Ron Ehlert instructional video

[mbokie5]

This is in regards to the Chambers kit.

I've just watched the first dvd again. He does not do anything with inletting except for the breech end and the breech plug.

Would anyone know why the video doesn't show any of the rest of the barrel being inlet?

[Acer Saccharum]

I'll bet the author had his barrel inlet by machine, as many(most) people do these days. I did it by hand for all guns when I was younger, and now I have the barrels inlet for me.

There are some topics about this in the archives, if I recall. Some folks clamp steel bars on either side of the barrel, screw them down, then pull the barrel and rout the channel in between the bars.

A more primitive method is to trace the outside of the barrel with a pencil line, then stab down inside the lines, chipping out vast chunks of wood to rough it down, then lamp black the barrel, cutting away only the black spots. Very time consuming, but a good job can be done.

A word of warning: ALWAYS check that your barrel is going in level. It is very easy to have the barrel a few degrees cocked, and then that makes you cut the channel wider.

[smylee grouch]

I have done two of Jims kits in the past and the barrel was already inlet except for the breech area.  Smylee

[Habu]

I think the Chambers kits come pre-inlet, so all that remains for barrel inletting is to fit the breech of the barrel and the tang. 

[bob in the woods]

The Chambers kit that I just received is an oct round barrel [ Penn. Fowler ] and the barrel would not fit into the channel. Much too tight. Smoking the barrel, and try fitting, with judicious of an extremely sharp chisel and scrapers did the trick. Super kits, but wood being what it is, they err on the side of too tight rather than too loose, so I always expect to scrape or cut here and there.

[mbokie5]

The already inlet point is what I was hoping would get mentioned.

Mine seems close or maybe completely inlet. But...;when I lay it in there, there's a gap at the muzzle end.

breech end:



muzzle end:



Well, the gap is all the way along the channel, except near the breech.

[Acer Saccharum]

You've got to fit it in by blacking the barrel and removing wood where the bbl touches the wood. A very tedious job, but there is no way around it. The muzzle cap needs to be filed to fit around the bbl.

[bob in the woods]

Fitting is needed. The channel is too small.

[mbokie5]

You've got to fit it in by blacking the barrel and removing wood where the bbl touches the wood. A very tedious job, but there is no way around it. The muzzle cap needs to be filed to fit around the bbl.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

I didn't see any way on earth to get it to go as is.

Well, I'm heading off to hunt moose on Thursday and have a pile of things to do before then.

so I likely won't get much more done until I get back sometime late next week.

Thanks to all of you guys.

[mbokie5]

The Chambers kit that I just received is an oct round barrel [ Penn. Fowler ] and the barrel would not fit into the channel. Much too tight. Smoking the barrel, and try fitting, with judicious of an extremely sharp chisel and scrapers did the trick. Super kits, but wood being what it is, they err on the side of too tight rather than too loose, so I always expect to scrape or cut here and there.

Is it a delicate piece of wood?

Do you brace or back it in any way?

I'm thinking it's pretty flexible as is, and needs to be braced somehow.

[Jim Kibler]

mbokie5,

In addition to the video, you would probably benefit from one of the better instructional books.  It would be best to get a basic understanding of the process before starting the kit build.  I'm sure the video is good, but one of the books would probably be beneficial.

[mbokie5]

mbokie5,

In addition to the video, you would probably benefit from one of the better instructional books.  It would be best to get a basic understanding of the process before starting the kit build.  I'm sure the video is good, but one of the books would probably be beneficial.

I know I sound like a scatter brain, but I do have those books.

I apologise if my questions are too rudimentary. But when I make assumptions, it doesn't always work. I often make the wrong assumptions.

I had called Peter Alexander, because another member had mentioned the possibility of taking his course. So I got a long book list from him. And now I have all of those books. And I have read up to and a bit beyond the barrel inletting procedure.

My early learning curve is very flat. As time goes on, it should begin to rise.

But I do appreciate what you're saying and shall continue to heed the advice.

 

[Acer Saccharum]

It's harder to inlet a barrel into a whippy piece of wood  than it is when you're letting it into a big chunk, which you'll later saw down.

