KRA Lehigh CD

[Mr. Bubbles]

Is that the original Met gun you are examining with the gloves on?  It's a very famous rifle.  I wonder if that gun is more properly called a Lehigh School, or a Philadelphia school gun though.  Notice the termination point of the comb nose.  It\'s about even with the rear foot of the TG rather than the post.  Same guy made it, but I think he built that one later on in his career, after he had moved to Philly.  On Eric's site, he has his own interpretation of that gun I believe if you are looking for carving and engraving ideas for your build.

[Mike Lyons]

Lehigh rifles are sexy, sensuous, curvy rifles.  Allan Martin and Mark Wheland simply nail them. 
There are rifles from Lehigh Co. that are likely awkward to shoot, and likely crack the cheek.  But they don't have to.  Pick a design that has the comb line, drop at comb and heel that will give you a nice shooting rifle.  I did.
Eric Von Auschwege and Tom Curran documented the two Kuntz rifles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, and were kind enough to provide the info to me.  From that I built a rifle that I believe captures the Kuntz essence, and it is truly a joy to shoot.  I used a 44" B weight Rice barrel in .40 cal. and the rifle came out at exactly 8 1/2 pounds.  The wood is a dense piece of sugar maple from Tiger Hunt.  I want to emphasize that the rifle in no way is awkward or uncomfortable to shoot...it is my favourite trail-shoot rifle and has won me many awards.






So go ahead - build one, but stick to authentic design and you should be able to produce a rifle with all the sweetness of a Lehigh with none of the bad reputation.

Sir,

Thank all of you for all the advice, pictures and comments.  What do you mean by the comb line drop at the comb and heal?  I know what the comb and heal are, but I don't understand what the drop means.    This seems like a very important part of making a Lehigh Rifle.  I've read this several times, but I can't find an explanation.  I want a nice shooter as I plan to hunt and shoot all the rifles I make. 

[Mr. Bubbles]

Lay the rifle upside down on it's sights on a flat surface.  That's the sight line.  Drop at the comb is where your cheek engages the comb.  On a modern gun, or a precision target gun the comb line is pretty parallel to the bore, so where your cheek engages the comb doesn't matter much regarding drop from the sight line.  On a LR (or any gun with an upward sloping comb), the drop will vary based upon where you engage it.  The further back it is, the greater the drop, and vice versa..

Drop at the heel doesn't matter  so much as the drop at where your shoulder fits in to the pocket of the butt plate as it is formed.  That's why it's important to try to duplicate the shape of your butt plate when you are creating your try stock.  Differently shaped BP's will force the comb in to slightly different positions (up and down mostly, but to a limited extent side to side).

[Mike Brooks]

You guys got me all pumped up over Lehigh guns so I went and whipped one out. First one I have built, purely experimental. I believe I have quite a bit of wood to take off yet. I'll just study where I'm at with it  for a couple days. This particular piece of wood has a lot of ugly spots which will add some character for the heavy antiquing I have planed. Siler lock, 44" B weight .50 smooth bore  Colerain barrel, local castings of Goehring's castings of a Nierhardt. Pretty narrow toe, don't know how that's going to work out....
 It comes up nice, I don't think it's going to be a face slapper

[Mike Lyons]

That is a nice rifle.  My piece of wood and metal pieces should be here the 9th.  I ordered extra HC, Herman Rupp bubble wrap and found my old boxing head gear for the first few shots.  Should have her completed this winter.   Black eye and busted nose by December I’m guessing.

[Craig Wilcox]

Fellow Vet - where did you get the HC Herman Rupp bubble wrap?  I'm going to need to need one for this repro I am trying to build.  The rifle does come up  very naturally, and mounts so that I am looking straight down the barrel.

But I have a TON of wood to carve off!  Did get the barrel lugs successfully soldered on - front sight is next.  Sterling silver, should look nice.  Rifle is for hunting, mainly, ,45 Colerain octagon to round, 42"  Putting elevation-adjustable rear sight on it - as I said, it is primarily for hunting, all the gee-gaws and eye candy will make it pretty.  I hope!