Well the builder sent me some pictures of my finished rifle, it will be shipped tomorrow! Woohoo! It's a .50 cal Charles Burton (FCI) barrel, premium curly maple stock, L & R Durs Egg Flintlock, Davis double set trigger - Forged butt plate and forged trigger guard, poured pewter nose cap.

It is a Virginia style rifle.

That is a Great looking rifle! Congrats !

Very Nice ! I have the same lock on my .45 JP McCoy...love it. But you have to get small flints for those locks. Have you got a Smoothbore ??

Beautiful. If you don’t mind my asking, what was the cost? How long from order to delivery?

i'm lucky i didn't fry the laptop drueling over it.sweeet piece.

Thanks Guys - Nessmuck - yes I have a smoothbore. Hunter4623 will answer through PM - I provided the barrel so that would be what sometimes can delay a build - that and lock availability. Prices on all the components have gone up significantly in the past two years.

Iam going to Portsmouth NH this coming Saturday....The Redhook Brewery.....For a Colonial Gun and other 17th and 18 th Century wares. Roy Stroh is supposed to be there too....I better leave my credit card at home !! The Ancient Ones from Maine will have goods for sale as well as other period craftsmen...should be a good one. Iam looking for a period correct shooting bag ..shot bag..and maybe a powdah horn ....

Pictures of my smoothbore - from the same builder.

Seems like once I started shooting a Smoothy.....it's the only gun I grab now...

This is the .40 caliber Woodbury style rifle. Really nice piece of walnut on this rifle

Nice one Don, Maybe someday we can get together and shoot.

Very nice!

Mike

you're killin me dude,love the smokepoles.

Would love to Don! We have a rendezvous the first weekend of May in Xenia at the Greene County Fish and Game

That’s nice!!!!!

So Don...what caliber guns do you have now ?

Beautiful rifle. I love curly maple. The metalwork looks fantastic

Beautiful rifles! Maybe someday...

Well - I have the .40 caliber Woodbury flintlock and the .62/20 gauge smoothbore flinter. One percussion .50 caliber Hawken style that is very accurate.

Awesome rifle. Reminds me of my uncle. He built many of these! I sure miss that guy.

Awesome guns. Have any pics of Game you took with them?

Haven't hunted with any of them yet - have won some meat shoots though. I've used the .50 and the .40 for the meat shoots and egg shoot (win a chicken if you break an egg).

Don...won't mind

The original assault rifle! LOL Sweet looking gun.

What A Beaut!

Holy cow is that nice. Craftsman is amazing.

Very fine looking long rifle. The engraving on the lock is a nice touch that really dresses it up. Looks more like a Tn rifle to me rather than a Va, what with the buttplate curve and sleek lines of the wrist, comb and butt.

Ed - I'm sure there is Tennessee/Kentucky influence. Mike was tutored by the "House" brothers in Kentucky.

In looking back at the in-shop photos, the butt is wider than I originally thought, consistent with a Va rifle. Who was the builder?

Michael Davis - he recently moved from Mississippi to Missouri.

davislongrifle@gmail.com

Nice deer Nessmuck. Very nice rifle too. Have you shot one with the Tulle yet?

Beautiful Rifle!

Beautiful rifle indeed! You can curtialy tell the builder is a true craftsman and anyone would be proud to own one of his pieces. Congrats!

That sure is pretty rifle, beautiful craftsmanship.


B

Wow! Gorgeous! Congratulations! Someday I'd LOVE to own one like that! Simply beautiful!

I took the Tulle out deer hunting last fall ( first time ).....all I saw was 16 turkeys....and only got out once...lots of crap going on. Going Turkey hunting in May with it...can't wait !

Good luck with the Tulle and the turkey hunting. Do you have a load for it yet? I haven't tried shot out of mine yet.

Well.....Woodsloafer72 and myself...have been trading some shooting stuff , to get me going on the "Turkey Load ". Iam ready to head to the range and pattern a load. Lots of variables to getting a good pattern...that's all fun for me ! When I come up with a descent one...I'll let you in on the combo....but..all guns like diff loads.. The Month of May is our gun season.

Most of what Ness and I have discussed is in here. Muzzleloading thread

Thanks Woodsloafer72, I wonder how I missed that thread? It's been a very busy quarter this year at work. Down two people and the work is piling up.

It is here! Woohoo!





This is the trio of Davis guns - the new addition on the left - .50 cal Virginia style, middle .40 cal Woodbury and on the right .62/20 gauge southern smoothbore.


