Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders so it began - the underhammer build

myself RWE , i would go with pins . I just don�t care for keys on a full stock rifle .
One of the reasons is that they often can interrupt the molding on the forearm unless they are properly planed out . When they are not , then often times one ends up with a very thick forearm and a very thick web between the barrel and RR channel
if you do decide to go with wedge keys , then i would go with the small keys and escutcheons. I would also plan out your moldings so as to give you some idea as if you will nee the keys with a angled head along with cupped escutcheons.

If however your going to end up with a more common under hammer forearm then just a couple keys will or pins will work . a lot of times such for arms are rather bulky and round to more rectangle in appearance.
But then again those are also 2 piece stock formations

Im alittle confused about something however .
Are you still going to cut the forearm back like on your first stock ?
If so it looks like do to the web thickness between your barrel channel and ram rod channel , are you then going to have to put in a small section of under rib from the forearm to the muzzle ?

Also have you considered the depth the resulting RR hole is going to be from the bottom of the barrel ?
Normally the RR s stopped by the Nipple and flash guard . But in your case it looks like that these will end up being deep in your stock which may then also make it more difficult to place your caps on .

The other thing , and maybe its just the way the photos were taken , but it appears that the hammer will not even come close to striking to the depth where the top of the nipple will be at . If that�s the case then your barrel will need to go even deeper into the stock OR your lock/ trigger needs to drop a lot deeper .

Please understand these are just questions I have as im not seeing any reference lines on your stock ?

here are a couple photos of an Underhammer i did some years agao . while its a 1/2 stock and it has a reciever vs the trigger/lock set up your using . Mybe they will help you some so as to see the relation of the hammer to the nipple as well as some idea of the forearm . however on yours, im getting the idea your shooting for something more along the lines of the forearm on a longrifle ?