Increasing Length of Pull

[David Rase]

When you guys are using an original as a pattern and you need to lengthen the pull do you increase the length of the wrist and the butt or do you add the length to just the butt?  I am using an original Shuler fowler I as a pattern and I want to increas the length of pull about 1/4" and add about 1/4" to the drop.  I am going to use a Siler lock for this project.  The Siler lock puts the trigger about 1/4" further back then the original for a total increase in the stock of 1/2".  I traced out the original pattern and then added the changes to my dimensions and edited the profile, keeping the buttplate height per the original. 
With all the talk about the gooseneck wrist in the Allen Martin Chambersburg rifle  I wanted to get some opinions on this topic.
DMR 
 

[bgf]

1/2" is more noticeable on the wrist than on the butt, because it affects your TG grip length and/or positioning.  On the butt it probably won't show up at all, especially since you are adding a 1/4" drop that will compensate for much of the increased height of the butt you would have without it.  I'm a rank amateur, so take my opinion for what its worth -- I just thought it was an interesting question.

[Bill of the 45th]

Dave, I would split it up, put 1/8" in the lock panel area, and 3/16" each in the wrist, and butt area's to spread it out.  It looks like that's what Al did with this Chambersburg.  Does that fowler have a cheek piece, if so I would think you would want to ad a small amount of stretch to that to keep it proportional.  I doubt that a 1/2 inch will really make it look slimmer.  I don't think if I was 1/2 inch taller it would make me look skinnier, maybe 4 inchs would  Or you could get out the old barrel stretcher, and add an inch or so to keep the proportions.  I just took off an inch and a half on a smooth rifle Dennis built, had a brain cramp, went and made the length of pull 15 1/2".  Might have fit Roundball, or Lurch, but not us normal size folk.

Bill.

[skillman]

The little fowler does not have a cheek.

Steve

[G-Man]

I would spread it out proportionally rather than add all the length in  one section or the other.  You will notice if the wrist or comb length gets a bit out of proportion from the original.  Just my experience, but you can usually trust your eye rather than precise measurement when trying to maintain the spirit of the original but change dimensions.   Sketch it out on a long piece of paper and stand back about 4 or 5 feet and look at it and it should tell you where to go.

You brought up a real good point that is seldom discussed when it comes to building guns that are more or less copied from an original - the position of the sear on the lock is a really important factor with regard to the geometry of the triggers, guard and wrist area.  The dimensions of the lock internals on the original are something we almost never know - sometimes you can end up with some real funky looking guard placement and wrist shaping if not careful.  I have seen this a lot on contemporary copies of English fowlers.

Good luck

Guy