Matchlock Axe/Pistol

[Bruce Bump]

I think its time for another Work In Progress, this time an Axe and Pistol combination. It will have a twisted damascus 12" barrel and bored to a size of about 50 caliber. The ignition system will be a matchlock with a dragons head serpentine.

I actually have the barrel forged and twisted already. Its not bored out yet but I have a friend of a friend that claims its easy to do. My barrel isnt made the traditional method of days gone by where it takes 3 or 4 trained smiths that lay up strands of twisted damascus and wrap it around a mandrel and forge weld it. There are very few people that can do that and I'm not one of them. My barrel will suffice and still have a damascus pattern that looks good. It wont be the center of attention like the matchlock assembly will. The axe head will be small and thin and light weight because this is a pistol and not a battle/axe like my "Brutus the Axe Gun" is. This one will be smaller, faster and should look really cool when wielded around from horseback in the heat of battle.

The drawing isnt finished because of the length of the barrel wasnt determined until today. Its kinda aggravating to come up short after 4 days of forging steel so I got smart and forged the barrel first and will draw the plans afterward.

I'm going to start putting up pictures of the barrel now and will edit later with the hand drawn sketch later.

 

[Cubane]

Going to subscribe to this thread for sure.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Theres absolutely no sense in using high carbon steel to make a gun barrel so I'm using 1018 mild steel and pure nickel. I dont plan to acid etch the barrel but instead will do a hot gun blue. With pure nickel in the mix the nickel will be a gold hue instead of silver. The barrel will be black and gold.

This WIP could be way too complicated if I explain each and every picture and I cant afford to lose sleep doing this so just enjoy the pictures and I'm sure you can figure out whats happening. Oh there will be some short explanations anyway.

 

[Bruce Bump]

If you were paying attention you saw that there are 9 square bars that make up the gun barrel. Four are twisted laminates, Four are straight laminates and the center one is plain jane mild steel. It will be drilled out for the bore later.

Notice my new 14" diamond chop saw wheel? It has diamonds inpregnated on the cutting edge and costs me over $200. Its supposed to outlast over 100 standard fiber wheels. It makes a slightly wider kerf but will slice through steel like butter. I'm hoping it saves my bandsaw blades too because I've had to anneal most everything before I can bandsaw through them.

The canister is thin 18 gauge steel with 1/8" thick steel caps. I have a liner of used stainless steel heat treating foil so the contents will not weld to the canister. There is no flux involved and has a piece of cardboard under the caps to use up any air that is trapped inside.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Next comes twisting and rounding the barrel. Grandson was taking these shots while Gary and I were putting the strong arm on the 4 foot pipe wrench.

 

[Dwane Oliver]

Ohh boy.....this is gona be good. subscribed

 

[Josh Dabney]

Ohhh Yeah ! The thing I enjoy most with my coffee... A Bruce Bump WIP !

Thanks a bunch for taking the time Bruce ! We all greatly appreciate you bringing us into your shop for a lesson. Priceless.

I noticed the diamond blade right off the bat and that you coverted the SG to belts :3: We're paying attention in class

Take care,

Josh

 

[JC in SC]

Is there anything better than a Bruce Bump WIP?

As always, a very interesting project and many thanks for letting us tag along as it progresses. Will the barrel be a smooth bore or have rifling? Either way, I'm looking forward to that particular process in addition to everything else.

 

[Brad Lilly]

To do a WIP right it must take a lot of time and extra effort. I will second the thanks, I always enjoy a good WIP.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Yesterday I visited my friend Lon and used his 36" metal lathe to turn down the barrel. I always love to visit Lons shop. He has toys everywhere and is building a 49 Studebaker Rat Rod. It has rust on all the body seams and the floors were rotted out to the point he just made all new floors. The chassis and running gear is from a Chevy S10 pickup and is running a 350 Chevy V8. I'll try to get a shot or two of his project car after it rolls on its own.

 

[Dan Pierson]

This is going to be so cool! Subscribed.

 

[BRad704]

I'll never stop being amazed at the skill that our KD members possess.

 

[Bruce Bump]

I'm not sure yet. Been thinking about making it a shotgun actually. That way I dont have to make a bullet mould and I can load it with sweepings from under the bandsaw. heehee

Is there anything better than a Bruce Bump WIP?

As always, a very interesting project and many thanks for letting us tag along as it progresses. Will the barrel be a smooth bore or have rifling? Either way, I'm looking forward to that particular process in addition to everything else.

 

[Ben B]

Looking forward to every update. Thanks for going to the extra effort.

 

[rhinoknives]

Excellent as always Bruce.
You have inspired me to some day make a Damascus Blunder Buss type black powder weapon with a integral
Bayonet.

I always wanted to have one cause you can load small nuts, Rocks, Nails and even some broken glass if needed? to win friends and influence people. LOL

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/

 

[ddavelarsen]

Thanks Bruce, this is going to be a wild ride! We all appreciate the extra time it takes to do a WIP. You're one of the good guys. You've given me something to live for.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Thanks for the all the good words and encouragement guys.

The barrel is too short at only 12" to have it professionally bored but if I weld on a temporary extension to bring it to 20" it can be bored to any size I want. A big bore shotgun wont allow me to do any amount of tapering and flair at the muzzle. The muzzle also needs to be turned to accept the axe head furthering the big bore problem so I think its going to be a standard rifled .50 or .58 caliber.

Maybe a blunderbuss next time so Laurence and I can blast away something.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Thanks Bruce, this is going to be a wild ride! We all appreciate the extra time it takes to do a WIP. You're one of the good guys. You've given me something to live for.

Hi Dave! Nice to have you along. I'll string it out for months so you can live longer.

 

[ddavelarsen]

Hi Dave! Nice to have you along. I'll string it out for months so you can live longer.

Excellent Bruce! You've made my day in a big way! Can't wait to see how this develops...

 

[mick maxen]

Bruce,

Great to see another one of your WIP's and with a damascus barrel.
Am I right in thinking you have rapped every other mild steel bar in Nickel, if so that is a brilliant idea. At first I thought you had fat bars of Nickel.


Mick.