I am building a North Star West Northwest trade gun kit. It's about 90% complete as shipped from them. I'm currently inletting the barrel and have a question having never seen a muzzleloader in person before. Is the barrel supposed to sit in the bottom of the stock channel? I've got a 1/8" gap and am guessing I need to sand the channel to allow the barrel to rest in the bottom. Any guidance would be appreciated. I'm new to this whole thing. Thanks.
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Northwest Trade Gun Build
- Thread starter gregwl
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Pete G
76 Cal.
The barrel channel is left slightly undersized to allow for final fitting. Usually some light sanding will do what is required. Use a candle to smoke the underside of the barrel to see where it is touching the stock and gradually remove that area with a sanding block or a scraper (you might have to make a scraper that will fit the barrel channel). Be patient and you will have a stock that looks like the wood grew around the metal.
At this stage of the game, you should sand the sides of the barrel channel so that the barrel fits easily into it, all the way to the bottom.
The idea is, not to remove too much wood but to remove enough so that a piece of paper can just be pushed into the crack between the barrel and the wood.
That said, I'm moving your topic to the Gun Builders Bench area of the forum.
That's where we talk about building muzzleloaders.
The idea is, not to remove too much wood but to remove enough so that a piece of paper can just be pushed into the crack between the barrel and the wood.
That said, I'm moving your topic to the Gun Builders Bench area of the forum.
That's where we talk about building muzzleloaders.
Black Hand
Cannon
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Yes. Make sure you square up the breech area and that the barrel makes contact with the wood. In order for it to sit properly, you will need to inlet the tang and probably bend the tang to conform with the curvature of the stock rear of the breech.gregwl said:
The barrel should just slide out of the stock, as the finish will make up the difference in space.
You may wish to consider the use of scrapers and chisels to remove the remaining wood.
Yes move slow here and be careful. Just sanding its easy to get to loose on the sides before you get it all the way to the bottom. Smoking and cutting slow. First round barrel I inlet I got far to wide before I got it to the bottom. Had to fill with a bedding compound 
54ball
62 Cal.
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O.K. you have invested in at least Grand or more (a little bit more if you invested in proper tools) in this project but you're not done in the initial investing quite yet!
By far the most important thing for you to do now is to invest in some eduction on the subject. One or all of these is a must. There's just too much money involved to "wing it" with out some sort of reference to study...
Link Dixons
Link Grenville
Link Recreating
Link Chambers..Elhert video....Assembly DVD
By far the most important thing for you to do now is to invest in some eduction on the subject. One or all of these is a must. There's just too much money involved to "wing it" with out some sort of reference to study...
Link Dixons
Link Grenville
Link Recreating
Link Chambers..Elhert video....Assembly DVD
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54ball said:
+ [a whole bunch!!]
he's right! it's too big a risk to botch it up -I would urge you to invest in The Gunsmith of Grenville County by Peter Alexander. Although a bit pricey, it's an excellent book, with good illustrations, and it tells you in which order the steps should be taken, and why. This book will more than save its cost in parts you don't ruin, so it's an investment, not an expense.
You may also consider Recreating the American Longrifle (also available from Track of the Wolf or Shumway publishing).
Good luck with your project!
54ball
62 Cal.
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Track has them for about the same price, like a penny's difference. The Dixon book is the cheapest and from what I hear very simple but good. Sometimes simple is better.
greg,
The books videos ect provide info that you can go back to over and over again until you...."get it".
Mainly these books help you understand the building process. Once you how one is built, you can apply that knowledge to your project. Forums provide good information as well but you need to be careful as some of the info you get on a forum may not be suited to your project. Getting educated on the subject helps you weed out info/sugestions that...well, are not very good.
I have Alexander's book it's very good and I refer to it often but it's not a step by step instructional for me. It will not be for your case either. Most of these books are about building from a blank. Good info...but for you, some of the steps will be different as you are building a "pre-carve", meaning some of the stuff has already been done. The sequence has been changed up some.
The basic assembly on most pre-carves/pre-inlet stocks goes together like this...
Study the components. See how it goes together and where your "adjustments" are. Since the lock is inlet or partially inlet it's location is pretty much "set". To get the touch hole location to line up with the center of the pan the barrel may need to be moved back. This is the main adjustment you have.
As it is right now....the barrel does not need to be fully inlet into the stock until it's touch hole/vent location is lined up with the pan.
