Colerain breechplug tang

[A.Merrill]

    The tang on the breech plug is just over a 1/4in thick and I would like to thin it down some. Should I remove it all from the underside or the top or the top and bottom both??      Al

[Curtis]

Al,

For thinning purposes I would remove metal from the bottom side.  On final shaping after inlet you will file off a small amount on the top side.  A forged tang will be thicker on the plug side and thinning towards the finial.  You may want to mimic the "forged" shape when you are thinning the tang.

Curtis

[Mark Elliott]

I really don't think you want to do that.    Having too little breech plug tang is not something I have ever worried about.    Assuming the tang goes down in the wood deep enough (1/8" give or take) at the end,  just file the excess tang off at the top to match the curve of the wrist.   You should remember that the breech of the barrel and  the recoil lug of the breech plug bearing against the wood as well as the breech plug tang is what supports the barrel.   The wood forward of the lock does not much more than hold the ramrod.   That is the reason the old time gun builders (and myself) didn't (don't)  generally bother to closely inlet the more than the last 6" or so of the barrel.    It simply doesn't make any difference,  at least not to the type of shooting we do.