This is my Hawken style .50 cal percussion - very accurate I use it for Over The Log shoots that I just started shooting last year.

you are a lucky man.

The guy that made the Hawken above has one on gunbroker for sale .54 caliber with a Bob Roller percussion lock and Toenjes(sp?) barrel. If he has the triggers like on mine - when you set the trigger - you better be ready it has no creep and about a pound and a half maybe two pounds pull. If you do a search on blackpowder - muzzleloading rifles and then custom - I think it is on the 3rd of 4th page. Check out the target that was put in a shooting vise by the person who rifled the barrel.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/758134919

If that's a Tennessee gun and your hearing Banjo music................................................................

his family tree is straighter than the stock on the gun.

Beautiful rifle,should become a family heirloom.

How’s it shoot Don ? Mike lives about 30miles south of me

I haven't had it out to the range yet - Hope to next Friday as it is supposed to be above 50 degrees that day. I will report as soon as I shoot it.

I made it to the range today. The wind started picking up while on the 25 yd range even with it being protected a below a hill - the 50 yard range is more open and it just wasn't going to happen after trying 4 shots at that yardage.

I started with 60 grains of 2F and used Track of the wolf lead round balls then tried my own cast lead round balls that I casted out of a Lee double cavity round ball mold. Lube was Mr. Flintlocks lube.

Off hand ...or bench ?

This was bench Nessmuck - when I have to sight in a new rifle I have to take out some of the variables. Today was very windy not so much on the 25 yard range because a hill is behind the firing line - but the 50 yard range is more open and the wind was a howling through there making the target bounce up and down. It did some dancing on the 25 yard range but not as bad. Since this is the fist time I fired the new rifle. Brass sights on a brown cardboard, was difficult to see the front sight - I should have stopped by the store to get some of those shoot N-C targets that are black. I think I could have seen the front sight better. The L&R Durs Egg lock did really well. I am going to try some 3FFFg in it the next time I go to the range. Hopefully it will be much better and less wind. Plus I will have the black background on the target.

Always fun dialing them in. Might have to take a sharpie and color the back of that brass blade....that helped me.

Don ,I picked up 2 custom rifles in Pa the other day . Both Bedford style rifles , one is silver mounted . Guys that are looking for hand made rifles lots of good deals out there .

The Midwest gunmakers get together at Holden Mo in February had lots of deals also .

Any pictures of your find?

I was able to make it to the 50 yard range today. Forgot the .020 patches so just worked with the .018 pillow ticking patches, my own cast lead round balls from a lee mold and 70 grains of 3FFFg and Mr. Flintlock lube. I sure wished my eyesight was better (wrinkle on my macula distorts the vision especially anything past 25 yards like 50 yards and farther). The shot to the right was my fault - knew it as soon as I pulled the trigger.

Picked up another custom build muzzleloader yesterday. (Last one promise to the wife). A J.P. Beck rifle - .45 caliber, 44" 1:66 barrel from Charles Burton FCI barrels, a L&R Classic lock, double set triggers. Rifle builder is Josh Wrightsman from Indiana. He had on loan an original J.P. Beck rifle and I was able to hold it yesterday and I really got to say the builders of the past sure were artists as well. Josh did a fantastic job in capturing the lines and the persona of the original in this build. I hope to get it to the range after work this week before Wednesday - then our range closes during the week only open on Sundays (which then it is very crowded).

That is simply a beauty!

Beautiful rifle, Don. I am almost jealous.

Don...you got the flinter bug...real bad. Bet your already planning to get “The next one “

Nope this is the last one - I promised the wife that - plus plan on retiring in a couple of years so this is the last purchase of something nice. Unless I hit a lottery or something.

Thanks Woodsloafer72.

my, my, my... from a fellow Flinter, I just want to say that it's great seeing a post on here with one in it. That thing is a beauty! I'm ordering an Early Virgnia swamped barrel 54 cal. premium maple flinter from Tennessee Valley in a few weeks. I will get it in the summer and will have plenty of time to get practiced up with it before next deer season, can't wait! May I ask you how that vent pick attaches to your butt stock? I have never seen that before. Joel

Vent pick? Which picture or rifle are you referring to? The J.P. Beck rifle doesn't have a vent pick with it, the Virigina style rifle with the silver on the patchbox, also does not have a vent pick attached. Usually though the vent picks are under the cheek rest held there by a couple of wire like staples.

very nice Don!!!

Great looking firearms.....!!!!

Did you know Mike won the master of arms ,building a flintlock on discovery channel ? That JP Beck is a nice one also , Josh makes some nice stuff , his axes are really nice .