Build Track's Jacob Dickert, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania longrifle parts set, with 13/16", or 7/8" straight octagon barrel
Build Track's Jacob Dickert Lancaster kit, easy to assemble, up to 42" octagon barrel, traditional brass, or iron trim, plain or fancy maple stock
We offer these fine Lancaster County style parts, modeled after the work of Jacob Dickert. Arriving from Germany to America about 1750, he studied under a unknown master learning the gunmakers art. He worked in Lancaster County from 1769 until his death in the early 1820's. He was an artist, producing raised carved flint longrifles for his many customers. He also produced rifles for the Continental Army during the American revolution.
This beautiful rifle was assembled by Michael Hayes, Park Rapids, MN. It features traditional brass furniture, and a hand made engraved patchbox. The brass has been allowed to age to a dark patina, to prevent glare in the field. The flared tang is retained by a single tang bolt, which engages the trigger plate. Raised carving, around the tang, and around the transition of the comb to the wrist, is especially nice. Original carving was not bold or thick. Our stock has plenty of wood to allow raised carving, if desired. Notice how the lock panels taper widest at the rear, a classic feature of early flint longrifle architecture. Our Lancaster County triggerguard is large enough for double set triggers. Use our #PIN-3/32 steel dowel pins, through each mounting lug, front and rear, to correctly mount this triggerguard. Raised carving and a nickel silver hunters star decorate the cheek of this fine rifle. Well finished carving seems to stand above a smooth background. Scraping the background smooth, using sharp tools, is the secret of high quality well executed carving. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to photograph this original Jacob Dickert, Lancaster County longrifle. Stocked in maple and trimmed in brass furniture, with a expertly engraved daisy patchbox. A testament to Colonial craftsmanship, this rifle has survived for over 200 years.
Order our Jacob Dickert, Lancaster County longrifle kit, and use your imagination. Plain or decorated, carved or inlaid, double set trigger, many options are available. Each part is offered separately, so you can create your own custom rifle. Select the parts you need for your project. We recommend traditional brass furniture, but also offer iron furniture.
Colerain Barrel Company offers a select few calibers and octagon sizes in 13/16" and 7/8" straight octagon barrels. Offered in .36, .40, .45, or .50 caliber depending on octagon size. Colerain straight octagon barrels are threaded to accept the breech plug. Colerain rifle barrels are the favorite choice of today's best muzzle loading gun makers, because knowledgeable shooters demand Colerain's accuracy, inside and outside. Founded by two entrepreneurs, Scott Keller and Scott Kelly were tutored by Bob Paris, the famous rifle barrel maker who was first to perfect the technique for production of correct swamped barrels.
Colerain rifle barrels are cut rifled, with fancy radius groove rifling geometry, in correct twist rates for round balls:
Cut rifled, with .012" to .016" deep grooves, depending on caliber.
1 turn in 48" twist, in .36 or .40 caliber.
1 turn in 56" twist, in .45, or .50 caliber.
Colerain rifle barrels are drilled from solid steel. Each barrel has six "round bottom" grooves, called "radius groove rifling". Colerain eliminates the sharp inside corner that accumulates fouling. Radius groove rifling cutters are a bit more expensive to make, but Colerain's customers agree that the accuracy, easy loading, and easy cleaning are worth the cost.
Stocks, this early Lancaster County style stock honors Jacob Dickert. Our pre-shaped, pre-inlet stock is cut for a 13/16", or 7/8" straight octagon 42" length barrel, large Siler right hand lock, #TR-DST-6 double set triggers, and a flared tang breech plug. The 3/8" rod hole is drilled full depth. Buttplate area is 5-1/8" tall, by 2" wide. Pull may be up to 14-3/4", with a drop of 3-3/4" from the line of sights.
We offer a complete set of furniture in brass to fit this rifle. Furniture includes the buttplate, triggerguard, toeplate, forward and entry ramrod pipes, sideplate, ramrod, and ramrod tip. As cast, the castings need to have the casting gates removed by filing or grinding, and must be polished, then drilled for mounting screws, as needed. Ramrod pipes are 5/16" to suit the smaller .32 and .36 caliber rifles, 3/8" diameter on larger calibers.
Double set trigger, #TR-DST-4, is our "double lever" double set trigger, with a front trigger lever, to engage the sear, allowing the lock to be fired with the trigger unset. Wax cast steel parts are finished, tempered and assembled. We stock spare parts, in the unlikely event that any part will ever break. The trigger bar is about 5-3/8" length, .400" width.
