Barrel lug and RR pipe lug on one pin?

[Ky-Flinter]

On my current pistol project, I'm considering placing the lug of the forward ramrod pipe next to the forward barrel lug (side by side) and using one pin to attach both.  This is purely for the visual/spacing aspect.  Boy are pistol RR channels short!

Are there any draw backs to doing this.  Am I about to screw up?  Thanks.

-Ron

[smallpatch]

How are you going to get the two tabs side by side?
The biggest problem I can see, is getting everything aligned to get the pin through.

[RAT]

In theory...
It should be easy to offset the barrel lug tab so it's not directly on the center line of the barrel, but lays next to the tab for the pipe. If extra room is needed you could also cut off one of the pipe tabs or roll/form the pipe with only one tab.

[Benedict]

I have see where the 2 tabs on the pipe are placed on either side of the barrel tenon to accomplish this.

Bruce

[Ky-Flinter]

Thanks for the replies and thoughts.

How are you going to get the two tabs side by side?

As RAT mentioned, I can offset the barrel lug a little.  The RR pipe I have is cast and the lug is way too thick, so I can file the excess off one side, in effect offsetting the lug.

I'm thinking about this at work (at work? Really?) so I'll have to do some more measuring tonight to see if this is feasible.  Just wanted to avoid an "oh $#@*!" moment if I was missing something obvious.

-Ron

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I used that system for mounting the pipes on my last Bess.  I read somewhere that that is the way they were made.  So I cut pieces from a scrap piece of underrib and milled a slot lengthwise for the tab of the pipe.  That way, everything is centered.

[T*O*F]

I did one gun where I had a placement problem.  I cut a slot in the tab of the thimble and fitted the barrel lug into it.  Then I used 3 aligned pins buried in the bottom of an incised molding.

[E.vonAschwege]

I did one gun where I had a placement problem.  I cut a slot in the tab of the thimble and fitted the barrel lug into it.  Then I used 3 aligned pins buried in the bottom of an incised molding.

I just did exactly the same as TOF on an Appalachian rifle with 4 thimbles instead of 3.  On a pistol your pipes should be a lot smaller than on a rifle, perhaps not leaving enough room to do that type of fix, so I don't see why you couldn't do a side by side tab with one pin.  On pistols I build I put the forward lug ahead of the front ramrod thimble.  The only issue there is that usually places the front barrel lug underneath the front sight - only a problem when both are soldered on with a round barrel. 
-Eric

[David Rase]

I would do as Taylor wrote.  I don't have my drawing or Bess book in front of me but the Bess did use one pin for pipe and tennon.  I think the tennon was one wide lug with the center cut out to accept the pipe tab.  This method should propose no problem at all. 
David

[James Rogers]

The bess barrel tennons are double with a gap in the middle for the pipe tennon to sit into and the pin goes thru all three.

[bgf]

I recall reading about a rifle where the pipes were not secured by pin/pins, but rather by folding back the tabs and inletting them into the bottom of the barrel channel.  Perhaps you could do something like that with the barrel lug between the two tabs, then drill through the tabs and lug for a pin.  That way you could remove the barrel w/o the pipe falling out.

[Captchee]

  i have done  just as T.O.F  posted

[RAT]

Didn't David Rase's Gillespie have the pipe tabs folded over under the barrel channel?

[RAT]

I didn't know that about the bess... I learned something today!

[Ky-Flinter]

I recall reading about a rifle where the pipes were not secured by pin/pins, but rather by folding back the tabs and inletting them into the bottom of the barrel channel.  Perhaps you could do something like that with the barrel lug between the two tabs, then drill through the tabs and lug for a pin.  That way you could remove the barrel w/o the pipe falling out.

I like that idea!  On this pistol project, I'm using a tiny cast pipe, but I may try to incorporate that idea in my next rifle. 

And if the above idea doesn't work out, I also like the one TOF mentioned.  Pretty cool.

Thanks for all the replys and ideas.

-Ron

[shortbarrel]

I worked on a southern rifle that had been restocked. This rifle had copper RR thimbles that had four tabs.two on each end that were bent into the the inlets in the barrel channel. The middle part of the tab was cut away to receive the barrel tab and pin. Good way to do everything at one time.

[smart dog]

I didn't know that about the bess... I learned something today!

Hi Rat,
The double tennon on the barrel lug was only used on some early models of the Bess during the 1730s-1746.  It was abandoned on later models according to DeWitt Bailey.

dave