Riveting an under rib

[longcruise]

I'm at a cross roads regarding this underrib.  May not get to it for a few weeks but am thinking to rivet it.  Here's what I wonder;  What material for the rivets?  Was thinking copper but maybe too soft?  How to firmly attach the rivets to the barrel?  Stake em in?  Solder?

All ideas welcome!

[Majorjoel]

Hi Mike, a lot depends on the thickness of your barrel walls. If on the thin side, a lot of staking around can put dimples in your bore. I opted for the screw method on my last half stock. Using advice from Don Getz, with scope mounting screws. Three is all it took to get er done. I did have plenty of meat to work with on a 1 1\16" straight 54 cal barrel. On a thin wall barrel I would use solder.

[northmn]

I used solder on a half stock fowler with very thin walled barrels and screws for my 1" 58.  The 6X48 scoped mount screws work excellently but others can be used.  I solder the thimbles on with a high temp solder before soft soldering the rib.

DP

[Scott Semmel]

I only did a blind riveted rib one time, but used 4 penny finishing nails with head made uniform and a scant 16th deep. It is flipping amazing how strongly they hold. Practice on scrap steel till you are confident in your staking.

[smylee grouch]

In the H. House Hawken building video he makes the rivets out of nails I think. He threaded one end, screwed that into barrel and riveted the other end into a counter sunk hole in the rib.   Gary

[Scott Semmel]

With my advanced case of CRS I don't know whose directions I was following when I did mine. But the process is; drill the underib for a snug fit on the nails and gently counter sink ramrod side to later secure rivets , use the underib as a guide to mark barrel, Drill barrel as you would for stapling underlugs using your modified nail head as determiner for diameter and depth, stake your rivets, slide underrib on rivets, cut rivets to length and peen into countersink, file and sand to mach underib. When I was finished browning you couldn't see the rivets without magnification.

[fm tim]

Jim Turpin video on Percussion rifles shows him using nails in blind rivet holes on a Hawken replica rib.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

fm tim:  was the rib made from sheet metal like the originals?

[fm tim]

Taylor,
He is riveting a "standard" under-rib shape onto a straight barrel.  He makes rivet with a die, but says that a soft nail will work.  He turns the rivet until the head is not too deep.  Drills a slight hole, then makes the bottom of the hole flat by grinding off the point of a drill bit and using it as an end mill to get a flat bottom.

[Dave Dolliver]

I prefer to use the screw method because if  I am later called upon to cone or refinish the muzzle the barrel with rib attached will not go through the headstock of my lathe.  If I can remove the rib and thimble assy there's no problem.  I use the 6-48 scope mounting screws.  On a thin walled barrel, I think soldering is the way to go.

Dave Dolliver

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

On my current build, a S. Hawken rifle, I am installing a sheet metal under-rib I bought at Dixon's from LC Rice.  I have welded up the muzzle end with a crescent to look like all the originals I've seen pictures of, and the breech end I'll fill with a piece of steel to make it into a sealed trough.  I intend to solder it to the barrel, because I'm going to rust blue the barrel, rib and pipes at the same time, so it's going to be in boiling water for ten minutes six or seven times over a couple of days.  I don't want water between the rib and the barrel, as it will surely rust and continue to do so for the rifles entire life.
The alternate method would be to set up the barrel and rib with the holes for the rivets, blue them separately and then join them afterwards.  I'll have to think about that.

[Pete G.]

I used a penny finishing nails on a solid rib. With the head staked into a hole in the barrel it worked extremely well, and you don't have to worry about stripping out the threads trying to tap a shallow blind hole. When the rib is not in solid attachment with the barrel it may also allow for some expansion and contraction as the barrel heats and cools, but I think the jury may still be out on that verdict.

[Levy]

I've seen the rivets staked into the barrel on a J.Bean rifle that the State of Florida owns. and I've seen them dovetailed into the barrel on a half-stock squirrel rifle that I own.

James Levy

[Red Owl]

I have a small booklet about the Henry gunsmiths of Bolton, PA and the under rib in one photo was sheet metal- which I thought may only be something they did. Were most under ribs sheet metal and how were they attached to the barrel?  I am sort of PC driven so if I did such a project I would want to copy the originals as much as possible.