ok, how much trouble am i in

[jcovais]

I'm building a Chambers Kit, and with the exception of several first time builder mistakes I'm doing ok.    When I started the kit the barrel fit the stock perfectly. I inletted the breech tang and continued with my build, and after watching another video about rifle building i decided out of curiosity to check the level of my top barrel flat, as i said it fit the stock well and looked right when i shouldered it so i never thought to check it.   My ignorance was bliss.  I want to do it right.  Should i re inlett the barrell, even though it means a substansial change to the precarve or leave it be

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

Are you saying the barrel is canted a bit to the left or right?

[jcovais]

yes.....it's wierd because the pan on the lock looks like it matched the barrel without any gap

[bob in the woods]

If you sit a square on top of the barrel flat, is it square to the lock plate?    Sometimes , if the sides of the stock are not even
i.e. one side is higher on the barrel flat than the other…it can appear that the barrel is canted. 

[jcovais]

I'll look at that...I used an adjustable square that has a level on it ..I placed the level on the top flat and squared it without the lock using the exposed side flat of the barrel to square off of.    But if I'm understanding correctly as long as its square to the lock i should be OK?

[jcovais]

Visually when i look at the gun , and even when i shoulder it i cant see a left to right slant (its a left handed gun)  its only when i put the level on it that i can see its off

[E.vonAschwege]

With the exception of the lock bolster to barrel fit, there isn't really much that is or should be square on a longrifle.  If you're off by a few degrees to the wood, you can't visually notice it, and you haven't shaped everything 100% yet, then don't worry about it at all - you'll have plenty of meat left to make the lock panels true to the lock and barrel.  The barrel can become slightly canted if the breech plug isn't inlet perfectly up and down in the stock.  Check if you're rubbing on one side vs the other.  When all is finally shaped, the only issue with having the barrel canted slightly one way is that the toe may point inward towards your chest, which can hurt, or outward, which isn't bad at all.  The forestock will align itself with the barrel once it's shaped.  
-Eric

[Nate McKenzie]

Sounds like if it ain't broke- don't fix it.

[Mark Elliott]

The top flats of my barrels always look a little off, and how much and which direction depends on the angle I am viewing it from.  Sometimes, it is my inletting, sometimes it is the barrel, usually, it is both.   I have never checked the square on a barrel that was square all the way around from breech to muzzle.    I buy good barrels and none of them are anywhere close to perfect as to the width or square of the flats.   Frequently, the angle of the flats vary a little from breech to muzzle.    The original barrels vary a lot more!

I inlet everything as square as possible, but nothing is ever perfect.   As Eric as already indicated,  nothing on a longrifle is perfectly square, perpendicular, parallel, or straight.    The best you can do is keep looking at everything from different angles, using a raking light and do your best to end up with something that looks like a proper longrifle.   That is why it is so important to look at and handle originals; because, in the end, the only criteria that matters is "does it look right?".    Usually you have make stuff slightly off to make it look right.

I will tell you that I file the tang and breech with the stock, so , at least, the lock area should look right.   The thing is,  the trigger and trigger guard is almost never centered perfectly under the the lock panels due to cast-off (on).   That means you have to fudge the whole area to make it kinda look right.  

I go for an impression at arms length.   When you start looking really close at any rifle, contemporary or antique (even the really good ones)  you will find a lot of things wrong.     The harder you look, the more you will find wrong.    So,   you are jut going for an impression, and the more guns you make, or the more time you spend on one,  the better the final product is going to look from a distance.  

The really fancy ones can hide a ton of small mistakes.   One of the first things you learn about engraving is that you can disguise mistakes and imperfections by just adding more lines to confuse the eye.    The more visual confusion,  the more your brain will try to make things look the way it thinks they should look.    In the end,  you see what you think you should be seeing.   Magicians would be out of business, otherwise.  

So,  bottom line; what we do is MAGIC!    

[kaintuck]

can you draw a line on the butt vertical and level that.
then with the barrel in the stock, see if the barrel then is level..........
slight cant will be fine....but if its W A Y off......

since the tang is inlet......

marc n tomtom

[jcovais]

This web site is cheaper than therapy  lol. this is the only place I know where a rank beginner can get advice and guidance from the top rifle makers in the country.  thanks for letting me be a part of this great community!!....Time to get back to work...lol

Thanks again
Jim 

[Acer Saccharum]

When I'm building, I usually have draw filed the top flat to match the plug to the barrel. In the process of filing, my top flat is no longer completely flat. It's very hard to get a true read with a level or a square. So I get it as close as I can.

As Eric says, there is very little on a long rifle that needs to be square and true.

When inletting the lock, and fitting the lock bolster to the barrel, I sometimes file the bolster or the barrel to get a perfect fit. I like to put a piece of paper in between, tighten the screws and see where it compresses. File the tight spots and fit again.

In the field or on the range, a little film of grease on the bolster keeps water and powder residue out of the lock inlet.

[jcovais]

Thanks acer

[ShutEyeHunter]

I'm re-barreling an 1840 vintage rifle. I found that there was nothing (really, nothing) on the rifle that was plumb square or straight, including the barrel.

The original maker seems to have "split the difference" to make it look right.

I found that I had to weld a bit of metal onto the sides of the new tang to get it to fit the existing long tang mortise.  If you look at the new tang out of the stock, it looks like a banana, but in the stock it looks right.

[retired fella]

As long as it shoots straight and suits you, no problem...have you tried a left handed level?

[Pete G.]

Always remember that we are replicating a hand built item, not a machine made modern piece. Try to keep it as symmetrical and square as you can, but a small amount of deviation is the norm.