barrels

[Luke]

im stil working on my first build,im a little worried about doing the barrel.taking a hack saw to a new barrel with my limited skill makes me break out in a sweat.does anyone sell the barrrels ready to go i know it will limit me.but having the lugs and the sights already on we make me feel better,any suggestions.thanks luke

[coutios]

  Luke, It is not as hard as it seems. Look in the tutorial section. There is a great example posted by Taylor S. Lots of photos.. Find some scrap metal to practice on before you have a go on the real deal.  This is a skill that you will need down the road. Maybe someone local will contact you to lend moral support....

Best of luck
Dave

[Elnathan]

  Luke, It is not as hard as it seems. Look in the tutorial section. There is a great example posted by Taylor S. Lots of photos.. Find some scrap metal to practice on before you have a go on the real deal.  This is a skill that you will need down the road. Maybe someone local will contact you to lend moral support....

Best of luck
Dave

What the man said. Where are you located in NC, if you don't mind me asking?

[Luke]

im near rocky mount,just east of raleigh

[TMerkley]

I am guessing it is an octagonal barrel.
If so, take measurements from either the muzzle or the breech and use a small T-square and measure the distance on each flat and then you can ensure that you have a good mark to uses as a reference while you are cutting. You can also start your cut and rotate the barrel to where you are only cutting down to the bore instead of trying to keep a straight line all the way through.  Then dress it with a file and check with the T- square to square it up.  
Take your time!  
Does it already have a breech plug?

Sorry, misunderstood.

[Mark Elliott]

You are only going to cut 1/32", the depth of the teeth.   Just take everything slow.   You should finish up about .040" deep after the filing.   I have a stop on the hacksaw blade I use to cut the slots.  It is made of 1/16" sheet steel just folded over.   I drilled and tapped it so that I can tighten it on the blade with machine screws.   It would be easier with brass, but that seemed like a waste of brass.   Whole process is easier if you use a specially ground cold chisel to lift the dovetails.   That way you just get the dovetail slot close with a file.   Lift the dovetails with the chisel.  Slide the tenon or sight base in and punch the dovetails back down.    That's the way it was done on the originals.   They didn't even bother to file off the excess metal that was raised up.    If you use a die sinkers chisel to remove the extra metal after your hacksaw cuts,  it really speeds things up.   It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to put in a tenon or sight with this method.   I am pretty sure there is a tutorial on this sight that demonstrates the whole process I described. 

Don't worry about screwing it up.   You will sooner or later.   You might as well learn to fix your mistakes now.   Real gunsmithing isn't about doing it right the first time.   You don't learn anything from that.   It is about fixing your mistakes so that nobody knows.

[davebozell]

Get a "safe"file to cut your dovetails.  They make it really easy.   A new hacksaw blade also makes it easier.  I'm a first-time builder like you and it worked out just fine for me.  Take them one at a time, go slow and you'll be fine.  That first saw cut on a new barrel can be a little stressful, but like has been said before, if something goes wrong, it can be fixed.   

[Lucky R A]

Skip the hack saw and solder on your barrel lugs!   You then only have two rather shallow dovetails to cut for your sights...

[razor62]

In answer to the OP's question, Yes. Many suppliers will cut dovetails for you at a reasonable additional cost.
The folks here are correct however. Dovetails aren't all that hard if you take your time and go slow.

[Tim Crosby]

 Take a look at this and see if it helps.

  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=10152.msg95821#msg95821

   Tim C.

[JDK]

Skip the hack saw and solder on your barrel lugs!   You then only have two rather shallow dovetails to cut for your sights...

Ron, Sounds as if he could use the practice on the bottom dovetails before moving on to dovetailing sights. Enjoy, J.D.

[Don Getz]

I will really confuse you now.    On the first three guns that I built, I made staples and applied them to the barrel.   One of
these barrels was an octagon to round Paris barrel, kind of an expensive barrel to play or learn on.  I did this one back in
1973..............Don

[Longknife]

I like staples and they fast and easy, and were used on many originals. Just make a GOOD stop for your bit!!!!.....Ed

[Cory Joe Stewart]

When I made my first one last year this part really intimidated me.  As everyone has said it is not that bad.  Practice on the lugs, because you will have to do it for the sights. 

