FRANKENSTEIN LIVES

[LynnC]

Lurch,
One way of defining the length of the lower forearm is to balance the rifle in the palm of your left hand, muzzle pointing left.  Mark and cut the lower forend just at the web tween thumb and pointer finger.  That's the way I do it, just ahead of the balance point.
BTW - your first beats mine - at least you've got enough drop in your stock so you could actually shoot yours ;-) ......Lynn

[whitebear]

Rich,

My mentor on my first rifle told me, along with a lot of other stuff, "Do your best, be proud of the fact that you had the guts to try everyone doesn't."

Shoot it, keep it, enjoy it, look back at it and have fond memories of that first build and see what you want to improve next time.

[Acer Saccharum]

Rich, on this gun, the fore end is way too short. I had looked at it, and said "I'll cut it ...uh...here!" which I did, but when the wood was gone, the "oh, $#@*, what have I done?" moment set in. I nearly threw the gun out. I glued in a piece, but that looked stupid, so I set the rear thimble back where I initially had decided, and made a go of it.

You will make mistakes as you go along, but the best thing to do is to learn from them and keep moving ahead.

Regards, Tom

[bob in the woods]

The first gun I ever built was from a blank. Last of the Mohicans had just come out, and I wanted a long rifle...a flintlock of course!  I had a couple of "Hawkens" and had shot black powder for a few years, but not flintlocks. I "froze frame" the LOTM" movie and copied the longrifle....sort off    The gun looked like a piece of junk, but it worked. It was the beginning of what I'm certain is a like long illness
Now you've got it too!!!!!

[Long John]

Rich,

I do things by eye (visual appeal), not by formula.

The "golden mean" actually is a perversion of ancient Athenian philosopy which asserted that the ideal form of human being was the average (mean) person.  If the gods had some other ideal in mind they would have made us that way instead.  The term "golden mean" was used to indicate the ideal average in personal traits (height, weight, size of body parts, etc.).  That's why you never see an ancient Greek statue of a fat or skinny person or one "over-endowed" with some particular trait.

In Greek architecture there was also a facination with the 3-4-5 right triangle.   The dividing line between mathmatics (geometry) and philosophy was very vague at that time.  This led to an architectural tradition of basing buildings on a 3 to 5 ratio.  Most ancient Greek buildings have length to height ratios of 5 to 3, for example.  Some how the architectural ratio started getting called the "golden mean".  Its kind of funny, actually.

As for the length of the lowor forestock, I think rifles look best when the distance from the trigger to the butt is the same as the distance from the trigger to the entry pipe.  That's just my opinion.  However, I strive to achieve that look on all my guns.



Best Regards,

JMC

[LURCHWV@BJS]

Long John,

  That was probably the best answer I have had.  And sounds like a good rul of thumb.  I will use this.

  Thank you

   Rich

[Mike Brooks]

Long John,

  That was probably the best answer I have had.  And sounds like a good rul of thumb.  I will use this.

  Thank you

   Rich

That works great untill you use a short barrel like you did. The shorter the barrel the shorter the lower forestock, and vicey versy.

[bgf]

Rich/Lurch,
I was looking at this last night, and one thing struck me about your build's forearm length, namely that it would likely look more appropriate if the lock panel were well defined.  This is not intended to throw salt in a wound or contradict anyone else's opinion, just to bring up a potential consideration.  I think the lack of separation between forearm and lock exaggerates the perceived length.  I could also be very wrong:).  I like LJ's rule of thumb, but you have to be careful as Mike points out.  And by the way, you could always have told people like me that that is what Jaegers look like:). 

I'm glad you got it done.  Now you can take your time on the next one -- it makes a difference knowing that you have something to shoot already.

[LURCHWV@BJS]

I tried all three methods just to see how off I was.  All three where within a 1/4 inch of each other.  Myself I'm an 1-1 1/4 to long in the lower forestock.  I have alot to learn.  with guidence such as I have,  I will go wrong less often.   Thank you all.

     Rich