Well, that doesn't look right

[HSmithTX]

Rich, I would bore slightly under the top of the existing threads and tap the threads to make them longer,  or use a topping insert to thread in the lathe.  With a topping insert you can pick up the thread and go, the threading insert will finish the boring and set the minor diameter of the thread correctly when  the major is correct. 

[Steeltrap]

Setup properly I don’t see how inserting a drill into the existing threads (same size drill used for the initial drilling) and drilling the needed additional depth would be an issue. Insert the drill until it touches the existing depth, back off a touch, apply a liberal amount of oil, drill to needed depth, tap accordingly.

Drill slowly and it should be fine. Your not going that much deeper.

[Top Jaw]

Open the pan up as described and shoot it. You might be surprised.  I had a touch hole on a rifle once that was really high above the pan. That gun went off fast and fine every time. 

If you made a touchhole liner out of a regular bolt, coned the inside, and drilled the hole at a slight angle. It would be less noticeable, than the alloy liner.

Or if you got the slotted liner to index with the slot close to horizontal, you could drill a second hole in the slot that would not be noticeable. I’ve known a few competition shooters back in the day that used to drill a second hole in their touchhole liner for faster ignition. 

These may have been mentioned already, I didn’t read all the comments before I posted. I personally would not move it forward as that’s going to create other problems being far away from the breach.  Good luck.

[Rich]

I don't see that the location of the face of the current breech plug was ever shown. How long is the threaded portion? Does the current vent hit the threads? Is the vent in the right position on the barrel and the lock is out of position? Or is the vent out of position. Can you make a new larger liner and drill the vent hole off center enough to make it work? 

[Stoner creek]

Sometimes it’s better to acknowledge defeat. There have been tons of well meaning advice here. This one will never be right. Take it to the band saw.



jpg versus png
 Character building time.  Sorry friend.
W

[A.Merrill]

  If this is a straight barrel I think it would be easier to add wood to the breech area of the stock and a small piece of wood to the end of the tang area of the stock and reinlet the barrel. Shape it down to the stock and redrill the pin holes. Fill the old pin holes with glue and toothpicks. Stain it and age it, you won't be able to see anything. It would only have to go forward about an 1/8th of an inch.   Al

[J.D.]

I'm seeing a lot of solutions to the problem being presented, however, the question in my mind is the location of face of the breech plug, in relation to the vent? That question has yet to be answered.   

IMHO, that relationship needs to be determined before any rational solution can be provided.

John

[Bob Gerard]

A simple fix.
If it’s a gun I made for my own use and enjoyment then I would do all I could to save it by just doing the simplest of things. Remove the old touch hole liner (it will need to be redone) Measure the exact distance you need to fill from where the breech olug is now to where you need it to be.  Remove the breech plug. Then weld a spacer on the face of the the breach plug and thread it in. (I am pretty sure any gaps could be injected and filled through the new touch hole with some type of epoxy before the new liner in installed, though sometimes epoxy squeezes out into the breech when the liner is installed anyway). I would then have it relined to a smaller caliber bore so the liner sleeve will be a bit thicker so that where it meets flush with the new breech face, it’s affectively sealing any gap. Then drill and install your new touch hole. Bam, it’s done.
At any rate  I would talk to Bobby Hoyt, who might have ideas as well.
I made a little diagram because my wording can be confusing sometimes 🤔
Good luck.



free foto hosting

[ettoreR]

The stone pictured above will certainly even things out for you, but I'm curious just how you went about measuring, and ending up with this in the first place?

The few rifles I've done, I've put the barrel in place, put the lock in place, lined up a center punch in the pan area, and tapped the punch to mark the spot.

I'm not criticizing your way, just curious.
John

SO,  this barrel has swapped stocks a few times, initially it was on a souther style gun that I was working on. The first issue was that my drill bit wondered when drilling the hole and created an odd, oblong hole, only halfway through the thickness of the wall. I had the father in law seal the hole up. I then made the schimmel, my last step before finishing the metal was the hole, I used my punch to mark it, and set the gun down a few days because i strained my leg, when I came back to it, I see now that I mistook an oddly perfect looking pit just behind my punch mark for the touch hole, drilled it out installed the liner. Worked on finishing the rifle, installed the lock, and immediately said " oh $#*&"

There's a lesson in there somewhere! But my plan is to buy another barrel of the same weight and make and drop it in, and use the current one on another build since that hole is still in a functional position!

[Hungry Horse]

 I always drill a small pilot hole when precision is important. Using high quality bits, or brand new bits, is a good idea as well.

Hungry Horse

[Steeltrap]

I'm seeing a lot of solutions to the problem being presented, however, the question in my mind is the location of face of the breech plug, in relation to the vent? That question has yet to be answered.   

IMHO, that relationship needs to be determined before any rational solution can be provided.

John

John here has a very valid point. Where is the breech plug located?

[kutter]

Why does it matter where the end of the presently installed breech plug is.

[Steeltrap]

Knowing where the breech plug end is located will help in deciding what the best approach for the fix is. Is the flash hole center just in front of the plug?  Is it currently 1/4” in front?  Is it 1/2” in front?

