Cant Block

[Bill of the 45th]

Has any one built a cant block, that can be removed, so as to be able to retrofit your regular shooter to make it a better over the log gun.  I'm thinking of making one for my hog rifle for the York shoot.  any help or pic's would be appreciated..  First above 40 degree day today, and I'm raring to go.  It hasn't been below zero in three days.  Yippee.

Bill

[Ken G]

Here's one I made for one of my guns.  It worked well but heavier would have been better.  You have to keep in mind an offhand gun is going to feel light for this type of shooting.
Ken

[Bill of the 45th]

Thanks Ken, it's gonna be for Miss Maggie.   Plenty of barrel weight already.  Hadn't thought about a clamp.  I was going to use two thimbles in front of and behind the first thimble, and held in with the ramrod.  Need to get it built befor next week, and the York.  You going to make it?

Bill

[Roger Fisher]

I used a section of forearm w/flat bottom/base as a cant bar; but I realized I really had to lock her in to my shoulder etc since the cant bar ended up as a 'still can cant bar' due to it being too narrow at about 2 inches or so.   

I have half finished a wood section to slide over the current section and will be fastened with 2 large headed sunken wood screws at least that is the plan.  Got side tracked building a new smoothy!

[Benedict]

Here is one that is in the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wy. that I thought was interesting.



Bruce

[Curt Larsen]

You might have a look at Al Neubauer's Hoot Al website.  He has some nice photos of one that he crafted.  I guess Bookie at Toad Hall might have some ideas as well.  Both Al and Steve are ALR members.

[Roger Fisher]

Here is one that is in the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wy. that I thought was interesting.



Bruce

Looks as though the shooter would shove that tit forward in to the chunk to make her solid?  Kinda weird; but again may work!

[Benedict]

It looked to me like it was supposed to set on the brass half circle.  You would have to be sure the gun was level yourself but at least it is not sitting on the rod.  Anyway, just another way of doing it.

Bruce

[Dphariss]

Remember that when clamped the to barrel it may take some shooting to find the "sweet spot" for the placement. It acts as a harmonics damper and can help or hurt accuracy depending on placement.

The old time slug gun makers would put the breech of the barrel in a vise and put powdered sugar etc on the top flat. By tapping the barrel with a hammer and noting the pattern in the material on the top flat they could determine where to put the muzzle rest.
That is the story anyway.
Dan

[Benedict]

Remember that when clamped the to barrel it may take some shooting to find the "sweet spot" for the placement. It acts as a harmonics damper and can help or hurt accuracy depending on placement.

The old time slug gun makers would put the breech of the barrel in a vise and put powdered sugar etc on the top flat. By tapping the barrel with a hammer and noting the pattern in the material on the top flat they could determine where to put the muzzle rest.
That is the story anyway.
Dan

Dan, that is an interesting way to find where and how the barrel resonates.  I am thinking that you put your rest where the sugar piles up but i could be wrong.  It seems that that is where the barrel is not vibrating. 

Would the stock change the vibration?

I had never heard of doing that but the more I think about the more interesting it gets.  Thanks.

Bruce

[David Rase]

Here is a photo of my chunk gun with a "built-in" cant block.  After I inlet my barrel I shaped the forestock which included leaving enough wood to shape a "built-in" cant block.
DMR

[Robby]

Dave, Thanks for the picture, it brought back a lot of memories of the first M/L's I ever saw up close and being fired. I saw some like that when I was a kid, where the block was carved out of the stock itself, some very elaborate. Is that cherry(?), nice job!
   Robby

[Dphariss]

Dan, that is an interesting way to find where and how the barrel resonates.  I am thinking that you put your rest where the sugar piles up but i could be wrong.  It seems that that is where the barrel is not vibrating. 

Would the stock change the vibration?

I had never heard of doing that but the more I think about the more interesting it gets.  Thanks.

