stock shaping

[Ravenshurst]

Hi all.
How thick is the wood around the breach?  The .62 has a break of 1.125".  How thick is the wood on either side of the barrel at that point?  I am looking for what I think of as an early rifle.  Maybe not quite as 'clubby' as the Edward Marshall Rifle....is the 1761 Schreit rifle considered to be a fully evolved  'American Longrifle' or is it still in transition?
Thank you.

[smylee grouch]

If your talking about the area at the breech/lock area it would be the thickness of barrel plus twice the thickness of the locks bolster. JMHO

[Ravenshurst]

Thanks smile grouch.  So, just to make sure I understand this...
The breach is 1.125". So if the bolster is .300, the width of the FINISHED stock needs to be 1.875 inches at that point. 
And then straight tapered to the nose cap?
Thanks.  Just trying to get some idea of what I am letting myself in for.

[smylee grouch]

The stock at the breech would be that thickness,  past the front of the lock (creating the lock panel ) then thinning and gong toward the end of for end. Not being a very good word smith I hope I explained that right.

[mgbruch]

As stated, your lock panels will be .300 wide.  Immediately after the lock panels, the thickness of the wood should go to no more than 1/8" thick, and follow the contour of the barrel to the muzzle.

[Mike Lyons]

It's going to always be as thick as your lock will allow.  Once that bolster smashes up against the barrel,  you're not going to go any further.  Larry Zornes had a classic lock with a thicker than normal bolster that would stretch it out some for a good Lehigh look but it looks like they all dried up.  This tutorial will guide you through the process and answer a lot of your questions.  https://americanlongrifles.org/PDF/tutorial.pdf

[Ravenshurst]

smile grouch, that was perfect, thanks.
mgbruch, "follow the contour of the barrel".  Sorry not to be more specific...the barrel will be swamped.  Should I follow the contour, or taper from the  lock panels to the muzzle width?  Thanks.

[Ravenshurst]

Thanks Mike

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Not all gunstocks have lock panels that are the same on both sides.  But American Longrifles do, in general.
The English devised a system that greatly increased the strength of that fragile section of wood at the breech where the barrel, lock, triggers side plate or washer necessarily remove a lot of wood, leaving the area prone to fracture.  You see a lot of muzzleloading guns broken through the panel from the breech down through the rear lock screw...there just isn't much wood there.
Here's a device that helps with that problem.  The patent breech is filed away on the off side just back of the end of the barrel, by as much as 1/8".  the side panel can be the same thickness as the lock's panel, but with this extra 1/8" of wood in this critical spot, much strength and security is added to the stock.  Here's a picture of a pistol with this feature...

[rich pierce]

Some early longrifles are not symmetrical in the lock panels. The lock side is parallel to the swamped barrel side flat and the sideplate panel is parallel to the bore. I’ve seen this several times. But, for the purposes of the average build, symmetry is easier to execute and make look good.

[Ravenshurst]

D. Taylor Sapergia, Thanks, that is very interesting.  And very pretty.  For some reason I had thought a patent breech and hook breech were the same thing for all these years.

Rich, I saw some great drawings on the internet, somewhere.  I tried to download them, but I am not really a computer kinda guy....

Edited to make sense......

[bluenoser]

Thanks Taylor for jogging my memory.
Here is a little 26 GA fowler made by E. Bond in London.  It was a recent GS purchase.

[Daryl]

H Whall (Birmingham, I think) 11 bore Breech.