1. Inlet lock...at least to the point to confirm vent and breech location.
2. Confirm vent location on the barrel. Unbreech the barrel(remove breech plug).
3. Inlet the barrel straight down into it's channel. Depending on how the channel is inlet this may be a simple matter of squaring up the breech inlet. Also if a vent liner is used....you may need to set the barrel back a little more for vent/pan orientation.
4. Replace breech plug...inlet breech plug straight down...go slow
5. With barrel and breech fully inlet, finish up the lock inlet to a perfect fit to the side flat of the barrel.
6. Attach each barrel lug to the barrel and inlet them one at a time........
Then pin barrel, attach breech screw, triggers ect ect. The books will give you a lot more specific details. Remember too there is more than one way to skin a cat so the way you complete this project may be slightly different than the book or what I just wrote.
greg,
The books videos ect provide info that you can go back to over and over again until you...."get it".
Mainly these books help you understand the building process. Once you how one is built, you can apply that knowledge to your project. Forums provide good information as well but you need to be careful as some of the info you get on a forum may not be suited to your project. Getting educated on the subject helps you weed out info/sugestions that...well, are not very good.
I have Alexander's book it's very good and I refer to it often but it's not a step by step instructional for me. It will not be for your case either. Most of these books are about building from a blank. Good info...but for you, some of the steps will be different as you are building a "pre-carve", meaning some of the stuff has already been done. The sequence has been changed up some.
The last 10% is the most crucial...requiring the .. most attention...the most finesse.
The basic assembly on most pre-carves/pre-inlet stocks goes together like this...
Study the components. See how it goes together and where your "adjustments" are. Since the lock is inlet or partially inlet it's location is pretty much "set". To get the touch hole location to line up with the center of the pan the barrel may need to be moved back. This is the main adjustment you have.
As it is right now....the barrel does not need to be fully inlet into the stock until it's touch hole/vent location is lined up with the pan.
1. Inlet lock...at least to the point to confirm vent and breech location.
2. Confirm vent location on the barrel. Unbreech the barrel(remove breech plug).
3. Inlet the barrel straight down into it's channel. Depending on how the channel is inlet this may be a simple matter of squaring up the breech inlet. Also if a vent liner is used....you may need to set the barrel back a little more for vent/pan orientation.
4. Replace breech plug...inlet breech plug straight down...go slow
5. With barrel and breech fully inlet, finish up the lock inlet to a perfect fit to the side flat of the barrel.
6. Attach each barrel lug to the barrel and inlet them one at a time........
Then pin barrel, attach breech screw, triggers ect ect. The books will give you a lot more specific details. Remember too there is more than one way to skin a cat so the way you complete this project may be slightly different than the book or what I just wrote.
All good advise given above! Wish I had gotten such when I built my first longrifle! I have just one more thing that I would like to add. This is regarding parts preparation which includes your brass or iron furniture. Items like butt plates, trigger guards, side plates, ram rod thimbles, etc., which come to you basically as castings. They are full of "flaws" and unwanted tabs and protrusions that need a great deal of work to get them to a finished state and ready for inletting into your build. You should take the time to get each of these parts right before you start assembling your gun. A good quality build depends upon all of the little details done one stage at a time! Good luck and enjoy your journey!
Those books are great. I enjoy Hanson's "Trade Gun Sketch Book" There are actual size patterns as a guide. I think only $10..
And Pryor Mt. Bill Newtons Trade Muskets and Northwest Guns. I think it was $5.00 . Again, actual size patterns. These are good for the new builders, with just basics..
And Pryor Mt. Bill Newtons Trade Muskets and Northwest Guns. I think it was $5.00 . Again, actual size patterns. These are good for the new builders, with just basics..
frogwalking
45 Cal.
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Check this out:
http://americanlongrifles.org/PDF/tutorial.pdf Sorry: you can't get there from here.
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Here is a north west kit I just completed for a client. I marked were the flash hole will be then took the breech plug out so you can see if lock and flash hole will line up I had a little room to move the lock forward but after the lock was inlet I still had to move the barrel back. Then after you get that lined up you can put the breech plug in and inlet that. The barrel should be touching on the bottom of the stock but also make sure the back of the breech is resting tight against the stock.
Nice build, Steve!
rich pierce
70 Cal.
Steve, that's a dandy! Nice workmanship.
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