Trigger and Tang Bolt?

[Berks Liberty]

I was looking at two original Berks County rifles this weekend and what caught my eye was there was no trigger plate used on either of the rifles.  I couldn't see if the maker used a bolt or screw for the tang.  There was no trigger plate to attach a tang bolt to.  He put the trigger without the plate.  So how do you attach the tang bolt if you have no plate to attach it, or would they have used a large screw? 

Jason

[Acer Saccharum]

I'm gonna guess a wood screw.

[Dphariss]

I was looking at two original Berks County rifles this weekend and what caught my eye was there was no trigger plate used on either of the rifles.  I couldn't see if the maker used a bolt or screw for the tang.  There was no trigger plate to attach a tang bolt to.  He put the trigger without the plate.  So how do you attach the tang bolt if you have no plate to attach it, or would they have used a large screw? 

Jason

I run a screw to a lug on the trigger bar.
This pistol has no trigger plate but a round lug is attached to the guard just in front of the bow and an 8-32 screw is run into it.



Just because someone used a wood screw in the tang of an original gun is no reason to assume its acceptable practice then or now.
Dan

[California Kid]

Could be a square threaded washer inlet into the wood, maybe under the guard, similar to what dpharris said. I've seen originals made this way. Just a guess.

[Berks Liberty]

Could be a square threaded washer inlet into the wood, maybe under the guard, similar to what dpharris said. I've seen originals made this way. Just a guess.

I could see it being done that way.  I just didn't think a wood screw would be a solid way to go especially with all the banging and vibration from the barrel.  Thanks

[Randy Hedden]

I could see it being done that way.  I just didn't think a wood screw would be a solid way to go especially with all the banging and vibration from the barrel.  Thanks

Jason,

Regardless of what has been said, I believe many southern rifles had just a wood screw to hold the tang.  If your tang is inletted properly the "banging and vibration" of the barrel is absorbed by the wood behind the breech part of the tang and not the wood screw.

I don't use a wood screw in the tang when I build a rifle, but I own two guns by other makers that employ a wood screw to hold the tang.  Both of these guns, a .45 caliber longrifle and a .62 caliber smoothbore have been shot thousands of times with no detrimental effect to either gun.

Randy Hedden

[Berks Liberty]

I could see it being done that way.  I just didn't think a wood screw would be a solid way to go especially with all the banging and vibration from the barrel.  Thanks

Jason,

Regardless of what has been said, I believe many southern rifles had just a wood screw to hold the tang.  If your tang is inletted properly the "banging and vibration" of the barrel is absorbed by the wood behind the breech part of the tang and not the wood screw.

I don't use a wood screw in the tang when I build a rifle, but I own two guns by other makers that employ a wood screw to hold the tang.  Both of these guns, a .45 caliber longrifle and a .62 caliber smoothbore have been shot thousands of times with no detrimental effect to either gun.

Randy Hedden

Thanks Randy, I'd like to build a rifle which has the same work done to it.  Thanks for the insite. 

Jason

[Dphariss]

For best accuracy in  ANY firearm you have to have the BREECH of the barrel firmly fixed in the stock.
I have never compared a wood screw tang to a tang with a bolt to a trigger plate etc but it would make an interesting exercise. Make a rifle with a wood screw tang screw then convert to a 10x32 screw to a trigger plate after doing testing and test again. But I have a pretty good idea what the answer is already.

Example.
A friend has a rifle with a hooked breech that I specifically made as a match rifle. 2 complete sets of sights and a screw lockable hooked breech. Even though the breech fits together well he tells me it shoots groups 4 times as large with the breech unlocked. But its impossible to see any movement. So why did I put a screw in the hooked breech to lock it before the rifle was ever shot?  Prior experience.

Dan

[Eric Krewson]

I have a  beautiful rifle a friend gave me. I was surprised when I looked it over to see it had a very small wood screw through the tang. It is a very accurate rifle, Bill Large barrel and a Roller lock, made in the 60s or early 70s.

[Dphariss]

I have a  beautiful rifle a friend gave me. I was surprised when I looked it over to see it had a very small wood screw through the tang. It is a very accurate rifle, Bill Large barrel and a Roller lock, made in the 60s or early 70s.

So how well will it do at 50 yards for 10-15 shots?

Dan

[Eric Krewson]

Same accuracy 1st or 15th shot. The friend who gave it to me did all the usual trick shots with it, striking matches, splitting playing cards and splitting a ball on an axe and breaking clay pigeons. Of course he was heavily involved with a BP club in Florida for years and shot several times a week year round.

It does appear that some parts of the barrel have been glass bedded. Hard to tell because the builder's use of beeswax to close gaps is pretty extensive but I think it is glass bedded. I have never had the barrel out but glass is plainly visible around the nose cap