48 inch and underlugs

[DB]

How many underlugs would be needed for a 48 inch swamped barrel?

[Don Tripp]

3

[Joe Schell]

I would use 4.

[Lucky R A]

     Anything over 42" should have 4 underlugs.

[heinz]

It depends on where you put them, if you have through bolted the tang to the trigger plate, if you are using keys or pins, and if you have secured the nose cap to the barrel.  Also if it is a 42" barreled half stock, you can probably get by with less than 4 pins 

[Acer Saccharum]

Once you get beyond the grip section of the stock, it's the barrel that supports the wood.

With three lugs, there will be longer distances between pins, in other words, longer stretches of unsupported wood. Don't put that first pin too far back from muzzle.

So much of your choice depends on school of rifle(or fowler), whether this is a thin gun or a fattie-boy. If you're not going for an exact school replica, you have leeway for number of pins and placement. Be sure to lay out where the thimbles will go before you commit to the barrel lugs.

[mattdog]

I use 4 pins on any barrel over 36" ie; 40" plus.  Trade guns have very thin forestocks and I hate "squishy" which you can get with too-few pins with too much space between them. 

[Daryl]

Would it not simply depend on the rifle you are building, if emulating a specific rifle or maker?

[Long John]

I generally use 4 pins plus the tang.  The muzzle pin is generally about 4 to 6 inches back from the muzzle and then I space them evenly from there to the tang.  Acer is right about knowing where the ramrod timbles go!  I usually screw that up and end up with at least one location where I have a conflict.  Maybe I will get  the next build right?

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Four pins/keys, and cut the dovetails shallow.  I like 1/32" deep.

[bgf]

Would it not simply depend on the rifle you are building, if emulating a specific rifle or maker?

Particularly for some, the pin placement is an important detail.  I know of more than one with ~46" barrel, but first pin (of 3) is past entry pipe, and last pin is really close to muzzlecap -- what Wallace Gusler calls the "long pin placement".  It works well (no conflicts), because they generally use 4 RR pipes (including the entry) and most of the barrels appear to be still attached to the stocks.  I think it would be a mistake to do otherwise if closely emulating one of these rifles.