1800 Brown Bess Musket Restoration

[Monkey Paws]

Hello All,

I have been gone for a minute during my wife's recovery but now I am back in the groove. I had a great time sharing my band saw restoration but now I have a new project. I picked up a Nepalese Brown Bess musket "Kit" from IMA-USA and have started restoration.This is one of the many Nepal Cache weapons I have purchased from International Military Arms. The Nepal Cache weapons were found in an abandoned palace in Kathmandu Nepal and Chris Kramer from IMA purchased the lot from the Nepal government. There was thousands of weapons from the 1700' up to WW2 to be boxed up shipped. Included in this cache were weapons from Brown Bess Muskets up to Lewis machine guns. This is where my Bess originated. What you get in the kit is a reproduction wood stock that is carved from North Indian Rosewood. I call this wood by it's little know Latin name "Woodius Sumbitch" mainly because this is a hardwood with soft spots and it likes to splinter. That is why you will frequently hear me say you "Sumbitch". Now the stock is about 90% complete and it will take some work to fit all the metal parts . The problem with fitting parts is the stock is inletted for a modern reproduction Bess. The metal parts I have were hand forged over 200 years ago so parts do not fit. One must have patience when tacling a project such as this.  The first pictures in this post show the condition of the parts before I started and then the rest show parts after being soaked in Evaporust. If you are interested in seeing the Nepal cache story, watch this video called "Treasure is where you find it" . I will post pictures as I progress with my work.

 

 

 

 

After soaking in the rust remover.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gene Howe]

Quite a challenge. Well, with your skills, maybe not so much. Eagerly awaiting your next pictures. 

 

[Stick486]

39 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Quite a challenge. Well, with your skills, maybe not so much. Eagerly awaiting your next pictures. 

 

ditto...

[Cal]

54 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Quite a challenge. Well, with your skills, maybe not so much. Eagerly awaiting your next pictures. 

 

And another "what he said, what they said"...

[HandyDan]

Sweet project.  I'm liking it.

[Grandpadave52]

+1 to what everyone else has said.

 

After using the Evap-O-Rust what do you coat the metal with to prevent future flash rust?

[Monkey Paws]

When using Evaporust I generally do not get much flash rust. It is only when I use my degreaser does flash rust become a problem. For that I use good ole WD40

[Grandpadave52]

19 minutes ago, Monkey Paws said:

When using Evaporust I generally do not get much flash rust. It is only when I use my degreaser does flash rust become a problem. For that I use good ole WD40

Per Evap-O-Rust, if solution is allowed to air dry on part it will provide up to 6 months corrosion protection. I've had some items go longer, some less leaving the EoR film but have found without some follow-up protection on bare metal rust will eventually recur.

 

When I remove the film which is typically with 50/50 Simple Green/Water or La's Finest/Water flash occurs pretty quickly on cast/gray iron or cast steel w/o some immediate protection. YMMV.  Typically I use Johnson's Paste but that's on tools.

 

Thanks. Just curious about your experiences using EoR.

[lew]

Absolutely Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Monkey Paws]

So everyone has seen the new reproduction stock I am putting on this Bess and the beautiful wood grain it has. Now the traditional finish would be an Alkanet root oil stain but since this is my third Bess I want to do something other than the dark red color. The metal is what they call "In the white" meaning bare metal so I am thinking of a finish that would really make the grain pop. Anyone have any suggestions? 

[Gene Howe]

Here's a suggestion for a finish.

[steven newman]

Land Pattern Muskets were called Brown Bess for a reason....all the metal parts had a brown colour....think rusty patina.   Local Black Powder  people around here have a chemical finish to give the iron works the proper hue....Wood parts were given a Vinegar/Iron Shavings wash...Then maintained with a wipe down with an oily rag...

 

There was a TV show a while back...Title was "Sharpe's Eagle"    a scene showed the quick ways to get 3 rounds per minute fired.  Something along the lines of:

"Bite, pour, spit, tamp, present, fire"    Might be worth a looksee?

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by steven newman

[Monkey Paws]

27 minutes ago, steven newman said:

Land Pattern Muskets were called Brown Bess for a reason....all the metal parts had a brown colour....think rusty patina.   Local Black Powder  people around here have a chemical finish to give the iron works the proper hue....Wood parts were given a Vinegar/Iron Shavings wash...Then maintained with a wipe down with an oily rag...

 

There was a TV show a while back...Title was "Sharpe's Eagle"    a scene showed the quick ways to get 3 rounds per minute fired.  Something along the lines of:

"Bite, pour, spit, tamp, present, fire"    Might be worth a looksee?

 

 

The use of the brown rust process did not gain widespread acceptance until 1812 when a Colonel from the British 102nd Regiment ordered all Bess's browned. Until this time you would see Marine/Militia Bess's that were japanned which was a type of varnish. Various units were issued browned weapons but most units kept their muskets brightly polished and in the white to show pride in their units. In fact for a time the soldiers were issued polishing stones and wooden sticks.

[John Morris]

Awesome topic! I moved this to the General Woodworking forum.

[Grandpadave52]

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

Awesome topic! I moved this to the General Woodworking forum.

Thanks John...deserves to be here IMO...it won't become buried as in the Free-For-All

[Gene Howe]

2 hours ago, John Morris said:

Awesome topic! I moved this to the General Woodworking forum.

Geeze, another job.

Maybe we oughta have a "Restoration" Forum. I think I know the perfect guy to moderate it.

[Monkey Paws]

On 12/21/2018 at 11:01 AM, Gene Howe said:

Geeze, another job.

Maybe we oughta have a "Restoration" Forum. I think I know the perfect guy to moderate it.

That would be pretty neat. I would like to meet this person and discuss restoration techniques.

[John Morris]

8 hours ago, Monkey Paws said:

That would be pretty neat. I would like to meet this person and discuss restoration techniques.

Me too! Hey @Gene Howe, whoodya have in mind?

[Gene Howe]

Monkey Paws would be a good moderator. 

Edited December 25, 2018 by Gene Howe

[Monkey Paws]

So I had a chance to work on the Bess during the holidays so here is a little update. The barrel cleaned up well and I plan to proof test it next weekend. To proof a barrel you load a double powder charge and and two patched balls, light the fuse and see what happens. If it survives you do it again. If it survives the last proof you are good to shoot your normal service charge. I am very confident that the barrel will be just fine. I proof barrels because I am not a fan of rapid disassembly (i.e guns blowing up). I did a test assembly today to check for binding and function. The 200+ yr old flint lock works like new after a quick rebuild andyou can see the great spark in the pictures. I was telling you earlier that this rosewood can be a challenge to work with and you can see this in the pictures below. A large chunk shredded itself as I was inletting the lock. I patched a piece of hardwood in an will blend it later on to look like a natural blonde spot to match the others light areas on the stock. I worked the hardware to make it look good but you really need to be careful working this old brass because it will break on you without even trying. Heat and patience make all the difference in the world. Gene Howe I am going to use your suggestion and Tru-Oil the stock. I will post more pictures soon.