I’m a long time shooter with experience shooting and reloading for a range of firearms including muzzleloading, but new to Schuetzen and have a basic, perhaps naïve, question.

Ray M. Smith in his book, “The Story of Pope’s Barrels,” states with regard to muzzle loading the bullet, “The bullet is now pushed down the bore with the loading rod to within one-sixteenth of an inch ahead of the chamber.”  I intend to use black powder in a .32-40. In loading black powder muzzleloaders one always seats the ball firmly on the charge as leaving a gap could result in a ringed barrel. Seemingly the 1/16” gap is not a concern in this regard? Wright, in “Loading and Shooting Traditional Schuetzen Rifles,” describes using a plug in a cartridge case to ensure the bullet is in the same spot ahead of the chamber for each shot, but does not specify the width of the gap. Can someone please elaborate on this procedure as to why it is not a concern with regard to “ringing” of the barrel?

gimpyinlincoln
Joe gave you good info. I second what he stated.
The 1/16 gap is not a magic distance ahead of the case mouth but is a good place to start. Your rifle may shoot better with slightly less or slightly more than 1/16.
Muzzle loading with black powder or duplex loads serves one purpose, it allows you to shoot dirty (not cleaning between shots) with the same accuracy as when you clean between shots. Muzzle loading is no more, nor no less accurate than breech seating.
Muzzle loading is as much art as science. My recommendation is to shoot your rifle breech seated with black powder until you get a load and bullet seating depth that gives the best accuracy. In a day's shooting you will get off a lot more shots during load development breech seating rather than muzzle loading when shooting from a bench rest. When breech seating, I recommend you wipe the barrel between shots. First with a damp patch from breech and out the muzzle, followed by one dry patch also through the barrel and out muzzle.
After developing a good load, then move on the muzzle loading if that's the way you choose to shoot your rifle.
That 1/16 gap will not result in a ringed barrel. If you are uncomfortable about shooting with an air gap, you can include a dry felt wad to fill the void between case mouth and bullet base. I have found that some load combinations shoot more accurately with a felt wad than a gap.
Just out of curiosity, what sort of rifle are you shooting?
Randy Wright

Thanks to all for these informative replies. I know ringing of the barrel or chamber is a controversial subject. I wanted to avoid a potential problem in case I misunderstood the instructions. Knowing what you don't know is more than half the game!  Thanks again!