BUMP !! UPDATE..........
Hello All
It's been better than a year, but finally the Albanian Tanchika "shooter" is finished and ready for test firing. LOL
The barrel is now .58 caliber with a new steel liner inside the original barrel and a new front bead sight installed. A new ramrod was made (original was a too-short later replacement) and threaded on one end for cleaning accessories.
The lock was tuned and now sparks great. The two missing pearl inlays were copied to match the two originals, even down to the little circle engraving and filled with original type red paste. All four were then re-glued in place. Think that turned out well. You can't really tell the old ones versus the new ones.
I have a shoulder sling that I'm going to add but still need to make a couple rings. It's an original sling from a British EIC 1842 Musket. Should look the part. LOL
I was thinking that the small, thin butt stock might be uncomfortable to shoot. So I just made a rudimentary leather butt cover that will slip off and on. LOL
Anyway, here are some later pics of the finishing gun. Hope you enjoy. And thanks for looking. Been a while coming.
Rick