pre-inlet stocks?

[Boompa]

  While I've had good success with pre-inlets for modern bolt action rifles, I think I've tried my first and last pre-inlet for a flintlock.  To me it is easier and I get a better job with a stock that has an under-size barrel channel and is drilled for the ramrod.  The pre-inlet I bought has the barrel channel cut tight in some areas but has small gaps in several places.  The lock mortise is okay but it's not as tight as can be achieved by scribing the lock plate and cutting the mortise.  My biggest beef is the tang. There is no way to fit the tang without gluing a thin piece of wood to fill a void.
     Am I having an unusually bad experience with a pre-inlet stock?

[L Moler]

I have never got a pre-inlet that has the lock in the right place..  I don't mind getting one with the barrel inlet, ramrod drilled and basically shaped, but I don't want them to touch the lock region or breechplug tang area.  I will do that myself.

[SteveMKentucky]

In my opinion, the biggest drawback of pre-inletted stocks is that the barrel and lock position are fixed and can cause problems with the remaining geometry, especially if you want a different pull.  I prefer to lay out the barrel the way I want it, lay out the lock, then lay out the trigger prior to drafting in the butt stock geometry.  You just have far more freedom in geometry and shaping.

The other drawback of pre-inletted stocks is that they are usually set up for a particular barrel, lock and buttplate configuration.  If you'd like make your own buttplate, you may be very constrained.  I'd much rather make a buttplate and then shape the stock to match than vice versa.

[Joe S.]

the lock placement seems to be the biggest issue in pre-carved stocks in my opinion. I would have liked to have had a little more wiggle room for my lock placement.My touch hole will be a tad forward of where I would have wanted it.More wood where you don't need it,less where you need it seems to me.I had to remove a lot of wood to get the internals of the lock in to get the right fit between it and the barrel and might as well did the whole job.As far as the fit of parts all needed to be fit into the their mortises,plenty to do there.Plenty of shaping of the stock will be needed to take the slab sided look off the forearm.All in all while I'm still working on it it was not that bad and it appears that when I'm done it should make for a decent rifle.I will let the experts here tell me if its a good representation of an original.I think for the novice builder like myself it was a good starting point,someone without all the necessary tools to take a rough sawn plank to finish.With some challenges to  overcome along the way it will also help in the been there done that on the next one,pre-carved or blank.Some pre carve suppliers are better than others but that also brings about debate,everybody has their favorite.

[bob in the woods]

With my Chamber's kits I've built, I've set the barrel back a tad to get the touch hole where I wanted it.
Not difficult, and not a big deal. It's just a matter of thinking things through.

[Joe S.]

I had the opposite problem.I needed to take the barrel forward otherwise I would have had to take the lock back.I really had no wiggle room to move the lock but maybe and eighth inch.Moving the barrel forward would have made for a gap in the tang.I settled for the touch hole being slightly forward.Could have stretched the tang abit also but chose not to.I'm still good and can still modify the pan to push the touch hole back some more if need be.

[Boompa]

    I don't mean to throw all pre-inlet suppliers under the bus, I've never built from a Chambers kit but from what I hear they are excellent. I've also seen some very nice rifles built from Track & Pecatonica component sets. It is probably best to use a pre-inlet on a first build as at least some of the figuring, decision making for the builder is already there.  But as for me, I think I'm gonna stick to inletting at least the lock & tang myself and I'd suggest to anyone who purchases a pre-inlet to take a long and critical look at the stock compared to the components before you alter the stock in any way.

[Nate McKenzie]

Most pre-inlet stocks can be ordered without the lock inlet  I like to use Dave Keck at Knob Mt. Muzzleloading.  http://knobmountainmuzzleloading.com/   You send him the barrel and he custom inlets it perfectly, drills the ram rod hole, and returns it with the barrel installed.  He also can do profiling and makes really good soft yellow brass castings.

