Underlugs as hooks?

[Minuteman]

I read somewhere on this site that a guy was thinking about cutting the back part of his underlugs off so they would slide in under the pins in the stock.I assume he was gonna do it to make it easier to disassemble for cleaning.
Has anyone actually done this or was that feller some kinda mad scientist?

 

[Mike Brooks]

I've seen originals done that way.

 

[Minuteman]

Really? :grin: Cool, I had no idea.
Were they just like an underlug with a little cut away or were they a lot meatier?Were they tapered so that as you pulled it back to get the tang in place it pulled the stock up tight to the barrel?
I;m wondering if the angle of the tang will make it impossible to get apart without bendin' wood to make it happen.
Seems like with the angle of the tang being the same as the wrist of the stock, the barrel would have to ride up in the back to clear the wood under the tang. Would that be a problem or would the "hooks" just need to be more pronounced...... more like / than like --?... Wanna work out all the kinks now before I start making sawdust and metal shavings!
Does anyone have pics of a barrel with these on it ? If not ,Mike , do you remember what kind of weapon it was so I could maybe do some research on it and see how they did it?

 

[Mike Brooks]

I don't recall those lugs being on a weapon, I think they were on an old muzzleloading rifle. It's probably been 20 yeays since I saw it at a KY rifle show. I wouldn't think there would be anything tricky about it, pretty straight forward. The lugs wouldn't need to be overly beefy, it doesn't take much to hold a barrel in a stock. If I were going to do it I wouldn't use a lug between the breech and the rear ram rod pipe.
These "slid in" lugs were used in a particular school, but as I said, it's been 20 years since I saw them. The gun was late flint or early percusion and from somewhere in PA.

 

[CrackStock]

I have heard of re-enactors doing this to make it easy to remove the barrels of their Besses.

I never bothered simply because I see no reason to remove the barrel in order to clean.

CS

 

[Minuteman]

I sure thought a muzzle loading rifle was a weapon , regardless, thanks for the input . I think I'm gonna try it .

 

[Mike Brooks]

I sure thought a muzzle loading rifle was a weapon

I use mine for sporting purposes. If I wanted to harm or kill someone I would choose something more modern as a weapon.

 

[Minuteman]

Well no one's talking about shooting anybody, if you engage only paper targets I can see your point but if something is used to kill an animal its a weapon too right? :hmm: We can disagree on the definition of weapon ifn ya want, I don't mind.
I ain't calling you out. I appreciate sincerely you answering my post and I hope I haven't offended you , sir.

 

[Mike Brooks]

Naw, just one of my little "things" :v

 

[flintriflesmith]

It is a bit more common than you might think and occurs on several rifles made in the Valley of Virginia and in some NC (around Salsbury I think). It might not even be noticed when you see the rifle in pictures but one reason was so inlays could be placed over the barrel pins. At first glance they look like regular loop inlays -- until you realize there is no hole to push out the pin. Clever little detail that shows the desire to do something just a bit different.

Gary

 

Mostly on Late Bedford rifles with straight walled barrles. Maybe others in western PA used them too, I don't know. But defintely Bedfords.

 

[Flintandsteel]

I agree with Mr Brooks, probably late flint or percussion guns. Mainly because you'd need a straight Oct barrel and straight tang breechplug. With a swamped barrel or a flared tang, you wouldn't be able to slide the barrel to the rear.