Couple questions on longrifle build

[Ridgerun]

I am building a Chambers Isaac Haines .54 rifle.  Have a couple questions....

1. I assume barrel has to be inletted far enough back so entire white lightning touch hole liner is just in front of the breech plug...or at least the coned portion....

2.  Since the rifle has a swamped barrel, does the muzzle end of the stock/forend cap flare somewhat or does it follow the straight lines of the side of the stock.....have never seen a picture of the muzzle of a longrifle with a swamped barrel from above....

Thanks, Mark

[J. Talbert]

First of all, welcome to the board.

#1 Idealy yes, the barrel should be far enough back for clearance of the touch hole liner in front of the breech face. FWIW, many seem to prefer a 5/16" liners, however  I have always found that the 1/4" liners work quite well.

#2  The fore stock and the muzzle cap do have a subtle flare corresponding to the contour of the barrel.  The sides of the wood are not actually parallel, but should be of a uniform thickness (approx 3/32" or so) along the length of the barrel.

Good luck with Chambers kit!

Jeff

[Ky-Flinter]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to ALR.  I hope your time spent here is worthwhile.

My buddy Jeff and I were typing an answer at the same time, but he beat me to it.  And would you believe I had typed word for word, the exact same thing as Jeff and then just had to delete it all.  Darn!

Looking forward to seeing your rifle.

-Ron

[smart dog]

Hi,
On the Haines kit I built, the barrel had to be moved back and inlet a little deeper.  To move it back, you will have to scrape wood from the barrel channel where it tapers in behind the muzzle.  It does not require much and the rest of the channel should be fine particuarly after you apply finish to the gun. The following thread may help you.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-a-chambers-isaac-haines-rifle-kit.116533/

dave

[rsherman]

I agree. Having assembled a couple of Chambers Haines kits, i move the barrel back to avoid making a notch in the brrech plug face. It's a pain, but it's proper functional stocking practice to my thinking.

[flehto]

W/ a swamped bbl I leave 1/16" + alongside the bbl but the top of the  forestock is below the bbl bore center so the wood is sturdier.  The 1/16" doesn't vary for most of the bbl length but for  the length 6" back from the muzzle , the wood tapers out to 3/32"-1/8" thickness. I make the Mcaps so can do this....but w/ a purchased Mcap, the wood thickness  alongside the bbl is determined by the Mcap.  The pic shows the top and bottom views of a LR w/ the tapering out at the muzzle. I find that the tapering out exaggerates the flare of the bbl.....Fred

[Ridgerun]

Thanks all....and thanks for the picture....

[yip]

  hey Fred you make some really nice rifles, don't know why ya quite, just love those Bucks Countys.

[flehto]

Hi....The one shown is  one of my  very early BCs  and doesn't have all the BC features. Thanks for the kind words. The reason for quitting building is the macular degeneration  in both eyes.....and it's getting worse.....Fred

[B.Habermehl]

I am building a Chambers Isaac Haines .54 rifle.  Have a couple questions....

1. I assume barrel has to be inletted far enough back so entire white lightning touch hole liner is just in front of the breech plug...or at least the coned portion....

2.  Since the rifle has a swamped barrel, does the muzzle end of the stock/forend cap flare somewhat or does it follow the straight lines of the side of the stock.....have never seen a picture of the muzzle of a longrifle with a swamped barrel from above....

Thanks, Mark


First you must breech your barrel if its not already breached. Using a ramrod or sufficiently long dowel drop it down the bore and mark where it stops at the muzzle end. Hold the rod along side the barrel and use the mark at the muzzle to determine your breech face location. Scribe this firmly on the lock side of the barrel. What ever touch hole liner your use take 1/2 the diameter plus 1/64 of a inch and add this to muzzle side of your breech lay out. This will be the centerline of where you want your touch hole to be, and where the centerline of the pan of your lock should be. This will determine how much you need to inlet the breech end of your barrel rearward. If your lock is already inletted in a precarved stock this can complicate matters. BJH