Breach & Tang , Am I Done?

[54ball]

  There is just a micro gap behind the barrel.  It it OK ?

[Dennis Glazener]

Inletting looks good but no you aren't done. You need to leave a little space between the end of the spear tang or you will end up with a split stock.  Especially if the breech/wood fit is not 100% solid and you are shooting a heavy load. Hint, it might be best to file the tang shorter than using a chisel to open the mortise slightly.

I usually leave a 1/32 or maybe even a little more. By the time you finish it you will not notice the gap but if you do rub some beeswax into it and it will disappear. Far better than having the point start to split the stock.

As far as that micro-gap behind the barrel, I would consider bedding it with micro-bed, acura glass or even J-B Weld. You need a solid fit in this area.

One other thing you might consider, the wood may be too tight fitting around the tang, finish tends to make it even tighter and that cherry is prone to splintering off if the fit is too tight, ask me how I know
Dennis

[54ball]

  Thanks Dennis I'll open it it up a little.

  As for the tang screws One or two.  The original has two but has a longer spear.  Would two look too crowded?

[Dennis Glazener]

I would use only one oval head wood screw for that shorter tang. The original you speak of has a much longer tang.
Dennis

[Bill of the 45th]

As Dennis says, one tang screw with that short tang, and I would go for zero clearance at the butt or you will eventually get a split.  i would try to avoid the acra glass $#@*, I consider it a last resort, or capitulation.  Move it back that 32nd.  Do it right.  As someone recently mentioned on another post, the real skill comes in fixing you "Awe S---ts"

Bill

[Acer Saccharum]

Moving barrel back to close the gap is preferable; the barrel sides inletting won't open up any, even with a swamped barrel. If the barrel lugs are already pinned, file the holes long so the barrel can move back. Do this anyway, to allow the wood to move as the gun goes thru the seasons and changes of humidity.

[54ball]

  I've been away from it and things seem clearer.  When I tap the muzzle the tang rises oh so slightly up and to the back.  I'm talking not even the thickness of a piece of paper.  You can feel it more than you can see it.

  Following Dennis' suggestion of opening up the tang mortice a little especially at the rear may make up the difference.  I'll soot it up again and try to fine tune it.

  Before it was filed it seemed to have no gap.  The barrels not pinned.  I wanted to get this straight first.

 Thanks, All

[Eric Smith]

Hint,  it might be best to file the tang shorter than using a chisel to open the mortise slightly.

Dennis

That sounds like the one I would go for in this case, but that's just me.

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

I agree with several of the comments here.  It is much better to have a small gap at the very end of the tang than to later have that "thumbnail" of wood pop out in the same place.  Very often this "oops!" is due to a less than careful barrel removal.  If the tang is very tight at the end and a person removes the barrel by separating the barrel from the stock at the muzzle and then "levering" the barrel out - this puts a very large force just at this tip of the tang location and POP! out comes that little piece of wood. - RATS!  (Don't ask me how I know this!)

A technique is to open up a small gap at the end of the tang, then candle black the breech end of the barrel then to give the muzzle some solid "whacks" with a wood or rubber mallet in the same direction as the recoil force.  This will allow you to really seat the breech end of the barrel fully against the wood.  Be sure to do this just before you drill the pin holes to hold the barrel too.

Does this make sense?

Jim

[54ball]

 Makes sense to me. Thanks

[Artificer]

I am not trying to hijack the thread, but this sort of begs the question on how tight the inletting should be on the sides of the tang?  Should it be a firm press fit you can push in the tang with your hand or should it be tight enough that it takes something like a rawhide mallet to tap it in place?  Before this thread, I never thought about the tang could be too tight side to side.

Gus

[rich pierce]

Wood will swell and shrink a little.  There's a risk of it sticking or failing to sit down if it's too tight.  No mallet required by any means.

[Artificer]

Thanks Rich,
Gus

[54ball]

 An hour of tweaking, she's set.

 



 I'll work a little more with the tang inlet but the bbl is against the breach face.

[Acer Saccharum]

If ever you find that you have to bend the tang more, and then it comes up short, you can peen it out a little to stretch it.

[rich pierce]

Also if you plane, shave, or rasp down the wood beside the tang to the lock panels more to closely approximate the angled flat of the barrel you'll see everything better.

[Acer Saccharum]

Just don't take them down to finish size yet! Set the lock, then the top lock bolt, and THEN you'll know how much you can take the wood down.

[54ball]

 Thanks fellows.

 Here's the original in the museum.  After my lock is in and the bbl screwd and pinned I'll bring that panel down to match the side
flat as per original.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=8015.0

 Here is that Davis Contract lock reshaped some to resemble the lock on the original.