How to move a hole

[Benedict]

I just drilled the front lock bolt hole through the stock.  The bad news is that i drilled it a little too low.  This is the tap drill so is not quite full size but is already impinging on the ramrod.  I believe that there is room to move it up before hitting the barrel and even if I do hit the barrel, I do not mind filing a groove in it as it is pretty hefty.  So, I am looking for suggestions on how to move the hole in the wood about 1/16 " or about half its diameter.  I still have the body hole to drill so can hopefully clean up the moved pilot hole if need be.

Thanks in advance.

Bruce

[b bogart]

Find the appropriate sized hardwood dowel and glue it in, then redrill? Hopefully the sideplate will cover the indiscretion. I hope there are more suggestions out there, but this is my .02 worth. Good luck!
Bruce

[B Shipman]

If you fill it (a good idea) , you'll have to have a ramrod drill to clean up the obstruction. You can work a hole to a small extent simply by running your drill thru it with upward pressure. Easy. I call it fudging.

[Randy Hedden]

Depending on how much the lock bolt interferes with ramrod, you can leave the hole where it is and file a notch in the lock bolt to provide the needed clearance. If you do this you will have to put a small mark on the head of the lock bolt so you know that it is aligned with the notch down toward the ramrod. You can also taper the ramrod on the end that goes into the stock to gain some clearance.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[Majorjoel]

I have used Randy's suggestion to notch the forward lock bolt on a couple of occassions. REMEMBER to always pull the ramrod before unscrewing the lock bolts in your long future use of your longrifle!! Them bolts will take a bite out of your ramrod. Just ask me how I know about this......

[long carabine]

I once had a long rifle with the forward lock bolt notched. Its no problemo at all.

[George F.]

The trouble sometimes with re-drilling another hole, even after it has been filled with a dowel, is that after properly locating the new hole, the drill bit will have a tendency to travel the path of least resistance. Even if this occures the hole can be chased into the desired location with a small size chain saw file. Misplaced holes happen to everyone from time to time. ......Geo.

[P.Bigham]

 You can also use a chain saw file to open up the hole up in the direction you want to go.

[Robert Wolfe]

If it is not hitting the ramrod by much turn the unthreaded part of the lock nail  down. That way you don't have to deal with a notch and having to remove the ramrod each time you want to remove the lock.

[David Rase]

Bruce,  The method I use is to "fudge" as Bill Shipman calls it, is to use a small round needle file an elongate the hole in the needed direction and then reround it using a drill.
DMR

[Benedict]

Thanks for the ideas.  I have been thinking all night on how best to "fudge" the hole with files or saws but never once thought of plugging the hole.  I don't know why I did not think of that because I have done it in the past.

Now what I am thinking will be to plug the hole and redrill.  If the drill follows the original path much, then I can file it over.  Hopefully, if it does follow the original path it will not be quite as much as it is now.

Bruce

[Roger Fisher]

If it is not hitting the ramrod by much turn the unthreaded part of the lock nail  down. That way you don't have to deal with a notch and having to remove the ramrod each time you want to remove the lock.

That is a better idea than the notch in the lock 'nail'! Isn't it something how much sleep 'we' can lose over building these @!*% things!!  I've lost plenty

[Randy Hedden]

If it is not hitting the ramrod by much turn the unthreaded part of the lock nail  down. That way you don't have to deal with a notch and having to remove the ramrod each time you want to remove the lock.

The key to this is "if it is not hitting the ramrod by much." Sometimes the ramrod/lock bolt interference is more than half the diameter, or close to half the diameter, of the lock bolt. In that case notching the lock bolt and tapering the ramrod is the only choice you have. Many times just tapering the ramrod will produce the needed clearance. Sometimes you can determine the amount of interference by mounting the lock bolt and then inserting a ramrod, with some color transfer on the end of the ramrod, until it makes contact with the lock bolt. Upon removing the lock bolt you should be able to see the amount of interference by how the color medium  transferred to the lock bolt.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

 

[Acer Saccharum]

Just as an insurance policy, put a metal rod down the rr hole before you drill. This will deflect the lock bolt drills away from the rr hole.

