I spent some time today making a muzzle cap for the rifle. I wanted to create a cap with an angled front that is featured on many halfstocks... I'm sure that style of cap has a name however if so it has eluded me.
The past couple of rifles I have built I stabbed in the back of the recess with a chisel instead of using a saw, treating it like an inlet. Got help from a bit of masking tape as a guide to help keep my lines straight, then employed a rasp and a file to remove the remaining wood under the cap area.
I normally use the rifle stock to shape and form the muzzlecap, however since this style of cap will require some serious hammering I decided to mock up a solid model of the rifle forend.
...and then filed the appropriate flats on the face of the model.
Next comes forming the cap:
Now for the final fitting process... I filed my angled flats on the nose of the stock and started working the cap into place.
I made a couple of simple accessories a few guns back that help with forming the cap and prevent splitting the stock. One is made from scrap oak and the other a ramrod cutoff. The pictures are self explanatory. I then employ some "Dickert approved" hose clamps to draw the cap metal down tight around the stock.
After I get the shape I am looking for I float the faces on a file to true things up so one side mates nicely with the wood and the other is ready for soldering.
This side still needs work:
Next I set up for silver soldering. I just recently learned a simple trick from an accomplished builder and friend, Hank Elwood. Hank in turn learned it from Joe Valentine in a class at WKU. The simple trick is to heat the flux until the water boils off before you position the solder on the work - this keeps the solder from moving away from the joint before it melts.
First I cut a piece of german silver to fit the cap. For the setup I "clamped" the work in place with the weight of a section or RR spike, boiled off the water in the flux, placed the solder where it would flow out the joint and then applied the heat. In the last couple of pics you can see the solder really flowed well.
Cut off the excess metal, then do the final fitting and cleanup:
Mark the inside for the barrel cutout, then make room for that barrel! It doesn't show well but I marked inside the barrel channel with a blue sharpie then with a scribe.
A little filing on the top of the cap to bring it level with the stock and it is ready to rivet in place! Well, gotta clean up that face a bit also...
That's all for now, and thanks for looking!
Curtis