Planning a new project

[The other DWS]

I'm planning a new project and need little help envisioning a few of the details.  I want to build an old used, but well cared for, rifle that was created in the east, {right now I'm considering a relatively plain york or maybe virginia configuration} but migrated west over a couple generations to central TN.   The barrel I'm buying is a 38" long Rice B, so I'd like to make this rifle look like the barrel had been set back and rebreeched and the forestock shortened.   
I have never had a chance to really look at a rifle that has been set back but a making a couple assumptions. I hope someone who has handled a couple originals an chime in and tell me how they actually did it.
There would be plugged barrel pin holes from the old location, maybe a filled sight dovetail when the rear sight was moved forward.   what else am I overlooking?   How would the shift of the barrel swamp inlet been handled?  would they just have left the gap or tried to fill it with slivers of wood.

Do you think that an early lock would have survived intact, or would the hammer have been replaced with a later one?  I imagine the frizzen would have been resoled if the rifle had been used enough to require a setback.

At this point this is is a theoretical exercise since I am still working on another project but I want to figure out all of the details as much in advance as possible

[Dave B]

This sounds like a fun project. You have hit on the bigest issues for the most part. The signs of shortening are as you described, extra pin holes inlets gaping. Some forestocks were cut in the middle to be shortened. I have one that was cut just ahead of the entry pipe. This meant only the pin at the forearm had to have the pin hole redrilled. This particular example is signed and the panel of the signature is obviously close to the newer breach plug vs centered between the rear sight and the breach like you would normally see. One thing too that you should consider is that a good portion of the old guns have slight swamping to them vs what we use today. Now that is only my limited examination of those I have seen. There are some rifles with significantly  swamped barrels.  There are no examples of shimming of the breach area on rifles that have been shorten at the breach to my knowledge.
The reuse of the original lock is preferable and the reshoeing of the frizzen is a good sign of a well used rifle. Cocks did break and the use of a double throated cock vs the goose neck style. One could have a hand forged goose neck made that would be a great option. Like a local black smith did the repair. I have always been a fan of full size drawings for planning. Good luck with the project.

[Larry Luck]

Another addition you might consider would be to cut the buttstock and buttplate for a sliding wooden box and then inlet a 4 piece hinged box and solder a brass dovetail into the buttplate.  Particularly if you are looking for a relatively early rifle that was used as styles evolved.

I saw an original where this had been done.  It was possible that the replacement box had been reused from a different rifle, based on the engraving.  If you designed the engraving on the brass box so it looked to come off an 1820 rifle with more buttplate curvature, it would result in the loss of a little of the ends of the sidepieces and the loss of the border engraving and lend a little to the "improved over the useful life" theme.  Just my imagination getting away with me.

Larry Luck