A Little Better I Think

I redid my rather mangled poor boy kit with a new fancy CM stock. I'm slowly starting to get the hang of this. I think for No. 2 I'm going to build a TOTW trade gun for my oldest bro.

The barrel is supposedly .54 but really more of a .52 smooth bore. I polished it up inside quite a bit which will hopefully help tighten the group. I also crafted the stock to pull down just slightly on the end of the barrel. This trick helped stabilize Mosin-Nagant barrels which are also long and thin. Tension is controlled by easing up or tightening the tang screw. Who knows if it will make a difference with this smoothy though.

I've got some gravers on order to work more on proper engraving, but I actually don't mind this one being crude. I'm impressed it's actually legible.

This is four very thin coats hand rubbed BLO. I had to stop because tomorrow is range day. After that I'll probably put a few more coats on. I opted not to stain even though this wood has some imperfections. I prefer to see the wood itself without any additions, esp. the way the tiger stripes shimmer.

Cosmoline, it looks allot better than your first photos. The one thing I see that may cause you problems in the very last photo there looks to be a gap between the rear of the barrel and the stock.

You need to have full contact between the rear of the barrel and the stock. A big gap here can cause all kinds of problems, cracking of the stock and accuracy problems.

Either glue in some wood, and then re-inlet the rear of the barrel. If you do this don't lift the barrel out by tipping it up from the muzzle. You will ge a false mark and it will lead to another gap. Pad your work bench with some old towels, flip the stock over and take the barrel out that way.

The other fix is to use accu-glass to bed the rear of the barrel. Follow the instructions in the kit and you'll be fine.

I think some of what you're seeing is a shadow from the camera flash there. There is a very slight gap along the sides, which I may shim up. The plug tang is rock solid against the wood on this one though, so it's not going anywhere.

I also think I need to remove more wood to make the top of the barrel flush with the stock rather than recessed a notch. I thought it might look better recessed, but it doesn't.

Good looking stock. I like the way BLO gives that curly maple an almost 3-D effect.

Yeah it really ripples. I worked the 220 until my knuckles bled on this one to make it as silky smooth as possible. There are still some preexisting gouges but what can you do.

I took it out today for the first shoot with the new stock. Ignition is fast and trigger pull is much improved. I recessed the trigger up far enough so there's no slack when the lock is cocked. The group has tightened up a little, but it's also kicking about two inches right at 25 yards. It's going to take more tweaking to find the best load.

Nice work Cosmoline! I don't know if I'll post pics of my first build, soon to be finished. Too many glaring splices of wood, I had a heck of a time above the lock getting clearence for the hammer to move, re-did that three times with 'new' wood added.

I can send you some stain if you don't have any..... :haha: Nice job. :thumbsup:

Thanks! BTW, is stain even historically correct? To my eye it just tends to make nice wood look like furniture, and turns subtle tiger stripes into garish, rococo eyesores. I like it better when they sort of shimmer in the light.

I must admit all this load tweaking and fussing just to get at best a 3" group at fifty had me thinking "why not just pop a .54 rifle barrel in there and be done with it?" But I'm going to see this smooth project through.

is stain even historically correct?

Click to expand...

yes - "aqua Fortis" which is not just nitric acid but rather iron dissolve in nitric aka ferric/iron nitrate was one of the most common "stains" used - second most common was colored varnishes......

It's a lovey rifle..smooth bore. :wink:
The wood is very elegant. Superb, might be a better word.
Nice that you signed and numbered it..
Construction errors... well it takes courage to post your work. :thumbsup:
I like it and would be proud to own it.
regards
mike

great looking rifle. what's the translation of the inscription?

Experientia stultorum magistra, prudentia sapientum,
"experience is the teacher of fools, while foresight is the teacher of wise men."

"It's about learning from mistakes, fools need to learn from mistakes, because they do not use reason to predict the outcome of their actions. Instead, fools can only learn by experience, making mistakes and suffering the consequences."

I find it fitting for myself also. I have ALOT of experiance, some foresite, gained from experiance,,but generally just a damn lot of experiance :redface:
Heck, I have enough experiance to know my last Tetnus shot is good till 2012 :grin:

Yeah, it's the proverb that came to mind hacking my first build together by trial and error :grin: The inscription itself, done by dremel, is itself a representation of the saying. But I'll keep plodding away, rex stultorum that I am. It's the most fun I've had with firearms in years. The smokeless ones got too easy and too boring for me.