• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Inletting question

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jan 23, 2021
Messages
174
Reaction score
132
Take a look at this line on the side of my barrel. Both ends. Should I go down about 1/32 more or is this ok …. Getting lamp black the full length.
Thanks. Mule
C77F80F7-64E5-4D88-B016-3DDCC4ECE0B3.jpeg
8ED528FF-0752-4777-B51F-E1791A135E86.jpeg
 
It looks like your breech is a little deeper than the muzzle, but that may be camera angles. I plane the surface I am inletting the barrel into perfectly flat, then inlet the barrel exactly half way up the side flat. Barrel location determines lock location, then all measurements from there.

Short answer: I would inlet a little deeper :)

P.S. Where did the vice come from?
 
Got the vise from Grizzly. $112.00. Then add shipping and tax. WoodCraft had it on sale the next day for $99. It’s like $160 vise…. I had othe vises but couldn’t pass up a deal like that.
 
Hi,
I prefer to have about 2/3s of the side barrel flat showing above the wood. That yields much slimmer looking guns.
gli0lXp.jpg

OBYWKRo.jpg

1fAD9wK.jpg


It does not have to be even all the way along the barrel. Sometimes a slight taper downward of the sides toward the muzzle exposing more barrel gives the stock a more elegant shape.

Also note, no gaps between the ramrod and the bottom of the muzzle cap. That requires a thin web of wood between the bottom of the barrel channel and the top of the ramrod groove.

dave

dave
 
Also note, no gaps between the ramrod and the bottom of the muzzle cap. That requires a thin web of wood between the bottom of the barrel channel and the top of the ramrod groove
Yes, as I look ahead, that is the one thing that has me most concerned. The web of wood between the lock plate and the barrel. As it stands right now. If my calculations are correct. I have around 3/16ths of wood to work with so my bolt will go through. But, 3/16 maybe to much….but…. I’m a noob. Mistakes are going to happen.😁
 
Yes, as I look ahead, that is the one thing that has me most concerned. The web of wood between the lock plate and the barrel. As it stands right now. If my calculations are correct. I have around 3/16ths of wood to work with so my bolt will go through. But, 3/16 maybe to much….but…. I’m a noob. Mistakes are going to happen.😁
Even the big boys make mistakes, but better know how to correct or disguise them.
I am with Dave on the 2/3s flat exposure.
3/16" is convenient for the lock bolt, but if you have a thinner web, you can just hourglass the bolt where the RR interstects.
Larry
 
Yes, as I look ahead, that is the one thing that has me most concerned. The web of wood between the lock plate and the barrel. As it stands right now. If my calculations are correct. I have around 3/16ths of wood to work with so my bolt will go through. But, 3/16 maybe to much….but…. I’m a noob. Mistakes are going to happen.😁

3/16" is fine. You can taper it down to 1/8" at the muzzle.
 
3/16" is fine. You can taper it down to 1/8" at the muzzle.
Yes, after reading Peter Alexander’s book, he notes to first go down 3/16’s from the muzzle end to cut the ramrod channel. Then, use a rat tail file to decrease this portion at the muzzle end to 1/8th. This not only gets the ramrod closer to the cap. It also creates a slight bend in the ramrod channel to help hold the ramrod in place. …. Now note… this is how I interpreted it. If this sounds off , please let me know…. Thanks, Bob
 
Yes, after reading Peter Alexander’s book, he notes to first go down 3/16’s from the muzzle end to cut the ramrod channel. Then, use a rat tail file to decrease this portion at the muzzle end to 1/8th. This not only gets the ramrod closer to the cap. It also creates a slight bend in the ramrod channel to help hold the ramrod in place. …. Now note… this is how I interpreted it. If this sounds off , please let me know…. Thanks, Bob

Guys like Dave P are vastly more experienced than me and may do it differently but when I draw my template on my blank I angle the bottom web line from 3/16" to 1/8" from breech to muzzle giving me a slim muzzle end and enough room for my front lock bolt at the breech end. I draw my barrel, a center line showing roughly the top of the stock, then progressing down from the bottom of the barrel, the web, the ramrod channel, also bisected, and then the bottom of the stock, so that slight angle is baked in. Mike Miller describes this very well in his Boone build video series. Of course, you have to execute what you've drawn....

Below is a stock pattern for a 5//8" .29 cal FCI barrel. 2/3 of the barrel and ramrod will be exposed as Dave describes above as the barrel is so tiny the stock has to be slimmed as much as possible.

IMG_1051.jpg
 
Hi,
Bob explained it just fine and Peter Alexander's advice is also excellent. Some things that should ease your mind a bit. Don't worry if the forward lock bolt breaks into the barrel channel a little. If it does, just file a shallow groove on the bottom of the barrel to allow it to clear. Don't worry if the forward lock bolt breaks into the ramrod hole a little. Taper the ramrod slightly or file a thinner diameter in the middle of the screw to accommodate it. I emphasis the word "little" here as too much can be a problem. I have a beautiful good quality original English fowler made in the 1760s. The forward lock bolt has a half moon groove filed into the shaft to clear the ramrod. So the bolt has to be in a certain position and you have to remove the ramrod to remove the bolt. Your ramrod channel and hole do not need to be parallel with the bore of the barrel. It's OK to have them more or less follow the profile of the bottom of the barrel. That often makes for a very slim gun. Then again, it's OK to have the ramrod groove follow the bottom of the barrel and the hole be parallel with the bore, what Alexander describes. Don't worry if the inlet for your barrel lugs break into the ramrod groove. Many perhaps most originals show that and it is almost impossible to avoid when making a slime gun. It also helps you locate the middle of the lug when you drill it for pins or keys because you can see it from the bottom.

dave
 
Back
Top