Made a little more progress today. After getting the finial inlet into the buttstock, I went ahead and excavated the patchbox cavity to get the excess wood out of the way.
![](https://preview.ibb.co/ejbagw/P1220717.jpg)
![](https://preview.ibb.co/bCHsTb/P1220718.jpg)
I plan on using a friction spring arrangement for the patchbox lid, and in order to open the lid I needed to make a finger recess in the bottom piece of the box. I have never done this before, but decided I could probably use a scrap of hardwood for the form. So I cut a recess in a block of hardwood with a gouge, clamped it in my vice and used a round face punch the shape the annealed metal into the recess. It worked pretty well.
![](https://preview.ibb.co/mQA1Mw/P1220720.jpg)
![](https://preview.ibb.co/dtpHuG/P1220721.jpg)
![](https://preview.ibb.co/iBiMMw/P1220722.jpg)
![](https://preview.ibb.co/f9hWMw/P1220724.jpg)
After cutting a similar recess in the stock, I screwed the bottom piece in place, scribed around it and the side pieces, and started to inlet them all. I ran out of time before getting it finished.
![](https://preview.ibb.co/kBDSuG/P1220726.jpg)
![](https://preview.ibb.co/hz6fEG/P1220727.jpg)
It will probably be a week or two before I get the chance to get back in the shop and continue working on the rifle. See you then!
Thanks for looking,
Curtis