Stock repair

[huckfinn]

Hope you can see the photo.  When I drilled the ram rod hole for my fowler it came through the bottom of the stock.  I repaired it with some gun bedding but still wasn't real happy with it.  So I made a fish from my bird dog's old dog tag.  I could tell you some stories about that dog.  Any way it was one of those milk bone type tags you order from the company.  A real good piece of brass.  It broke my heart when I made that mistake but now it looks a little bit better.    

[huckfinn]

Maybe this time?

[b bogart]

Well huckfinn I have one on the bench that I broke thru doing the same thing. I still have to design and make a "wearplate"

Sorry the photo is as bad as my aim with the ramrod drill
I don't think you and I are the only ones that have done this

[northmn]

You can see the plate on the bottom of my 25.  Could even do a more elaborate one.  You see quite a few plates on originals which were thought to be for that purpose.  On  mine the drill bit seemed to go straight for a bit then took a walk.  It was a small bit. 

DP

[Blacksmoke]

Huck;  You are not the only one to have done it in the day's of old either!      Hugh Toenjes

[huckfinn]

So....it happens.  Thanks for sharing your work.  The wear plate is a good idea as well.  Blacksmoke-what is a 25?  .25 caliber?
      When I drilled the ramrod hole I used the ramrod groove as a guide and it wasn't quite level.  It kind of went uphill.  To fix it I had to recut the ramrod groove and then I used a maple dowel rod to fill the hole and redrilled it.  The last part of the ramrod hole I drilled a little smaller , 5/16" I think and tapered the ram rod.  I had the same problem with the ramrod hole coming through under the trigger guard.  So I ground a groove in the bottom of the trigger guard to make the ramrod fit.  It looks pretty good.  I have learned a lot and am ready to start another one.  Maybe a fullstock hawken.

[b bogart]

Whilst we're at it, what thickness of material (brass, steel, silver, etc) ias best used for a "wear plate"? I have a nice selection of .030 brass approximately the correct width. Is that about right? Seems to me it is, but i bow to those more knowledgeable.......

[Blacksmoke]

Huck:   I am not sure what you mean when you speak of "#25'?"  I assume that you are referring to a cal. of a rifle?   In the modern age when we say 45 cal. it usually measures: .450" and so on.  Where did you see the # 25 ?  If it was on an old scissors type ball mold it would usually mean 25 balls per pound.  As that was the way calibers were identified before the age of standardization.   Hugh Toenjes












"

[b bogart]

Hugh he saw northmn's reference to his 25........I took it to mean a  .25 caliber rifle.

[Herb]

Some rifles had wear plates added as design features, as in western Pennsylvania.  The bottom rifle is a copy of a Thomas Oldham Bedford, and the next up is a Jacob Wigle (Westmoreland Co. PA),  both added when built as a design.  Next up is a Henry Albright copy I built where I needed to add the wear plate because of a cracked stock.  Top is a Green River Rifle Works Trade Rifle I built in their shop and Greg Roberts, shop foreman, drilled the ram rod hole.  It came out the bottom of the stock, so that one is a repair.

I think .030 is thin brass, mine was probably .050.  But .030 would probably work OK.  I built all of these rifles.