As some of you know I'm heavily into black powder firearms well I'm on my traditional muzzleloading forum and run across this story by one of our members.
Hi Folks,
This project began with a phone call from Dave Keck. He said he spoke with a young man, Josh Tabor, from Vermont who was blind but was wanting to build a rifle and called him about a stock, barrel, and parts. Dave understood clearly that there were some issues involved and the caller was a bit confused about the building process and long rifles. He called me and asked if I could help Josh out because he was not sure he was able to do that very well. I do what I can to take care of my Vermont family so I contacted Josh. Josh was blinded and hearing impaired by disease when he was very young. He grew up in a farming family and has had a rough time because services for people with disabilities in rural America is pretty limited. He loves historical re-enacting but that community was lukewarm to him because of his blindness. He competed in primitive winter biathlons and woods walks in Vermont and harvested turkeys with a muzzleloader. He dreamed about building and owning a long rifle. I found Josh to be smart and able and decided to help him build a long rifle, which he will use in woods walks and hunts. Josh and I have no illusions about the gun building process. There are many steps that he cannot do but there are also many that he can, and I am committed to discovering just how much he can do. So we have started building a long rifle. He had an older Getz barrel, 54 cal, 38" long, swamped that was probably made for the early Haines kits. It was given to him by a friend. I had an older Siler lock that needed some upgrading, and bought parts to make it into a really first class lock. A local muzzleloading store owner had a good curly maple stock blank, which he sold for to Josh for a very small sum. The up shot is we are on our way. Dave Keck did an expert job inletting the barrel and drilling the ramrod hole. We designed a nice early Lancaster style gun and Josh is working with me to build it. Certainly, there are many tasks that I have to do but there are also many he can do and we are devising means for that to happen. Here are some early photos of Josh inletting the the bolster on the breech plug. One challenge was figuring out a way for him to hold the chisel perfectly vertical. He had a natural tendency to angle the chisel away from him. So we developed a rule that said place the chisel at the angle you think is vertical and then rock it back toward yourself a little. It worked. He got the bolster inlet quickly with minimal guidance. When he correctly flicked out the first chip of wood from the mortice, he smiled like a man really happy. With some guidance he inlet the barrel tang. There are a few little gaps but he did very well.
Hi Folks,
This project began with a phone call from Dave Keck. He said he spoke with a young man, Josh Tabor, from Vermont who was blind but was wanting to build a rifle and called him about a stock, barrel, and parts. Dave understood clearly that there were some issues involved and the caller was a bit confused about the building process and long rifles. He called me and asked if I could help Josh out because he was not sure he was able to do that very well. I do what I can to take care of my Vermont family so I contacted Josh. Josh was blinded and hearing impaired by disease when he was very young. He grew up in a farming family and has had a rough time because services for people with disabilities in rural America is pretty limited. He loves historical re-enacting but that community was lukewarm to him because of his blindness. He competed in primitive winter biathlons and woods walks in Vermont and harvested turkeys with a muzzleloader. He dreamed about building and owning a long rifle. I found Josh to be smart and able and decided to help him build a long rifle, which he will use in woods walks and hunts. Josh and I have no illusions about the gun building process. There are many steps that he cannot do but there are also many that he can, and I am committed to discovering just how much he can do. So we have started building a long rifle. He had an older Getz barrel, 54 cal, 38" long, swamped that was probably made for the early Haines kits. It was given to him by a friend. I had an older Siler lock that needed some upgrading, and bought parts to make it into a really first class lock. A local muzzleloading store owner had a good curly maple stock blank, which he sold for to Josh for a very small sum. The up shot is we are on our way. Dave Keck did an expert job inletting the barrel and drilling the ramrod hole. We designed a nice early Lancaster style gun and Josh is working with me to build it. Certainly, there are many tasks that I have to do but there are also many he can do and we are devising means for that to happen. Here are some early photos of Josh inletting the the bolster on the breech plug. One challenge was figuring out a way for him to hold the chisel perfectly vertical. He had a natural tendency to angle the chisel away from him. So we developed a rule that said place the chisel at the angle you think is vertical and then rock it back toward yourself a little. It worked. He got the bolster inlet quickly with minimal guidance. When he correctly flicked out the first chip of wood from the mortice, he smiled like a man really happy. With some guidance he inlet the barrel tang. There are a few little gaps but he did very well.
