Springfield Gun Case

[Tequila]

I have a Springfield model 1873 trapdoor that was made in 1874.  The gun is in great shape and works well.  I want to make a zippered case for it, but because it’s so long (54+ inches) of course there’s no premade patterns.  My thought is to get a dyed veg tan, I’m not going to do any tooling or stamping since the case will only be used to protect the gun when I’m traveling.  Here are a couple of things that I’d like to get opinions on:  what weight leather?  I’m not planning on hand sewing and my Cobra sewing machine can only do about ⅜ inch, so maybe a 6-8 ounce?  I want the case lined, but again I haven’t figured out what to use.  I had an old case that had some type of sheepskin, I think it was synthetic, and I didn’t like it because it made a gun rusty if it was left in the case for a day or two.  I’m not going to put a sling on the case, but I think it should have handles, thoughts?

This project has a lot of firsts for me, zipper, handles, lining, and length are all new to me so any thoughts or advice are welcome.  I’m probably going to start this in 3 weeks or so which should give me enough time to source my supplies.  

[Wild Bill46]

Firstly, (You'll be fine) Just think it through carefully as you seem to have done. Use what you have, or want to use in thickness and materials. I made one recently and it was much easier than anticipated. It was a fold over taco type. I did use a fringe according to customer idea. loops for horse carry. and one single carry handle on top was plenty for mine.                                                                            And in my HO your right, no liners for the fact you mention.

[chuck123wapati]

1 hour ago, Tequila said:

I have a Springfield model 1873 trapdoor that was made in 1874.  The gun is in great shape and works well.  I want to make a zippered case for it, but because it’s so long (54+ inches) of course there’s no premade patterns.  My thought is to get a dyed veg tan, I’m not going to do any tooling or stamping since the case will only be used to protect the gun when I’m traveling.  Here are a couple of things that I’d like to get opinions on:  what weight leather?  I’m not planning on hand sewing and my Cobra sewing machine can only do about ⅜ inch, so maybe a 6-8 ounce?  I want the case lined, but again I haven’t figured out what to use.  I had an old case that had some type of sheepskin, I think it was synthetic, and I didn’t like it because it made a gun rusty if it was left in the case for a day or two.  I’m not going to put a sling on the case, but I think it should have handles, thoughts?

This project has a lot of firsts for me, zipper, handles, lining, and length are all new to me so any thoughts or advice are welcome.  I’m probably going to start this in 3 weeks or so which should give me enough time to source my supplies.  

carbine or long rifle? Mine hangs right over my leather bench. I would use somewhere about 3/4 oz for the body and maybe heavier for the ends and zipper areas or just double it up if you want a stiffer case.  So have you figured out how to get 70 grains of bp in those cases lol. 

[Tequila]

42 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

carbine or long rifle? Mine hangs right over my leather bench. I would use somewhere about 3/4 oz for the body and maybe heavier for the ends and zipper areas or just double it up if you want a stiffer case.  So have you figured out how to get 70 grains of bp in those cases lol. 

It’s a long rifle. 

I’m still working up loads for it, I’m going to start shooting 100-200 yard long range side matches.  Strictly black powder though, I love the smoke and fire! 

[chuck123wapati]

54 minutes ago, Tequila said:

It’s a long rifle. 

I’m still working up loads for it, I’m going to start shooting 100-200 yard long range side matches.  Strictly black powder though, I love the smoke and fire! 

OH heck yea she looks just like mine. I love that old girl Mine shoots best with heavier hard cast lead. It used to be my play gun growing up there was no hammer or mainspring so i played with it and kept it by my bed lol. Back about 75 or so my dad bought the parts and fixed it back up. As a kid he used to shoot 410s out of it lol. surprisingly the rifling is still fair enough to hunt with took a few deer and antelope with it. Love old iron!!!!! 

