Inletting Lock Plate

[silky]

Evening,

I searched through a number of old posts but didn’t find the answer...

When preparing to inlet the lock plate on a swamped barrel, do you prepare the lock side of the stock by making it parallel to the side flat of the barrel, or keep it parallel to the bore of the barrel? I understand that in doing the latter, you’ll have to eventually start inletting the nose of the lock plate deeper (Relative to the surface of the wood) in order to make the bolster sit flush with the flat of the barrel... strikes me as an opportunity to more easily induce rocking/pivot points in the inlet.

Just looking for best practices in this respect before I get started on it.

Thank you!

- Tom

* Updated with a picture I hope illustrates/clarifies what I’m asking about *

[flehto]

I inlet a lock so the lock bolster seals off on the side bbl flat.....Fred

[L. Akers]

Yes.  For a single-barrel flintlock rifle I make the lock area of the stock parallel to the barrel flat and the surface lowered to near finished thickness before beginning to inlet the lock.  Be aware, however, that some percussion guns had the lock inlet with the rear of the lock toed in to lessen the surface distance between the wrist and the lock panel.  Many double-barrel flintlocks also had the rear of the locks toed in.

[smallpatch]

Parallel to the flat. A nice flare to the wrist is a characteristic of flint guns with swamped barrels.
Best to do it before inletting, but will also turn out that way when you lower the lock panel to the lock bevel.
Hope I explained that well.

[silky]

Awesome -- thank you!

Parallel to the flat. A nice flare to the wrist is a characteristic of flint guns with swamped barrels.
Best to do it before inletting, but will also turn out that way when you lower the lock panel to the lock bevel.
Hope I explained that well.

Yup, that's exactly what I was after with that question.  I understand that in the end the lock panel area will have that flare regardless of how I begin the inletting; just looking for advice on which was the better starting point.  Thanks!

- Tom

[Obi2winky]

Bill Raby has a video somewhere on his channel that explains that and some tips for doing that. I watch his videos religiously

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I do not taper the stock prior to inletting the lock.  I inlet it 'til the bolster lays hard against the side flat, then remove the wood to expose the plate down to the bevel.  This helps avoid damaging the edge of the inlet and leaves a crisp sharp inlet of the plate.

[Bill Raby]

I inlet the lock parallel to the barrel flat. Except the one that I am working on. That one is angled the opposite direction.

[rmnc3r]

I don't recall where I read it, (maybe it was Jack Brooks?) but someone offered the observation, by looking at antiques, that original Artificer's Lock Bolsters were filed to be parallel with the bore (creating a narrower wrist), whilst modern practice is leave the bolster an even thickness to inlet parallel to the Swamped (or Straight-sided) barrel flat (giving a wider wrist).

[Mike Brooks]

I don't recall where I read it, (maybe it was Jack Brooks?) but someone offered the observation, by looking at antiques, that original Artificer's Lock Bolsters were filed to be parallel with the bore (creating a narrower wrist), whilst modern practice is leave the bolster an even thickness to inlet parallel to the Swamped (or Straight-sided) barrel flat (giving a wider wrist).

Which is all fine and dandy, but has nothing to do with KY rifles.

[rmnc3r]

I don't recall where I read it, (maybe it was Jack Brooks?) but someone offered the observation, by looking at antiques, that original Artificer's Lock Bolsters were filed to be parallel with the bore (creating a narrower wrist), whilst modern practice is leave the bolster an even thickness to inlet parallel to the Swamped (or Straight-sided) barrel flat (giving a wider wrist).

Which is all fine and dandy, but has nothing to do with KY rifles.

It seems to have been Buchele, not Brooks, in "Recreating the American Longrifle" - where Buchele, et al. discuss lock to wrist architecture.

In re-reading "Installing the Lock": if a straight sided barrel is used, it tells of filing a taper starting at the front of a bolster to kick out the lock's tail, so as to emulate the effect of using a swamped barrel. 

"It should be emphasized, however, that Rifle Makers of the Golden Age, when using straight barrels, made no attempt to kick out the tail of the lock"

But...
I do remember (imperfectly sometimes) something about where the rear of the lock bolster was filed to a taper to permit a less fat wrist on a Swamped/tapered Barreled Gun - maybe I'm mis-remembering and confusing this with SxS Shotguns....?   

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

On a Hawken rifle, I file the tail end of the bolster so that the back end of the plate tucks in and creates an oval or egg shaped wrist, as opposed to a round one.  This also provides more wood at the front end of the plate to create a nice convex forestock rather than a slab-sided one.  Many English rifles have this feature as well.  But not Kentucky rifles.

[Mike Brooks]

It seems to have been Buchele, not Brooks, in "Recreating the American Longrifle" - where Buchele, et al. discuss lock to wrist architecture.

And this is why I answer so few questions anymore, it's a freakin waste of time.

[David Rase]

In re-reading "Installing the Lock": if a straight sided barrel is used, it tells of filing a taper starting at the front of a bolster to kick out the lock's tail, so as to emulate the effect of using a swamped barrel. 

That is a good idea if you want to screw up the lower forestock architecture.
David