Does Anyone Else Do This?

[flehto]

Many builds have the "tang hump"...especially the factory guns and kits.....but have also seen a few builds that have it. So perhaps I obsessed over it and took precautions to ensure that none of my builds had it or even a hint of it. What I did was continue the tang curve onto the top flat of the  bbl for 1-1/4"  which req'd that the oblique bbl flats  be "faked" so the top flat didn't flare out. The only caution is that the tang thickness at the breech be sufficient.....which mine were. Doing this is not noticeable at all and in fact looks pretty good. Shown below  are 2 LRs that have this done.....Fred

[JEH]

I like that flowing wrist line. But then again, I own the one in the second picture.
Thanks Fred

[Jerry V Lape]

From the photos I can see the clean profile but I don't understand what faking the oblique flats means.  Are you beginning the oblique flat on the tang itself? 

[flehto]

..When the tang's curve is continued onto the top bbl flat for 1-1/4", the top bbl flat becomes wider than the tang, so to make it as wide as the tang, the oblique flats have to be filed....not the entire flats, just the upper portion and corner have to be filed {faked in}.  This faking is not noticeable at all. A top view would show that everything is correct w/ the top bbl flat the same width as the tang. Once the tang curve is filed 1-1/4" onto the  bbl's top flat, nothing more  is done to the tang....only the oblique flats are filed so the top flat's width is the same as the tang.....Fred

[Jerry V Lape]

Thanks Fletho for the added explanation.  Nice detail to keep in mind in future build.

[BOB HILL]

Yes sir I have done this when needed to get flowing lines. I’ve never heard anyone mention it before. Thanks for posting this.
Bob

[Clowdis]

I try to avoid the "hump" around the tang area also. But I am careful not to go too far and make the wrist too flat across the area near the back of the lock. The top of the wrist should maintain a good symmetry with the lock and sideplate moldings when viewed from the side. The top rifle photo looks like the wrist gets a little too flat as it approaches the back of the lock molding. Now understand that this is nitpicking to the extreme and the rifles  pictured are very nicely done. I think some makers allow the straight shank portion of the breechplug dictate shape to them rather than tapering the tang starting at where it joins the top flat of the barrel. This isn't a straight line taper, it has to vary to compliment the architecture of the rest of the stock. Anybody make sense of this?

[flehto]

Thanks for the kind words. Actually the roundness of the wrist starts to flatten approx. at the center of the cock screw, but some roundness is past that point and the flat area behind the breech doesn't extend  very far back...becoming round. I  agree that transitions can be "tricky". .....Fred

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Fred, I agree 100% with you.  Even enlarging and studying your pics hard, it is difficult to see the filing you speak of.  First off, we all know that barrels actually increase in diameter as they get to the plug, and so we look at a rifle knowing this is the case, and because it is the norm, we can't see anything else.  Secondly, the lug in the breech plug cannot be bent down directly behind the barrel, so we know that the tang will start to bend about 1/2" behind the lug.  This is where your filing technique shines.  And as you say, care is required not to file the tang so thin that is is easily damaged.

[flehto]

Taylor....you said it better than I did....thanks.....Fred

[Darkhorse]

I always remove that hump. I just assumed it shouldn't be there because to me it doesn't allow the rifle to flow. But I really didn't know whether it was supposed to be there or not. So I just applied some artistic interpretation and this is basically what I've come up with.