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Lock panel tight fit

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Douglas Leih

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Hey guys and gals. Newbie here with a newb question. So, I'm building my first rifle and I've run into a bit of a problem: I drilled and tapped my lock bolts, only to find that my lock panel doesn't sit completely flush with the side of my barrel when I tighten the screws down. There's a slight gap along the top the the panel, enough that I'm afraid that pan powder will collect in and cause corrosion/ignite. Any and all advice is appreciated.
 
You could fill the gap with an epoxy I suppose. Or glue an exact fitting wood patch in and recut the mortice for the lock.
 
Something on the lock is bottoming out on the wood instead of the side of the barrel. Smoke the lock and look for black spots.
 
Often the culprit is a part of the main spring as it swoops upward to the lock bolster. When you smoke the lock, look not only for black left on the wood, but for shiny spots left on the metal of the lock. Inletting a lock is a very tedious process.
 
Hey guys and gals. Newbie here with a newb question. So, I'm building my first rifle and I've run into a bit of a problem: I drilled and tapped my lock bolts, only to find that my lock panel doesn't sit completely flush with the side of my barrel when I tighten the screws down. There's a slight gap along the top the the panel, enough that I'm afraid that pan powder will collect in and cause corrosion/ignite. Any and all advice is appreciated.
AS Dave has already said' inlet the lock a bit more. I use a small scraper for the final removal, a bit at a time, and be sure to check afterwards that you still have clearance for the sear, springs etc. Sometimes it is that stuff that will prevent the lock from sitting in all the way, check for that clearance before you start removing material from the lock plate seat. As a last ditch, I have seen a lock with a gasket on the bolster; I think so that the owner didn't have to carve anything else. If you don't get a good tight fit, you will get all kinds of fouling blowing down behind the lock;
 
Hi,
A problem here is the OP did not provide any context about his problem. Are you building a kit with a pre-inlet lock? If so what kit and lock? Is the lock supposed to fully inlet by the kit maker? Are you building from a blank? Suggesting what to do is kind of meaningless until we know more.

dave
 
Douglas, One question I have is if you drilled and tapped your lock plate while it was installed in the stock. If it was all inlet and tight fitting PRIOR to drilling and tapping, and you just marked the places to drill and then took the lock out to drill and tap, the angle of the drill hole may be different than it should be causing the top to not pull in because it's hitting on the bottom somewhere, either the mortice or an internal component on the wood.

After inletting, I have always clamped the lockplate in place to hold it solidly, then drilled through from the side plate side and tapped through the same way to ensure the tapped holes are aligned perfectly the way it's inletted.

If so, the fix Dave suggested is still correct, but in the future you may be able to avoid the problem.
 
And when tapping through all that wood in to the lock plate, make sure you go slowly and back off often to break the chips. It's when breaking through the far side that the resistance is the greatest and they're most prone to breakage.

A broken tap is a nightmare to get out of there---if you can at all. And, because they are hardened tool steel, you can't drill through them very easily either---again, if at all. Been there done that.
 
Yep, need more inletting. Also check the bolster, some times they need to be filed to fit to the barrel.
A lock should always be fully inlet and fuctioning properly before drilling and tapping for lock bolts.
 

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