Fowler Tang Bolt

[Little Brother]

Gents,

I'm working on a fowler and ran into an issue.  I may be over thinking this a bit, but decided it wouldn't hurt to check here before proceeding.  On to the issue...
The pictures will explain a lot.
I'm laying out the tang bolt so I can get the trigger plate in.  The trigger pivot is roughly placed 1/4" ahead of the sear bar.  At the same time I overlayed the trigger guard on the stock to see how everything lines up.  In the picture you can see that the tang bolt is going to come out under the forward extension of the trigger guard quite far forward.
My concern is the long overlap of the trigger guard extension over the trigger plate, seems like it would be a pain to do.
Is this normal for a fowler?  Moving the tang bolt further up the tang (towards the breech) doesn't make a significant change to the exit point of the bolt.
Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ben

[Long Ears]

LB, it looks about right to me. I would shorten the trigger a little and move the guard forward a bit, then thin the casting sprue to clear the tang bolt if need be. I'm sure I don't need to say anything but that front sprue and the RR are going to have issues. Good luck and happy filing, Bob

[Acer Saccharum]

You can file the underside of the guard where it overlays the trigger plate.

[Don Getz]

It is somewhat difficult to see the end of the lock, and the sear bar in relation to the trigger placement.   If it were mine
I would get rid of a lot of the garbage behind the trigger.  Take a look at some fowlers, or rifles, and you can see what
I mean...........Don

[Little Brother]

Thanks guys.
I had to overlap the guard and plate on my first gun and I didn't do a good job of it, so I just wanted to see if I had any other options.  I'll definitely take some off the back of the trigger so I can move the guard forward some more.  The guard is pretty small, so I'll take all the "finger room" I can get.

Bob, You're correct, the front sprue will have to go.  Would it be a good idea to put a slight bend in the front extension so it's always being pressed into the stock once inlet?  Make sense?

Thanks again,
Ben

[Lucky R A]

     Yes, as Don said redesign the metal behind the trigger to be more traditional.  This will allow you to move the guard ahead and also give you a bit more finger room between the guard and the trigger.  You can easily shorten the radius of the curve of the guard where it meets the trigger plate, thus giving even more room.  Finally, move your tang bolt to the rear as far as looks good with whatever termination of the tang you have.  I like to end the front of the trigger plate at the juncture with the guard rather than overlay the trigger plate with the guard.  If you do choose to overlay the trigger plate with the guard you will need to file a recess in the guard to accommodate the trigger plate.  It certainly more desireable to not have the tang bolt coming out under the guard, it can be done, but takes a little more nutzing around.    Ron

[flehto]

Probably not HC but one solution would be to cut off the front mtg lug and fasten the trigger plate to the TG from the inside at the front end of the bow using a flat head screw. Then move the tang bolt location forward or  to the rear to miss the screw that holds the trigger plate and TG together.  The one drawback...the trigger plate will be 1/32" below the wood surface or the depth of the TG inlet. This is depicted in Buchele's "Recreating the American Loingrifle"......Fred

[Jim Kibler]

One note with regard to overlapping the guard on the trigger plate.  On american work it is quite common to see the front of the plate inlet slightly deeper than the wood surface to allow the guard to pass over top.  At one point I didn't really like this idea, but have done it on a few guns and think it's fine.  Doesn't really detract from anything.  Now, with regard to English guns, I've not seen this.  Maybe the method was used, but I'm not sure.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It would have been easier to see what's going on in the lock inlet without the masking tape. 
Are you serious about placing the trigger pivot so close to the sear bar?  This is where all of your layout problem has stemmed.  1/4" for'd of the sear will create a long mushy trigger pull that would in my books be unacceptable.  Even doubling it to 1/2" which would move the trigger plate and guard for'd enough to completely clear the tang screw, is still a terrible trigger pull.  This is just my opinion, naturally.  I like to have the trigger pivoted at the same height as the sear screw and 3/4" ahead of the sear - minimum.  Then I tune the lock to give a crisp trigger break...I can't stand a mushy trigger.

[Little Brother]

Ok.  So I may not have any overlap if I go by Taylor's recommendations about moving the trigger pin further forward and getting rid of the excess material on the back side of the trigger.
I guess I fell victim to "the gunbuilding book" about pinning a single trigger.  I just don't have the experience to know better, yet.  Lesson learned.
I'll move things around and see what happens.

Really appreciate the help guys.

Ben

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Please be advised that that was just my opinion and may not be worth anything.  But it might give you an option anyway - something to think about.

[Long Ears]

If I remember correctly Don Getz advised me to pin at least 5/8 forward of the sear bar. That would probably make everything fit. Thanks Taylor for reminding me of that. Bob