Retaining pins and key wedges

[DaveP (UK)]

I could have got the wrong end of the stick here, but when I see a barrel and stock held together by key wedges I feel that the maker has made an effort to make it easy to separate them for maintenance operations, in particular, drying off a gun that has been exposed to bad weather.
On the other hand, I tend to feel retaining pins shouldn't be disturbed too often for fear they will work loose in the wood.
If I'm correct in this, how should a gun built with pins be cared for, particularly the hidden parts of the barrel?

[Lucky R A]

   First off I only take the barrel out of the stock when it has been exposed to a lot of moisture as you suggest, certainly not everytime it is cleaned.  Pins should be inserted from one side and removed from the other.  On my guns the pins are inserted from the sideplate side and are seated flush with the wood on that side.  The pins are cut so they are about 1/8 inch short of the surface on the lock side.  Using a slightly undersize pin pusher you can easily remove the pins w/o fear of damage by inserting the pusher into the hole from the lock side and pushing them to the sideplate side.  I slightly round the ends of the pins when I make them to prevent any possibility of them catching the wood and chipping out a hole.  This works for me, others may have different methods....Ron

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I make and install barrel retaining pins the same way you do Ron.  But I remove them every time I shoot the rifle.  Over a period of several years, they do become a little on the loose side, so I seat them just a bit deeper, and cover the holes with bees wax.
Barrel keys or slides have a capturing pin installed on the inside of the barrel channel, and they stay tight.

[David R. Pennington]

After a day in the woods in rain or snow I always pull the barrel. My .50 barrel is pinned as was the original it was patterned after. After several years one of the pins got a little loose. I just peened the pin a little right in the middle so it binds in the loop a bit. It is a problem if you loose a key as mine are made to fit each spot. I also usually mark my pins or keys so I always put them back in the same spot. I just file little notches in them. One notch for front pin, two for second pin and so on.

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I always remove my pins as well. I find that if a pin gets loose enough that it may fall out, forcing bees wax into the pin hole on both side makes it sticky enough to retain the pin with no danger of enlarging the pin hole.

[Roger Fisher]

My barrel has been out of the stock no more than 2 times since 89; but I usually swim upstream anyway!

[Long John]

I only pull the barrel out every couple of years.  I manage the potential of water ingress in the barrel channel by coating the barrel very liberally with a bear grease and bees wax mixture before installing the barrel into the stock.  This mixture occupies the air space between the barrel and the stock and prevents water wicking into that space, yet allows easy removal when necessary.  I have never had any evidence of rust or other water intrusion on any of the rifles thus assembled.  If you hunt New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey you know that rain is guaranteed during deer season.

To clean the rifle I just lay it on its side, vent pointed down.  Never any rust or sign of inadequate cleaning either.  Its been working for me.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Chris Treichel]

About two years ago I bought some parts for a rifle that had sat in a fellows garage for twenty years.  The barrel inlet into a maple stock had a nice browned appearance to it.  It was not until I pulled the barrel from the stock that I found out it had been browned by time and humidity.  Below the stock line it was still bright and shiny.  No grease or wax anywhere on that barrel and it was only held in place by some twine. 

[DaveP (UK)]

Thanks!
I must confess that I had been leaning to the view that retaining pins were earlier, less sophisticated and, in effect, "second best" (except when required for historical accuracy). I'm getting the feeling that I need to reconsider...

Thanks for the pointers about how to manage pins - I wouldnt have thought of using beeswax - and that reminds me: Bear grease, despite all its advantages, is stubbornly unobtainable hereabouts. Would any other animal fat make a good substitute?

[Dave B]

Dave  I ran across information that says you really don't want to be using any animal fat products on the wood. Originals having been oiled thusly over the years caused the wood to degrade(rot). This is seen typically around the lock inlet area at the breach of the rifle next to the tang. I use  bee's wax, it is a good way to go.

[DaveP (UK)]

No petrochemicals, and now no animal fats...
I quite like the idea of "bedding" the barrel in something soft enough for the excess to squish out, leaving no space for water to accumulate. I guess olive oil and wax might be worth a try, or even wax and turpentine (AKA furniture polish!)

On the other hand, if wood is seen to deteriorate around the lock area, could it be that an oily / waxy coating is absorbing and concentrating acidic combustion products from the pan / vent / cap?

[David R. Pennington]

By the time the bear oil rots my stock it won't matter to me.

[Dave B]

before hearing about the animal fat issue causing the wood around the breach to degrade I had assumed it was from the cleaning of the piece and water coming out of the touch hole at the breach leaking around the area had ultimately compromised the wood. I think as long as the wood is well sealed it won't be an issue regardless whats being used. I have yet to try it but the System Three company makes a watery epoxy used to stabilize punky wood in boat transoms. Once mixed it is sopped on to the affected area and it soaks in and plasticizes the area. It would be the equivalent of acraglass I imagine just allot more runny.