Finally did it....

[elee]

Bought all the parts (TOTW) for a J. P. Beck rifle. Colerain B .50 barrel, Siler deluxe flintlock, M4 stock, all the other bits and pieces. It all arrived last Friday, and it is already looking like a gun. So far I have drawfiled and sanded the barrel, installed the underlugs, filed the tang to a nice pear shape, inlet the whole thing into the stock, drilled for barrel pins and installed the barrel. The lock is fully inletted, as are the double set triggers. About to take the plunge and drill for tang and side bolts. Have also filed and polished the trigger guard and side plate. So far, everything is spot on with no snafus....but I will keep my fingers crossed on the drilling I am about to attempt. The stuff I have done so far has not been difficult...just VERY time consuming. Inletting the barrel took about 15 hours, about 6 for the lock. I have done nothing since Friday except hide in my shop....my wife thinks I am a bit touched in the head, but she thought that before I started this project as well. I am very pleased with TOTW parts and service....I called and spoke with Luke who went through all their M4 stocks while on the phone and recommended the best one...this is why I ended up with the Beck style stock as opposed to others. It is indeed a REALLY nice chunk of wood. A quart of 70% nitric acid is arriving tomorrow, so I can get some stain cooking while I work on the other parts. I would post photos, but Rootnuke has already done a better job of build documentation, so there is little point. Perhaps when it is closer to completion....
Good Luck
ELee

 

[Slowpoke]

just VERY time consuming. Inletting the barrel took about 15 hours, about 6 for the lock.

I thought the barrel and lock were already pre-inletted for you. I've never used theirs before so I don't know.

SP

 

[elee]

The barrel and lock are pre inletted...but just the final fitting takes that long. A long process of applying inletting black, trial fitting, removing parts, cutting a few thousandths away, and doing it again....about a thousand times. TOTW stocks are really very good, but don't think your barrel will just pop right in!

 

[SAJones]

"...VERY time consuming. Inletting the barrel took about 15 hours, about 6 for the lock. I have done nothing since Friday except hide in my shop....my wife thinks I am a bit touched in the head..."

(Don't understand that "quote" window). ANyhow, I've built both high quality & TC kits. One of the best parts of the high quality kits is that they are not completely inlet. There is always some minor fitting, which makes a better looking rifle. Sure, it's easy to drop all the parts into a piece of wood w/o any fitting, but the gaposis is not pretty, as they include tolerances for the factory run parts.

My wife thinks I'm a bit touched also ("What, another gun?!"), but she learned to accept it.

 

[Slowpoke]

What no Milling Machine???? I understand now, I'm spoiled I guess.

SP

 

[bob1961]

(Don't understand that "quote" window)

it's just a way to answer a question or a part of a post....like i just did :front: .................bob

 

[Zonie]

15 hours on the barrel and 6 on the lock??? :shocking:

Sounds about right to me.

As I have said many times before, if a person takes their time, they can turn one of these "pre-inlet" kits into a truly fine gun!
If they hurry, they can end up with a truly ugly hunk of wood with big gaps where the metal pieces fit.

Keep up the good work. You'll end up with something that people will look at and say "You did that?? You, sir are a true craftsman!!"
:thumbsup:

 

[Randy]

ELee,
I keep thinking I will get faster with every new gun I build but it still takes just as long or longer because I keep trying to do a better job on the next one. I find if you build each rifle like it was going to be your one and only gun you spend a lot of time getting things just right. Then when you are done you truly have a work of art, something to be proud of. if you can't afford the time find a different hobby because this truly eats up a lot of time. A good way to ponder the fate of the world as you work though.
Luke is truly a good guy up at TOW. He is from my old home town of Eau Claire, WI and has been with them for about a year or two. Always seems friendly on the phone and will take time to really help. A few of their other guys seem to be in a rush all the time which is dissapointing when you have bought thousands of $ of their parts.
Do you have a drill press? that makes drilling for the lock and tang bolts go much easier. Can be done just as well with a hand held drill too. Just start with a smaller pilot drill and work from both sides to meet in the middle somewhere. Go slow and check progress often, think about what is happening and you will do fine. Hope to see some pics of your results someday.