Larks
40 Cal
Before I go ahead and drill the touch hole for my Baker Rifle build I’d really appreciate some advice on positioning it correctly:
The plan advises that the “hole should be centred with the pan and levelled with the top edge of the pan”........but.....just to be sure to be sure.....does the "top edge” refer to the top edge of the hollowed base of the pan? Or to the top edge of the level sides either side of the pan where it sits against the barrel??
The drawings seem to suggest the latter as it would position the hole closer to the centre of the “flat” that has been shaped into the side of the barrel (by the supplier), but I don’t want to assume anything at this stage given the kinda’ vital role that the touch hole plays.......
To complicate matters further: I’ve not been able to remove the breech plug to check the V notch that should be there as referred to in the drawing (it was suggested that it should be checked in a previous thread somewhere but it is very firmly in place) and a look down the barrel with my (very) cheap borescope is inconclusive.
In the image further below everything is right way up so the V notch in the touch plug "should" be centre left, but the breech plug face looks so rough it’s impossible to tell just exactly what is going on and I don’t know how deep or clear the V notch should appear.
I’m somewhat loath to try any harder to remove the breech plug for fear of damaging it and not being able to align it as squarely with the barrel again but measuring the depth of the breech plug (with cleaning rod) indicates that the forward face of it lines up with the front lip of the pan where it sits against the barrel.
So my thought on an initial plan of action is to locate and drill the touch hole and see if that lets in any light that might show up the expected V notch in the plug using the borescope down the barrel.......????? Or is that just a big and unlikely Hail Mary??
Failing that I can see that there’d be no avoiding trying harder to remove the breech plug and cleaning it up, drilling the touch hole would at least locate where the V needs to be filed into it (if it doesn’t already exist) - but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Nothing is screwed down in the photos below however it shows well enough the position of the lock against the flat on the barrel (I realise the tang isn’t set down completely in these pics but even when it is there is still a slight gap between it and the barrel at the lower edge)
The plan advises that the “hole should be centred with the pan and levelled with the top edge of the pan”........but.....just to be sure to be sure.....does the "top edge” refer to the top edge of the hollowed base of the pan? Or to the top edge of the level sides either side of the pan where it sits against the barrel??
The drawings seem to suggest the latter as it would position the hole closer to the centre of the “flat” that has been shaped into the side of the barrel (by the supplier), but I don’t want to assume anything at this stage given the kinda’ vital role that the touch hole plays.......
To complicate matters further: I’ve not been able to remove the breech plug to check the V notch that should be there as referred to in the drawing (it was suggested that it should be checked in a previous thread somewhere but it is very firmly in place) and a look down the barrel with my (very) cheap borescope is inconclusive.
In the image further below everything is right way up so the V notch in the touch plug "should" be centre left, but the breech plug face looks so rough it’s impossible to tell just exactly what is going on and I don’t know how deep or clear the V notch should appear.
I’m somewhat loath to try any harder to remove the breech plug for fear of damaging it and not being able to align it as squarely with the barrel again but measuring the depth of the breech plug (with cleaning rod) indicates that the forward face of it lines up with the front lip of the pan where it sits against the barrel.
So my thought on an initial plan of action is to locate and drill the touch hole and see if that lets in any light that might show up the expected V notch in the plug using the borescope down the barrel.......????? Or is that just a big and unlikely Hail Mary??
Failing that I can see that there’d be no avoiding trying harder to remove the breech plug and cleaning it up, drilling the touch hole would at least locate where the V needs to be filed into it (if it doesn’t already exist) - but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Nothing is screwed down in the photos below however it shows well enough the position of the lock against the flat on the barrel (I realise the tang isn’t set down completely in these pics but even when it is there is still a slight gap between it and the barrel at the lower edge)