If the current location is even with or less than say 1/16” in front, then moving the flash hole alone may fix it and still provide consistent ignition. If the flash hole is located more than 1/4” ahead, them moving it further away could cause inconsistent ignition.

Knowing the current distance would help me determine what the best fix would be.

[smallpatch]

Keep it simple. The damage is already done.
Widen the pan and move on. No need to reinvent the wheel.
Do a better job of layout next time.

[Stoner creek]

Abort the project. It’s junk. Might make a good movie prop. Have I been hanging around Brooks too long??

[JTR]

SO,  this barrel has swapped stocks a few times, initially it was on a souther style gun that I was working on. The first issue was that my drill bit wondered when drilling the hole and created an odd, oblong hole, only halfway through the thickness of the wall. I had the father in law seal the hole up. I then made the schimmel, my last step before finishing the metal was the hole, I used my punch to mark it, and set the gun down a few days because i strained my leg, when I came back to it, I see now that I mistook an oddly perfect looking pit just behind my punch mark for the touch hole, drilled it out installed the liner. Worked on finishing the rifle, installed the lock, and immediately said " oh $#*&"

There's a lesson in there somewhere! But my plan is to buy another barrel of the same weight and make and drop it in, and use the current one on another build since that hole is still in a functional position!

A new barrel will fix the problem perfectly!
And you're not the only one to mix up punch marks!
John

[Dave R]

Many years back I had a similar situation, Removed the barrel and breach plug, Checked to see what the next size larger touchhole liner OD diameter size is available and made sure the barrel will safely accept the larger liner, drilled the barrel liner hole larger and tapped it to fit to accept the larger size touchhole liner size. Used a round piece of stainless shaft to make a new ECENTRIC touch hole liner, Chucked it in my lathe and cut threads on it to correspond with the newly tapped thread size in the barrel, chucked the stainless in a 4 jaw lathe slightly eccentric then drilled the .062" touch hole thru the stainless liner, Drilled the touchhole liner in line with the eccentric .062" touch hole an appropriate diameter to accept the 4F priming black powder, Install the liner in the barrel with eccentric .062" liner hole forward , Ground the inside of the stainless liner to insure a patched jag will not hang up on the stainless liner, cut and file the liner flush with the outside of the barrel flat, Install breach plug and barrel ect. Grind pan like Justin recommended in a previous remark ! Liner should be designed so there are several thousands of an inch that the touchhole that can be countersunk slightly on the outside to improve ignition. This will improve the touchhole relationship to be closer to the center if the pan was enlarged like Justin recommends to rear of the pan.                                                                                                                     Lots of common sense and layout design must be used to insure a safe design. GOOD LUCK!!

[Angus]

I'm with Wayne, scrap it.
I'll give you $10 for the whole mess.

[Steeltrap]

Easy to say junk it when it’s not your time or $ that has been invested. There is a fix. Several options. More information may be needed to advise the best fox.

[alacran]

I have been following this thread from the beginning. Have been amused by some of the solution presented. Wayne's latest suggestions seem reasonable.
But what I find most interesting is that you didn't realize the problem until the project was virtually complete.

[Stoner creek]

Easy to say junk it when it’s not your time or $ that has been invested. There is a fix. Several options. More information may be needed to advise the best fox.

As contemporary Longrifle makers we are only as good as our worst creation. We have a responsibility to make guns that work as designed. Anything less is akin to malpractice.

[kutter]

I wouldn't even consider using that flash hole/liner currently installed.
Dragging the flash hole sideways or Strip Mining the pan back far enough to meet it are certainly ways that it could be made to work if the Breech Plug is in a comfortable position right now with the Liner.
But why settle for some crude, make do looking work when you can do better.
Your name will be on it as the builder,,or at least associated with it.
You should always do the best  you are capable of. That way you never have to come up with excuses for your work.

The title of the Thread says it :
'Well, that doesn't look right'.

You know it's wrong,,Fix it correctly.

[reddogge]

I have been following this thread from the beginning. Have been amused by some of the solution presented. Wayne's latest suggestions seem reasonable.
But what I find most interesting is that you didn't realize the problem until the project was virtually complete.

Well, I built a whole rifle with parts I had lying around for nearly 40 years and when I measured the bore to buy balls, it was a .36 barrel and not a .40 like I thought. .36 was stamped on the underside of the barrel but I missed that.

[Steeltrap]

Easy to say junk it when it’s not your time or $ that has been invested. There is a fix. Several options. More information may be needed to advise the best fox.

As contemporary Longrifle makers we are only as good as our worst creation. We have a responsibility to make guns that work as designed. Anything less is akin to malpractice.

Agree. Somewhat. The man has a lot of time and dollars invested into it. This issue doesn’t appear to be un-fixable or insurmountable. And less costly to fix and less time consuming than a re-do from a block of wood.

It can be fixed to function, or fixed to look right and function. That’s the owner’s choice.

[JTR]

Did you guys miss the part where he said he is going to use a different barrel?
Different barrel, problem solved.