hello again. Well, I am finally back home long enough to get my computer working correctly. So here are some additional pics of the barrel and lock.
BARREL: Note the barrel started life as a Matchlock. The original groove cut into the barrel is where the pan/cover resided. Imagine my surprise to see this when I first removed the lock. The pic shows where the new breech plug was installed with the original barrel tang welded back on. As well, the original sight groove welded closed and re-cut to match the new front sight.Still had to re-heat the tang and slightly bend it to fit the stock. Whew. And note the muzzle end of the barrel. You can hardly notice the new steel .54 caliber liner was installed.
LOCK: Note the thick sheet brass added to the back of the lock plate and pan area to fill the space between the lock and barrel. That way the evidence of the original matchlock is still intact.
This gun took far more work than I originally anticipated. But I'm happy with the end result. It shoots very accurate and is a lot of fun. Thanks for looking and all of your responses. Hope you found it interesting.
I'll post another gun this weekend. Rick.
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