Building a Pecatonica Tennessee Classic Longrifle

[sussexmuzllodr]

Bob, no worries. When you speed around the racetrack of perfection you are bound to blow a tire once in a while!

 

[PathfinderNC]

This is the way I do it/was taught to do it and done right it puts the touch hole exactly where it should be everytime.
With your ramrod measure the distance from the end of the barrel to your breechplug, now scribe a line vertically at that point. Measure the distance you want your TH to be from the breechplug and scribe another line. Measure to the center of the flat at that point and scribe another line to make a cross. This is a visual reference point.
Compare the center of the pan to your reference point. It will be off but it will show you how much to move it.
You can move a swamped barrel towards the butt a good bit and still get a tight fit. There will always be a little distance you can move the lock also. Lay your lock plate over the mortice to see how much larger it is and where it needs to be moved. Lay the barrel on the stock butted against the rear of the barrel channel. Now by comparing the two components carefully inlet both until your reference mark is your chosen distance from the breech plug and the reference point is in the center of the pan and the center of your horizontal mark is centered on top of the pan.
If you had done it this way I don't think those pieces of wood you glued in would have been neccesary.

Remember that the lock mortise was already cut out and I was unable to adjust the location of the lock. Since I could not move the lock backward, I had to move the barrel forward. If I had not moved the barrel forward, the location of the pan/touch hole would be over 3/16" forward of the inside breech. That would not work.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Bob, no worries. When you spped around the racetrack of perfection you are bound to blow a tire once in a while!

LOL I dont think I blew anything (yet!)

 

[Darkhorse]

Remember that the lock mortise was already cut out and I was unable to adjust the location of the lock. Since I could not move the lock backward, I had to move the barrel forward. If I had not moved the barrel forward, the location of the pan/touch hole would be over 3/16" forward of the inside breech. That would not work.

On most precarves the lock mortice is undersize. This allows you to move it a small distance for fitting purposes or to use a different component.
You can lay the lock plate over the mortice and trace it with a pencil. This will show how much material you have to work with and to where a component can be moved.
Like Dave said "Drill the touch hole last". I use Chamber's White Lightning liners exclusively.
If your TH ends up "3/16 from the breech face that shouldn't be a problem though I wouldn't want it much closer. If a TH ends up too close to the breech face file a groove in the breech plug face so that your powder will channel itself into the cone of the liner.
Many do this by design as they think it improves ignition.
I drill my liners .250" from the breech face and file a groove in the breech face that intersects the cone in the liner so it utilizes the entire cone to hold a portion of my main charge. Then polish the breech face and groove until they are slick.
That's as simple as I can put it, think about it for awhile until the process begins to become clear.


























t

 

[PathfinderNC]

On most precarves the lock mortice is undersize. This allows you to move it a small distance for fitting purposes or to use a different component.
You can lay the lock plate over the mortice and trace it with a pencil. This will show how much material you have to work with and to where a component can be moved.
Like Dave said "Drill the touch hole last". I use Chamber's White Lightning liners exclusively.


Well, this lock mortise was cut almost perfectly to the shape of the lock plate, except the rest tip was rounded not a pint, so yeah, there was no wiggle room at all for it. I think you can see it (a pic in a first photo group above) .

 

[4575wcf]

This is why I scratch build. I don't need anyone semi-finishing my gun and getting the holes half off center, the lockplate mortise out of position, or too large. Granted, it takes longer to completely engineer the gun yourself and to start with blank components, but when you arrive at the final product everything fits like it is supposed to. Then when I pull off the occasional screw up, at least I did it to myself. Just my 2 cents.

 

[PathfinderNC]

This is why I scratch build. I don't need anyone semi-finishing my gun and getting the holes half off center, the lockplate mortise out of position, or too large. Granted, it takes longer to completely engineer the gun yourself and to start with blank components, but when you arrive at the final product everything fits like it is supposed to. Then when I pull off the occasional screw up, at least I did it to myself. Just my 2 cents.

Yes, that point has been made over and over . Thanks again though!

 

[4575wcf]

Off topic, but my latest build is an LC Smith double from a stripped frame. Do not try this at home : ).

 

[PathfinderNC]

Off topic, but my latest build is an LC Smith double from a stripped frame. Do not try this at home : ).

Maybe start your own thread?

