This project
started out to be the prototype rifle for a future project which will involve five rifles, all the same, very contemporary,
and numbered one of five, two of five etc. I wanted to be sure that they would look good and that the cherry wood
would work before I built five of them.
I called it my test rifle for my Midnight Lace Project. I built it
to see if the cherry wood would except the black stain that I wanted to use. The wood did except the stain, but
did not carve well at all. As a result I was disappointed with the carving and went on to another
project.
Since that time I have had other thoughts about it and decided to complete
it, with the following changes. First of all I put together a set of 28 inch 54 cal. rifled barrels. The carving was
not very sharp, looking more like a worn antique, so I thought I would go with that theme and antique the whole rifle.
The other big change was that I built a new lock, frizzen
plate, side plate and inlays,using Damascus steel to give it a different and very contemporary look. Having
done that I thought that I would also make the front sights out of Damascus steel and tip them with gold. There
is not much engraving on the rifle but where there is, I decided to mat out the background, making it blend in with the Damascus
steel better. The finished weight for the completed rifle is only seven and three quarter lbs., very light for a double
rifle.
The bottom line is that I like it so much now that I may keep it for myself.
