Help needed designing .62 cal percussion rifle

[pamtnman]

Gun builder Mark Wheland of Huntingdon County, PA, built this. The gun is based on the Little Bat Garnier rifle in the Fort Robinson Museum. Mark put a lot of work in to accurately capture the butt plate. He had it cast after we each did a paper and a wooden mock-up (his were much better than mine) and then agreed on what the final should look like. I had Colerain add the long tang when they made the barrel, for reinforcement and to add a tang peep sight.

 

[pamtnman]

Mark made the rear sight, which looks like the original. When Little Bat was out shooting elk and bison in the 1860s, that rear sight was more modern than normally encountered on a muzzleloader then. Folsom probably borrowed it from a Henry lever action.

 

[pamtnman]

Wow, tough crowd here.

 

[pamtnman]

Cross-Posted here in Percussion page

 

[Billy Boy]

Folks, your advice and assistance is welcome on a long simmering project.
The .62 caliber rifled barrel and stock wood (full stock or half) have been in my possession for five years, as different rifle designs went through my mind over this time. Due to the high heat, today was an "inside" day and I spent hours 'working' on this.
After many hours going through every old muzzleloader book and catalogue I have, the rifle plan went from flintlock to percussion. That is certain. Yep...made a whole lot of progress ha ha.
The plan is to have a powerful traditional rifle for bear, elk, and deer for Pennsylvania's early muzzleloader season, where both deer and bear can now be hunted concurrently. It should be both a stalking gun and quick on the snap shot, and an ambush gun capable of taking longer, carefully aimed shots. My regular rifle is a custom made .54 flintlock, and something more weather resistant and a lot more powerful and robust is desired. Hence the percussion lock.
But I do not know a darned thing about percussion locks, not really. So your help is welcome.
Here is what is already acquired: A 38" Colerain .62 caliber swamped gain twist rifled barrel, and nice curly maple full stock blank or curly sugar maple half stock blank.
Here is what is tentatively on the parts list:
Lock: Davis' Alex Henry percussion lock seems best, because of potential precision trigger adjustment. Want the strongest, fastest percussion lock that will least disturb the stock wood by requiring the inletting of the least amount of wood, so the stock is as strong as possible. Alex Henry lock design appears to fit most flush with barrel, disturb the least amount of wood.
Trigger: Davis single set trigger, adjustable if possible, or another single trigger honed to a 2.5-3# pull by the gunsmith.
Sights: Prefer rear fiber optic sight matched to a fiber optic front sight, like the matching Lyman set sold at Track of the Wolf, with a rugged folding tang or peep sight like the Lyman on the wrist. Is any of this even possible on a percussion rifle? Will the tang sight weaken the wrist? And what shape wrist should this gun have, pistol grip or straight or something in between?
Furniture should be German silver, but I cannot figure out the butt plate or trigger guard. Because old fashioned military style sling swivels would be really nice to have, the trigger guard should have enough metal in the bow for a sling swivel hole.
Any and all recommendations are welcome about all aspects, other than the barrel and the wood. This has been years in the imagination phase, and it is time to begin assembling the parts. Thank you!

If this is a meat gun don’t get too concerned with weight of pull on that trigger - whichever type you chose. The crispness - the break of the trigger is more important than pull weight. Throw in gloves, cold fingers, and issues do crop up…

 

[pamtnman]

If this is a meat gun don’t get too concerned with weight of pull on that trigger - whichever type you chose. The crispness - the break of the trigger is more important than pull weight. Throw in gloves, cold fingers, and issues do crop up…

Thank you, buddy.

 

[BS]

Folks, your advice and assistance is welcome on a long simmering project.
The .62 caliber rifled barrel and stock wood (full stock or half) have been in my possession for five years, as different rifle designs went through my mind over this time. Due to the high heat, today was an "inside" day and I spent hours 'working' on this.
After many hours going through every old muzzleloader book and catalogue I have, the rifle plan went from flintlock to percussion. That is certain. Yep...made a whole lot of progress ha ha.
The plan is to have a powerful traditional rifle for bear, elk, and deer for Pennsylvania's early muzzleloader season, where both deer and bear can now be hunted concurrently. It should be both a stalking gun and quick on the snap shot, and an ambush gun capable of taking longer, carefully aimed shots. My regular rifle is a custom made .54 flintlock, and something more weather resistant and a lot more powerful and robust is desired. Hence the percussion lock.
But I do not know a darned thing about percussion locks, not really. So your help is welcome.
Here is what is already acquired: A 38" Colerain .62 caliber swamped gain twist rifled barrel, and nice curly maple full stock blank or curly sugar maple half stock blank.
Here is what is tentatively on the parts list:
Lock: Davis' Alex Henry percussion lock seems best, because of potential precision trigger adjustment. Want the strongest, fastest percussion lock that will least disturb the stock wood by requiring the inletting of the least amount of wood, so the stock is as strong as possible. Alex Henry lock design appears to fit most flush with barrel, disturb the least amount of wood.
Trigger: Davis single set trigger, adjustable if possible, or another single trigger honed to a 2.5-3# pull by the gunsmith.
Sights: Prefer rear fiber optic sight matched to a fiber optic front sight, like the matching Lyman set sold at Track of the Wolf, with a rugged folding tang or peep sight like the Lyman on the wrist. Is any of this even possible on a percussion rifle? Will the tang sight weaken the wrist? And what shape wrist should this gun have, pistol grip or straight or something in between?
Furniture should be German silver, but I cannot figure out the butt plate or trigger guard. Because old fashioned military style sling swivels would be really nice to have, the trigger guard should have enough metal in the bow for a sling swivel hole.
Any and all recommendations are welcome about all aspects, other than the barrel and the wood. This has been years in the imagination phase, and it is time to begin assembling the parts. Thank you!

I got lost in this build, so the above plan turned into a copy of a Folsom rifle?

 

[pamtnman]

I got lost in this build, so the above plan turned into a copy of a Folsom rifle?

Yes. It’s a rifle by Folsom carried by Little Bat Garnier, a Sioux scout, meat hunter, probably the only survivor of Custer’s command at the Little Bighorn. His was/ is a .54, but I wanted a .62. I encountered Little Bat’s rifle in the Hanson book, then I contacted the museum in Nebraska where the rifle is kept. The curator at the time took 360 degrees of photos of the gun in its display for me. So Mark Wheland and I had lots to work with.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

Very nice gun!

 

[pamtnman]

Very nice gun!

Thank you! Mark Wheland gets all the credit, and God, too, for growing the maple