Lehighs

[Fred]

Have you Lehigh owners found they tend to kick more than the other stock styles?

[Don Getz]

Fred......as a general rule, a stock that has a lot of drop at the heel, and has a roman, or rounded comb, will tend to kind
of hit you on your cheek bone, making it somewhat uncomfortable to shoot.   Allen Martin does as good a job at building
these crazy guns as anyone I know, they all seem to fit real well.   If you are planning to build a large calibre gun, I sure
wouldn't want to build a gun like that.   When it comes to comfort in shooting, you just can't beat a gun that has a straight
comb, such as a lancster or Beck.   I have a 54 hunting rifle made by Dave Dodds.   It is a copy of a Berks county rifle, kind
of a Haga type gun.  While it has somewhat a roman nose on the comb, the other stock dimensions make it a pleasure to
shoot.  Another thing about those Lehigh's, If you have ever picked one up and aimed with it you will get rather strange
grip angle with your hand, just one of those funny things about those guns..........make beautiful wall hangers...........Don

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

Kick they do. My very first muzzleloader was an old Dixie Gun Works Pennsylvania flint rifle with a pronounced roman nose, that I purchased in 1974. After a couple of hours at the range my cheek felt like I had just been pummelled. They sure look pretty but I'll stick to straight stocks now.

[Swampwalker]

I made my late Lehigh in .40 cal, and it's a pleasure to shoot, though, as Don said, the wrist angle a little strange.   A .40 roundball does not recoil much.   When selecting a stock style for a large caliber rifle, imagine the movement of the stock against your cheek and shoulder.  If the design is such that it will slam into your cheekbone as it moves back and rises, then it probably would not be comfortable to shoot with heavy charges.  As Don said, straighter stocks tend to work better with larger bore sizes.

[smallpatch]

OK,  I am the proud owner of two Lehigh rifles,(one of my own design, and one built by Mr. Allen Martin), and a third in progress as we speak.
I think fit, is much more important with this style than with a lot of other, straighter butt stock types.  BUT!!  The two that I've had a pleasure to shoot, and I mean a pleasure, have NOT be cheek crushers.
The one I built, was a .54 and had no problem at all with the alledged cheek bite, and the one Mr Martin built for me is a.50, and even with a HOT charge, absolutely no cheek bite.
Yes, the thumb in the cheek position is a little awkward at first, but you just can't deny the beauty, and in my case the true functionality (is that a word?) of these beauties.
Come on Allen, tell them what-for!!

And PLEASE, never compare a Dixie Gun Works anything with a good Lehigh gun!!

[Blacksmoke]

Dixie @#$%@& Works are not even on the same planet!!   The main problem with Lehighs is the shooter - we have become spoiled with the advent of "modern guns".  I have made a number of the roman nose guns and hunt with one each fall.  It's all a matter of how you position it in your arms.   Almost any gun will "bite" you if you hold it wrong!      Hugh Toenjes

[Leatherbelly]

 Hughy,so true!

[LehighBrad]

Wow...I gotta tell ya fellas.....after reading some of these posts I'm wonderin' if I'll need to bubble wrap the comb of my Lehigh before it burns it's first charge!! Perhaps I'll rub some ambesol toothache ointment on my cheek and numb it up!! Nah!! The beauty of owning one of these "slim graceful ladies" will far out weigh any "love taps" she decides to give me!!

[Nate McKenzie]

Just about every original Lehigh I have handled has had a short LOP- 12.5-13.5 in. When made like this from original patterns and sensible period loads they are very comfortable to shoot. The best  ones have a comb that comes straight back from the wrist and then dips down rather tan sticking up above the grip. Go here and click on Lehigh Rifles.  http://www.natemckenzie.com/   The first one does not illustrate this but the rest do- especially the barn gun.

[Bill of the 45th]

What cheek bite, Shot my Al Martin 38 cal Flyrod tonite with no problems over about ten rounds on the range.  Did think about the grip, and hold after Don mentioned it, but still was not a problem.  People just have to adjust to a hold that's different from todays modern shooting irons.