Siler flint lock, our #LOCK-SL-FL-RH, is a correct flint lock, made for scratch builders. The Siler flint lock is our most popular, by far. This lock is modeled after a fine hand made original lock, by the famous American gunmaker, Jacob Dickert. Only a few American gunmakers made their own locks. Dickert may have made and sold locks to others. We have examined a few rifles by Dickert, and none of his locks are exactly alike, nor were any exactly the same as our Siler lock. This lock captures the styling used on many American longrifles. Most locks were imported from England or Europe, for use by American gunmakers.We recommend our best 3/4" English gun flint, in our large Siler lock. Assembled from the fine quality wax cast alloy steel parts, designed by C. E. Siler, Track's right hand Siler lock is assembled and tuned by Jim Chambers. Working parts are fitted as necessary for best action and minimum friction. Evidence of the lock maker's skill is obvious in the tight fit of the pan, internal parts, smooth action, and strong mainspring. A fly detent allows the use of set triggers, if desired. A pan bridle arm supports the frizzen, a feature not always found on early American flint locks. Many of our best stocks are pre-inlet for our large Siler flint and percussion locks.
Chambers' Deluxe Siler flint lock, our #LOCK-CD-FL-RH, is said to be the fastest and most reliable "Siler" flint lock ever made. This new right hand flint lock is the latest offering from that ingenious lock maker, Mr. Jim Chambers. He has included every trick in this lock. Built on a true Siler lock plate, pan and frizzen, it will fit any mortise pre-inlet for the large Siler lock. Nearly every other part has been modified or fine tuned for speed. Notice the slightly taller cock, top jaw and jaw screw, which sweep the frizzen from a higher point with more velocity, for better sparking. The frizzen is hardened through, for long life. It rides over a cam-action frizzen spring, that is as pretty as it is clever. The thin upper leaf and redesigned cam point allow the frizzen to snap open smartly. No roller is used on this frizzen! A roller is not correct for this period, and recent high speed photo tests indicate that the so-called "frictionless" roller can increase the mainspring's work load, slow the lock time, and reduce sparking. This fast acting frizzen spring uses an elegant hidden mounting screw, and has fewer parts to fail in the field.The lock plate is polished bright inside. Fitted with Chambers' best large Siler internal parts, each part has been tuned for best action. The mainspring has "pre-load" for snappy action. The new tumbler has tiny offset bearings, to reduce friction. The mainspring rides on the tumbler's redesigned cam-action ramp, giving a smooth release at full cock, with increasing leverage for maximum acceleration. Fine tuned to provide snappy action and good sparking, the sear is adjusted to give light release, despite the heavy mainspring load. Grey matte finished outside, the plate, cock, top jaw, pan and back surfaces of the frizzen are ready for cold browning or polishing. If you are building a right hand flint longrifle, and searching for the best large Siler flint lock, regardless of price, we offer this candidate.
Flash Hole Liner, touch hole liner, or vent liner, is an essential part of our kit. Our standard vent has the popular 1/4-28 thread. We also offer the Jim Chambers White Lightnin' vent as a option. The special 5/16-32 fine thread allows an extra large concave cavity inside, for use on swamped octagon barrels. Made in the USA, stainless steel, with removable lug for easy installation. Order our #TAP-5/16-32 tap and drill, if you prefer this special vent. Concave inside, the White Lightnin' vent liner brings the main powder charge very close to the incandescent heat of the priming flash. Position the vent on the center of the pan, slightly above the pan to frizzen joint, sometimes called the "sunset" position. Covered by the frizzen when closed, the hole is a window centered on the heat of your priming flash, for instant ignition, without the whoosh-bang delay, seen in many flint guns. Typically only the better quality London made guns were factory fitted with vent liners, but nearly all flint guns were later fitted with vent liners, after the vent hole in the barrel became worn from flash erosion, corrosion, or the aggressive use of a vent pick.
Patchbox, although not required, was often fitted to a Lancaster County longrifle. We offer a number of correct choices. These may be installed with the included cam-over-center spring, or using our push button release kit, at extra cost.
#PB-KIT-1-B or I: copied from a rifle signed by Jacob Dickert, shown in Gunsmiths of Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Springs and assembly instructions are included. Offered in traditional brass, or steel, about 7-1/2" length.
#PB-KIT-9-B or I: attributed to Jacob Dickert, shown in Rifles of Colonial America, by George Shumway. Spring and instructions included. Select brass or steel. 6-1/2" overall length.
#PB-KIT-DICKERT-B or I: Copied from a rifle made and signed by Jacob Dickert, shown in Gunsmiths of Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Springs and assembly instructions are included. 8" overall length.
