Judson Brennan: Alaskan Longrifle Artisan: August 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

More progress on David's Early Rifle

The little short early rifle with features reminiscent of a Jacob Dickert is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, new postal regulations and pricing make it prohibitively expensive to ship it to Lexington for the show.

This week's view of the Cumberland Rifle

More progress on the Cumberland Rifle - the patch box is installed and the fore end cap is engraved, ramrod entry thimble, barrel keys and cheekpiece inlay installed.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Cumberland Rifle taking Shape from Judson Brennan

Jud has been working on an exciting new project: a Cumberland Rifle which will be a companion to the Cumberland Pistol in the author's collection. It features an incredibly complex lock with a French Cock, which by itself took 6 weeks of hard work for Jud to design and build. Jud is just now shaping and inletting the steel patchbox. The progress so far is documented below in chronological order.

Some extra local color.

Once again the author must inform that no felines were harmed in the making of this blog.

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Judson J. Brennan was born in Lansing Michigan where he developed an interest in early American longrifles, especially the beautiful and artistic flintlock rifles that were hand made by artisans during the Golden Age of American frontier craftsmanship.

Thanks to the friendship and encouragement of mentors like Roy Keeler, as a young man Jud was able to actually handle and inspect the construction, and the proportion and balance of original Pennsylvania Kentucky rifles. He then set out to teach himself the techniques required to build, carve and engrave contemporary examples of these rifles. His work has been featured in many books and articles on the craft and artistry of these tools of the American pioneers.

In 1985 Judson fulfilled a lifelong dream by moving to Alaska where he settled with his family on Tenderfoot hill, 29 miles North of Delta Junction Alaska.

It is here that he built his house, his workshop, and his forge and it is here that he and his sons Jesse, David and Seth produce handmade historical arms and accoutrements in the traditional manner.

The purpose of this blog is to illuminate the beautiful and artistic works of this unique Alaskan family.

The author is collaborating with Jesse Brennan to present a new website for his work:

http://jessebrennanartsmith.blogspot.com

The author of this blog is Peter Marshall. He is a family physician in North pole, Alaska and has known Judson and his family since they arrived in Alaska in 1985. The author has a companion blog featuring his explorations around the State of Alaska.

It is called:

"Adventures of an Arctic Pilot" and it can be found on the web at:

http://k-syrahsyrah.blogspot.com/