Bruce

I really don't know how they "read" the barrel vibrations having not researched it to that extent, assuming its written down someplace. These rifles only had buttstocks and often were allowed to free recoil and the shooter simply caught them or they were shot from machine rests. Many originals had, still have, scopes with very short eye relief and short pull stocks that made shooting from the shoulder risky to ones shooting eye. This is really outside my expertise but I have some friends who indulge in such things.
Resting the barrel at the sweet spot applies to all rifles as near as I can determine. Some BPCR shooters will put a wrap of tape on the barrel at the point where resting the barrel produces the best group.
For a rest attached to the gun the shooter must also be aware that how easy it slides on what it is rested on can also effect accuracy.
When dealing with accuracy at the level a good slug gun or even a RB bench gun is capable of *everything* matters to group size.

Dan

[David Rase]

Robby,  I love the old chunk guns that have the first 6 or 8 inchs of the fore stock left flat for a rest with a deep "U" groove for the ram rod.  I would like to make another chunk gun in that style.  I stole this idea from Ron Ehlert.  You are correct, the stock is cherry with a lye finish rubbed out with linseed oil.
DMR

[Dave B]

When Dave says built in he means it is one pice with the rest of the stock. He carved it all out of a big chunk of wood.  It is a sweet looking chunk gun. 

Now that we are making our barrels out of steels vs the old Iron I would think the issue of harmonics would be a consideration. So where would you put the block on the barrel? on the pile sections or the void sections?

[Roger Fisher]

When Dave says built in he means it is one pice with the rest of the stock. He carved it all out of a big chunk of wood.  It is a sweet looking chunk gun. 

Now that we are making our barrels out of steels vs the old Iron I would think the issue of harmonics would be a consideration. So where would you put the block on the barrel? on the pile sections or the void sections?

I had my chunker all figured out with the cant block all the way up at the muzzle ---------- til I shot her.  Lucky that she was a hlf stock.  Slid the cant block back til I avoided the high fliers.  The block ended up about10 inches behind the muzzle. 

Now if I gone the full stock route hmmmmmm!

Maybe rapping on the hanging bare barrel til she sounds 'right'!

[Hoot AL]

I made mine out of a piece of walnut. It adds a little weight and provides a stable platform for resting on the log or rest.  To remove, you just loosen the bolt on the side and it slips off the gun.  The lining is leather.   I made this back in October, 2006 for the Bevel Brothers Chunk Gun shoot.  Note, I wanted to make sure my sights were not obstructed and I could still attach a hood to the top of the barrel for my sights.



If you want to know how to build your own, click on this link for instructions on how to do it.
link: http://www.hootalrifleshop.org/chunk_gun_adapter.htm

Hoot AL

[Steve Bookout]

Here is the cant block on my baby 17 pound chunk gun.  It is a shaped block built into the forearm.  It has a hole for the ramrod allowing the rod to align with the fore & rear grooves.  Vibration must play some role as if the forward portion of the cant is all that rests on the chunk, the impact point raises on the sighter target.  Cheers, Bookie

[Roger Fisher]

Here is the cant block on my baby 17 pound chunk gun.  It is a shaped block built into the forearm.  It has a hole for the ramrod allowing the rod to align with the fore & rear grooves.  Vibration must play some role as if the forward portion of the cant is all that rests on the chunk, the impact point raises on the sighter target.  Cheers, Bookie

Are you saying she shoots high using that cant blk?  At least often enough to mess up your string

[Steve Bookout]

Hi Roger!  What I am trying to say is that if only the forward portion of the cant is all that rests on the chunk, I obtain a higher point of impact.  If the entire foot is resting on the chunk, then point of impact is where I want it to be.  I can not say for certain, but I believe it has to do with: (insert one of the following) vibration/harmonics/balance/the will of God.  Maybe, it's only these rhumy old eyes....   Cheers, Bookie

[Bill of the 45th]

Or it could be too many Moon Pies, and RC cola. .  I didn't get one made in time, as I'm leaving tomorrow, so Miss Magie will just have to doo her best with out it.  I'm just hoping for a better grade of ground chuck, and this year getting the dollar watch.

Bill