I don't have a lot of experience with precarves like this, so I should defer to the more experienced of the crew. I would guess if you got it fitted at the breech end, you can work the fit from breech to muzzle.

[mbokie5]

It's harder to inlet a barrel into a whippy piece of wood  than it is when you're letting it into a big chunk, which you'll later saw down.

I don't have a lot of experience with precarves like this, so I should defer to the more experienced of the crew. I would guess if you got it fitted at the breech end, you can work the fit from breech to muzzle.

That has to stand to reason. It's fairly flexible as is. I'm going to brace it, secure it, whatever it takes to hold it still and stable.

[Eric Smith]

I bought RE' s video and have a preinlet stock Dickert stock from TOTW. The barrel channel will need some work. Mine looks just like the photo above. Whats the best  tool and technique to go forward here. This is my first build.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Buy or make (Its easier to buy them) some Jerry Fisher scrapers.. one of each--- round and octagon scrapers ... They are what you need for getting the barrel down the rest of the way... black and then scrape etc..won't take long with these babies

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=6521/Product/SCRAPERS

[Stone River]

I'm working on my 1st component set as well.  I am a fair amount ahead of you 2 gentlemen so I will toss in my info thus far on the Chamber's Kit that I am working on.

First, like everyone has mentioned the wood is left tight usually to insure a nice tight fit.  Use lamp black, lipstick, on the barrel and remove the wood that it touches until the vast majority of the barrel bottoms out.  I used the edge of a flat chisel to scrape the channel and that worked fine.  There wasn't much I really needed to take off, but it was tedious like Acer mentioned taking the barrel in and out and scraping.

One note of caution before you get too far on the barrel inletting.  I had asked the same question and many other experience builders suggested that I strip the lock and inlet the lock plate 1st.  The reason they suggested that was if I needed to move the barrel back to get the vent hole in the correct position over the pan, inletting the lock plate 1st would tell me if I had to move the barrel back any.  In my case I did so that was a great idea.  As I understand it when working with a blank you can and should do the barrel 1st and because it is a blank you can put the lock plate in later to match the vent location.  With our pre-inlet kits, we can't move the lock, but we can move the barrel back to match the proper vent location.  Something to consider.

[David Rase]

It looks to me like the sides of the channel have moved inward.  I would look at steaming the fore end of the stock and when the wood was somewhat pliable I would press the barrel into the inlet, tape it all together and then let it sit and dry.  More than likely the barrel fit the channel when it was originally inlet.  Most of the time the wood will remain stable and not close up or open up, but on rare occasions the wood is green enough or unstable enough that it does exactly what your stock did.  Based on the little bit of information I have, I would not reinlet the barrel if it was mine.
Dave  

[Dennis Glazener]

One thing you might consider doing before you worry with the barrel inletting is to draw-file the barrel. You probably will not need to take much metal off to remove the machine marks but It should be done before taking any wood out of the barrel channel.
Dennis

[Karl Kunkel]

I've been working on a Chambers Left handed Isaac Haines for my oldest son for about a year or two (off and on).  I moved the barrel back just enough for the breech plug to clear the white lightning vent liner.  I draw filed the barrel, and inlet the breech, it slipped right in.

[FALout]

When working on the stock, the forearm needs support.  If you do a search, you should find pics of benchs that some people are using.  Some will use a vice on a corner of a bench and then make a brace or stack blocks of some sort to support   the forearm with the butt stock held in the vice.  Some folks use two versa-vices which seem like a nice setup.   Inletting the barrel is a pain but part of the process unless you are working with a blank that has been machined to accept your barrel, with precarves they are almost always tight.  Yes, some can have wood movement requiring more work to inlet because of warping, that can be caused by many factors like how long ago it was machined, whether the forearm was supported to hold it straight, humidity levels,....doesn't make a stock un-usable.  I've got a work area that is humidity controlled year round and I always allow stocks to sit long enough to acclimate (couple months).  I've only had one precarve that couldn't be used, I bought it knowing it had a slight twist in the forearm since the price was right (very cheap), I blocked the forearm hoping to straighten it and let it sit for a month, it took off even more.  That's the nature of wood.  As a side note, I use a course square file for opening up octagon barrel channels that I have bent the tang to use as better handle, just heat till red and carefully bend it.