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

I started work on a custom order Pecatonica River Tennessee Classic Longrifle. The customer ordered some outrageously beautiful premium Curly Maple, a Late Ketland flint lock and had a Rice Premium, Southern Classic swamped 50 caliber barrel shipped to Pecatonica for in-letting the barrel channel.
The kit arrived in good shape after disappearing in transit for a few days.
I started with cleaning up and installing the buttplate. The next step was to measure out the location for the touch hole. I installed it so the vent is just forward from the inside face of the breech plug (3/32"). I next started the cold browning of the barrel.
The lock mortise was pre-carved so I had to do some fitting to get the lock in place and sitting flush. I didnt have any inletting black so I used lipstick (thanks to my wife!) to indicate areas needing attention.
With that done, and the barrel now browned, I laid it against the stock to see how well Pecatonica did in routing out the barrel channel in relation to the lock mortise. Ugh! The barrel sat a heavy 1/8" too far back! (Had I just drilled the vent hole as things were, there would have been a large chamber behind the vent and a light load of powder would have the ball sitting over the vent hole). So, with a piece of similar Curly Maple in my bucket I cut a spline. After getting it to fit, I sanded it to thickness and Titebond 2 glued/clamped it in place. The patch is strong and I am pretty sure the seam will not be very noticeable. (A hint when gluing end-grain to side grain; always smear a bit of glue into the end grain and allow to dry, to seal them up, else the glue will wick in when clamping and you will not get a good bond.)
Next will be to fit the barrel in. I hope it lays in the channel well. I dont know how much a 1/8" adjustment forward will affect the fit of barrel and channel. I may need some suggestions soon!

Bob, thanks for showing this build, always wondered about Pecatonica and the quality of their kits. I always had what I would call misgivings about doing the butt plate on a couple of builds but your pic;s show that done, is it pretty good? I wish you well with your build, show lots of pic;s if you can.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Hi Hatman- I think Pecatonica did a good job in cutting the contour for the butt plate. It was a good fit with very little needing to do. For the charge (I think like $35 or something) it was a good deal. Saved me a lot of time!!
Thanks!

 

[PathfinderNC]

It took a good bit of time today but I was successful in drilling and tapping in both the lock and the trigger plate. I used a nifty drilling jig I recently bought which took all the guesswork out of aiming and executing the drill holes. The lock sits nicely and the barrel looks in very good position.
I guess next up will be the barrel pins, then the side and toe plates.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

It took a good bit of time today but I was successful in drilling and tapping in both the lock and the trigger plate. I used a nifty drilling jig I recently bought which took all the guesswork out of aiming and executing the drill holes. The lock sits nicely and the barrel looks in very good position.
I guess next up will be the barrel pins, then the side and toe plates.

I like that jig, where can I buy one? Thanks PathfinderNC!

 

[PathfinderNC]

I like that jig, where can I buy one? Thanks PathfinderNC!

I got it from Robert Bogg over in the American Longrifle forum. He makes them as well as other really cool tools.

 

[PathfinderNC]

I was curious why there was such resistance in drawing to half and full cock after the first lock test. I had a suspission and put some color transfer (lipstick) on the edge of the mainspring and sure enough it was touching against the inside of the mortise. How did I miss this? I looked at the lock and saw the mainspring was creeping outward, better than a 1/16" inch and not resting square on the tumbler! The customer will have a locksmith make the correction when the rifle is completed.
I was a but surprised at this especially since it is a Chambers lock.
(Note that I did not unassemple the lock to inlet it so no error on the builder's end).

 

[GANGGREEN]

I would presume that you simply have to push the mainspring down so that it's flush against the lock plate.

 

[PathfinderNC]

I would presume that you simply have to push the mainspring down so that it's flush against the lock plate.

I do, but it moves right back into this spot. I think maybe the tit is not fitting or the top of the spring isn’t sitting correctly against the bolster? Nonetheless it is a simple adjustment I am pretty sure.

 

[Philip Lebow]

Off topic, but my latest build is an LC Smith double from a stripped frame. Do not try this at home : ).

Sir, finishing restocking a 100 yr old Ithaca, from a chunk of walnut. I sympathize! I'm a pro gunsmith, and I found the inletting tedious. Best Phil

 

[Flintandsteel]

One place you're causing yourself a lot of extra work, most of that browning will be removed, or destroyed by the time you file all the wood to shape. Tang, forestock, etc. As you progress, you'll find the right order of things.
You'll also find it was smart to listen to expert advice. There's a reason for the order of things.

 

[PathfinderNC]

One place you're causing yourself a lot of extra work, most of that browning will be removed, or destroyed by the time you file all the wood to shape. Tang, forestock, etc. As you progress, you'll find the right order of things.
You'll also find it was smart to listen to expert advice. There's a reason for the order of things.

Thanks friend. Not to worry about the browning. It was a preliminary step I’ve been doing. Browning the barrel didn’t take much work , it’s cold browning.
As to expert advise, yes there are certainly some members here that I really admire and seek to learn from. The hundreds of other experts here, well, not so much