Inlet barrel/tang first or lock?

[Boompa]

  I would normally set the barrel & tang first but the pre-inletted stock I bought has the lock mortise about 85-90% inletted. My concern is that the lock mortise leaves very little "wiggle room".  I could end up with the barrel set too far back if I inlet it first. Thoughts, experiences with this?

[PPatch]

Is the touch hole already drilled? If so I would inlet the lock at the point where you know it has to go, get it firmly in its place, then inlet the barrel (you will have to remove the tang) aiming for the touch hole centered in the pan normally. Once the barrel is in then do the tang and bring the lock the rest of the way in. If the touch hole is not drilled mark where it will go and proceed the same way but you have a bit of wiggle room. Also, if you are going to use a touch hole liner plan that in in regards to where the breech plug will end, usually 1/2 inch from the rear of the barrel plus one half the liner dia. so you don't end up having to drill into the breech.

dave

[B.Habermehl]

Breech your barrel first. Then drop a ramrod down the barrel, mark exactly where it stops at rest against the breech plug face. Lay the rod alongside the barrel with the mark exactly at the muzzle. Use this to lay out the breech plug face on the outside of the barrel. Now layout for your touch hole. If using a 1/4 inch liner then the centerline of your touch hole is layed out 1/8 in in front of the breech face. Since you are using a stock with the lock preinletted, inlet the lock plate only first. Now pull your breech plug and square up the breech end of the barrel channel, be aware of your touch hole centerline and lock pan centerline. Carry the breech inlet rear wards till the touch hole center line and the lock pan centerline line up. Put your plug back in the barrel and inlet that next.BJH

[Pete G.]

As a general rule with a precarve that has the lock inlet already cut you reverse the normal order and fit the lock first and then adjust the barrel accordingly. This is one of the reasons that a precarve is not a favorite way to go by many experienced builders. There are precarves available without the lock inlet, which are usually a better option from a builder standpoint.

[Boompa]

The barrel is not drilled for the touch hole liner so I have that advantage and you fellas have given me a starting point with this.  The barrel is a straight octagon, not swamped so this makes it easier.  On the next build I'll get the stock without the lock inlet.   Thanks for the help.

[Joe S.]

while I'm still working on my first build and am no means an expert like some on here some things that may help.Before you do anything try to lay it all out first.Make sure you parts are as close to true as possible.Make sure your tang is not warped or if needing to be adjusted and its fits to the barrel is true.All these things if not done first then when you do them later affect where your barrel,lock end up and by then that "wiggle room" is pretty much gone.While laying it out in the beginning you can figure out where you have wiggle room.I pretty much jumped in squared up the end of the barrel channel and started inletting the tang forgetting to take the hump out.When I noticed things didn't look right....I had to rebend the tang,refit it to the barrel then make adjustments to the stock.This slid everything back some and with the lock pretty much where it had to be that wiggle room was used up.Was not a fatal mistake and things will be just fine it taught me a valuable lesson.Not sure what your building or if your tang,breech is one piece but mine is hooked style and may be different than yours,good luck with your build