Aye guys,
Wondering if you can help me out, I'm trying to build a Flintlock Pistol from scratch. Not a kit. Was wondering if anyone here has attempted such a job, and how well it turned out. The thing thats troubling me is the wood dimensions...
Any help on shaping the stock would be great, and preferably id like to keep it low budget, but... ofcourse... decent quality.
I considered buying some of the kits, but... they are too very expensive... i could buy a plinker for less... Any recommendations on parts would also be good... i already check J.R Chambers...
Ciao,
Becketts.

You were on Jim's site, you know the cost of the parts. If you start with a commercial blank it'll have the basic shape already, if you're making your own blank, you need to watch the grain of the wood so you don't end up with weak points.

Dimensions will be whatever you want to them to be unless you are copying some specific style, if not just do what makes you happy. Rough cut it like the commercial blanks you see, keep it at least 2" thick. Cut the bbl channel and inlet the bbl, then the lock and trigger. You'll need to either cut or drill the RR hole, decide if you are using an end cap or not and fit a RR pipe/entry thimbal, ect. After that, it's all shaping and finishing. Little FYI, it takes just as long to build a pistol as it does a rifle or fowler so don't count on it being any quicker just because it's smaller.

Welcome to the forum virus. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

Mark pretty well summed it up. One simple way is buy one of the $60 buck rifles from Walmart. Now you have a lock, trigger guard and barrel.

You also have an inlet pattern in the plastic stock that comes with the gun.

You can cut the barrel down to the length you want, cut out a stock from a piece of wood with a bandsaw or jig saw or coping saw.

Shorten and crown the barrel to the length you want for a pistol and your ready.

I'd stay away from trying to make your own barrel, there have been some nasty accidents from folks trying to do that without some pretty good knowledge of metallurgy.

Bob is right, don't even try making you're own barrel, not only can it be dangerous but you'll have more cost into it than it's worth considering you can get a top quality fast twist pistol barrel blank for $52.

Rifle barrels (Bob's wally world suggestion) will work but keep in mind they are generally 1:48 twist which won't generally shoot well with the normal light charges associated with pistol use. Also, when you shorted the bbl to less than about 16", you give up even more on powder burn time so using the lighter recoiling 1F or 2F is very load limited.

I did a .50 from a CVA, Bobcat I think, the cheap plastic stocked percussion. I chopped the bbl to 18" and made linkage for the trigger setting it up in a midship grip/trigger (bullpup/XP-100 design) with a forearm rest. This was a 1:48 bbl and required lapping to smooth it out for it to shoot half decent. However, I was running full throttle rifle loads in it, 80gr of 3F. Recoil was managable but if you're not used to shooting heavy recoiling modern handguns, I suggest starting with light loads till you get used to the feel.

Thank you for the replys, i didnt expect any...lol.
I can't walk into wal-mart... Im australian... lol... And our PrimeMinister believes guns shouldnt even be in australia enless needed. (Hopefully he will lose next election).
Anyways, The barrel im not to concerned with because ill just buy it from whom ever jim gets his through... thanks for the help... as all projects im just excited and would have liked to cut the wood straight up lol... but meh, ill buy the parts first, put some money into some nice wood.... it should look like a work of art when its done...
I must say tho, i was unsure wether or not the .45 was the best option as iv never handled a gun of that calibre. (highest legal calibre in australia, also hard to get)
As for project time, pistol compared to rifle. I was considering a Rifle... As they are amazing, just beautiful weapons... But i thought i might try one later on... and with a commercial blank...
I was also under the impression there were cheaper sites then Jim Chambers...
Anyways,
Thankyou for your help.
Ciao,
Becketts.

.36 is the smallest I'd go in a pistol, .40 or .45 are good choices for target & small game work. Big bores are really cool to shoot but they do beat the crap out of your hand and wallet over time.

If this is your first build, I would seek out a couple nice pieces of local wood you can get cheap ... just in case you bugger it up. All it takes is one mistake to wipe out the wood. Besides, it gives you a perfectly good excuse to keep building more and more "continuing education"! LOL

I used to have a TC Patriot pistol in 45. The single shot muzzle loading pistol is the most fun to shoot. It was the most accurate 45 I ever owned.

I'd stay away from trying to make your own barrel, there have been some nasty accidents from folks trying to do that without some pretty good knowledge of metallurgy.

I disagree.

While there have been some nasty accidents with home made barrels, most of these occurred from overloading.

The way flintlock barrels were made traditionally was to form the barrel from a long skinny plate by heating it up and hammering it around a mandrel. The seam was merely a hammer weld, which is not very strong by today's standards. The rifling was single broach cut on a home made rifler made from a hardwood log that was a scaled up reverse (male) representation of what the final bore (female) would look like. The broach was attached to the collar which followed the reverse pattern on the log.

If you use 4140 steel for your barrel, deep drill it on a lathe, and have it properly heat treated when you are through with your machining operations, you should be A-OK. I hang with WECSOG guys who make their own barrels for high pressure cartridges all the time. Some of their barrels have thousands of rounds that produce over 20K PSI through them and none of them have had barrel failures.

Do your research. A good place to start is by joining the Roderus forum.

For about $58 you can have a top quality pistol barrel shipped to your door. For the cost of new barrels, even custom ones, it doesn't pay to try and build your own from either a monetary or safety standpoint. Not saying you can't do it if you so choose but the time and effort involved is quite extensive not even counting the cost factor that's also involved.