designing inlays
that use both sheet and wire.
• Jim Chambers: Relief Carving.
Jim’s 5 students studied and practiced the techniques
involved in applying 18th century decorative arts to the
gunstock. His instruction included final shaping and
preparation of the stock, drawing of 18th century
designs, studying both Rocco and Baroque design, how to
lay out the carving design on the stock, execution of
the carving and sanding or scraping in preparation for
finishing. Jim’s class studied carvings, both good and
bad, on original rifles as well as examples of some of
the best of today’s gun makers. The class objective was
not to obtain a finished product but rather to explore,
practice and master the techniques necessary to produce
a stylistically correct 18th century longrifle.
(top)
John Miller and Christi Lemen paid us a surprise visit.
John is the NMLRA Executive Vice President and Christi
is the secretary in the office at Friendship and is
instrumental in getting mailings and information to
seminar participants. A hearty thanks also needs to go
to Dr. Terry Leper for his efforts in securing the
facilities at WKU and to Gary Brumfield for organizing
the seminar. Dixie Gun Works and Sharon Cunningham
deserve our thanks and patronage for supplying the brass
sheet and buttplates used by the engraving and patchbox
classes. Please don’t forget them when you’re ordering
supplies. This seminar could never take place without
the help of these fine people.
On Monday evening it looked as if I didn’t have enough
socks to survive the week, so I loaded up and went to a
local laundry. While there I ran into Mike Matteson from
Hershel and John’s Southern Mountain Rifle class. Of
course the conversation turned to guns and history and
other interesting stuff. As I was driving back I thought
“only at this seminar can a guy go to a laundry mat and
come out with a new idea for a rifle sight and a lead on
a book on early Virginia and Ohio Valley settlers.
(top)As always, every meal becomes
a forum for discussion on everything from tool suppliers
to huntin’ tales from every corner of the country. I
usually believe the info on tool suppliers. If you’re
coming to the seminar, be sure to bring enough pencils
and notepads.
At the turn of the 21st century, it seems somewhat odd
to be learning and practicing and rediscovering
gunsmithing techniques from, now, four centuries
earlier. Most of the work performed at the seminar is
done by the same methods in use by the gunsmiths and
horners four centuries ago. While some of the tools have
changed, we may use a drill press instead of a hand
drill, we’re still locating the tang screw and fitting
the buttplate in much the same way. It’s nice to leave
most of the modern, 21st century, world behind and spend
10 days immersed in art, history and flintlock rifles.
There is an odd mix of the old and the new. At a dinner
table or parking lot discussion, it’s possible to learn
of an 18th century method for securing barrel lugs and
of a web site for a supplier of dovetail cutters.
(top)
We had people from 26 states including Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula, Florida, New Jersey and California. We were
even blessed, once again, with Pete Fuller from Kent,
England. A local, Bowling Green, television station came
in and taped an interview with Pete. We were all
thrilled at the chance to get what we’re doing in front
of the public. Pete did a good job and was extremely
photogenic. Unfortunately, the interview was edited to
about 10 seconds and ended with a very quick shot of a
rifle stock. This year’s seminar also included 6 women.
They add a touch of class most gun shops could have used
in 1775. There were four couples with both husband and
wife enrolled in class, lending a new twist to a family
vacation.
If you’re planning to attend the seminar in 2002, be
sure to indicate a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of class.
Instructor and classroom availability and student
requests will determine which classes are taught. Please
keep in mind that the purpose of the seminar is not to
completely build a rifle but to learn and practice the
skills necessary to turn out quality work. The seminar
is intended for all skill levels with beginners and
experts in every class. The instructors make every
effort to teach to the level of each individual student.
Look for information on the 2002 NMLRA Gunsmithing
Workshop and Seminar in an upcoming issue of Muzzle
Blasts. (top)
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