[PPatch]

  While I've had good success with pre-inlets for modern bolt action rifles, I think I've tried my first and last pre-inlet for a flintlock.  To me it is easier and I get a better job with a stock that has an under-size barrel channel and is drilled for the ramrod.  The pre-inlet I bought has the barrel channel cut tight in some areas but has small gaps in several places.  The lock mortise is okay but it's not as tight as can be achieved by scribing the lock plate and cutting the mortise.  My biggest beef is the tang. There is no way to fit the tang without gluing a thin piece of wood to fill a void.
     Am I having an unusually bad experience with a pre-inlet stock?

I think you are having an unusual experience. Pre-carves take some fiddling as you know but a wavy barrel channel and too loose tang inlet shouldn't be happening. Now, I going to mention two possible remedies I have read of here on ALR but I have never needed to do either one...

Do you think some hammer work on that tang will broaden it enough to fill the mortice? You got what you got with that barrel channel being too wide in spots but perhaps after you get the barrel seated otherwise and some preliminary shaping done you could wet the stock in those areas and wrap them tightly to hopefully bring the sides in just a bit to snug them to the barrel. Lock mortises on pre-carves usually require just a sliver of wood removed until the lock plate drops in, all of them are like that. As others are recommending you can order stocks without the lock mortice inlet.

Good luck with your project.

dave

[Gaeckle]

I've always thought that pre-carves are for the most talleneted and skillful builders. I could never use one of those things, so I take the easy route and build from a blank.

[moleeyes36]

Most pre-inlet stocks can be ordered without the lock inlet  I like to use Dave Keck at Knob Mt. Muzzleloading.  http://knobmountainmuzzleloading.com/   You send him the barrel and he custom inlets it perfectly, drills the ram rod hole, and returns it with the barrel installed.  He also can do profiling and makes really good soft yellow brass castings.

I'm just a hobby builder with only a few guns under my belt, but I know of other professional builders like you that use Dave Keck for the same service.  I've had him inlet a barrel and drill the ramrod hole for me on one project and he did a bang up job.  I've also bought brass castings from him that were very nice. 

Mole Eyes

[dbraw]

Tip Curtis has the best preshaped stocks on the market. He also has over 100 styles. I have used ones from all the sources available. No problem with inlet locks.

[Joe S.]

I've always thought that pre-carves are for the most talleneted and skillful builders. I could never use one of those things, so I take the easy route and build from a blank.

Too funny 

[flinchrocket]

I've been pleased with the pre-carves from Pecatonica River Longrifles. I don't have the lock or any
hardware pre-inlet. I haven't been using the large siler, either a dale Johnson or golden age.

[Boompa]

I've always thought that pre-carves are for the most talleneted and skillful builders. I could never use one of those things, so I take the easy route and build from a blank.

Too funny 

     I'm not particularly talented but if my only other option were using pre-carves of the poor quality that I've recently experienced , I'd start from a blank too! 

[Pete G.]

I've never gotten a bad one from Pecatonica. Generally their grading of wood exceeds other suppliers that I have seen, but as others on this thread have advised, get one that is NOT cut for the lock and tang.

[Joe S.]

ditto on pectatonica,wood is real pretty but would have liked a little more wiggle room in the lock area.In the future I will be inletting the lock/tang area myself and then it's on me should I go the pre carve route again.

[Acer Saccharum]

When building a pre-carve with an inlet lock, you must finish inlet the lock, and move the barrel back or down, as needs be. If you have to lift the barrel up or forward, you'll need to glue in wood!

[Darkhorse]

I've built 2 from Track. The first one I had no problems with, even for a first timer. The 2nd one was different, I should have sent it back right away as the fore end was a little warped.
From front to back that thing was a challenge. I was able to fudge the lock plate and barrel to dead center the TH, the farther I went towards the muzzle the more the stock warped. Then it  split in 2 about 8 inches down. I mean a piece of wood just popped off. I managed to fix it where you can't tell where the split was. I also put in set triggers which Track said would not fit.
I'm seriously considering a blank next time.