Thank you all for the information, direct and/or blunt are my style.
Mike, smallpatch and Rich, thanks for the explanations on the barrels. The way the blank is cut I am not seeing much else really that it could be (maybe Berks?) without cutting it short making a boy's rifle that I have no use for, so reviving the plan with a new barrel or selling the blank are solid choices. Buying a new barrel makes the most sense to me. I am somewhat aware of the issues with contemporary versions of these or I should say I am aware that not many are done architecturally correct and less done really well, that prompted my question on what plans are solid. Learning that my barrel is not at all what I need is solid gold.
I am looking to end up with a nice rifle easily identified but probably not a close copy of any one original rifle. If I will learn more trying to copy a specific rifle than I will building a more generic version I would like to know that and why that is a better path? I am fully intimidated trying to recreate these rifles but I am not afraid at all either, I will learn from it. I'm not deep in the blank and I'll recycle it and start over if needed. I have no delusions of doing builds for anyone but myself or maybe a gift, I really enjoy the work and single minded time spent doing it.
Eric VA has a couple barn rifles on his site that I really appreciate but aren't necessarily specifically what I want, I spend a lot of time looking at Allen Martin's rifles and have since I became interested in longrifles. The double radius in the wrist and butt on these rifles is what draws me to them, can't really explain that. Eric K has a Bucks/Lehigh that I like a lot and a Berks I keep going back to look at but can't really explain why. I keep seeing them all a little differently, I think that is what I appreciate most, the more you look the more you see or see differently.
