York Co. rifles

[Ephraim]

Nose cap on early York rifle should it be long,short, or none at all?
Ephraim

[Bob Rearley]

The cap provided with the Chamber's Early York is i.25 inches long, while the caps on George Schreyer's guns  ranged from 1 to 2 inches long  according to George Shumway in his book, George Schreyer, Sr and Jr, Gun Makers of Hanover, York County, Pa.

[Ephraim]

That is short I like the shorter ones but couldn't remember what was on originals seems to me most were short or none and am having trouble finding pic's of originals. thank you for your in put I am just starting my York just finished my bedford and my Tenn. Looking forward to getting on with my .40 cal York.
Ephraim

[Lucky R A]

Ephraim,
        I have a Gobrecht rifle from Hanover (1800-1810) the nosecap is one and a half inches long and has a slight ramrod groove.  It is the standard two piece type nosecap.   Fredrick Sell seemed to use about the same size nosecap, also with a ramrod groove.  I have built a couple bench copies of the Sell rifle, so have had a real close and personal look at it. 
       A quick perusal of Whisker's book Gunsmiths of York Co shows almost all with nosecaps.  Some of the nose caps seem rather short with the median being around one and a half inches. 

[JTR]

It seems to me that for an 1800ish rifle, about 1 1/2 times the length of the RR pipe is about right.
John