Lock placement on Mountain rifle

[54ball]

 Here is photo of my 1810 Mathew Gillespie project.  I was anticipating rounding the tail of my lock.

 In the photos the lock looks like it needs to be shortened but actually there is enough room behind the tail for the lock panel.  The lock is on a small block of wood so there is a little more room there than it looks.




  The lock is not inetted and the bolster is not cut.  I just wanted some opinions on how the flow of the rifle will be and if I need to shorten and round the lock plate.  

 Should I just wait until the bolster is inletted and the plate flat on the wood to make this decision?

[Acer Saccharum]

Make the decision of lockplate position BEFORE you inlet the bolster.

You don't have a lot of room for positioning now. what you have left is rotating the lock around the touch hole, which may not seem like a lot.

This is a visual decision, and the lock position is in relation to all the surrounding environment of the wrist and forestock areas. These areas MUST be considered when planning your lock placement.

Is the hump behind the barrel going to stay at the present contour? Or will you refine that curve more?

To me, that feature is one of the first decisions that has to be made before the lock is positioned. Get that top line established between breech and comb. This sets the stage for lock placement.

The next most glaring area is the grip. It is still in the square. Will you be taking that profile down at all? If so, THAT has an effect on placement. But lock placement can determine how much wood there is under the bottom line of the grip.

You are talking only a few degrees of rotation Clockwise or counter-clockwise around the touchhole. But get those two areas affixed in your mind's eye BEFORE you place the lock.

I know this is not an answer, but it may open up a conversation that will lead you to your conclusion.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Apparently there were Gillespie rifles made with pointed lock plates but all  of the pictures I have found have the tail rounded... that is what I am about to do to my late Ketland..... it seems to just be more typical in appearance....although if it was going to be pointed i would think an 1810 Matthew Gillespie would be where you would find it.  

What Tom just said is essential to getting  it to look right no matter what you decide to do with the tail....

[Acer Saccharum]

Two more questions:
1)Where is the ramrod? and
2)where will the front lock bolt end up? (if you will use one)

This may limit your lock placement more than anything else.  If you don't know where your RR is, you need to find out. I usually drill a 1/16 hole in the bottom of the BBL channel to find out how far the hole is away from the bottom flat. Is there room for a bolt to pass twixt bbl and rod?

Once you find where you rod is, draw it on the lockside face of the stock to aid in positioning the lock.

[54ball]

   Thanks Acer,
I may be getting way ahead of myself.  I still have to inlet the plug and tang.  And yes I will refine the top profile some but some of that " hump" may be from poor photo quality.

  I plan to shape the forearm to 1/8 below ramrod entry and 3/16 below the ramrod at the TG.  It seems pretty close at the TG area right now.

  I have marked where I " think" the ramrod is, if it continued straight.  I will drill a peep hole to confirm placement.

 Yes, I am planning on using two lock bolts.  Here is a better pic.  Due to the angle of the lock and camera it appears the lock actually hangs over the panel.  There is at least a good 1/8 inch there.







  There is a lot more to this than I thought.  There is so many options, lock placement lock plate shape and how it relates to overall flow.


 Dr. Boone...  Thanks.  I have seen some pictures of early Gillespies with the teat still on the tail of the lock, so I think the Ketland would be fine rounded or left as is.
 

[54ball]

 Dr Boone here is an example of a recent Gillespie with the Chambers Late Ketland.



 Here is the side panel side.



 Here is my new build compared to a 38" barreled Gillespie.

[bgf]

Don't put too much faith in this, but one thing I noticed is that you appear to have the lock tilted forward.  I think even level is fairly rare -- most mountain style rifles seem to tilt the lock back at least slightly and often distinctly, and quite a few appear to me to have the lock pan relatively low on the barrel (perhaps to avoid hitting breech with mainspring.  One, I may be wrong; two, there is a school of thought that knows better than originals even if I'm right, but I thought I'd mention it. 

[whitebear]

  Thanks Acer,
I may be getting way ahead of myself.  I still have to inlet the plug and tang.

I would suggest doing all the barrel inletting, plug, tang, under lugs inlet and pinned down.  Then you know exactly where your touch hole will be and the lock can be positioned with confidence.