Pistol buttcap

[Pete G.]

Are there any tricks to inleting a pistol buttcap? Seems way too easy to get it crooked. The one I am working with is the TOW PLB-MA-9-B. Usually I learn these things the hard way; this time I thought I would ask first rather than discoving the pitfalls on my own. I already own a rifle with a crooked buttplate, I don't really need a matching companion piece.

[Dave B]

Pete, They are a challenge but  I find if you do your prep work they go in well if you have patience. I like to work with my stock shaped down to its last 1/8 inch. No working from a square chunk of wood. Keeping a good center line is a must. One of our members showed how he used a steel stud set into the butt to help keep the cap aligned while he fit it. http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=22714.0

[eddillon]

In my post about butt cap inletting I failed to follow up.  I remved the guide pin when I was about 80% complete.  The remainder of the inletting went fast without worrying about misalignment.   I'll post a photo later today.

[bgf]

I used that buttcap once, but I modified it severely and probably did get it crooked as well .  I would take the TOTW description hint seriously and cut off some the tip of the buttstock/grip -- really no reason to inlet the ball of the cap that I can see.  Then if you approach it like a rifle's buttplate, it shouldn't be too difficult to inlet the tang and a rim of wood under the cap.

[eddillon]

Here is the installed buttcap on my 1760 Belgian

BTW, the screws are not the ones that I will use on the finished gun.  They are what I call working screws.  I'll start carving and scraping final shape soon!!