Building a Hybrid Muzzleloader

[LAGS]

Hmm.
I just came up with another design for a custom rifle that I may try to build.
What if I make a stock and barrel that can be converted to shoot both Right and Left handed.
That would be kind of cool if you had a kid or grandkids that went shooting with you , but shot with the opposite hand that you do.
That way , you only have to invest in one rifle with two separate locks and fill in side plates.
Just a thought.
I do come up with some strange ideas at times that are a challenge to build.
Maybe I could build it out of a TC flintlock barrel with both a right hand and left hand TC locks either percussion or flinters.
I bet I could make it a Hybrid also.

[LAGS]

On that Hybrid , I made some of the brass parts.
Like the pin plates and the brass lock side plate is one that I bought.
But the screw hole was near the top in that dome.
That placed the plate too low to look good.
So I brazed up the hole , and redrilled it lower and countersunk it for that brass 8/32" brass lock screw.

[indian joe]

Hmm.
I just came up with another design for a custom rifle that I may try to build.
What if I make a stock and barrel that can be converted to shoot both Right and Left handed.
That would be kind of cool if you had a kid or grandkids that went shooting with you , but shot with the opposite hand that you do.
That way , you only have to invest in one rifle with two separate locks and fill in side plates.
Just a thought.
I do come up with some strange ideas at times that are a challenge to build.
Maybe I could build it out of a TC flintlock barrel with both a right hand and left hand TC locks either percussion or flinters.
I bet I could make it a Hybrid also.

Lags a bit of fun / something to ponder
We have a guy in our club (at his peak likely the top flintlock shooter in this country) he is blind in his right eye so shoots left hand -- BUT he shoots right hand guns, builds his own so that is a choice. We discussed this one time and here he says "the right hand lock gives me a distinct advantage - dont know why more blokes havent figured this out but a right hand shooter with a right hand lock has the distraction of the falling hammer right there in his sight eye - I dont see it at all nor would you if you used a left hand lock and shot right shoulder! " ......interesting take I thought ..................

[LAGS]

That sounds like an interesting factor that I might try.
I don't see the hammer falling either or the flash doesn't distract me when shooting a right hand rifle right handed.
But your vision like you mentioned can determine which side is best for your shooting.
In fact.
I recently had a problem with my right eye vision.
I am always coming up with Stupid Ideas that most of the times work out really good.
It will take me a while to find all the parts to try and build a rifle like I mentioned.
It isn't the cost , but mostly just finding parts they will work out best.

[LAGS]

@ I J
I just remembered.
Back in the '70s my brother had a girlfriend that was into shooting also.
She was Right Handed.
But her vision was best with her left eye.
She saw me build a shotgun stock for a guy that was offset to the left.
She asked me if I could build her a stock for her .22 that she could hold and shoot with her right hand.
But have the barrel offset so it lined up with her left eye.
They broke up before I got a chance to give it more thought.
I modified the shotgun stock by sanding the right side of the butt stock flat .
Then laminated wood to the right side and reshaped it to work for the guy.

[indian joe]

@ I J
I just remembered.
Back in the '70s my brother had a girlfriend that was into shooting also.
She was Right Handed.
But her vision was best with her left eye.
She saw me build a shotgun stock for a guy that was offset to the left.
She asked me if I could build her a stock for her .22 that she could hold and shoot with her right hand.
But have the barrel offset so it lined up with her left eye.
They broke up before I got a chance to give it more thought.
I modified the shotgun stock by sanding the right side of the butt stock flat .
Then laminated wood to the right side and reshaped it to work for the guy.

interesting ! ------ there is a lady used to shoot on our circuit with one of those - right shoulder left eye - its a crazy lookin thing when its built - I believe her hubby bent the stock to shape. (I have used hot oil on a couple stocks) ---
Good walnut bends like putty - the dark brazilian wood is ok - beech (like a lot of cheap ml's have) is real tough to move and I reckon good maple would be tough too.

[LAGS]

The reason the guy had me offset his shotgun stock to one side was because he was a trap shooter.
And he had a very short fat neck.
Being offset helped him line up the shotgun faster since he didn't have to bend his head over so far and fast.
He said it improved his shooting score a lot.

[charlie b]

I've seen some of those bent stocks. Look weird but some folks love them.

