Tang Shape

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings All,

I am looking for some information.

Does any forum member have any information about the correct length for the tang of a Melchoir Fodney rifle?

I have a good picture of the shape of a Fordey rifle tang, but no dimension information.

Any help would be appreciated.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

 

[mikelange]

John --

The formula I use for figuring out the dimensions of parts, from pictures of original guns, is to measure the length of pull of the photo itself with a metric ruler (in other words, the number of millimeters from buttplate center to trigger), then divide the actual length of pull for that gun by the figure I got measuring the picture. So, if it's stated that a gun has a 14" l.o.p. and the distance I get measuring the photo is 70 mm, I come up with .2. That gives me a scale to work with, measuring any part in that same photo. Whisker's "Gunsmiths Of Lancaster County" shows two Fordney rifles from angles that allow me to see both the entire rear halves of the rifles, and the barrel tangs. Neither gives stock dimensions, so I calculated 13 3/4" for the l.o.p., which isn't precise but ought to be close enough for the girls I go out with.... One rifle had a tang in the vicinity of 2 3/4" to 2 7/8", the other one a tang just shy of 2". Long story short, it doesn't appear that Fordney himself followed any sort of standard.

Shumway's dimensions, in "Rifles Of Colonial America", give the thickness of the barrel at the breech, and any photo showing the breech area from the top will, obviously, include the entire tang, making it easy to use the above formula to establish the scale of the barrel thickness, rather than the length of pull.

Hope this helps. Happy New Year!

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

And A Happy New Year to you Mr. Mongrel,

Thank you for the good information about my tang length question. I will put that information to good use. All of your posting has been printed and filed in one of my 3-ring binders on gunsmithing.

At this time, I have only one of George Shumway's books, and it does not contain any information about Melchoir Fordney rifles. Of all of the old timers, Fordney's work is my favorite.

And then there is another question. Does your Shumway book give any information about barrel size (across the flats) at the breach? Most of the originals from that period are much larger than one would think.

Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity to measure a Fordney. In fact, have only ever seen two custom rifles made off of the Fordney pattern.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.

 

Mr. Hinnant,

There are a couple of Fordney guns in Kindig, which I have. I will measure the tangs on them following the "Mongrel Algorithm" and let you know the results.

... (time passes) ...

Well, horse feathers! None of the illustrations in Kindig show a top-down view of the tang. They are all side-views, and none of them show the tang clearly enough to measure it. Sorry... was really hoping I could help you here.

Surely there are other photos/measurements out there of Fordney rifles?

Perhaps someone over on ALR would know? I know Bill Shipman recently did a Fordney gun... perhaps he knows?

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Thanks you and Happy New Year StaticXDOOd.

John L. Hinnant

 

[mikelange]

John --

Sorry, I don't actually own any of the Shumway books. Volume 2 of "Rifles Of Colonial America" does, I think, have Fordney rifles in it, and both volumes of ROCA include barrel diameter at the breech among the multitude of measurements provided for each rifle. My books are all by James Whisker, who in the intro to one states that he considers it a waste of time to include detailed measurements, as (he implies) most builders won't stick to them anyhow. That's why I mentioned that I was sort of guessing on the length of pull on the Fordney rifles I was able to clearly see the breechplug tangs on.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Mongrel,

Again, thanks for the imput. While I do not own Mr Whisker's book, I have looked though a friend's numerous times and wish he [JW] had included dimensions. That would have been a great resrearch help regardless if makers had not used them.

If anybody out there has a book that gives the barrel breech size of a Fordney rifle, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why noy? I am carrying your load.