Precarve barrel inletting question.

[greymount]

I am in the process of inletting a strait barrel in a pre-carved longrifle stock.  The barrel is extremely tight and it does not lay in the bottom channel.  In fact, it is so tight that if you push the barrel into the stock channel it goes in crooked.  At the nose of the rifle, the barrel is almost 1/3 of an inch from seating.  Should I take some of the wood off of the upper inside portion of the barrel channel to make it fit?  Some of the videos on gun building say never to remove wood from this area because it could cause gaps between the barrel and stock.  What should I do to make the barrel seat correctly in the barrel channel?

[Ezra]

If you are not using inletting black or something that does the same thing, that is where I would start.  That will tell you where to remove wood.  Good luck.


Ez

[jerrywh]

My advise is not to try and cut any wood out wit ha chisel. Use a scraper and scrape the sides where it is needed.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I've only seen a couple of precarved stocks where a barrel actually fit first time around.  Almost always some wood needs to be scraped from the sides of the channel, and somethings, from the angle and bottom flats as well.
I made a scraper out of a worn out file that is about 3/16" thick.  I ground the tip flat across and cut one angle at 45 degrees.  While holding the file vertical, the edge scrapes the barrel channel, and if the 45 and bottom are rounded, they do not cut.  To scrape the 45, round off the bottom and the edge so that only the angle flat is cut.  Likewise with the bottom flat, sharpen it and round off the other two edges.  Works super fast, and removes wood only where you apply it.

[rick landes]

Since you are barreling a precarve stock...Did you check lock alignment so the barrel plug (and future touch hole) line up so as to know you have set barrel back far enough?
Just a thought it can be done both ways, but best I can gather inletting the lock first, then barrel is the best way to go with the precarve...

[rich pierce]

I can't figure how to inlet a lock w/o the barrel in place.  Seems likely to break and splinter the wood where it has to be removed where the lockplate hits the barrel.  Also, how does one know how deep to inlet it w/o the barrel in place and keep the inlet level?  With a straight barrel,  there is no problem moving the barrel back if needed.

I alwways figured the berral inlet dictated the lock location, then the lock dictated the trigger location, then the trigger dictated the buttplate locxation.  But that is scratch building and maybe kits offer unique challenges.

[Dale Halterman]

Are you sure the problem isn't that the stock is slightly warped?

Dale H

[AndyThomas]

I think the barrel channals in pre-carve stocks are intentionally made small, so the barrel can be "fitted" to the stock. Two barrels which are supposed to be the same size are often slightly different.

One time after getting a barrel fitted, I decided to change calibers, but found the second barrel smaller than the first, leaving a gap in some places.

Another thing, I file the two side flats, which fit into the channal, down until they are smooth, before fitting the barrel. Depending on how rough the barrel is this can narrow the barrel some. Actually, on a Colerain barrel, I once measured the narrow place before and after filing and found it 0.015" smaller than when I started.

Hope this helps,
Andy

[Acer Saccharum]

Andy brings up a good point: Drawfile your barrel first. You may be unpleasantly surprised if you drawfile after inletting, as you sometimes have to take quite a bit of metal off to smooth up the barrel. This can cause gaps to appear in the inlet.

I think RichPierce has mentioned to me that he puts a slight draft on the barrel sidewalls when he drawfiles. This would definitely help keep the inlet tight, yet make the barrel easy to remove from the stock.

Please do drawfile your barrel before sending it out to be custom inlet. This will save you a bunch of grief.

Tom

[Benedict]

I think the barrel channals in pre-carve stocks are intentionally made small, so the barrel can be "fitted" to the stock. Two barrels which are supposed to be the same size are often slightly different.

One time after getting a barrel fitted, I decided to change calibers, but found the second barrel smaller than the first, leaving a gap in some places.

