A rifle build for my Grand daughter

[armoredman]

Sorry, wrong thread!

[Gtrubicon]

Very nice!

[LAGS]

I do intend on letting her do things that she can , like some sanding or even applying the finish.
She already asked the name of parts on my other guns that she watches me build.

[Gtek]

Instead of tiger striping with a torch, ask her about giraffe spots?

[LAGS]

That is a good idea.
This is the exact reason I am posting this project .
I love your guys suggestions.
The Giraffe spots can be done with the Lichtenberg burner that I built out of a transformer.
10,000 volts does nice artistic work.
I did receive two brass Giraffes that I was going to inlay on the stock.
But they are a little large , so I will be looking for a couple others.

[Sasquatch-1]

We have a lot of talented people here. Maybe someone can make a brass inlaid of here favorite TV cartoon character.

[LAGS]

In a way ,
This is not a build to entertain a child , like dressing it up in cartoon stuff.
Or , painting it Pink because she is a girl .
Otherwise she will just look at it as a Toy.
And if she is unable to shoot it herself ,( say in 10 more years ) then she maybe won’t want to be seen with the gun if it was her memory of a Kids Toy , not something built by Papa.
But I am not putting down your guys suggestions, I just need to work out all the sensible options.
But also using the Cartoon Giraffe would knock down the other plan of putting African Animals on the stock to represent the guy where I got the kit in the first place.
But she likes the real Giraffes as well as the cartoon ones.

[Gtek]

What about a BIG patch box on right rear and Laser the giraffe stuff on that and spot burn the stock. Those Laser guys are doing some pretty wild stuff these days, but would be pretty easy to reverse down the road.

[Boerrancher]

The Brass Giraffes I feel would serve both of your purposes of honoring your friend and giving your granddaughter something she likes. Don’t kid it up too much, it is not a toy and shouldn’t be made to look like one. I would even be hesitant to do a giraffe pattern on the stock, unless the wood is a cheap birch or something like that. Give it a slight personal touch to make it hers, and leave it at that. I built a 243 win rifle once for a guy who wanted it all kidded up for his 10 year old son, who was into Marvel Super Heroes. I saw the guy two years later and he wanted to sell me back the rifle because his kid wouldn’t shoot it anymore, because it didn’t look like a real rifle. I wouldn’t buy it back from him because I knew I would be stuck with it.

I would also make it to fit her mother, maybe just a bit smaller. When she is a few years older she can shoot it off the sandbags. I was 5 when I started shooting Muzzleloaders, my first was a 45 cal target rifle made by Bob Tingle, a friend of my father and his business Don. I had to shoot it off the bench and have dad or Don load it for me, but I got good with that gun, as well as several others that Dad and Don had built. At 13 I was given my own, it was a used CVA 50 cal Hawken percussion rifle that someone gave to Dad. By then I could load it on my own but still needed a rest to shoot it well. Your granddaughter will grow into it, and if you make it to fit her as a teenager, she will still be able to use it as an adult and if it looks and feels like a real rifle, she will cherish it forever.

[Boerrancher]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07ST...4-a10078dc59d0

Here is the link to a silver pendant on Amazon that could be easily converted into an inlay. There are several designs available.

[LAGS]

On the Crocket Rifle kit that I built my wife.
I added a patch box.
And her favorite family thing is Dragonfly’s.
So I got a couple and sweat soldered the brass dragonfly’s to the patch box and one on the left side of the rifle.
I have thought about adding a patch box to Maggie’s rifle. But I want it to be true Kentucky style, which is not that common like the Pennsylvania rifles are.
Then with that big style patch box , I can sweat solder brass items like Giraffes to it .
On other rifles that I built before,
I inletted things like Brass Eagles.
I did them on the left side as a lock plate or on the stock that didn’t have a patch box , or rifles that were not M L’s
When Maggie is up to learning to shoot. I will teach her , and her mother how to shoot my .22’s

[K43]

Might be a good idea to fit it to her mom. Especially if you think she will grow to be physically similar. Having gone through the fun of working with SD and Spousal Unit to fit Trap and Skeet shotguns, women aren't built like the average male and the average gun is made to fit the imaginary average male. The comb and LOP may look a little odd or disproportionate, but fit is important to the joy of shooting comfortably and pointing naturally.

[Barry54]

What about putting the giraffe on the buttplate so it is inconspicuous?

[LAGS]

I did think about casting a nose cap for the stock that had a shape of a Giraffes head .
And doing the Giraffe spots on the stock. So when standing , it looked like a Giraffe.
But that again makes it look more like a Toy.
My granddaughter hasn’t been over for almost a week.
But I am doing things on the rifle that are beyond the need to teach her or show her how to do them .
Like making Flash Hole Liners so I can convert this rifle to a Hybrid .
I have another post that shows what I am doing in this areas.

[LAGS]

I thought about engraving her name on the base plate.
I also plan to shorten the stock , so it might be a little long for her now, but a little short for her mom.
Her mom isn’t into guns , but is very artistic.

[LAGS]

The funny thing I remember about the late friend that his widow gave me this Kit .
He told me. Back in Africa,
If they were in the Bush , and saw a Leopard. They always Shot it on the spot.
But he never told me Which Spot.

[K43]

[Sandro_ventania]

Personalize it, use the giraffe, but in a serious way, so that it doesn't look like it's for a child, or like it's a toy. If you do this, when it grows up, it will end up in the old toy box thrown in a corner of the attic. Make it as if it were for a rich and skilled African hunter! On the butt, you can have an African landscape laser engraved... I've seen it, it looks beautiful.

[LAGS]

Yes
My intent is to build something for her so she will remember Papa once I pass away.
Like I said, I am not sure she is into Shooting Guns yet.
She is not into LOUD stuff.
In fact , she stuffed popcorn in her ears at 4 th of July when the fireworks were going off.
But having something that brings back many memories like her favorite animal when she was a kid. And nice things that her grand father and her actually built is the point.

[armoredman]

I am sure many years down the road someone will comment on that rifle hanging on the wall in her home, and she will simply say, "My Grandpa built that for me, and I love it."