Fowler buttplate

[sdilts]

I'm building my first fowler and the buttplate with its long tang looks like it's going to be a pain to inlet. Are there any tricks to inletting this thing?

[Bill of the 45th]

Make sure the tang has a vertical taper filed on it, and start with the narrow dimension.  Take your time.

Bill

[Dave B]

I used to dread inletting the butt plate when I was just getting my first couple of rifles under my belt. I learned that the secret was to work the profile down to with in 1/8" of the final shape. Doing this gets rid of doing unnecessary wood to inlet through.  I have seen guys with square butt stocks and the butt plate inlet through all that wood and have to say, man that was a real drag doing that.  With all that extra out of the way all you have to do is cut away the wood at the curved part of but plate to bring corner of the butt plate so its  close to the point of seating and then inlet the forward tang into the wood.  This is how I have inlet my Jaeger butt plate with all its funky contours. The long tapered fowler tangs are allot easier in that you can continue to slide them forward to the final seating point.

[rich pierce]

(Dave and I were typing same time.  I agree 100% as you can see) With any buttplate inlet, sawing the buttstock to profile and then using a spokeshave to prep the surface before inletting helps a lot.  Trying to inlet a buttplate onto a huge square buttstock causes problems for me.  I sometimes used to find myself inletting the buttplate down into a hole.  Same thing for entry thimbles- prepping the surface by pre-shaping it sure saves time and mistakes.

I find a few more challenges with buttplates in general.  First is getting that tang to stay lined up with the comb line and not dip down at the front.  I put a straightedge on it now and again.  If you've cut your blank close to finish profile, or are using a precarve, there's no room for letting it get tilted and fixing it.

If the buttplate tang is simple and is narrower at the tip than at the base, and you find you have to scootch it  forward, no problems.  Otherwise it has to be inletted straight down, then you can bend the heel and "foot" to fit the rest.  Assuming it's soft brass, that is.

Sometimes with all the tapping into place as you're trying to get a good fit of the tang and the heel and everything, the angle between the tang and the "foot" begins to open up.  Before you start, you could cut a piece of stiff cardboard to exactly match the inside profile of the buttplate, right down the centerline of the buttplate and tang.  Use this to check from time to time that you're not spreading the buttplate open.

[smylee grouch]

I agree with Rich, keep a line (center line or cast off) and stick to it.   Gary

[northmn]

I mark the center line with a pencil for both the tow and the tang to maintain the alignment.

DP