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JL

32 Cal
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Hello, I’m working on my first plank build (modeled after an H Rupp) and have a couple of questions.

The first question I have is, does my touch hole position look acceptable from an ignition standpoint? It’s .235 from plug face, centered on top of bolster line, but slightly above barrel center line?

My next question is, what I should do with the .466 length of remaining wood that the back of the bolster is currently resting on (from the barrel meets tang line to back of bolster). It looks to me that Rupp would have gone with a straight vertical edge from the tang line? My bolster, what I’ll call “wall,” appears to be rather tall (Siler). I could file this down?

Not to scale diagrams attached. I should have written “gently remove” instead of SAW!

Thanks!
Current Lock Position.jpg
Area in Ques..jpg
 
JL...............Dixon's M/L GUN Shop Has a $20 book on how to build a Pa. Longrifle. It explains all this stuff , start to finish , w/ diagrams and text written by a master gun builder. Huge amount of information for the dollar spent. Another benefit is Greg Dixon uses common hand tools.
As to what I think your question is , the touch hole goes "center line of barrel" top to bottom , right at the breech face , so the gasses from the detonation sweep the fouling off the breech face and out the touch hole. I'm too old and dumb to do well with your diagram , but I think it says you want the touch hole 1/4" ahead of the breech face. In my humble opinion , that's a bad idea. ..........oldwood
 
With touchhole liners it’s fairly common to locate the touchhole 1/2 the diameter of the threaded liner in front of the breechplug to avoid getting into the breech thread shoulder area with the liner.
 
Hi,
I hope you have good photo references of original Rupp's rifles because his Lehighs are challenging even for experienced makers. I would place your touch hole about 1/8" in front of the breech plug since you are not using a liner. Don't be obsessed having the back edge of the pan line up with the end of the barrel. A small gap or curve of wood connecting the pan to the stock is fine. More important than worrying about the pan fence and bolster is to make sure the long axis of the lock is perfectly parallel with the bore or even very, very slightly tipped up toward the rear. Rupp rifles often have an illusion that the locks are slightly tipped down in front, which is partly created by the small thickness of wood above the lock that is only slightly curved. You want to make sure the front lock bolt clears the barrel and also the ramrod hole. A large Siler lock is not too wide. The top of the bolster behind the pan should be almost in line with the top edge of the side barrel flat or just a hair below it. Do not worry if your vent hole is not in the center of the barrel flat when all is fitted correctly. It can be off center and work just fine. However, do not drill that hole until the lock and barrel are inlet. I urge you to buy the Kentucky Rifle Association CD for Lehigh Valley rifles Volume 1 issue 3. You can order them on line. Lehigh guns are all nuance and not easy to get right and when done wrong, they look terribly awkward.

dave
 
Thanks everyone, especially you, Dave. One of the first things I did was get that disk from KRA. Then, I looked really hard to find some dimensions I could use as reference points and enlarged them. Main source for those will be acknowledged here if I can complete this in a satisfactory manner. It’s looking like I will.

The lock panel was the Siler gunmaker’s. I cut and filed to match the original Rupp as closely as possible. In Recreating the American Longrifle, I believe it’s stated that a touch hole w/ no liner should be positioned 3/16 from face. Using this as my reference, I positioned the lock making sure lock lines were correct to the original Rupp photos/plans. Dave, it’s impressive to me that you’re familiar w/ what you’ve mentioned. As you know, there are a bunch of nuances, here. I have the lock inletted down to where the mortise is beginning to evenly touch the barrel. The TH isn’t drilled. 1/8 would put the hole on the extreme edge of fence but still above pan. It sounds like this is what I should do. Would filing/enlarging the pan be a waste of time if I did so? Other options would be going w/ 3/16 (less off-center) or keeping it at a little less than ¼ (center) and maybe drilling hole at an angle (not sure if this is a non-starter)?

As for the extra wood, looks like (based on the photos) that Rupp had a gap rather than curve. You can see the barrel behind the fence. As you suggest, Dave, “the top of the bolster behind the pan should be almost in line with the top edge of the side barrel flat or just a hair below it.” That answers this question! Thank you!
 
Hi JL,
Another key feature to recognize is the cross section of the stock right behind the lock is an oval with the width greater than the height, then as the wrist extends toward the step, the height increases such that the cross section is almost a perfect sphere just at the step.

dave
 

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