You gots to be careful that the hole in the toe of the lock doesn't end up too high, breaking out the side of the lockplate, eh.

I thought I'd try my Canadian accent,eh, because there are so many darn Canadians on the board now, eh. Must mean it's a good board. They make it better. Ever notice how many good songs come out of Canada?
Oh, sorry, off topic.

Acer

[davec2]

I have often moved a misplaced hole by re-drilling but not with a drill.  I plug the hole as suggested, but then re-drill with an appropriately sized , two flute end mill.  If done in a mill or clamped well in a drill press, the end mill has very little tendency to wander into a previous hole or soft spot (if the plug is softer than the surrounding wood.)  Often, you must work the hole from both sides since the end mills are not long enough to go all the way through.  Get the longest end mill you can find and work from both sides.  If there is a portion in the center you can't get to, you can usually clear it easily with a needle file.

[rich pierce]

If it is currently going to be hidden by the frizzen spring when it comes through the lockplate and is not on an edge, decide whether it's worth it or not.  I agree, putting a metal ramrod or drill in the ramrod hole is brilliant.

I taper ramrods and use a tapered metal tip so they pass OK even with a little bit of the lockbolt in the RR hole.

[Karl Kunkel]

Not to be obvious, but you can plug the hole from both sides leaving the ram rod hole open.  You could also then drop a size on the front lock bolt to a 6-32.

[Long John]

We have to keep in mind that the end-grain of a maple dowel used to fill the hole is harder than the side-grain of the stock.  This means for small diameter drills that the drill will tend to wander away from the dowel.  If the error is less than 1/2 the hole diameter I would just "fudge" it with needle files.  If the error is more than 1/2 screw diameter this is what I would do:

-Cut 2 short dowels to be installed into the erroneous hole.
-Shave  the side of the dowl on one side down to  2/3 diameter giving you a "D" shaped cross-section.
-Glue in each D dowel with the flat side up, one on the lock side and on on the side-plate side.
-After the glue is dry, re-centerpunch the holes in the gap between the flat of the D and the O of the hole and re-drill.

It worked very well for me.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Jim Thomas]

Just as an insurance policy, put a metal rod down the rr hole before you drill. This will deflect the lock bolt drills away from the rr hole.

You gots to be careful that the hole in the toe of the lock doesn't end up too high, breaking out the side of the lockplate, eh.

I thought I'd try my Canadian accent,eh, because there are so many darn Canadians on the board now, eh. Must mean it's a good board. They make it better. Ever notice how many good songs come out of Canada?
Oh, sorry, off topic.

Acer

If the drill bit is deflected off the  metal rod, wouldn't that create a bend?   Trying to picture it, aye.   

I had a drill bit deflect off the rear edge of the bolster on an L&R lock plate once.  It wasn't much, but it sure caused cam action and alignment problems.   

 

 

       



 

[halfcocked]

I like to use epoxy dough if the hole can be covered. It won't take stain properly but if hardware can cover it then epoxy works better than a dowl due to the fact that a dowl would have to be hand shaped to fit the hole properly.

I roll the kneaded dough into small balls and drop in the hole then pack the dough with the back end of a drill. A little saliva on the drill prevents the dough from sticking to it. Redrilling is a charm. If this sounds like I'm an expert on filling drilling mistakes, I plead guilty.

[Benedict]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.  When I finally got back to the gun and looked the situation over again, I ended up "fudging" the hole with a file.  I did not have a dowel that fit well and did not want to make one.  I could get a chain saw file through the hole so I filed away.  The result was pretty good.  The hole is not quite round but is now positioned between the barrel and ramrod.  It is a little high on the lock but not too high.  It is covered by the bolt head on the side plate side, not that the side plate won't cover it too.

Thanks,
Bruce