bending tang

[jaybird14]

I have a Traditions Kentucky rifle kit that the tang is way straighter then the curve of the stock. Has anyone ever heated up the tang on a Traditions and bent it down?
It needs to move about an 1/8".

Thanks!!!

Jay

 

[Black Hand]

I have a Traditions Kentucky rifle kit that the tang is way straighter then the curve of the stock. Has anyone ever heated up the tang on a Traditions and bent it down?
It needs to move about an 1/8".

Thanks!!!

Jay

I've bent all my tangs cold with a padded vice and an adjustable wrench. Heat really isn't necessary.
A word of caution if the tang is drilled - the hole is a potential point of failure, so work forward (breechward) of the hole.

 

[jaybird14]

I've bent all my tangs cold with a padded vice and an adjustable wrench. Heat really isn't necessary.
A word of caution if the tang is drilled - the hole is a potential point of failure, so work forward (breechward) of the hole.

thanks for the tip. there is not much meat along side of the hole.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

thanks for the tip. there is not much meat along side of the hole.

BH's advice is very good, but I would suggest using the barrel as the lever and no wrench. The tang goes in the padded vice on it's side, (gripped top and bottom) and then push the barrel sideways ever so carefully.
Flintlocklar

 

[Black Hand]

BH's advice is very good, but I would suggest using the barrel as the lever and no wrench. The tang goes in the padded vice on it's side, (gripped top and bottom) and then push the barrel sideways ever so carefully.
Flintlocklar

This will work as well. Reasons I place the barrel in the vice are so I can keep an eye on the tang, control the curvature and the tang is held perpendicular so a twist can be avoided (or added if needed). While using the barrel to provide additional leverage to bend the tang does the job, I feel I don't have sufficient control over what is happening to the tang. Personal preference...

 

[Eric Krewson]

I do it like this; Tap and check, tap and check until the curvature is right, that is a blacksmith hammer with a pointy end.

 

[Vaino]

First off I make a thin cardboard template of the stock curvature and have the template ovelap the bbl by an inch or so to orient the template curve.....the breech end of the bbl is marked on the template.

I then bend the tang by horizontally clamping the tang in the vise and starting forward of the screw hole ,pull on the bbl. The tang is then clamped nearly to the bolster and the bbl is pulled again. The curve is checked w/ the template and is rebent to suit. A few tries might be necessary to suit the template. I've never used heat to bend a tang.....Fred

 

[Pete G]

Don't forget the inlet. The tang is probably sitting on the wood, which will require a deeper inlet. You may want to consider filing the top and deepening the countersink instead.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A word of caution if the tang is drilled - the hole is a potential point of failure, so work forward (breechward) of the hole.

Yes, those bending tips scare me. With the hole drilled the small amount of steel left on the sides are, indeed, a point of weakness. Methinks considerable heat will be required to get the desired bend without breakage.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Tangs don't need to be heated. Bend them cold.
The tang is bent before any holes are drilled. Tang is mild steel.
Clamp it in a vise and bend it.
It does help to file off the radius between the tang and bolster. It allows you to get the bend closer to the the barrel.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Tangs don't need to be heated. Bend them cold.
The tang is bent before any holes are drilled. Tang is mild steel.
Clamp it in a vise and bend it.
It does help to file off the radius between the tang and bolster. It allows you to get the bend closer to the the barrel.

With most, if not all, import kit guns the hole would already be drilled.
The OP said:

there is not much meat along side of the hole.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Import guns shouldn't need the tang bent.

 

[Rifleman1776]

shouldn't

Agree with the "shouldn't" part. But, unfortunately his does seem to need it. Wish a real expert would chime in here with advice for him before he whacks on that tang and ends up with two pieces. I believe what I would do is take it to a welding shop before any attempt is made to bend it. Then, at the shop, if it breaks, have the welder put it back together, perhaps with brazing.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Rifleman,
I've built well over 100 guns..... BUT never an import kit. Probably, over 50 from precarve, so I'm pretty familiar with the woes of a precarve.
My advice is based on those type kits, and from scratch builds.
I am definitely no expert on "import kits"

 

[Grenadier1758]

I do it like this; Tap and check, tap and check until the curvature is right, that is a blacksmith hammer with a pointy end.

Take a look at the picture. you will see the rounded fillet where the tang joins the base of the breech plug To make the bending easier, you may want to file the fillet to a squared off corner. The excess metal in the fillet make the first part of the bend more difficult. I know Eric has bent many a tang successfully and so have I. This hack is something I recently learned on these forums and from gun builders in my gun club as I am building my Kennedy (North Carolina) rifle. Not only that I gained clearance for the bolt from the tang to the trigger plate.

Okay I hear the call for photos, so that will have to be another thread​