small persons flintlock

[berryfarmer]

Anyone know of a quality kit for a young adult (under 5 feet tall) flintlock? - can get lock from tow but need rest of components. need to finish a jpbeck longrifle first but want to order parts now.....

 

[B.Habermehl]

As soon as my barrels arrive I will be working on a youth gun pattern with the 11 year old frame in mind. Drop me a line if your interested in the details. BJH

 

[Zonie]

berryfarmer: You could think about doing what I did and use small components with a precarved stock.
Because the stock is for a full size rifle, you will have to remove a lot of wood to slim it down.
The rifle in this post has a pull length which works for adult size arms, but it could have been reduced without looking strange.
Check it out here:
Boys Squirrel Rifle

This gun weighs about 6 1/2 pounds but if it were in .40 or .45 caliber amd shorten the barrel to say, 36 inches, it would be in the 5 pound bracket.

 

[B.Habermehl]

A suggestion to make the gun a bit more small hands friendly. Use a fowler type guard, this effectively makes the wrist of the stock smaller, better for small hands. Maybe a shade stronger than a really slim wrist and a grip rail type rifle. The youth gun project I am working on is for two guns to be used at youth field days. Using quality parts for trouble free operation. The last thing you need in a youth gun is "personality". Kids dont have patience for that. They want it to go boom and the target to get hit be it a balloon or a clanger target. BJH

 

[IronCrickett]

Berryfarmer,
I built my wife a scaled down Lancaster about 4 years ago. I used a 36" tapered ( but not flaired ) barrel that Mr. Getz built to my spec. I also used a large Siler, which does fit the rifle proportionally. The pull is slightly under 13". I'd say the rifle weighs in at around 5 lb. It's a 45 cal., so the low weight does not adversely affect recoil.

If building for a youngin' who's not done growing, I'd be a little careful at how small the rifle was. It could end up as a fireplace piece in a couple of years as that youngster grows. I wasn't concerned that would happen to me, as my wife is fully grown... :haha:

I wish I'd have built two, one with a slightly longer pull, as it sure handles nice. Unfortunately, I can't "borrow" hers as it is right handed and I'm correct handed ( lefty ).


Later
I.C.

 

[Zonie]

quote "........I wasn't concerned that would happen to me, as my wife is fully grown..."

That's what I thought 30+ years ago. Boy was I wrong. :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: ::

 

[Herb]

Berryfarmer- if you haven't got Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply Company's catalog, get it. They have a Beck Boy's Rifle, stock cut for a 36" barrel and a small Siler. Their picture shows all the parts. Their stock can accomodate up to 15" length of pull, why, I don't know. A length of pull of 12 to 12.5 inches might be short enough, and full sized people can shoot those short stocks just fine. Perhaps you could make up a try stock to determine length of pull for your young adult.

 

[IronCrickett]

Zonie,
You are a sick ticket...I like that... :haha:
Actually, my wife's the same size as she was when we got married 26 years ago...Guess she doesn't eat right or something.. She does talk more, though... :yakyak:
Later
I.C.

 

quote "........I wasn't concerned that would happen to me, as my wife is fully grown..."

That's what I thought 30+ years ago. Boy was I wrong. :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: ::

Zonnie ya better hope she doesn't read the forum or you will have to take up residence in your shop. :crackup: :crackup:

Woody

 

[berryfarmer]

thanks for the source, last time I was in Vernal the surrounding area was burning spent ten days flying retardant drops - remember all the dinosaurs......

