Youth Build trigger guard issue?

[cmac]

I think this trigger guard is too long for this build and I should shorten the front and rear finials and close the bow as well. Shortening the front and back is easy. Cutting and reattaching the grip rail to the bow shouldn't be too bad. Worth while steps to make the build look and feel right?? (I'm comparing this to the Bucks and Verner rifles in the RCA-1)
 
CAP BUSTER I know I should be ashamed but its to get my kids started
LOP is 11 1/2"
Barrel is a custom Rice 31" 36 cal. swamped
Lock is a small Becky

[Acer Saccharum]

It doesn't look bad to me. You could certainly slim it down without hurting anything.

It's kind hard to tell the proportions, without seeing the whole length of the buttstock.

[cmac]

Here is a couple more pictures- not great ones...but one shows the kids rifle next to an adult Bucks. The other shows the youth guard next to the regular sized guard. The youth guard probably has room for set triggers but I don't want to make the learning process too difficult for the kids or unsafe.

The biggest things that stand out to me are the front part of the guard being past the lock plate, and the curl of the guard being further back toward the comb. The size of the bow doesn't bother me as much as these two aspects, but if I'm going to modify it I'm going to make as fitting as possible.



In the last picture you can see some marker outlines made on the guard...

[Dave B]

No worries mate.  If you are good with the silver solder and making brass rivets cut the rail from the bow shorten the bow and re bend the rear of the bow shorten the grip rail just a little, shorten the front and back finials. Put a rivet in the grip rail where it contacts the  trigger bow and sliver solder it.  Now you have a scaled down guard.  Or just find some one who casts yellow brass and have them use the guard as a pattern. The guard just cast will be smaller than your pattern. take this smaller guard and cast   more guards  using each successive cast guard for the next pattern and before you know it you will have a scaled down trigger guard That fits perfectly.  I  have told this story several times already but .... I was blessed by being at the Gunmakers fair where Dave Rase was casting trigger guards for the class he and Mike Keller. One of their students had a small router plane in his tool box that the others were over the moon about. So they cast up several sets. We used 3rd generation patterns to pour mine. It is a perfect scaled down version of the one brought by the student.

[kutter]

To make the bow smaller, I'd cut the spur off and move it forward a little.
Then cut the grip rail where it meets the rear curl,,shorten the grip rail to what ever you need
and reattach to the curl.

Silver solder (hard solder) for rejoining.

Probably have to do a little bending to adjust for final looks and fit after soldering
plus shorten the attachment 'feet'.

 

[Pete G.]

Just go to the TOW catalog with the full sized photos of guards and find one that you like better.

[Mike Brooks]

I have always used fowler guards for kids guns. They seem to be able to grasp the gun much better with no grip rail to deal with.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I don't think your guard is so far out of proportion that it warrants cutting.  Here's a picture of a Jacob Kuntz rifle copied from data of two originals.  Notice that the guard for'd extension is well past the end of the lock.  It's not wrong.  And the spur on your guard is adjacent the wrist/comb transition, and that too is good.  Just file it thin, and inlet it.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

My thought would be either use a fowler TG or go to the TOW Catalog and find a different TG that more fits your project. There surely must be a better fit that doesn't require as much manipulation as you're thinking of doing.  Another thing is, as it's for a kid, likely it's going to get some hard use, a pieced together may not be as sturdy as a one piece cast unit.

[cmac]

First of all thanks for all the replies. I had thought about getting another guard but I wanted this style and there are no smaller ones available to my knowledge. SO...I had to downsize it. It is still in the rough and needs to be narrowed some as well. I went crazy with the camera just to show how and where I changed it.

[Dave B]

Way to go. That looks pretty good.