Inletting entry pipe.

[Jerry V Lape]

Just finishing inletting a tailpipe.  I hear a lot of griping in here about not like the task of inletting buttplates but my least favorite seems to be the tailpipe.  Looked through all the tutorials and see no relief.  The issue I seem to suffer with is marking out the inlet of the tail.  So I spend an inordinate amount of time gradually sinking the tail down from front to rear.  Smoking the tail to show contact is difficult because only the edges are involved.  Has to be a better way?  How about some experience from others please. 

[M. E. Pering]

Make absolutely sure you inlet of the tab is perfect first.  If not, fill the hole and do it again.  Rocking side to side can cause huge issues here.  I agree too... This is much harder to get right.  It must go straight down, and in perfect alignment.  I usually leave this area ver thick until I get down to final shaping, but I inlet the pipe when it is thick.  Hope this helps.

Matt

[thecapgunkid]

A Jim Turpin DVD saved me a lot of grief.

He advocates dropping the pipe straight down by carefully lining it up and, the way I interpreted it, inletting the tail first, marking the slot second and staying straight vertically.  It worked well when I tried it that way, and worked even better when I did it BEFORE doing the front pipes.

I judge the biggest pain is getting all pipes lined up with the entry hole so the rod fits snug but not too tight.  When you are a hobbyist rather than a pro the way I am, nothing is easy so I gotta go slow all the time, summoning more patience than I have and backing off for some coffee or lunch a lot.

I also found that running my drill bit, sans drill, into the hole just past the inletting at the tail and gradually twisting it by hand seemed to help.

[Mike Brooks]

I inlet the front and gradually keep tipping it back until the tail is inlet. Takes about 1 hour if I'm taking my time.

[Dave B]

I used to struggle with this to till I figured out that there is no reason to put it in until the final finishing point. I prefer to shape down the fore stock to almost the final point. I use a long section of doweling with tape wrapped around so it is a friction fit in the pipe. With the dowel in the grove and having smoked the tab. The tail should almost be laying on top of the wood. I use an Exacto blade to mark its borders then I inlet the rest of tab the pipe and the tail straight down. I wonder at those that do all that inletting while the stock is in square form. I dont like to work that hard. The other advantage of doing the ramrod pipes last is the ramrod channel is unmolested with the inlets and my molding scraper travels in the groove smoothly to make the fore stock molding details.

[David Rase]

When I build an entry pipe I make sure the tab is long enough to state in the slot in the web of wood.  Once I have established the location of the tab I use the slot as a guide and inlet the entire pipe, finial and all, straight down.  Don't stop inletting too soon.  By this I mean you need to continue until the pipe and finial are flat and the hole in the pipe aligns with he ramrod hole.  I have seen many rifles where guys stopped inletting too soon and their pipe is sitting at a slant or the ramrod hole is misaligned to the pipe.
David

[Dan Fruth]

When I'm finished making the rear pipe, I put the tab in the vise, and tap the pipe section to make sure it is centered. It is easy to have the tab bent to one side or the other. Good layout of the brass before bending the pipe, and careful forming helps greatly when time to inlet. I agree with Dave, and have seen originals that are at an angle, so this is not a new issue!....I also finish the near for end before I inlet the pipe....I use a radius gage to check the radius of the area where the tang fits, and form the tang to conform to that radius, and it seems to work well.

[Bill Raby]

Maybe this will help