Brass Barreled Pistols by Ron Luckenbill

The pistols were built for a client in North Carolina. The brass barrels were made by Ed Rayl. They were not built to  reflect the work of any particular maker, just to reflect the look of look of early period pistols of a bit above average quality. I found it a little hard to turn loose of this pair of pistols. They are my 345 & 346th guns. The accouterments shown with the pistols were built by Eric Armstrong and are turned wood and horn. 

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Ron Luckenbill for Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in The Revenant

This is the gun that I built for Leonardo DiCaprio to use in his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant movie.  The movie will be released to the general public on Jan 8, 2016.  I have been getting a number of  request for photos of the gun, but was restricted from posting them until the movie release. 

I was contacted in July of 2014 by the prop master for the movie relative to building two guns exactly alike.  They were initially interested in an Angstadt rifle that I had on my web site, but I just sold the gun and it was no longer available.  After discussion other possible guns they decided to go with this Bucks Co gun that I had in stock.  I then built an exact duplicate and had both guns in British Columbia by the end of August.  It was exciting to be involved in a project like this.  I like many others am waiting to see the gun in the movie.  I hope it helps to raise awareness of the sport of muzzleloading. 

 Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill of Recreating History.

Silver Wire Rifle by Ron Luckenbill

This rifle was built to the desires of the client. It was given a silver wire decoration in lieu of a patchbox, as well as several other silver wire decorations. The gun had a lot of personalization. The wife's name, Sue, is worked into the wire design on the cheek piece side in very ornate script. The four inlays on the forestock are each engraved with a child's name. An engraved inlay on the toe line shows a "pipe wrench" since the owner is a plumber. This is not a traditional long rifle, but Contemporary work has its merits as well.

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Hickory Stock Schroyer by Ron Luckenbill

It was not until I started to work this stock that I realized that this piece of wood was not hard maple. After examination by several others, it was decided that it was indeed a piece of curly maple. The blank was finished in the general style of an early George Schroyer rifle. The cheek piece star and the inscription "victory or Death" on the cheek piece plate are pure fantasy. The gun finished about a half pound heavier than a comparable maple stocked gun, but handled well. It certainly should hold up to rough handling.

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Ron Luckenbill for Mark Steel

This rifle was built entirely to the desires of the client. He selected a very nice figured piece of locally harvested Black Walnut. The client provided the 7/8" straight 50 cal. barrel. He selected the Lehigh Co. stock architecture and requested that the gun be built as a half stock. The metal parts were rust blued. The cheek piece inlay was selected by the client. This is an example of "cherry picking" design and features which worked well to produce a pleasing end product, such is not always the case.

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Tomahawk by Ron Luckenbill

This pipe hawk was built using a R.E. Davis cast head. A nice piece of curly maple was drilled for the haft. The 13 point star used on the haft has the inscription, United States, We Are One." A poured pewter mouthpiece was used to terminate the haft.

Copy and photos by Ron Luckenbill.

Ron Luckenbill for Mark Steel

This rifle was built entirely to the desires of the client. He selected a very nicely figured piece of locally harvested black walnut. The client provided the 7/8" straight 50 cal. barrel. He selected the Lehigh Co. stock architecture and requested that the gun be built as a half stock. The metal parts were rust blued. The check piece inlay was selected by the client. This is an example of "cherry picking" designs and features which worked well to produce a pleasing end product. Such is not always the case.

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Ron Luckenbill After an Adam Burkett Rifle

I was commissioned to build a copy of an Adam Burkett rifle for the Jefferson C. Historical Society for a fund raiser. This resulted in three more orders for the same rifle. (One member of the family won the raffle gun, three more wanted it). Many of the late period percussion rifles are more of a challenge to build than some realize. The wear plates, comb plates, and inlays, etc. all present different challenges. The flower inlays at the toe of each of these rifles has a mother of pearl center. Building three seemed to be more than three times the work. These neat little rifles have a 27" 15/16 barrels. The original was 36 cal. Two of the recreations were built in 50 cal. and one in 36. One was finished out with a flintlock  lock so the gun could be used in the PA late muzzle loading season.

Copy and photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.

Ron Luckenbill

Photos supplied by Ron Luckenbill.