How to open up a barrel channel?

[marcusb]

I am starting on my fall project rifle of odds and ends parts. I picked up a old beck precarve for cheap but the barrel channel is inlet to 3/4" barrel. The problem is I have a 7/8" barrel to use for the project. I have been going around in circles trying to figure out how to open up the channel? There is not much extra material on the sides and the forestock is slightly warped to one side so  even marking guidelines is proving difficult. I am on a very limited budget so another stock is not really an option. Should I chisel, maybe fashion some type of tool?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Marcus B

[Ed Wenger]

Marcus,

The only thing I could think of is maybe use tape, or surgical tube to "attach" the barrel on top of the barrel channel?  Then scribe the profile and use a chisel to shave away the wood. 

           Ed

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Bear in mind that you will likely have to take wood out on all five flats of the channel, to drop the bigger barrel down to the correct depth.  You have to decide whether there is enough wood in the precarve to allow 1/16"  of wood removal all over.  From then on, it's chisel and scrape. I don't know of an easy way to do that.

[rich pierce]

It's harder than inletting a barrel from scratch.  And you may or may not have enough width at the lock panel.  If I had to do it I'd use the octagonal gunline tool from Brownells.

[b bogart]

I believe that I would clamp the forestock between two pieces of angle iron of the appropriate length to attempt to keep it somewhat straight and supported on both sides.. Good luck!

[Curt Larsen]

The gunline octagonal scrapers that Brownells carrys is a good way to try to keep the channel octagonal as Rich suggests.  If you do this, be very careful because it is really easy to take too much off the sides of the channel.  The gunline scraper can be hard to control so use care.  Taylor is right that you will have to take the sides as well as the bottom of the channel down to your 7/8" dimension.  As you take it down, it will also thin the already thin web between the barrel channel and ramrod channel.  If you are successful in getting the channel in I suggest that you only use one lock bolt and forego the forward lock bolt to avoid the thin web mentioned above.

Curt

[Jerry V Lape]

Just did this!  I used one of those foldup work tables which  is essentially a full length vise which has an array of holes along the edges in which bench dogs are inserted.  By placing the bench dogs strategically and using some scrap wood to work the bend out of the stock I was able to align the barrel and the existing channel.  From there it was putting a transfer marker on the barrel, tap it to see where the wood was to be removed.  I used one of Brownells pull handle scrapers to shave the sides until the barrel could go into the channel.  When the markings started appearing on the other flats they got the same treatment.  

Just be very careful while working the vertical side flats that you get it vertical.  It is real easy to scrape the top edge of that flat too much.  I have a spot I will have to glue back some wood and recut to get a nice fit.  I get to practice that more than I like to admit.  

Now, a couple weeks after the barrel has been fully inletted in the channel and I have removed most of the excess wood, the stock conforms to the barrel without forcing it at the bench.  .  

[marcusb]

Thanks for the help guys. I decided to proceed carefully with chisels. Its looking like I should have fashoned a scraper but live and learn. I will post an update when I get it in.

Thanks Again

Marcus B

[marcusb]

My long rifle has now became a half stock! I made it about half way down the stock and the edges became so thin it chipped out.

I am using a small siler percusion lock and the stock is a beck, I am telling myself it is a earlier rifle that is still in use and has been converted to caps 

There are some gaps along barrel were I inletted the barrel in. The wood is very thin here and I am not sure how to proceed.

[Ky-Flinter]

It's harder than inletting a barrel from scratch.  

Amen Rich, I can attest to that.  On my current plains rifle project I had to open up a 15/16" channel for the 1" barrel.  Pain in the butt.  And it's only a half stock.  Almost too late in the game I made a scraper to do the bottom 3 flats.  Make one or buy one from Brownell's, a scraper is the way to go.

Marcus,
Welcome to ALR.  For your barrel gaps, as Jerry mentioned, save some of the shavings from your stock, match the grain as best you can, trim them to fit and glue them into the gaps, then refit the barrel.   Or... and some here would say this is blasphemous, get some Brownell's Acra-Glas and bed the barrel.  This will close your gaps and strengthen the thin wood.  Good luck.

-Ron