#PB-RK-TOW-B or I: This high quality patchbox release kit is made for use with brass, iron, or nickel silver patchboxes. The kit includes four precision steel parts, two unplated steel screws, and fully illustrated instructions. Made with your choice of a brass or steel release button.
Sliding Wooden Patchbox latch, #PB-RK-WOOD, is not shown. Our wax cast steel 3-1/2" lever spring is modeled after originals used on early Colonial era longrifles, with sliding wooden patchboxes. Easily fitted under your sliding patchbox lid, lift the thumb button to release the latch.
#IN-THUMB-DK-B or S: This optional thumbpiece inlay is patterned from a 1760 era Lancaster longrifle attributed to Jacob Dickert. This thumbpiece has a slight asymmetry to match the original. Shaped with pre-cast engraving in a period folk art style. It measures 1-3/8" tall, and 23/32 at the widest point. It has a small lug on the back to mount a screw up through the wrist to secure. Available in wax cast brass or nickel silver.
Gunsmithing Labor Options are a popular low cost method of speeding assembly. Our gunsmith can install the plug (#LABOR-BP), front and rear sights (2 #LABOR-DS), and underlugs (3 #LABOR-UL) at small extra cost, with prompt delivery.
#LABOR-BP: Our gunsmith will install your breech plug, in your barrel, with the front face of the breech plug tightly sealed against the inside shoulder of the breech thread, and the barrel maker's name indexed to the bottom flat. Threads are lubricated with Birchwood Casey's Choke Tube Lube anti-seize, so the plug may be removed, even after decades of use. Never remove a breech plug, unless you have a compelling reason. The plug is never removed for cleaning, and should only be removed by a skilled gunsmith, who has the correct tools to avoid marking your polished and finished barrel and plug.
#LABOR-DS: When you buy the sight from us, we will remove any burrs, gates, or parting lines, and hand fit the sight to the dovetail slot, ready for you to finish and use. Many of our rear sights are cast with an oversize base, to allow these to fill oversize slots. It is wise to allow us to trim these to a standard size, before installation in a new barrel. We must install the breech plug before installing sights, rib, or pipes.
Front sight slots are centered 1.5" from muzzle, unless your clearly specify another location. Do not embed special instructions within lengthy text of a letter. Place special instructions immediately after your written order for that item, or in the comment field of our on-line order form.
Rear sight slots are centered 8.5" from the breech end of the barrel (not including plug), unless your clearly specify another location. Do not embed special instructions within lengthy text of a letter. Place special instructions immediately after your written order for that item, or in the comment field of our on-line order form.
#LABOR-UL: When you buy the lugs from us, we will remove any burrs, and hand fit the lug to the dovetail slot, ready for you to finish and use. Allow our gunsmith to determine the best location for lug. Typically these rifles require three lugs. We require the breech plug to be fitted before performing this operation
#BOOK-RAL: We strongly recommend Recreating the American Longrifle, by William Buchele. The late William Buchele was recognized as a true master longrifle maker. But his greatest contribution to muzzle loading must be this book. He shares the step-by-step details of his craft. His work has been enhanced by the editors. This book does not assume that the reader is an expert stock maker, but begins with illustrated explanations of the basic concepts. Buchele shows several alternate approaches to most tasks. This newly revised edition includes full scale plans for a carved flint longrifle, and fullstock flint pistol. Over 250 photos and drawings, within 176 pages, 8-1/2 x 11" format, soft cover.
#DVD-BML: Building Muzzle-Loaders VHS video with rifle maker James Turpin. Rifle maker James Turpin takes you start to finish on building a quality Muzzle-Loading flint rifle. Designed for the beginning to intermediate builder. DVD format, 142 Minutes.
#DVD-BE: The Gunsmith's Apprentice Series Presents Beginning Engraving, taught by gunmaker Jack Brooks. With this video you can learn to engrave in the manner and style of the original masters. In this presentation the nationally known traditional longrifle builder Jack Brooks teaches the viewer the essentials of chasing, pushing & wriggle engraving. Beginning with the basic tools, Jack shows the sharpening and heat treating of both square and chisel point engraving tools, and demonstrates the techniques used by period American gunsmiths to decorate their firearms. In addition, the engraving of several original 18th and 19th century longrifles is examined in detail. Over 70 minutes long. DVD format.
Typically 40 hours of skilled labor is required to build a longrifle rifle. Drilling and tapping is required. Use of a drill press in recommended. A skilled mentor, as always, can be a invaluable aid in building any rifle.
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