Nose cap fitting

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Any tips on fitting a nose cap?  I have done couple but it seems like im working blind. Its not like doing a butt plate and using inletting black. Do you guys just take measurements and try carving the stock to those demensions? They are just a pain for me.
 Thanks

[rich pierce]

I make my own. It’s super hard and annoying to use a pre-made one. In such cases I would install it then finish shaping the forearm. Make a cardboard cutout of the outline or reverse the nosecap to see how to shape the foreend. Get it close. Use calipers to see how foreend shaping is coming along. Make the wood exactly like the nosecap. Then relieve the wood sheet metal thickness. I use a jewelers saw to make depth cuts. Chisel or rasp away the wood as you slide it into place. Use black to see high spots. Be careful to not distort it.

Just my approach.

[P.Bigham]

Stock is about 95 percent done before I make the nose cap to fit the rifle. 

[Mark Elliott]

It leave a little extra wood on the forearm until I am ready to install the nose piece.   Then I make the nose piece and inlet at the same time working the two together.   Cutting/filing the opening at the muzzle has always been a slow trial and error process for me.  I wish I had a better way to do it, but have yet to figure out one.   I have gotten smarter about the rivets.   I use a heading plate to form the inside end on my rivet.  That way, I only need a drill and a countersink to install it; no chisel.

[StevenV]

I use in-letting black to aid in the fit, certainly where the breech end of the nose cap meets the fore-stock. I also make my on nose caps, but have installed pre-made ones and you can make them work. As you can see the stock is 90 to 95% shaped when I begin installing the nose cap ( fit the parts to the gun not the gun to the parts). Start from muzzle end and slowly remove wood as the nose cap goes on. Read the in- letting black careful not to let" black smudges" influence you.You can squeeze or open up your cap a scooch to fit part to stock. Hope this helps           StevenV

[Curtis]

I often cut the nose cap area to the depth of the metal I am using for the cap, anneal the metal and form it right on the rifle.  Click the link for an example: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=40237.msg407985#msg407985

When inletting an pre-made cap, be careful reading the inletting black marks, and be careful to keep the cap level front to back.  Slow and steady!

Curtis

[flehto]

After making the end plate from 1/8" thick  brass which I later on high temp silver  solder  to the inside of the muzzle cap body and which  has the octagon bbl shape, the end piece is slid on the protruding end of the bbl and the outside shape is marked w/ a sharp pencil. Wood is removed so the outline is just removed.

The end plate is then soldered to the Mcap body which is then slid on the fore end  and  the fit is slightly adjusted by removing a small amount of wood.  The open end is pushed home  until a close fit is achieved w/ the fore end. The brass alongside the bbl is filed even w/ the fore end and shaped to match the fore end radius.  I have the end  of the muzzle   protruding 1/16" from the end plate. A copper rivet attaches the Mcap to the stock.

.040 thick brass is used for the Mcap body and is annealed when flat. Using the end plate as a template really simplifies the wood removal.....Fred