Bicycle Parts "Flintlock"

I was cleaning off the work bench out in the shop, yesterday, taking advantage of the nice warm weather, when I ran across a pile of these:

Those are the pieces which I removed from old drop bars in order to make "flop and chop" bullhorn bars for fixed gear bikes, back in the GrinderBikes days.  I had noticed their pistol-like profile, back then, and saved a few out, with the intention of possibly making some toy guns for my nephews.  I never got them done, but the parts and pieces never got thrown away.

Needless to say, I got distracted from my bench cleaning.

Part of what had prevented me from building guns, before, was the fact that I couldn't figure out how to do the trigger and hammer.  I wasn't worried about making a working firing mechanism, but I wanted the gun to look complete.  Yesterday, I had a little flash of inspiration...

I carved the hammer out of the brass-plated hook from an old coat rack.  I used my angle grinder and Dremel to cut the rough shape, then filed and sanded it to suit.  The striker box is a V-Brake pad mounting nut, held in place by a drywall screw.

The trigger is an old 1970s MAFAC brake cable hanger, which originally mounted on a seat-post clamp bolt.  I ran a bolt through the gun to secure both the trigger and hammer, and topped it off with a brass acorn nut.  The trigger guard is bent up from some Ace Hardware brass strap.

I messed around with some wood blocks, trying to figure out how to get the wooden stock on the gun, when my gaze fell on a couple of strips of natural-colored Cinelli handlebar tape that I had left over. They are the cheater strips that people use when they can't figure out how to do the figure-8 wrap around brake levers.

So, I used some contact cement to stick the cork on, and wrapped bands of hemp twine where the steel mounting straps would be on a real pistol.  The ramrod is a brass screw from the coat rack (as is the bolt which holds the trigger and hammer on).

I wrapped the grip area with a couple of layers of hemp twine, and inserted a champagne cork to serve as the butt of the stock.

At this point, it looked like a pistol.  But, I wanted to put a more wood-like finish to it.  So, off to Ace, the Helpful Hardware Place, yet again...

I got some black enamel paint for the barrel bands, and some shellac for the stock.

I put the finish on the gun, stuck it on a drumstick to dry, and went to bed.

In the midst of all this, I pulled this little box out:

I had bought this at the thrift store, a while back, and planned on sending it to my nephew Sean.  I figured that he would use it to store/display some knives, or something.

Coincidentally, the gun fits right in the box.  I don't think that I could have made it fit that well if I had tried.

I am pretty happy with how it came out, and I think Sean will enjoy it.  I may have to build another version, sometime...

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