lugs

[frenchman]

Getting ready for a new project  , the question is concerning lugs. The barrel is a rice in .45 cal swamp in a B contour how deep can i afford to cut my mortises. 
Denis

[billd]

I'm using one right now, 44". I soldered mine on. The waist is pretty thin, I didn't want to take a chance.  Rice will cut the dovetails for you for a small cost.

Bill

[frenchman]

i have the barrel on hand  how thick have you done your lugs 
D

[Bentflint]

Denis, I have not dovetailed a .45 B but, I have done a few .50 Bs. As I recall in the thinnest part of the swamp on the .50 you have to cut the depth back to around 0.040” to stay within Rice’s guide lines of 0.100” minimum to the bore. Other wise I cut dovetails 0.050” to 0.062” as a rule. With the .45 you are adding 0.025” over the .50. So do the math and make sure you have the 0.100” and you should be good to go.

Bruce Everhart

[frenchman]

Will do, thanks for the info
D

[northmn]

I have soldered many a lug on round barrels and have had them stay on, even using 50-50.  I would consider soldering the waist.  You can file down the base of the lug to paper thin and it will still work for soldering.  Quicker too.

DP

[Ken G]

I don't know about a "B" .45 but I solder the middle lugs on my last "B" .50.  It just seemed safer to me.  I filed a little dip for them to sit in.  maybe .010 deep.

Ken

[max]

I was unaware that Rice has guidelines regarding lug depth. Can someone please explain what " .100" minimum to the bore" is and how it's measured.

[J Shingler]

Basically take a measurement across the flats where the lug goes. Subtract the bore diameter. Don't forget if it is a rifled barrel to also subtract the rifling depth. Then divide by 2 as there are two sides. This is the wall thickness at the lug. Lets say you have a 50 cal with .012 deep rifling. The across the flats measurement is .800
So in our example you would have  .800 - .524 = .276      .276 / 2 = .138 wall thickness. So if you want .100 min then you can not cut a dovetail any deeper than .038 

Jeff

[Bentflint]

Max, measure across the flats where you want to cut a dovetail. Subtract the bore diameter from that. Divide by 2. That gives you the barrel wall thickness.

For example, a Rice Golden Age B weight barrel measures .750” (¾”)at the thinnest point in the waist. Subtract .500” (½”) for a .50 cal. Bore. That leaves .250” (¼“, divide by 2, that leaves .125” (1/8“), that‘s the wall thickness. That leaves .025” for dovetail depth to maintain .100“. Not enough for a dovetail, in my opinion, also keeping in mind the depth of the rifling. If you have to place the dovetail at that point I would solder it on. Like Ken said thin the lug base and file a shallow relief in the barrel.

I wouldn’t move a lug just so I could dovetail it. The lugs where not located in a place on the barrels that made this a problem on the rifles I used these them in.

But, with a .45 the thinnest point in the wall of the same barrel is .152” + so a .050”dovetail will work fine anywhere on that particular barrel. That’s plenty deep enough to hold a lug.

Bruce Everhart

[Bentflint]

Jeff beat me to it with half the words.

Bruce Everhart

[David Rase]

I don't cut any of my dovetails deeper then .032".  It is more then adequate depth for any size barrel.
DMR

[max]

Thanks for the info guys.

[LynnC]

I'm with David - I can't see any reason to cut a dovetail deeper tha 1/32.  I form my lugs from .028" ish (Can't remember exactly) sheet steel and dove tail them in as deep.  Sure saves a bunch of cutting and filing.  You can't pull them off.................Lynn