Well, I seem to have made a major error. I am building a rifle with a .54 caliber barrel with a 1.080 breech and a Chambers Virginia lock. I inletted the lock some time back, have already partially shaped the lock panels, and was getting ready to inlet the trigger when I realized that the lock placement makes the touchhole placement very awkward indeed. If I use a 3/8" cone, the edge of the cone will be flush with the breechplug but rather high (not even quit touching the line across the top of the pan, much less in the sunset position it should be) and rather far back, about 1/16" from the center of the pan. I can grind back the pan slightly, but the touchhole will still behind the center of the pan. If move the touchhole further forward, I run the risk of creating a fouling trap. If I try to lower the touchhole, the cone will drop beneath the bore (and if I use a liner, it will drop below the barrel flat). If I use a smaller cone, I will create a fouling trap. I can't move the lock, as the panels have already been established, and I can't move the barrel.
Does anyone have any ideas? I have learned at least one lesson: when building a rifle to plans drawn up from Track of the Wolf pictures, don't follow them without double-checking to make sure the pieces actually fit together properly. The pan on the Virginia lock is not where it looks like it is in Track's photographs!
