entry pipe

[hortonstn]

i've always had trouble with entry pipes how much wood should be left under
the entry tang. it seems i have to almost remove all of it is this correct ?
thoughts appreciated
paul

[Acer Saccharum]

If using purchased pipes, put a dowel of snug size thru the entry pipe. Then measure from the skirt down to the dowel. This will tell you how much wood to leave ABOVE the Ramrod on the forearm.

The skirt of the entry pipe can be bent and re-shaped for more or less wood.

[E.vonAschwege]

A lot of commercial pipes have a lot of step between the skirt and the pipe - use Acer's trick with the dowel to visualize just how much wood is left between the ramrod and the skirt.  I typically make mine no more than 1/8" on the heavy side of things - some commercial pipes are closer to 3/16".  As you're inletting, you can drill a 1/16" hole underneath the skirt into the RR hole to see how much wood you've actually got. 
-Eric

[flehto]

Sometimes when using a cast entry pipe, I break into the RR hole. Usually when I make the entry pipe out of .040 thick brass, I don't for 2 reasons. ...the first being that I measure the "step" and make the pipe accordinngly and the 2nd reason is the thinner mat'l. Nothing wrong w/ breaking into the RR hole w/ the entry  pipe tang.....unless it greatly restricts the RR.....Fred

[Mark Elliott]

Gary Brumfield once told me to only leave about 1/16 and that has always worked for me.   I never bump up the tang all that much.   I punch a little hump in the tang that makes it look like it has more lift.   Of course, the real answer is to inlet the pipe parallel to the ramrod groove and then take the forearm down to the tang.  For me, that is still about 1/16".   That makes for a real slim forearm if you can keep the web under 1/8".   I start with a web 5/32 at the muzzle.  If the ramrod drill goes where it is supposed to, that should give you about 1/8" at the breech of a swamped barrel.   I use an 11/32" ramrod drill to give me a little more wiggle room to allow for ramrod drill drift.