Fabian23

OK, thanks for the clear answer. My search continues. So far I have only seen anecdotal evidence on various muzzleloading forums saying it is possible but sadly I need more tangible proof. I suspect that most woods have been at least tried, even if later disguarded as unsuitable or superceded by better ones.

I have a question on a professional level unrelated to my Teppo. I work in patents and I am trying to prove that various woods have been used in the making of stocks for firearms. There is one which has eluded me for now and that is Mulberry and I know it was/is popular in Japan for cabinet making. Was it by any chance also used for making matchlock stocks? If so I would be very grateful for a documented and dated source (prior to 2024) confirming it.

Well I have to make it good enough that I can sell it as 100% original for a billion dollars when I retire

Stock cap finished and tacked in like the original. The fit is 99% there but I don’t think I can improve on it without a few decades of apprenticeship. Much harder than I thought it would be.

After much contemplation and trial and error I have finished off the axis pin. I first tried the rolling method using a piece of sheet brass taken off a brass 12g shotgun shell rolled around a 3mm drill bit, which worked but the brass was too thin, about 0.2mm. Instead I rummaged around my bits boxes and found a 4mm brass tube with 0,5mm wall thickness - perfect! I cut a 3cm section, slit it down one side, annealed with a short blast of the blowtorch it to make it pliable and then gently hammered it on the 3mm drill bit to make the sides of the slit meet. The diameter was still slightly too big for the hole in the pan so I used the hole itself as a die to size the brass tube down to the right diameter by tapping it through. On the lathe I cut down a piece of bar stock to form the axis pin head, inserted the brass tube and soldered it in. All that remained was shaping the head with hand files and fine grit paper, drilling the cross hole for the wire and trimming the pin to length. 😊 Ammonia patination next and then it’s making a new stock cap 💪

This is truly a wonderful forum thank you 🙏

If anyone can clarify the construction of the axis pin I would be very grateful

One more reason to have little paper cocktail umbrellas at home

Interesting, I’ve been looking for clues online as to its composition. I had assumed it was a solid hollow pin with a head. I have seen some also with a cross hole just under the lower surface of the pan. I’m not too fussy about originality but if it’s easy to make it the original way then why not.

Thanks! I have proceeded in very small steps every day, planning ahead what cuts to make and how, to ensure I don’t mess up. One turn of the handle the wrong way on the mill and it’s back to zero. Drilling the pin hole required making a simple sacrificial jig which then served as a guide for drilling the real piece. Now it is indeed just a case of finishing a bit of shaping by hand, smoothing the edges and patinating. The axis pin will be a quick lathe job.

Almost there

Update 2: Most critical phase, drilling the axis pin hole, is done. If I had messed it up I would have had to start all over again. Now it’s lots of shaping and filing.

The amount of tweeking needed to finish the lock off properly and the difference in mon on the lock and stock made me question the homogeneity of the piece. Glad to find out here that it appears authentic 😊

Work in progress. Last time I did this I did it all by hand. A mill makes it much easier.

I have not attempted to remove the breech screw. The end surface viewed with an endoscopic camera looks fine so I will not attempt to remove it. Another piece I need to remake is the little curved butt cap insert. The original was split at the bend. Lots of filing work ahead. Re-repatination: My question was what colour should the barrel be? Black, blue, brown?