My Lyman GPH is a left hand and I have no problems shooting it right handed. An underhammer is perfect for right/left hand use. I've thought about one of those for a long time.

LAGS, great looking job on that rifle.

[LAGS]

Thank you Charlie.
I hope I can get out tomorrow and see how it shoots.
The wood on that stock is grade 2 curly Maple.
It isn't too tiger striped.
But the iron nitrate did bring out what was there.
The finish is just two coats of True Oil , so it is sealed but not to shiny.

[725]

Good lookers. Hope all goes well at the range. I love your homemade wrench. Might make one for myself.

[LAGS]

Hopefully Armoredman can finish that video showing how easy it is to change the locks with that tool alone.
If I break things like tools.
I keep them and make tools or parts out of them.

[charlie b]

LOL, I've done that a few times in the past as well. Some of those old forged wrenches are tough!

[armoredman]

Well, if I can meet up with you again I can do that - the video was completely ruined through my own idiocy, gotta do it again. However, for those reading, it was approximately 1 minute to switch from percussion to flint.
Are you thinking of two locks on the same barrel with a rotating flash hole cover so as to use one or the other, or a removable system with a plug to cover the opposite side? Interesting thought.

[LAGS]

My idea is to have the sock inletted for a lock on both sides.
And two blank infill plates to fill in the inletting when you pull out one of the locks.
It wouldn't really work or be nice looking if you have both locks with the hammers sticking up at the same time.
But just pulling the hammers off and leaving the lock in the stock wouldn't look too cool.
But like Charlie b mentioned.
An Under Hammer might be the best design for shooting with either hand.
But I know that those are not popular with everybody.

[armoredman]

Interesting...but MORE interesting is some pics and video from today's test fire!

This is;



...the same rifle...




The VIDEO!

https://youtu.be/t9BW0_TXKJA?si=LQ_SWjwmMn0hwpzN




We weren't the only on es with smokepoles out today - the gent next to us had this nice .58 caliber Springfield out, one he had used as a re-enactor for the Picacho Peak Civil War battle...the only Civil War battle to take place in the Arizona territory.



And this nice flinter hanging out with the hybrid, I believe he said it is a Traditions build.



All in all everything worked perfectly, and proved quite accurate, as well! The time from bang to boom with the Hybrid in flint mode was VERY short.
What a great morning, followed with some incredible local Chinese food.

[charlie b]

Very cool. The ziplock baggie isn't very traditional

Wait...'local' Chinese food in Casa Grande?

I guess I shouldn't talk. One of the best Chinese food places I've been to in NM is in Bloomfield.

[LAGS]

It was raining yesterday.
I thought putting the lock in a plastic bag was more weather tight than using a leather bag.
All three .54 rifles fired great.
I shot all three with .535 balls plus tried cast .451 230 gr 45 acp slugs with plastic sabots.
All shot great at 25 yards.
One rifle I had to adjust the rear sight up one turn to raise the impact 6" at the 25 yards.
Then it hit dead center.
I only had one homemade primer misfire the first time I tried it.
But that was I think I didn't put it on the nipple straight.
But second try with it worked perfect.
All three rifles were fired with Homemade 3f powder that has a density of 85%
The loads were 70 grains of volume.
So it is about equal to 50 grains of factory powder.

[armoredman]

Fun stuff - very short lag from bang to boom with the flintlock. The difference was obvious when the gentleman with the Traditions flinter was trying to fire, with multiple misfires. When it did, there was a lag from bang to boom that could almost be measured in tenths of seconds. Turned out he was using 3F in the priming pan and wondering why it wasn't working. LAGS gave him a little 4F homemade powder, and the Traditions rifle sparked right up.

[Hannibal]

Fun stuff - very short lag from bang to boom with the flintlock. The difference was obvious when the gentleman with the Traditions flinter was trying to fire, with multiple misfires. When it did, there was a lag from bang to boom that could almost be measured in tenths of seconds. Turned out he was using 3F in the priming pan and wondering why it wasn't working. LAGS gave him a little 4F homemade powder, and the Traditions rifle sparked right up.

Nice. Details matter. Even with flinters.

[charlie b]

I would think that's one of the advantages of making your own powder. You get a good supply of the fine stuff for flinters.

LAGS, I use a big plastic range box when I fire my ML. No traditional stuff here