Question on Shaping Trigger Guards

[Valkyrie]

I’m dipping my feet into building a rifle. Instead of a kit I have picked the parts I want “a la cart”. The rifle is flint ignition and going to be a dedicated deer hunting gun. I am going with a .50 caliber 7/8 Colrain barrel straight with a large Siler deluxe lock. I’m waiting for ToW to get a preinlet stock In their inventory. I am using all early Lancaster mounting hardware in nickel silver. Yeah I. Know. Blasphemy. Lol. But I like the look.

anyways. The triggerguard is pretty chunky out of the mold and I am slowly working it to shape by hand. I had to bend a little here and there to get the major stuff aligned and I’ve gotten all the rough outer scale cleaned off. But. The mounting tenons are huge and thick. I don’t know how thick they should be?

thoughts?

 

[Phil Coffins]

I don’t think it matters as long as they are thinner the the tangs. But I do like to file them so they are smooth and with out taper for inletting.

 

[ord sgt]

The tenons do not need to be very thick. They aren't supporting any weight. Just make the mortice deep enough to pin the TG in place. Don't go too deep or you might run into the lock mortice, If you choose, you can hide the front pin (a blind pin) inside the lock mortice. This will give a cleaner look to the finished rifle.

 

[Valkyrie]

Thanks.

I’m going very slow with everything. I have the buttplate cleaned up and it looks good. I have a bunch of stuff on order also. Pfeil chisels, a new side plate because the one I got had very deep casting inclusions I could not level out without making it paper thin. I may make my own.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Just remember if you do a blind pin to leave enough of a stub sticking out in the lock mortise so you can grab it with pliers to remove it should you ever want to!

 

[necchi]

Good advice from ord sgt,,
Don't hold yourself down to just TOTW for wood or components, they just re-sell. They're a distributor, they make nothing in their shop.(besides profit) Try going direct to the source.
I can say this, I live 40miles from their shop and have been going there for 20yrs.

 

[Stophel]

I prefer the tenons to be heavy and solid, but they can be thinner. Just don't make them so thin they're weak and stretch out around the pin.

No reason to make a blind hole for the pin or leaving any of the pin out so you can pull it out. If the pin is in the lock inlet, it is likely going to be in the sideplate inlet on the other side.

 

[Valkyrie]

Here is the roughed out guard. Obviously a lot that has to be done but it’s square and all the major work is done. I’m not gonna do anything more until I have the wood and it’s time to inlet it.

How’s it look?

 

[Phil Coffins]

I like to get them down to rough sanded before starting. Will you be beveling the ends and is there a bit of draft to the edges?

 

[jerrywh]

anything from 1/16" to 1/8" thick is OK.

 

[martin9]

I like track and buy a lot of stuff from them but I do believe they just resell stocks they get from Pecatonica. I'd call them.

 

[Valkyrie]

I like to get them down to rough sanded before starting. Will you be beveling the ends and is there a bit of draft to the edges?

I will bevel the ends and draft the edges. It’s just roughed out now. Weds more work but I tend to be impatient and to combat these tendencies give myself a self imposed time limit for working on the build. Two hours a day. That’s it. Forces me to be deliberate and measured in what I do and think about what’s next more.

 

[Valkyrie]

Check me on this guys. I am thinking I will leave the tenons about 3/16” thick and not cut the other dimensions on them down until I am ready to fit it to the stock. As for beveling the front and back I want to also wait to make sure I don’t have to change the length or do any other changes to the dimensions and have to reprofile things again.

Sound like I’m on the right track?

 

[Col. Batguano]

I have a hard time making the tenon holes the proper width so the tabs don't rattle around in them. So I go the easy way and shove some epoxy putty in there after it's cut in. It doesn't have to completely fill the hole. Just enough to secure at least a portion of it. Of course, the TG foot IS tight, so what I do probably isn't necessary.

 

[Stophel]

Don't make your tenons straight sided. Taper them a fair bit. That way, as you go in with them, they get tighter.

Though from what little I have been able to see from original guns, they didn't bother with it much.

 

[Valkyrie]

I spent a couple more hours this evening and have the front tang of the guard beveled down and a draft filed I to all the edges. It is finished down to 220 grit paper. The bevels are pretty crisp and clean. I had to really go slow because the casting was terribly rough and bent as well as twisted. It isn’t symmetrical but only out by a little from side to side. I think it is pretty good so far and as I get closer to final sanding before I start fitting it I’ll revisit everything. Thank goodness for jewelers files!!

I had to quit working on it for my set imposed time limit and I am out of sand paper. I have enough of other stuff to keep me busy until I get a stock. I have the buttplate finished out to 220 also. I may start cleaning up the outside of the lock. I’m not sure if I want to rust brown everything or do a worn gunmetal look.

 

[Valkyrie]

Ok I am having an issue. As I am tweaking this guard I notice the tenons are not in alignment longitudinally. The rear tenon is offset about 1/8” to the left side of the casting. I can file it true but would make the tenon about 1/8” thick. Or I can leave as is and just inlet it the way it is as long as the guard is fit properly to the stock, the tenon is invisible? The casting was really bent and twisted and it took considerable file work and bending to get it where it is although it isn’t perfect the asymmetry is not noticeable unless you really look for it.

Thoughts?

 

[rchas]

I would leave the rear tenon as is--you will not see it once inletted into the stock.

 

[Valkyrie]

I would leave the rear tenon as is--you will not see it once inletted into the stock.

I’m leaning this way also. The tenons are about 3/16” or so now. There’s still some file work and final tweaking. It’s come along nice and I hope that it looks good. Some areas are just so hard to work smooth because of the tight angles or trying to keep the lines right.

 

[Valkyrie]

This is what I’ve got so far down to 400 paper. It’s just finishing now. The tenons are good, it’s as square and symmetrical as I can get it without filing away a lot more metal and changing how it looks.

Thoughts?