Distance to the entry thimble

[Tim Ault]

What or how do you determine the distance from say the breach  to the entry thimble or muzzle to entry whichever it's done  to make things look proportional or correct ?  . Been sketching out a pattern for a Tenn. rifle but I'm going to be using a 36" barrel yeah short but it's what I like to shoot with . Would I just scale it from what the location of a longer 42-44" barrel would be ?

[rich pierce]

I try to pattern after similar originals from same maker or school. But I personally do not want the balance point forward of the entry thimble skirt. That could happen if you don’t take the balance point into account.

[flehto]

Just measured from the breech end of the bbl to the "drop down" of the finial to the RR ferrule of the entry pipe and it's 12"... but this is w/ a 46" long bbl and looks good. W/ a shorter bbl this distance  could be shorter by perhaps  1" to 1-1/2" but whether that would be comfortable to shoot depends on the person......supporting  the gun at some point along the RR doesn't seem to be the way to go......Fred

[Tim Ault]

Thank you gentlemen , sounds like I can shorten it some I normally carry my rifle cradled in my arm and as far as shooting goes I'm not even close to supporting it that close to the entry pipe with my short dinosaur arms . Will draw it out on paper and see how it looks .

Tim