Patch box spring

[davebozell]

I've been looking at the patch box cavity and spring below now for about three weeks.  I've also reviewed several tutorials and topics on this board.  The cast spring has a square shoulders on the button.  The butt plate on this rifle is anything but square.  Since the spring has been somewhat hardened, it's not taking very kindly to being reworked to match the butt plate.  Should I try to "inlet" the button into the butt plate?  Should my first step be to remove the butt plate and do the woodworking to get the spring positioned properly, and then address the butt plate?  Could I soften the button so that it can be reoriented to the butt plate, or would I ruin the spring?  Or I guess I could cut off the button and get it re-welded back on the at the appropriate angle.  Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

[Dennis Glazener]

Dave,
I would pull the buttplate off and install the spring and the catch. I assume you know that the spring needs to be rotated 90 degrees and fastened at the extreme end of its length. The catch/hook rivets to the inside of the lid and is fashioned so it will snap in place over the long spring up close to the buttplate (better get someone familiar with the style of rifle you are building to tell you how close is normal). You will have to cut out enough wood for the spring to move enough to release the catch. After you get the lid/catch working properly THEN cut the butt plate just enough for the movement needed to release the lid catch.

Hope this makes sense.
Dennis

[Ryan McNabb]

That spring doesn't seem at all suited to the period of rifle you're building.  That spring is usually seen on side opening boxes from earlier rifles than the one it appears you're building.  I would use a regular push button opening mechanism that fit the style of the rifle and save that spring for an earlier gun.  I offer this advice before you go cutting on your buttplate and make a bunch of irreversible decisions...

[Bill-52]

Dave,

Alternatively, if you're set on that style of patchbox spring, it's not that difficult to make one that fits your buttplate and patchbox cavity.  I fashioned this one from the rod shown.  The spring requires very little flex to engage the catch so I simply used a rod that had some flexibility.  I cold hammered and filed the button to the shape and orientation I needed.  Yours will obviously require a bit more fitting, given the curve of your buttplate.

Bill

PS. In the interest of full disclosure, this was my first rifle with this type of patchbox spring and my third attempt at an acceptable spring.

[Pete G.]

Clamp the spring in your vise with the button end exposed. You can use a propane torch to heat and bend the end to conform to your buttplate. The vise should act as a heat sink and preserve the temper.

[davebozell]

Thanks for all of the input.  Unfortunately, this rifle (my first) is the result of a lack of knowledge on my part when I started it three years ago.  The parts are mixture of styles, which I will hopefully be able to avoid on my next build.  My goal at this point is to finish it up and move on to the next project.  This one will never be appropriate to any "school", but hopefully it will have served its purpose to help me learn and develop a few skills (and buy a few new tools😀).

[Dave B]

Dave,
I have used a mandrel that I believe I saw in the "Recreating the American Longrifle" book. The device was used to bend the barrel keys to lay flat against the contour of the beveled forestock. The metal has a notch cut into it that has the surface filed to the angle you want you head to conform to. You heat the head shank and place into the mandrel and whack it with your hammer and presto you have the angle you need. Most of these need not only contour for the long axis but also for the radi of the butt plate in the other plane as well. The way I would make it would be as a pickle fork to be clamped fork up in the vice. The tines have to be as thick as the shank section of the release spring but beveled to the angles you want to match your butt plate. You should be able to get it with a couple heats using just a propane torch.