Pre-carves w/ lock inlet

[Boompa]

   The photos are of a stock that came with a parts set I bought from one of big suppliers.  The only thing I did was to further inlet the bolster area so I could get the lock plate down flush with surface of the stock.  Otherwise, the lock mortise is unaltered, just as it came from the supplier. As you can see, the front of the lock mortise is good, but the rear has large gaps on the top and bottom of the lock. Know I get to scribe a couple of small slivers of maple to glue into the mortise. 
          The lesson for me?  I'll not buy another stock that has the lock mortise cut using the conventional duplicating method.  Anyone else had this issue?

[Pete G.]

Part of the problem is that the supplier did not do a very good QA on the stock before it shipped. Perhaps you should speak to your supplier about it. That said, it seems to happen fairly often. It can be fixed, but that is a good reason for ordering the stock "un inlet".

[tallbear]

You can easily fill that gap by turning the lockplate upside down on an anvil and hammering the tail of the lock.It will grow to fill the mortice.May take some refiling of the profile and the molding but in this case I think a better solution than adding small strips of wood.

Mitch

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Even my very first lock inlet looked better than any of the pre-inlet lock inlets I have done.  I find much easier and faster to inlet the lock myself than clean up a pre-inlet.

Coryjoe

[FlintFan]

Looks like the master pattern the manufacture uses might be wearing out, and causing the over sized mortise.  I would bring it to the supplier/retailers attention so they can check the rest of their stocks and have the manufacture fix the problem if there is one on their end. 

[Boompa]

   I contacted the supplier to inform them on the issue.  Had I suspected a problem when I received the stock I'd have returned it then. There's a big lesson, don't trust that it's good-to-go just because it came from a good supplier.  In that I installed the butt plate and cut out for the bolster, I'm now stuck with the stock. 
         There is over 1/16" gap on the bottom and nearly 1/16" gap on the top of the lock mortise.  I don't think I can spread the tail of the lock that much by beating on it with a hammer & anvil.  I've done that at times for smaller gaps but to make up about 1/8" on a lock plate? 

[Gunnermike]

Just a suggestion.... weld metal to the top & bottom plate edges, and shorten that too long rear projection.  Never cared for that teat projection anyhow.  You can add metal and blend it to the plate but you can't add wood without a magic wand.

Make the lock plate shape look more like this:


Just my 2 cents.  good luck, Mike

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

With a precarved stock with lock inlet, your first job is to inlet the lock...its position is already established.  The inlets on these often leaves a lot to be desired, but if you juggle the lock's position, you can often eliminate extremes like yours, splitting the difference among a number of areas, so that there is only small discrepancies.

[Boompa]

"if you juggle the lock's position, you can often eliminate extremes like yours, splitting the difference among a number of areas, so that there is only small discrepancies."
 
   I've been able to do that since the photos were taken but there's still a total of 1/8" split between the top and bottom of the rear of the lock.  If I were to move the lock to the rear it would close the gaps but then I'd have a gap at the front of the lock. 
        I guess what bugs me is that the whole pre-inlet idea is supposed to save time in the building process.  Heck, I could have easily cut the mortise myself in less time than I've spent trying to figure out how to fix this.

[E.vonAschwege]

You can easily fill that gap by turning the lockplate upside down on an anvil and hammering the tail of the lock.It will grow to fill the mortice.May take some refiling of the profile and the molding but in this case I think a better solution than adding small strips of wood.

Mitch

This is my thought as well.  There's plenty of meat on that lockplate - most are cast much thicker than original plates anyway.  Hammer it out from behind (with heat if possible) and then refile the plate to look appropriate.  Small strips of wood will take a lot to disguise. 
-Eric

[Boompa]

You can easily fill that gap by turning the lockplate upside down on an anvil and hammering the tail of the lock.It will grow to fill the mortice.May take some refiling of the profile and the molding but in this case I think a better solution than adding small strips of wood.

Mitch

This is my thought as well.  There's plenty of meat on that lockplate - most are cast much thicker than original plates anyway.  Hammer it out from behind (with heat if possible) and then refile the plate to look appropriate.  Small strips of wood will take a lot to disguise. 
                                                                                                     

Well I'll give it a try, out comes the 2lb hammer and the torch.......what's the worst that could happen?

[Mauser06]

my first (and only) build was from maybe the same supplier...



i was intimidated by the idea of inletting by hand...


but once i started working on the rifle i quickly said "hey this isnt nearly as bad as i thought.." and added a toe plate, entry pipe, tear drop hawken style side plate etc...all of MY inletting is tighter than the lock and trigger guard..which was already too large..it was weird..some stuff needed worked around the edges a smidge..while others were too large..


i learned a lot from my first build...one of them being other than barrel channel/ram rod hole i dont know if i will go with a pre-inlet in the future....had to overcome many things because of where certain things already were..touch hole pre-drilled in the barrel is probably another bad idea...i got lucky..mine was too far forward so was easy enough to move the entire barrel/tang to the rear..


im still intimidated by a slab with barrel channel and ram rod hole....but i may try it on the next one..maybe a pistol since the wood is smaller/cheaper lol...

i enjoyed the final shaping more than anything...my stock had a lot of "fat" so i could do some shaping and remove some wood..i am glad..nothing against the minor fit and finish kits..they certainly have their place and i may build some like that in the future...but taking a very thick bulky piece of wood shaped like a gun stock and turning it INTO a gun stock is awesome..and i really enjoyed that part of it...i felt like that is when the rifle became a rifle and took on its life...

[Boompa]

You can easily fill that gap by turning the lockplate upside down on an anvil and hammering the tail of the lock.It will grow to fill the mortice.May take some refiling of the profile and the molding but in this case I think a better solution than adding small strips of wood.

Mitch

This is my thought as well.  There's plenty of meat on that lockplate - most are cast much thicker than original plates anyway.  Hammer it out from behind (with heat if possible) and then refile the plate to look appropriate.  Small strips of wood will take a lot to disguise. 
-Eric

    You guys are Good!   I heated the rear of the plate up to a dull cherry red and got after it. After a little filing it will fit just fine.  Thanks!

[tallbear]

Glad it worked out for you Boompa!!!!!! 

Mitch Yates

[thimble rig]

Hey I'm glad it worked out for you.I know I will never get another pre inlet stock again either.Its easier to inlet them yourself.

[Pete G.]

                                                                                                   
Well I'll give it a try, out comes the 2lb hammer and the torch.......what's the worst that could happen?

I don't EVER say that. I did once and very soon found out. 

[oldtravler61]

Mauser 06 that is what I enjoy the most. Shapping the stock, it gives me the feeling that it's really something I made. Good bad or otherwise!  Mike