[Tequila]

3 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

OH heck yea she looks just like mine. I love that old girl Mine shoots best with heavier hard cast lead. It used to be my play gun growing up there was no hammer or mainspring so i played with it and kept it by my bed lol. Back about 75 or so my dad bought the parts and fixed it back up. As a kid he used to shoot 410s out of it lol. surprisingly the rifling is still fair enough to hunt with took a few deer and antelope with it. Love old iron!!!!! 

I think you need to make a case for her, that way I can steal the idea 

[garypl]

Nice rifle!  I would line your case with some canvas - shouldn’t cause any problems with the finish rusting.

Edited August 10, 2022 by garypl

[Tequila]

13 hours ago, garypl said:

Nice rifle!  I would line your case with some canvas - shouldn’t cause any problems with the finish rusting.

Thanks, that’s what I was thinking that or wool. 

[mdawson]

Hey Tequila

I've had my target rifle in a sheepskin lined case for over 20 years with no problem, I imagine even after tanning the wool still retains some lanolin which would be helping to protect the rifle.

On the subject of canvas, I have various types in my stash that I've accumulated over the years, some are quite hard and would not be good for the finish on a firearm, however, the softest is actually the cheapest and may be worth considering if you go down that path, from painters drop sheets.

Mark

Edited August 10, 2022 by mdawson
.

[fredk]

You chaps know your firearms far, far better than I know but if I may throw this into the conversation;

About 16 years ago I was shown a 14th Century sword which had been stored in a woolie lined scabbard. The sword was definitely 14th C, the age of the scabbard was unknown but at least over 150 years old. The sword/scabbard was found in a blocked up small storage room in an old Irish castle. The room had been filled with cast off items and the doorway built over. It was known that this was done in 1854. The wool of the scabbard still had lanolin in it. It had degraded to a yellow wax but was still slick. The sword blade had very minimal corrosion on it, most of this was at the hilt end where the blade had minimal protection.

Would not even the smoothest of cotton canvas be too coarse on a gun's finish?

[chuck123wapati]

On 8/9/2022 at 5:03 PM, Tequila said:

I think you need to make a case for her, that way I can steal the idea 

lol if i did it would be a simple sleeve type 4 oz leather  about 10 " inches or so longer than the gun with a simple leather tie, handle right at the balance point of the rifle. Bison brown with some mottling to look old. Not that it thought much about it lol.

[Tequila]

3 hours ago, fredk said:

You chaps know your firearms far, far better than I know but if I may throw this into the conversation;

About 16 years ago I was shown a 14th Century sword which had been stored in a woolie lined scabbard. The sword was definitely 14th C, the age of the scabbard was unknown but at least over 150 years old. The sword/scabbard was found in a blocked up small storage room in an old Irish castle. The room had been filled with cast off items and the doorway built over. It was known that this was done in 1854. The wool of the scabbard still had lanolin in it. It had degraded to a yellow wax but was still slick. The sword blade had very minimal corrosion on it, most of this was at the hilt end where the blade had minimal protection.

Would not even the smoothest of cotton canvas be too coarse on a gun's finish?

I’m not sure if the canvas would be too course, but that is something to consider.  I’ll have to do some research.  If it looks that way I may go with something like a wool blanket.

15 hours ago, mdawson said:

Hey Tequila

I've had my target rifle in a sheepskin lined case for over 20 years with no problem, I imagine even after tanning the wool still retains some lanolin which would be helping to protect the rifle.

On the subject of canvas, I have various types in my stash that I've accumulated over the years, some are quite hard and would not be good for the finish on a firearm, however, the softest is actually the cheapest and may be worth considering if you go down that path, from painters drop sheets.

Mark

Thanks Mark!

[Tequila]

This is one of the linings that I’m considering, what do you think?

Weaver Leather

[chuck123wapati]

4 hours ago, Tequila said:

This is one of the linings that I’m considering, what do you think?