Coryjoe

[Dennis Glazener]

I like staples and they fast and easy, and were used on many originals. Just make a GOOD stop for your bit!!!!.....Ed

They are fine IF you have plenty of wall thickness and don't hit too hard when setting them in, you can dimple the bore. For thin walls they are far more scary than cutting dovetails.
Dennis

[Jim Kibler]

I like staples and they fast and easy, and were used on many originals. Just make a GOOD stop for your bit!!!!.....Ed

I've seen staples of sorts used on 18th century guns, but they were square in cross section and installed by chiseling a rectangular mortice for each leg and then upsetting metal at the end to be then clinched dosn upon a foot on the loop.  I haven't seen any bent staples of round cross section like the ones used today on 18th century guns.  Has anyone else? 

[Don Getz]

The staples I always liked were cast ones made by Pete Allan.  They had a foot on each leg, and were made from soft steel,
you would tap them into the two holes you drilled, and the edges of the foot would curl upward, then when you upset the
metal around them there were kind of locked in........Don

[kutter]

Skip the hack saw and solder on your barrel lugs!   You then only have two rather shallow dovetails to cut for your sights...

I've been doing that too.  I used to dovetail & softsolder them into place. Typical overkill on my part.
Then I talked myself into just dovetailing.
A thin waisted swamped bbl got me thinking about just sweatsoldering them and that's where I am now.
Maybe I'm getting lazy!!

With a large contact base and a good sweat solder job, things aren't going anywhere. It's holding up a forearm weighing a few ounces to the bbl w/a pin after all. If the wood doesn't give 'way before your soldering job in some case of extreme stress,,then the soldering job was no good to begin with.
See,,,you can talk yourself right into it...

Forend lugs, sling swivel bases, sights and all sorts of small contact items are held to cartridge bbls w/soft solder that have much more force applied to them. They hold up fine,,as long as the job is done right!

Makes wondering about encroaching on the bore with the dovetail on a thin tube un-necessary.

[Roger Fisher]

Get a "safe"file to cut your dovetails.  They make it really easy.   A new hacksaw blade also makes it easier.  I'm a first-time builder like you and it worked out just fine for me.  Take them one at a time, go slow and you'll be fine.  That first saw cut on a new barrel can be a little stressful, but like has been said before, if something goes wrong, it can be fixed.   

Use new blade and turn it around so it cuts on the pull,.,,, easier to control...

[eagle24]

Read the tutorials Luke.  Take it slow on the first one and you will be fine.  It's not as hard as you think.  The Brownell dovetail file is well worth the money IMO and does a great job.  This is actually one of my favorite parts of a build.  Just go slow and don't go too deep and your fine.  Go figure.......I enjoy making and installing the under barrel lugs that won't be seen.  Really kind of neat to me and they are great practice for the sight dovetails that will be seen.  Now drilling for the barrel pins is another story.  That makes me nervous.  Funny thing.....just about everything you do building a rifle can be a disaster or at least make the rifle not turn out as well as you would have liked.  Just gotta dive in and do it bro!

[ken]

A wise man told me to look at all the parts as rare materials . the first thing I have to do is get rid of the price tags. Take your time and think of the process, how one thing effects the next. Hit a wall, I always just step back and sharpen my tools or clean up the bench. Then I relax can see thing better, make fewer mistakes

[Dphariss]

Dovetails can also be felt in a bore with a tight patch unless the barrel is very heavy.
But staples? Which I like to use. Not in a light barrel.
Soldering is not the best answer if trying to make a nice slim rifle and not have the underlugs intrude into the rod channel.
Get a piece of steel and practice if you are not confident to cut on a barrel.

Dan

[Jim Kibler]

If loops are dovetailed in improperly they may be felt with a tight patch.  Done with sufficient barrel wall, at a reasonable depth, and fit in a proper manner, there won't be a problem.

[pathfinder]

I either have a light touch or am very very lucky. I'm guessing more lucky. I have used the staples for the last few gun's and really like them.

Dimpling the bore is what keeps me using using "a light touch"!

[blaksmth]

  You could get a dove tail jig that clamps on your barrel and you file till it touches the hardened base , my buddy has one and loves it he can cut and finish a dovetail in under 15 minutes, if you need to cut a shallower dovetail  just put a shim under the jig and clamp it on the barrel