Another thing, I file the two side flats, which fit into the channal, down until they are smooth, before fitting the barrel. Depending on how rough the barrel is this can narrow the barrel some. Actually, on a Colerain barrel, I once measured the narrow place before and after filing and found it 0.015" smaller than when I started.

Hope this helps,
Andy

I also file a little bit of draft on the side flats of my barrels.  This makes it easier to get a close fit.  After all the barrel is just a big inlay.

Bruce

PS  Acer got in ahead of me with this but I will post anyway.

[Dphariss]

I am in the process of inletting a strait barrel in a pre-carved longrifle stock.  The barrel is extremely tight and it does not lay in the bottom channel.  In fact, it is so tight that if you push the barrel into the stock channel it goes in crooked.  At the nose of the rifle, the barrel is almost 1/3 of an inch from seating.  Should I take some of the wood off of the upper inside portion of the barrel channel to make it fit?  Some of the videos on gun building say never to remove wood from this area because it could cause gaps between the barrel and stock.  What should I do to make the barrel seat correctly in the barrel channel?

Generally precarves are undersize in all the inlets. If not then they are invariably oversized and this is far worse.
Scrape the sides till it will go in. You MUST use a scraper or a file/rasp/pattern makers rasp in the channel to remove the wood. Trying to use a chisel may well cause "problems". Use inletting black or a very soft pencil/graphite drawing sticks to black the barrel to tell where to scrape.
You will likely have to scrape the angled and bottom flat as well to get it in properly.
A good scraper will remove wood rapidly so be careful. The barrel channel must not be too tight or there is risks of damage when attempting to remove the barrel when the forend is fully shaped and slimmed down. Too loose and the job looks sloppy.

Dan
 

[Leatherbelly]

  Just a thought,
   Aren't pre-carves barrel channels cut with a round tool bit? This leaves a round "corner" at the breach.I remember Taylor showing me this and he squared that out first if memory serves correctly.If not, the barrel hasn't a chance of fitting the channel squarely. Just an uneducated guess.Good luck with your new rifle.

[Nate McKenzie]

If you get a precarve from someone like Dave Keck at Knob Mountain or fred Miller They will use your barrel and inlet it perfectly. Saves a lot of work and I've never been disappointed.

[JLE]

I have used a lot of pre-inletted stocks in my 20 years of building. I have found several that were warped to the point where the bbl. would not fit at all. Inletting black and patience should correct the problem.Do not get discourage with the stock, a lot of people on here are building with pre inlet stocks, they just don't like to admit it.

[Darkhorse]

Never had a precarve that wasn't undersize. Never had one that wasn't warped a little also. Unless it looks like a fishhook neither case is a real problem.

You didn't mention whether or not you had removed the breech plug. The first thing I do on a Rice is remove the plug. On a colrain I drawfile first, then remove the plug. I wouldn't really consider inletting a barrel without removing the plug. I don't see how a first timer could possible get it all correct with the plug in place.

Be careful not to put the inletting black on too thick. On the barrel sides and breech area you can get a false reading and end up taking off too much wood leaving gaps. If it fits the side flats then you need to worry about the bottom 3 flats.

I don't like my barrels to fit too tight, too easy to split a stock. After inletting and getting a tight fit I go back and relieve the barrel a little so I comes out fairly easy when the gun is finished. The forend will be very thing in places and a tight barrel can split the stock.

[Long John]

I agree with Acer and Rich.   Drawfile the barrel sides first so you know the final width of the barrel.  Once you have a smooth surface on the barrel sides color the verticle flats with a black magic-marker.  Drawfile the bottom half of the two verticle flats so that the black color has been removed from only the bottom half of the verticle flats.  This will give you a very slight draft to the bottom half of the side flats that will aid in letting the barrel in.

I made a scraper very much like the one D. Taylor described for scraping the verticle sides of the barrel channel that I use for final letting in.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[gbuscg]

anyone have Fred Millers new phone number

[D. Bowman]

Fred Miller's # 570 922 1861

[gbuscg]

Thanks