Bill

[Don Getz]

A lehigh in a small calibre is no problem.   The first rifle I ever built was a copy of a Herman Rupp.   It had a 7'8" 45 cal.
Douglas barrel, which is rather heavy, did not really have any sore cheek or recoil probems....the gun was rather heavy,
but still had that awkward hand position.    Then I built a copy of a J.P.Beck.........wow, what a difference, just like holding
my trap gun.   One more thing Hugh, I was learning to shoot while you were still in diapers.........Don

[Blacksmoke]

Don:  I was born before diapers were invented!    Hugh

[Daryl]

This is a family site, boys, keep the discussion about your panties out of it.

Taylors Kuntz does not smack the cheek- and it's one of those humpy  Lehighs.  Were it a .62, it probably would.

Much depends on how the rifle's made.  Hugh's less than elegant note about DGW's humptyback camel stocks was spot-on - sort of. Many production rifles have stocks made from a 'certain size' of board, by someone who really doesn't know what an original looks or feels like, yet they are given basic shapes to emulate - FROM THIS PLANK - make as many as you can.  If we use a 2x8, we can get 2 per each 50" length. Thus, the 'longrifles' you buy from production makers are not even close to what they should be - BUT - they got away with using the 2x8 for the stock - which was primary in their build. They arne't shaped correctly, but the requisite number were built from the wood supply.

[Bill of the 45th]

Hugh, Don tooooo much info.  It's all in the design, and caliber.  If the Lehigh's and Upper Susquehanna. weren't somewhat comfortable to shoot, I don't think we would have a school to study, as not many would have been built.  They are generally of smaller caliber, and were shot with frugal loads, no where near what we consider a hunting load today.  I recently unloaded two Carolina originals I bought. both around .38 cal.  One was about 35 grains , and the other was closer to 30 grains.  Couldn't tell if it was 2 or 3 F powder.  Patching was leather, and wasp nest.  I have to think that load also made shooting these guns comfortable.

Bill

[Acer Saccharum]

If I want big bore and heavy loads, I go German jaeger, or an American adaptation of that. Straight pull, wide and deep buttplate, heavy stock all tend to absorb and distribute recoil better than other style guns.

Tom

[Fred]

Thanks for the input the rifle will be 45 caliber but do to blood problems I do bruise easily, so I probably should take the builders advice and stick to a staighter stock BUT they sure are  beautiful.

[jim moore]

I have a Lehigh rifle built by Allen Martin. 62 cal 48" barrel
I shoot 90gr. 2ff in her with no problem. Keep your head straight
up and bring her up and just touch your cheek and you'll be fine.
#1 thing to remember...If you want a Lehigh buy a Martin

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Jim, you have made some great points.  It seems difficult for some shooters to change the way they mount a rifle, having been brought up on modern rifles with scopes.  When I hand a rifle to a person, often they put the butt into the crease of the shoulder, which is fine, but they leave their right arm with the elbow pointing down to the ground, and then they lay their head down against the stock.  Their nose comes into contact with their thumb on the comb, and they say the stock is too short for them.
I then tell them to raise their right elbow so it is parallel to the ground - this brings the rifle up toward their face, and then I tell them to bring the rifle to their face, not the other way around.  With the head erect the rifle can be brought to the face and you are looking right down the sights.  It is often not necessary to cheek it hard, and the cheek is much further toward the butt plate than with the other method. 
This is not so easily accomplished when shooting prone, as in a chunk match.  Even my .50 Virginia beat me up during the chunk match at Heffley last summer.  Having to lay with your feet higher than your head adds to this problem.

[Stophel]

On the better designed original and modern Lehigh guns, the comb isn't all that curved anyway.  It's fairly straight and level.  Most of the downward curve, such as there is, is behind where the cheek lays against the side of the stock.

The hardest part of handling a Lehigh gun is the wrist.  They are VERY straight back and the hand has to twist up a bit to hold it, and you will swear that your thumb is going to block your view of the sight, but it doesn't.

 

[Leatherbelly]

 I find Taylor's Kuntz very nice to hold and shoot.Head and right elbow up. Don't even notice recoil on this lil sweety!

[Daryl]

You're right, CB - it is a pleasure to use and it's easy to shoot accurately.  It's fit and hold are superb - 44", I think.