Vincent Rifle Percussion Drum

[greymount]

I am currently building a 45 caliber 7/8 barrel Vincent half-stock precarve rifle kit and have a question on the placement of the percussion drum on the barrel. The lock area on the precarved stock is pre-inletted. In order to miss the breach plug, I have to move the barrel back about a quarter of an inch.  By doing this I am changing the architecture of the rifle a little from the originals.  I was wondering if it was safe to go into the breach plug to alleviate this architectural problem.  I definitely don't want the drum to blow or have corrosion cause a potential weakness.  Has anyone had a similar problem in building a Vincent from a precarved stock?

[ronward]

greymount,
     i'm planning a build of the exact same rifle!, have my stock blank and plan to order parts within the next few days.
     i have spent allot of time researching what information there is to be had on the net....there's not too much about vincents as compared to other, earlier makers, to be seen.
     as for changing the architecture by moving the barrel a 1/4 inch or so, we can only work with what we are able to obtain as far as parts and i don't think the architecture would be degraded if you have to move the barrel a bit to accomidate the available parts.
     i wouldn't put the drum into the plug for the sake of deviating that little bit. there are many threads/post on this and other sites that discuss the problems associated with the drumm threads invading the plug threads, most of them are centered around gas leakage out the  barrel/plug threads and the eventual repair. avoid this by keeping the drum at least 1/8" ahead to the end of the plug. the eventual, almost inevetable need to rebreach the barrel isn't worth sticking that closely to his architecture. besides, unless an original is readily avaiable for comparison, the end of the barrel location won't be that readily noticed, at least that is my thinking. i plan to do just exactly what i just said, for what that's worth.
      the problem you have is common to allot of builds because i think people take for granted that when a stock is pre-inlet/ carved, everything is suposed to go right where the morticing locates it, that's not always true or possible, for that matter.  if you talk to any of the more experienced builders they will all tell you that just because it is a pre- this or that stock, allot of tweeking still has to be done. the stock patterns are made to accomodate a wide range of parts, so they can't produce a stock that is machined too close to finished condition for any one particular set of parts.
    tell me a little about your build, is it TOW,s kit or Muzzleloader builders' supply's.  other than the available books did you have or find a good source of information about his guns on the net?
    what length and diameter a barrel are you using. i would like to use more than 36 inches on mine as most of his guns that i have seen or read about are in the 39 to 41 inch range. i was thinking of getting a 42 inch 7/8 dia. barrel and cutting it to the length i decide on.
   in that i am working from a blank would you tell me, how long is the barrel channel on your stock the dimension from drum center to end of forearm would be great!.
          good luck with your build, and maybe we can keep in touch and guide each other along by comparing notes as we go.
   

[Dave B]

I would just drill right into the breach plug and drill down from the face of the breach plug making it a modified patent beach. I have done this will good results on several of my rifles. The CVA Mountain rifles had this type of percussion drum installation and they work well.

[Joe Stein]

I would just use this plug and bolster from TOW safer, and probably wouldn't affect the architecture at all:

"PLUG-OH-14-5 Ohio style patent breech,with integral drum, 7/8" octagon, 5/8-18 thread"

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/partDetail.aspx?catId=14&subId=143&styleId=519&partNum=PLUG-OH-14-5

_Joe

[ronward]

 yup, that kind of plug would work fine, i would think, although,  depending on just how accurate you want to be, i'm pretty sure it's well established that vincent used a flint type breeching method. but there you have perfect example of using something that isn't perfectly correct but for all practicle purposes, won't fault it any if you use it. i have all the equipment to do a breech, so i really don't need to spend that money on one already made.
    you can drill into the plug from both directions as long as the drum is fully captured by the plug and the shank of the plug is long enough to engage the plug with a few threads.  there are several posts on here and another popular site that discuss doing this on light barrels to gain some stability for the drum. originaly i was going to use a 13/16" barrel on mine and with a .45 bore, doing it that way would cretainly be stronger.  now i have decided to go with a 7/8 barrel for looks  and i 'm not sure if it will be necessary. i'll have to get my stuff and then see what it looks like, but i was going to make my own plug and drill it as mentioned.