Dickert patch box lid

[bob hertrich]

I am building a rifle based around a Dickert RCA 48. My question is how much was the patch box lid raised. My other question would be how to accomplish it. I have a patch box kit from Drew Hedgecock that has the pins installed. Hopefully I will be able to use that as a starter

[J. Talbert]

It appears from figure 48g on page 206 of RCA Vol I, that it is not domed at all.  Simply curved to conform to stock shape.

Jeff

[Dave B]

No I disagree, I think they may have clipped off too much when they trimed the photo for the book. The side on view of the but stock makes it look flat.  But by looking at how the light plays on the lid it is slightly domed so is the next rifle in line # 49. It is very mild but it is domed up. I use a two pice form made from hard wood. I aneal the brass then clamp it in the vice between the halfs of the wood form. If you look at the page before #48 there is a great close up of a unknown patch box that has a subtle domed lid. It looks like it was pounded out into a form. Takes me back to Junior high and working the copper into a form to make an ash tray.

[Dphariss]

I agree with Jeff. Its in color in the book "Moravian Gun Making of The American Revolution" by the KRA. I have looked at it a lot and can see no dome other than as required to match the stock contour.
I form the type on RCA 48  with a pair of wooden blocks with the male and female contour. I bend the bend the lid and finial before fitting the hinge to reduce gaps.
If you are making a version the KRA book is a good resource too. The photos are first rate and in color.
Plus it shows the full length gun cover.
Dan

[Dave B]

I think you guys are missing its subtlety as its shown in the picture on page 213. There is no doubt it shows a distinct dome to the identical patch box dickert used on rifle #48 on rifle #49. The end view of the butt plate with the height of the dome being slightly greater than the cure of the butt stock. Its these small details that make a big difference in the proper rendition of the architecture over all.

Dan
the dome is even more pronounced in the photo on page 126 in Moravian gunmakers......  If the light playing on the surface of the finial matched the light playing on the patch box lid you would be correct in you assertion that the domed effect was only matching the stock contour but it is very different as the picture shows indicating the contour is bumped up.... but not exessively.
 
Wait a minute....... you guys are just trying to wind me up arn't you

[Dphariss]

I think what we have here is a disagreement on the definition of "dome" I see the lid on 48 to be a contour of the lid. While it does appear to get higher at the butt end it could be the result of the bending fixture used to give a contour or it could be cast that way.
The Antes on pg 96 of the Moravian book is what I would call an intentional dome. It has a contour change behind the hinge which 48 does not and appears to have a filler at the buttplate end which the Dickert does not appear to have though it could be cast in.
Looking at the rifles in person would be a great help in this.
But all squirming aside it is domed though its very low.
Something I had not paid enough attention too.
Its pretty obvious when looking at flat lids on some other rifles.
Its past bedtime.
Dan