General discussion > Gun Building

first build from a blank

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chuck c.:
After four rifles from pre-carves, I'm about to make my first attempt at building from a blank. I'm planning to send the rifle off to have the swamped barrel channel inlet and the ramrod hole drilled. I'm sure that they will need to know the length of the barrel, what weight it is, the desired thickness of the web, and the size of the ramrod hole. Is there any other information needed and how close to the actual shape of the rifle does the blank need to be band sawed? Is it necessary to draw the barrel, web, ramrod hole and channel on the blank. I hope these don't sound like dumb questions, but any helpful information would be appreciated.

E.vonAschwege:
Most the single man operations won't inlet for a barrel unless they have the barrel to directly trace from.  I've only had one barrel and RR inlet for me by Dave Rase (fabulous job), and I did the layout on the blank before I sent it off.  With some stocks you really have to lay out the barrel precisely for the gun to fit on the blank, so I would recommend laying everything out before you send it away.  On the blank, draw out where you want the barrel to be, where you want the ramrod to be, and if you need the barrel to be offset for castoff.  Whoever you contact will tell you what he needs to know before you ship it.  Good luck!
-Eric

Knob Mountain:
 Hi Chuck.
 
Welcome to the ALR site.
 
 There are quite a few people who do a great job at barrel inletting and ramrod channels.
 
You should send the barrel with your blank to the person who is doing the work.  They will use the barrel to make a pattern so they can accurately inlet the barrel.  It doesn't matter who you bought your barrel from but most of the time a 42" B wt isn't exactly the same as the next 42" B wt.  Even straight barrels are hardly ever perfect from one end to the next. Nearly all of   today's barrels are very well made but for a great fit you should still send the barrel.  It will keep you from having ant gaps or having to do excessive scraping.
 
You should also draw a mark on the stock where you want the breech to be located and also mark a centerline on the top where you want the barrel to be positioned.
 
Let them know the desired thickness on the web and the size of the ramrod hole and channel.  The more info you send them the less likely there is a chance you will be disappointed.

AndyThomas:
I usually draw on the blank where I want the barrel.

One time, though, I had a blank which had a knot along its length that would have to be worked around, so I wrote on the blank: the butt thickness, castoff, drop, pull length, etc, and sent it (along with the barrel) to Fred Miller. By having this info he was able to put the barrel in the blank and leave me enough wood to make the gun I wanted.  ;D

Hope this helps,
Andy

holzwurm:
I would only add that I never sent a stock out for barrel inletting without the barrel. I also always draw filed the side flats at least.

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