So as luck will have it, I ran into something completely unexpected at a yard sale yesterday. There on the table was a curly maple stock and 43” barrel marked G R Douglas 45 Cal. The barrel has some surface rust on it, and I could see some fine rust in the barrel. I asked the gent where the rest of it was, and he brought out a box with the lock, trigger guard, and other bits and bobs. The story was that he bought the parts about 30 years ago, and lost interest in making the gun. His son took an interest 15 years ago, and for some unknown reason butchered the front of the stock and tang inletting before he lost interest. After about 30 minutes, we struck a deal for $100. I’m going to take some time and read up on this, but my initial inclination is to make a jaeger style rifle with a 30” barrel using the butchered stock. I know a gunsmith who builds fine muzzleloaders, and am going to talk to him and get his thoughts. I can have him replace the breech plug so I can correctly inlet the tang, cut and crown the barrel, drill and tap for the touchhole, and cut a dovetail on the shortened barrel for a front sight. Also need a buttplate, toe plate, and some other bits and bobs and have been studying what’s available on track of the Wolf. I’d appreciate any thoughts from experienced builders, and am in no hurry with this. I think I got some quality parts.
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