Build #4.

[Chris In SE PA]

When I attempted my 1st build, I had no idea what I was doing. At one point in time I was tempted to scrap the stock and start over again. But, the stock was too nice of a figured/grain to ditch it. Well, I finished it. And it shoots. I proudly display that rifle in the rear of my closet. It started off as a pre-carved stock w/a 42" Green Mountain straight 13/16 barrel in 45 caliber.

Build #2 was much better. Still plenty of rookie mistakes. But, worlds better than the 1st build. The butt portion of the stock was pre-carved and the front was a blank. I bought 2 stocks and 1 barrel off of this forum from a dealer in West Virginia. Off the bench it shoots pretty good. But, there's simply not enough drop in the comb for me to shoot it accurately when not on a bench. I've tried. So, this one sits at home also.

Build #3 was a pre-carved stock that I made as a squirrel rifle. 40 Caliber Rice 42" A weight swamped barrel. Again, I made several beginners mistakes. But, better than its predecessors.

None of these were kits. They were all parts that I assembled together for the build. I made some of the hardware, and bought the rest.

Now, I'm starting build #4. I'm going to document the build on here for 2 reasons: 1. To document everything for myself. And 2. to get advice as I proceed. I've decided on the parts and am now doing the lay out. This will be using the other partially pre-carved stock that I bought as a package deal.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

I'm going to try a hooked breech for this gun. I'll be using keys instead of pins also. I fully understand both of those decisions make everything a little harder.

The 1st photo shows a few things:
1. the vertical Sharpie mark on the lock plate is where the sear bar sits when the lock is assembled.
2. The dot on the breech shows where the touch hole will be drilled. This also shows that I will have to inlet the standing portion of the breech significantly rearward of where the barrel channel inlet stops.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

The cast nosecap was too narrow for the barrel that I'm using. So, I opened it up by squeezing a piece of round stock into the opening in a vice. Worked pretty well.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

Filed, sanded, and polished the nose cap and trigger guard today.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

Finished draw filling the barrel and started inletting it into the stock.

 

[TDM]

Chris, what type of rifle are you building?

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

I document my builds on this forum to keep a record of all of the steps as well. That along with a lot of notes and sketches I keep helps on future projects. Looking forward to seeing your build progress!

 

[Chris In SE PA]

Chris, what type of rifle are you building?

It's a Lehigh style pre-carved stock. At least I think it is. The wrist is thin and wide. I believe that's a Lehigh characteristic.

Ran into a few issues today unfortunately.

 

[akroguy]

I also, in my rifle building apprentice level ignorance, fail to fully understand the exact "style" or "School" of rifle I'm currently building. It has an L&R classic lock, single trigger, (much) more slender than a Kibler Colonial, buttstock has a slight undercurve from guard to toe, buttplate is modestly curved, not flat, round wrist cross section, non-swamped .45 GM 42" barrel, straight comb, will not have a patchbox and furnished in nickel silver. I'm planning to blue the barrel and flame blue the lock. The stock and parts collection came from the Ed Hamel collection and is CM4 Presentation grade wood. What "school" to attribute it's architecture, I have no idea.

it's gonna go bang, bottom line!

I look forward to watching your build and share your angst in all the missteps along the way.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

I also, in my rifle building apprentice level ignorance, fail to fully understand the exact "style" or "School" of rifle I'm currently building. It has an L&R classic lock, single trigger, (much) more slender than a Kibler Colonial, buttstock has a slight undercurve from guard to toe, buttplate is modestly curved, not flat, round wrist cross section, non-swamped .45 GM 42" barrel, straight comb, will not have a patchbox and furnished in nickel silver. I'm planning to blue the barrel and flame blue the lock. The stock and parts collection came from the Ed Hamel collection and is CM4 Presentation grade wood. What "school" to attribute it's architecture, I have no idea.

it's gonna go bang, bottom line!

I look forward to watching your build and share your angst in all the missteps along the way.

Ironically enough, my stock is from the Ed Hamel estate also.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

1st major issue. This is a pre-carved buttstock w/the buttplate already installed. Normally I'd: inlet the barrel, then the lock, then the trigger, from the trigger I'd get the distance for the buttplate and then inlet the plate accordingly. I tried to reverse engineer and determine the barrel location to yield the length of pull that I wanted. Doing this "pushed" the hook breech too far rearward and into the slope of the wrist. To overcome that I'd have to inlet the barrel farther down into the stock to achieve the proper geometry required to use the hooked breech. FUBAR.

So, I decided to scrap the hook breech idea for this build and went back to the standard breech plug that came with the barrel. When I screwed it back in place, the caliber/makers mark is now showing on one of the upper facets.

Other than poor "visuals" does this matter? I.E. is the mark imprinted from the manufacturer on a random flat? Or, is this a designation for the side that it hooks toward? If so, I presume that I'll need to remove metal from the barrel and the plug to spin the barrel 5/8 of a revolution??

 

[Chris In SE PA]

Note: the photo showing the makers mark is before I inlet the breech plug into the stock. The barrel is resting on the sock and the gap isn't as bad as it looks in the picture.

 

[Chris In SE PA]

BTW:

I'm not certain if it's a Lehigh or a Lancaster style stock. The Wrist is wide from the top, and narrow when viewed from the side. That tells me Lehigh. But, several of the Lehigh reifles I've saw have 2 different slopes of angle on the toe, which diverge under the trigger guard. The underside of this stock is straight from the toe to the arch of the wrist.
42" Green Mountain 50 caliber barrel.
Not sure If It'll be a single trigger or a double. I have both and am turning that decision over in my mind.
Brass hardware. Hagga (Berks) Style trigger guard. Cast brass nose cap. I'm going to make the pipes, toe plate, and the sideplate myself.

 

[Kansas Jake]

My rememberer gets fuzzy sometimes but it seems in the past some barrel makers would put their mark to identify run out I’d any. This was so it could be on the vertical axis when the breech plug was installed. The mark would end up either be on the top or bottom flat.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Some other features along with the wide wrist to maybe help you figure out if it's a Lehigh. Lehigh's have a curved comb, a curved belly, and that extra step behind the trigger guard (which I think you mentioned). From the one picture showing the buttstock the comb looks straight to me.

That might be an unfitted breach plug. What matters is that the plug seats properly. Have you tested it to see if it's seats? I see a gap between the barrel and the top of the tang that could be tighter. You might need to fit it as you said removing metal from the barrel and the plug.