 

[Herb]

Was that this August? There was a lightning fire on BLM up Dry Fork Canyon, in Juniper that BLM had cut and piled in preparation for a prescribed burn last fall for habitat mgt. I watched some of the drops. Very nice fire, and nice air drops. I'm going up and hunt rabbits around the edge soon. If you saw the Dinosaurs, you saw our museums. The new one is impressive. The old one has the the Jacob Wigle rifle in it, not presently on display. I restored it for the museum display (it was found in a cave burial with a small mixed blood child, probably about 7 years old, in the 1920's). That rifle had a length of pull of 12.5 inches and an original barrel length of about 44" (one inch barrel, about .38 to .40 caliber). I took exact measurements and rubbings and photos and so am able to recreate it very close to the way Jacob made it. You can find pictures of it on this forum. Go to Search, choose Weapons, enter Wigle for subject and Herb for name. Use one year. You'll get about 25 references, including pictures. My copy has a length of pull of 12 1/4 inches and I like it very much. My height is about 5' 10" and sleeve length about 32", so I'm not small. I like short pulls a lot better than long ones. Am in process of building another one, .50 cal Rice barrel and walnut stock.

 

[fatboy]

Check Cabin creek out Brad has some good stuff a friend just had one done for his wife it turned out great. http://www.cabincreek.net/boysandladies_rifle.html

 

[Herb]

LHunter, that Cabin Creek rifle really looks good to me. It is properly sized and dimensioned. I like it so much I ought to get one and finish it. Nice of you to post this source. Sometimes big people need smaller rifles. Carole had trouble shooting her 14.5 inch pull .50 CVA (or whatever it was), and couldn't start the ball in the barrel. Arthritis or something like that. So I built a try-gun out of pine and we worked out the length of pull, drop and cast off. Neill sawed my pattern out of a blank and routed the barrel and ramrod groove, then I whittled it the rest of the way. This is a .40 cal 36" x 13/16" L.C.Rice barrel, coned for ease of loading. John Bailes (small Manton) flintlock. Single trigger. Full sized butt plate (about 4.4" tall), 3.5" drop at heel, 11.5 inch length of pull and 1/2" cast off. She can load this easily (.380 or .390 balls) and shoots it well. This photo is from Keith's New Years day blanket shoot and chili feast. See that playing card in her hat that she cut EDGEWAYS with her little rifle?

 

[alejohns]

If I was going to do it I'd look at Schimmel style rifles, or something of the poor boy school. You could get by with minimal hardware, and make or adapt that which you needed to a slightly smaller size. Very simple rifles, lock, stock, and barrel, triggerguard, no buttplate, trigger would just be a basic pinned style which is appropriate for this style gun and for a youth rifle. I'd also go with a swamped barrel, to improve balance and reduce weight. Great wood, excellent architecture, and you'd have a winner, at moderate expense. your son would be very happy. I'd also look at buying an interchangable lock system so you could start them out with percussion and move up to flint in time.

 

[fatboy]

Herb that is a nice looking rifle you made there looks like it has alot of curl ! you should be proud of that one . Iam sure you read Brads spec's on the ladies/youth rifle he use's a colerain swamped barrel with this. I tell ya what for a small rifle the thing fits me well and its so light it wouldnt wear ya down when ya wanna carry it all day in the woods at 5.5lb my friend's wife hasnt had it that long but she loves it ! he fit this one with a sliding wood patch box . if you get one you will have to post pics when its done

 

[Herb]

I am keenly interested in having rifles fit, and that's how I build them. So I ordered Pecatonica's Beck's Boys rifle in .40 caplock. Parts look like about $480 w/o patchbox. Just to see what is commercially available for small rifles. Then I got Susie's "Muzzleloader Builder's Supply" latest catalog, 12.2, and I got to say it is impressive. If you are a builder or interested in traditional longrifles, you need this catalog! Nice color photos. She has a Lebanon Borough Slim Style Longrifle, after the manner of C. Beck, flint, in which the preshaped stock comes with barrel channel cut and ramrod hole drilled, suitable for a 12 1/2 to 14 inch length of pull, barrels up to 42", though if you cut it to 36" it would be better for smaller people. Seems to be close to Pecatonica's shape, but it may not be exactly the same and if it is, she sure describes it better! With P++ stock, small Siler, single trigger (better for shorter pull), Green Mtn barrel and all the parts including a patch box, about $500. I like her description of it, "for folks of smaller frame, women or even kids!" I plan to order one this morning, and may get a "custom" (Rayl ?) 3/4 " .40 barrel if available, otherwise 13/16 .40 GM.