Mending a gap: Fit with wood vs anneal and form

[Blacktail]

This topic was discussed in a recent thread. I have some specific questions I would like to address with a subject line which will be more easily searchable in the future for others.

I just realized that I've somehow inlet my entry thimble crookedly. My center-line ended up with some runout and it strayed from true. The part needs to be moved over a bit less than 1/16th and the resulting gap will need filled in. I'm debating between planing and gluing a piece of wood in there, or annealing the brass to pound it in and fill it out. I've done the final fitting of butt plates by tapping them in, but never a part which is actually inlet into the stock.

When you guys pound on a piece of brass to make it form to the gap, do you do so with the part mounted in the stock or outside it, and then file and fit? Essentially, will tapping to fit the part as its inlet damage the stock?

[rich pierce]

Any peening will have to be done outside the stock.  You may use a piece if heavy pipe, etc, cut in half to make a trough, if you do not have a swage block.  Many things can go wrong if you're not experienced.  Making a new rear thimble with a wider skirt may be your best option.

[Blacktail]

I forgot to mention, this is on a Chamber's English rifle. The thimble as a long V shaped finial. Adding some wood would perhaps be the best option. I fear I might be chasing my tail peening and fitting. It's not as though there's unlimited metal to work with there. Thankfully there is plenty of wood for this sort of thing with the patchbox lid which came with the kit.

[Mark Elliott]

i generally stretch metal only to fill very small gaps over a very small area.   If you have big opps with a mount like a thimble,  I would make a new thimble.   It is something that is quick and easy to do and it fixes the problem 100%.    It is just a couple dollars worth of brass.

[Jerry V Lape]

I think you have a couple other options with the entry pipe.  First one is you could make another pipe with a little wider tail and fit it to the reshaped inlet area.  The other is easier for me anyway - solder on a flat piece of brass to the existing tail, adjust the inlet and fit the larger tail to the redesigned inlet.  It isn't all that hard to glue in some wood to fill the gap either.