Drilling ramrod hole for 1803 Harpers Ferry

[Curt Larsen]

OK, I'm a chicken on this one.  I purchased a HF 1803 kit from Don Stith a while back and am finally trying to get around to start on it.  I've never done a half stock before and am puzzled on drilling the ramrod hole on the stock without a nice straight channel to line up a drill on.  Any tips on this would be greatly appreciated.  Like I said above, I'm a chicken on this one especially since there have been several "seconds" 1803 stocks on the TOW site with drill outs on the ramrod channels.  Also, what size drill do you recommend for this.  Thanks,
Curt

[Longknife]

Curt, I would suggest that you completely inlet the barrel install rib and thimbles and use them as a guide. use a bit that just fits in the thimbles....Ed

[northmn]

On a straight barrel installing the rib and using it for a guide will work.  On a tapered barrel you can clamp the stock down and make v blocks for guides to align the drill.  Some of the newer designed drill bits with pointed tips are also better for
going in a straight line.  I ususally drill small holes 1/16 or 3/32 in the barrel channel as feeler holes to check on the progress so that I can stop and do some damage control before the bit wanders off too far if it is doing so.   The last ramrod channel I did was on a half stock and I used a 16 inch spade bit in a freehand manner and came out about as good as ever. Take extra care in getting the bit started straight.

DP

[Dave B]

Ed is right on this. With the rib and rod pipes in place it as good as a channel on a full stock. I like to use a 3/8 drill for the job but as Longknife suggested use the bit that closely fits the rod pipes. Does the 1803 have an Iron rod? As long as you drill some 1/16"holes every 3"in the bottom  flat of the stock to check your progress and direction early on you should be just fine. You can check the depth of the drilled hole with a chunk of 1/16 pin stock. If your off this is where that scraper for the ram rod hole shown in shop tools can save your bacon. I like using a single flute drill for these. I have had fewer run out problems with them.

[Lucky R A]

Curt,  That rifle takes a trumpet head steel ramrod not a wooden one.   The rod is 1/4" size and has a thread on the rear end to screw on attachments, i.e. jag, ball puller etc.   You can make a spade drill out of a piece of cold roll.  hammer the end out a bit to make your spade just larger than the 1/4 cold roll stock then file the appropriate  spade on it.  T.O. W. sells the correct ram rod it you do not wish to make your own.   The blueprint made by Mike Hayes  also available from T.O.W. is a good buy before you get too far into your project.   

[T*O*F]

To drill a 1/4" ramrod hole, go to your bigbox hardware store and buy a 1/4" installer's drill.  They come in various lengths....mine is 48" long.  They are used to run phone or cable wires to drill thru double studs in hard to reach areas.  Mine cost less than $15 when I bought it.

Next, go to your auto parts store and buy a straight piece of steel brake line.  I forget which size, but the shank of the drill will fit inside of it and it's about 1/4"OD on the outside.  Clamp the line in your ramrod channel and have at it.

[Dave B]

Cool Idea Dave. Thanks for sharing.

[Curt Larsen]

Guys:  These are all great ideas.  Thanks for the tips.  Just for the heck of it, how do you keep one of those skinny steel ramrods in the hole?  They added springs for later Springfield rifle muskets. 

Curt