How common was "perfect" inletting in the 18th century?

[Peter LeRay]

Is this sloppy Jerry Huddleston?

 

[davec2]

For the "wet and wrap" method, what do you "lube" the barrel with so it doesn't mess up the wood or turn into a rusty mess itself after being wrapped up wet for a week?

 

[Peter LeRay]

I'm going to try Johnsons paste wax

 

[Birddog6]

What I see, is what sometimes happens when someone purchases parts from dif venders & the barrel channel was not cut for that particular barrel. Such as: Wood from TOW, barrel from Rice, Lock from TVM, trigger from ?
IF I am going to buy a preshaped stock, I am going to get the barrel from the same guy, as he had that stock cut off his pattern for a Specific Make & Size Barrel .

Nutherwords, all barrel sizes are NOT equal, tho some claim to be. You take any one of them in a 42" swamped barrel that is 15 yrs old & measure it to a new on & you most likely will see a dif. from same manufacturer & dif manufacturer.
Also, machines get wear, thus barrel dimensions can fluctuate. I had a Getz barrel one tome that one measurement from side to side was .040" less than all the others. You can't see it in the rifle, but I know it is there.

Now it very well could be warpage or shrinkage or the cutting holder vibrated loose, really makes no dif, it is what it is. :idunno:

This is how I shrink one. Basically the same as Fred does:

I wipe the barrel with RIG gun grease.
Then wet the barrel channel a few hours with wet paper towels.
Lay a piece of thin shrink wrapping down the barrel channel. (from Lowes in a lil hand held roll)
Set the barrel in the stock & wrap the heck out of it with surgical tubing.
Set it aside for about 2 weeks & come back & have to pull the barrel out of the stock it is so tight.

You can get the tubing at Woodcrafts if you don't have access to it any place else. The tubing is not nearly as good as it used to be, as breaks easier then it used to. But what is available will work.

Walnut seems to comply with this method quite easily, as the grain is more open. So if you soak walnut, check it often. IF you leave it too long it will swell up like a balloon !

Also note the gap may open More when it gets wet, and the wood swells. Don't be alarmed, just let it soak a bit & wrap the bejesus out of it. When I wrap mine I stretch the rubber good (test small piece of rubber for breakage Before ya start)& leave about 1/8" gap between the rubber wraps around the stock.

After looking at the sides of your barrel channel, I would take about 1/2 of that wood off before trying to shrink the gap up, as I feel you have too much wood there to move. But it is just a photo & may not be as thick as it appears.

Keith Lisle

 

[Birddog6]

I don't know about Jerry, but I can see obvious gaps between every board. :idunno: :rotf:
:slap:

Keith Lisle

 

[Peter LeRay]

Thanks Keith! I figured I would take off about half and then try this. I will post progress pictures as I go. Thanks!

 

[Vaino]

Also...when wetting the wood, make sure the RR channel is wet....the thin web acts like a hinge.....Fred

 

[Peter LeRay]

I was thinking about that. Definitely don't need it splitting

 

[jerrywh]

Peter.
Don't take it personal. My comment was not referring to you specifically. It was a [if the shoe fits wear it type of criticism.]
If I was faced with your problem I would make a wood form just slightly under the barrel size probably about .020 undersize maybe smaller. You can do that with a wooden dowel. Make it flat across the top so that when you wrap it, it will tend to pull the sides of the wood in. Heat that section with a heat gun or any source of heat. To about 350° for at about 5 to 10 minutes 10 minutes. Then wrap it tightly with string or any thing that will hold it tight against the form. Let it cool completely even overnight is good. When done the barrel might be too tight but that is easy to fix by sanding.
The fact that it bothers you shows that you care about quality. That is good. The best gun makers in the world make lots of mistakes they have just learned a lot of ways to fix them.

 

[Peter LeRay]

so I'm soaking the stock here prior to wrapping it...

 

[Peter LeRay]

here I wrapped it with a giant rubber band I bought at a science store. We shall see......

 

[Crewdawg445]

Here's my inlet work... I'm VERY anal. Then again my builds take longer than most, however I'm completely okay with that. I also believe there was a very wide range of workmanship from person to person, just like today. I personally want what's seen on the outside to also reflect that of what's not seen. Again, all personal preference as is just about everything.

 

[Pete G]

Nice looking work, but don't forget to leave some clearance at the rear of the tang. Recoil and/or barrel removal will chip this area if it is too tight, and you will not like that.