Weaver Leather

cool site with some info. Talks a bit about the morino wool your looking at. I look forward to your project.   

https://www.baizewoolfabrics.co.uk/product-insights/gun-case-lining-material-for-repair-or-restoration/

[Tequila]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

cool site with some info. Talks a bit about the morino wool your looking at. I look forward to your project.   

https://www.baizewoolfabrics.co.uk/product-insights/gun-case-lining-material-for-repair-or-restoration/

That was interesting reading.  The more I think of using wool or any type of fabric for the lining the more I wonder if I’ll need to use ½ inch foam as a backing.  If I do there’s going to be a lot of glue used 

[chuck123wapati]

2 hours ago, Tequila said:

That was interesting reading.  The more I think of using wool or any type of fabric for the lining the more I wonder if I’ll need to use ½ inch foam as a backing.  If I do there’s going to be a lot of glue used 

 if i used any it would quilt batting material i use it for slings it works well as it wont break down over time like foam does.

[HandyDave]

I second chuck on the quilt batting if you are gonna add little extra padding between leather and liner. Ive been using waterproof mil spec rip-stop fabric as the liner in most of my cases and sleeves. I know wool and such liners are a more traditional route. I myself dont like suede or wool lined anything because dirt and debris can get caught in the fuzziness and cause wear. I know linings is a very debatable subject and i deffently aint trying piss anyone off who likes the soft fuzzy liners. They look really good speacially in a case for an old firearm just my experience theres better options for better firearm care.

[Tequila]

On 8/11/2022 at 7:11 PM, chuck123wapati said:

 if i used any it would quilt batting material i use it for slings it works well as it wont break down over time like foam does.

Thanks Chuck, I like that idea. 

[Tequila]

I pretty sure this isn’t the right forum to post this update, but since I started this thread I thought I’d post some updates on this gun case here. 

This is probably a very easy project for most of you, however for me it’s the biggest thing I’ve made with a lot of firsts.  It started out with what type of leather to use, I had decided not do any tooling or stamping since it was for me and it was going to be a working case.  So I decided to go with a chrome tan, the gun is 54 inches long, which (as you know) meant that I had to buy a side just to get the length I needed.  With the decision to use chrome tan opened up a lot of choices of species and color.  After going nuts looking at all the choices I decided to call Maker’s Leather Supply.  After explaining the project they transferred me to the owner Aaron and he suggested a 4-5 ounce crazy horse pull up.  If you’ve never dealt with Maker’s you owe it to yourself to give them a look, I received my order in 2 days.  When I explained to Aaron all the firsts that the case presented me he said if I had any questions or needed any suggestions to call him and he’d help me out, now that’s customer service I appreciate.  

The project came to a stop when I had to go to another supplier for thread (Maker’s was out of stock), that order took over a week to get, I’ll keep that in mind for next time. 

The lining posed another set of questions of what to use.  If you’ve ever put a hot gun in a case with a synthetic liner you know that it can ruin your day, so I knew it had to be a natural material.  I started thinking wool, but I didn’t want a sheepskin, unfortunately I couldn’t find a wool fabric, so I went with 100% cotton.  I used @chuck123wapati ‘s suggestion and used batting for cushioning.  Having never used batting I wasn’t sure how thick it should be, what I bought was too thin which meant I had to glue 2 pieces together. 

As of today I made a pattern, cut the leather to the pattern, made 2 rolled handles (a first), sewed them on, cut and glued the batting, cut and sewed the fabric.  I still have to cut strips of leather to go around the top seem and opening, assemble and sew the zipper, and finally sew the the everything up.  Here’s what it looks like so far:

 

[Gezzer]

Looks good so far and it sounds like you have it figured out

[Tequila]

33 minutes ago, Gezzer said:

Looks good so far and it sounds like you have it figured out

Thanks, and I’m trying, the hard part (zipper) is yet to come. 

[chuck123wapati]

off to the races!!! lookin good so far, are the handles far enough forward to balance the gun? 

[Tequila]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

off to the races!!! lookin good so far, are the handles far enough forward to balance the gun? 

Man I hope so, I checked 3 times, but I ain’t got that kinda luck