Stupidity and arrogance -- how to save my investment/

[Don Getz]

Tim.......If it were mine, I would place the stock in my vertical mill and mill out a nice, clean inlet and fit a piece of wood into
it.    With a vertical mill you could clean up the bottom of the inlet to make it flat and the sides would be nice and square,
however, they would have round corners.....you could leave those corners that way or square them up with a chisel, but
the whole inlet would be uniform and nice and clean, much easier to fit a piece of wood into.    In view of the fact that the
position of the lock as it now sits is bad, I feel you should start over on a new inlet.   The lines of your new inletted piece
of wood could easily be hidden with some good antiquing, they could be well hidden without too much trouble.   A vertical
mill is an extremely useful thing.     I use ours in the shop to cut down my side panels before I inlet a lock, make the taper
to follow the taper of the barrel on both sides of the stock.   This really gives you a nice flat, smooth surface.   Maybe
you could find someone who has a machine shop that would let you use his mill, or, send it up to me, I'll do it for you.....
how's that for an offer..............Don

[whitebear]

Doc, I like Long John's, and JTR's suggestions.   I probably would replace the stock and start over or this will be like a tiny scratch on a new car, no one else will notice it but you will see it and be dissatisfied every time you look at the gun.

[omark]

would using one of those gunmakers locks be practical?? maybe you could form the new lockplate to fit the inlet while being able to position the parts in the proper position. dont know if the new plate is big enough to allow that. just thinking,,,,    mark