Child's Lehigh advice

[Clear Spring Armory]

Got this print about as good as I can get it and wanted see what others think. The 10" pull seems to really be making it difficult. I'm also thinking the small Siler may be to small. The web between the barrel and RR channel is 3/16" and the web on bottom of the forearm is 1/8". I may be able to shave a bit off that. I tilted the lock nose down to center the rear in the wrist. Any advise?




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[rich pierce]

I would think about whether an 11” pull could work because an adult can shoot such a gun. I built one for my son and wife way back when with a pull of 11” and with light loads can shoot it without jamming my nose with my thumb. As the user grows it could still be a delightful small gun to carry.

[smallpatch]

You'll hate the 10" pull eventually.  The kids will grow out of it wayyyyy too fast. Kids are pretty adaptable.  If they are small enough for a 10" pull, chances are they are too small to hold it up anyway.
Add at least an inch. Give them something to grow into.

What are you using for a barrel?
Rice has some awesome squirrel barrels, that make nice light kids guns.
This one has a 12" lop.  Grandson grew out of it in one year.

[Eric Kettenburg]

The only advice I would offer is that most of us learned to shoot on standard lop guns, and grew into them.  A gun with a shorty little 10 or 11" lop is going to get fairly useless fairly quickly.  I'd make it up at around 13" and call it a day; might be a bit of a stretch at first but then unless you grow to over around 6'2" or so, you can still make it work for a lifetime.

Most of these guns run the rammer hole darn near into the barrel breech, 1/8" max between the top of the hole and the breech right at the breechplug.  They all have the barrel notched for the lock bolt and a whole lot of them take a nosedive when it comes to the lock orientation.

I love these rifles but they are so weird.  You have to completely ignore most 'accepted' thought when building them comparative to pretty much all other rifles of the period.

[Bill Raby]

I built a Lancaster gun with a 12.5 length of pull. Perfect size for a 10 to 12 year old. It is small for an adult, but still comfortable to shoot. I used a small siler lock that was a great fit. It has a swamped 38 inch barrel and kids can handle it well. The short stock does make for a few challenges in building.

[Mr. Bubbles]

A 12 3/4"-13" LOP will still work pretty well for a little guy in prone, which is likely where he'll be doing a lot of shooting anyway to experience success.  (I shoot a 14 1/2" gun in prone precision 3-P, but shorten it to 13 1/4" for standing) Most adults can even find a way to shoot a 12 3/4" LOP in standing position somehow, such as putting on some thicker clothing (if you don't put a deeply hooked butt on it that is).

[Clear Spring Armory]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will go ahead and increase the pull. I drew a new print with 10", 11", and 12" pull to see what they looked like. She's 7 and has a 2 year old sister, so it should get used plenty. I also reduced the web sizes and decreased the RR from 5/16" to 1/4". That seemed to make things come together a lot easier. I still think the lock is a tad small for the 13/16" breech, but I think I'll use it.The barrel is a 31" .36 cal swamped Rice, Btw. I had planned on getting a print from the Nehakani Longrifle (I think)web site before I started this mess, but I keep forgetting to order one. But, I like the profile I have now.

[Clear Spring Armory]

Smallpatch, that's sharp. What castings did you use?

[davec2]

A while ago, a fellow asked me to complete a rifle he had started for his daughter many years before.  I finished it for him and it was such a handy size, I am making a pair of them.  Here is some information from the last part of the post that might be of help deciding how to proceed......

Completed the little rifle over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Here we go with perhaps too many photos, but I like to see others work in detail, so here goes:

A reminder of where this all started:



A comparison between the little rifle and what I consider to be a full size rifle.  The larger one has a 42 inch barrel and the little one has a 30.5 inch barrel.  The pull on the little rifle is 13 inches and on the large one, 13.25 inches.  So the little rifle can easily be shot by an adult but is easy to handle and light enough for a young person or a petite lady.





Here is a link to the entire original thread on this rifle if you would like more detail......

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=37317.0

[J. Talbert]

If you're looking primarily for utility I'd have to agree with others suggesting you stretch the pull a bit.

This one is 3/4 scale except for a little extra in the pull length.
And yes, they will outgrow it quickly.



Never the less, it remains a great keepsake.

Jeff

[smallpatch]

I believe they are Reeves Goehring castings. (Buttplate and guard)  They are a little small for a full size Lehigh, but perfect for a smaller gun.

[Clear Spring Armory]

That's what I have for this one

[will payne]

I like the little one.

[thecapgunkid]

You'll get it right because your heart is in it behind all the good advice here.

Consider this...when I taught my son to shoot  it was more about the weight on the front end than the pull.  Maybe a shorter barrel will help him deal with pull length.

Chambers Little Feller, with a 13" pull is just a little tight on me, being 5'8", but will still sell when he out grows it and moves on.