Wyosmith Building Tutorial

[Wyoming Mike]

The next message is the first installment of Steve's new tutorial on rifle building.  Hope it helps people get into this fun hobby.

[Wyoming Mike]

The project I have to do is a simple Left handed flint rifle.  It's to be 40 caliber, swamped barrel.
It is to have a 14" length of pull, 2 1/4" drop at comb,  4" drop at heel and 8 3/4" drop at toe

It is to have 3/16 cast off to the left. (most cast off is to the right of course, but this is a LH rifle).
It is to be in a Lehigh County style, but starkly plain to keep it under budget.

I will start by laying out the rifle on paper.  This will allow me to lay out the proportions according
to the specifications I mentioned above.  I will use this pattern to rough cut the stock from the blank.

Lay the breeched barrel on a large enough piece of butcher paper.




The barrel is then traced onto the paper.




A line is drawn about 1/4" over the top of the barrel.  This is the line of sight.  All your drop measurements will be taken from here down to establish the stocks drop at comb, drop at heel and drop at toe.
In this picture I did it in blue so it's different than the black pencil lines.

The line for the barrel inlet section is drawn out.  The barrel tracing is biceted.  This line will be the top edge of the stock and it's breach end comes up to form the shoulder that will be the breaching shoulder. The lock plate is traced on now to set its relationship to the barrel.  The vertical line at the rear of the lock tracing is where the sear bar is on the lock.  This is needed for the next step.




Now, I draw in a line 14" long at a downward angle so I will have my pull length. This rifle has double set triggers, so I have to offset 1/2" to get the correct LOP.  In other words, you need to know that the trigger is sometimes farther forward to allow for set triggers.  In some cases you also have to offset a bit for single triggers too. That's why you need to trace the position of the trigger as it relates to the lock/sear, so you have a place to measure from.





From my line of sight I come down 2 1/4" for my drop at comb (which is always about 2" behind the nose of the comb where the wrist and comb come together) and I come down 4" at the end of the stock to get my drop at heel.

I trace in my buttplate being very careful to align the "return" of the butt plate with the comb line.

At this point I draw in the lines of the buttstock.  It's a Lehigh style on this rifle.  Once you have your drops and your length of pull, you just start to draw until you like what you see, but always keeping within the boundaries you set to make the gun fit the shooter.

Note that I leave about 1/4 of wood below the toe so it's not delicate as I inlet the butt plate later

I also leave about 3/16" of wood over the top of the breaching section so you have to go a bit deep there, and file the wood down as you inlet the barrel later.

These 2 places can be a problem if you cut your lines too tight, so leave a bit of wood and you will have fewer problems later.

I then come down from the bottom of the barrel tracing and draw in my ramrod, leaving 3/16" of "web" between the bottom of the barrel and the top of the rod channel.  The "web" is the wood between the bottom of the barrel channel and the top of the rod channel and hole.  With this gun, and any gun with a swamped barrel, you only measure at the breach and the muzzle 3/16" down, and let the web be a bit thicker in the middle where the wood will come up to meet the bottom of the swamp. My handrail section is 11" long, so I dogleg the drawing down to make the handrail section, and then bisect the rod from the entry point to the muzzle.  This gives you a channel half the depth of the rod diameter for the long section of the stock, and gives me an 11" deep hole in the handrail.




Here the stock is sawn out to the lines I drew and we have a stock ready to start building.

[Wyoming Mike]

We are now beginning to inlet the barrel.  The photo the breach end of the barrel resting on top of the Breaching shoulder of the stock.  It's about to be inlet to the half way point.



 
I have now inlet the breach end inlet 1/2 way into the wood so the barrel now lays on top of the stock.  At this point the muzzle is clamped down so it can't move.  You can offset it to one side or the other to make the center line of the barrel cast off to the side....................



 
This rifle casts to the left, as it's a left hand rifle  This line is very important to the final fit of the stock, and should be drawn on with a marker so it won't rub off.  It's going to be there until we inlet the butt plate and shape the comb and the butt stock.



 
A chisel is sharpened all from one side for this cut.  You place the flat on the side of the barrel and hold it in place with the thumb.  Press only hard enough to keep it flat.  If you push hard you will flex the barrel.  YOU DON'T WANT TO FLEX THE BARREL SIDE TO SIDE, SO USE VERY LITTLE SIDEWAYS PRESSURE AS YOU DO THIS.


Lightly tap the chisel to make a cut on the top of the stock.



 
Here I use a 2" wide chisel to deepen the cut.



 
Here you see the side cuts set in about 1/16" deep.  I pencil down them so I can see them better.



 
I have drawn a cross section of a barrel channel.  On a swamped barrel, the muzzle is wider and deeper than the waist of the barrel, and so is the breach end.  

If you take 2 swamped barrels and lay them side by side on the floor, and then pinch then togather with your pinky and your thumb, you will see it takes VERY LITTLE to flex them.
 
When you flex the outside you flex and bend the bore.  If you want a swamped barrel to shoot well  it's ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that the barrel not flex side to side or up and down when it's fully inlet.
 
I will make the first swath (A)  in the stock to the half depth of the side flat.  It's taller at the muzzle and at the breach than it is at the waist.  I will make the 2nd swath to make the bottom flat of the inlet (B) to make sure the barrel is at correct depth.  It's going to be 1/2 way into the wood, and it has to lay in a manor so that the bore remains straight.
 
So I measure the side flats with a caliper to the nearest .0001"  at increments of about 4" and I divide it by 2 to get the depth.  I do the same thing with the barrel itself to get the half diameter at about 3" increments



 
I have those written measurements on the top of the stock at the points that they relate to the barrel.
Depth of side flats and depth of barrel, both divided in half.
 
I will then inlet to those depth with my tools and scrapers until I have the barrel to correct depth.  I try to hold + or- .002" at every increment.  This is the secret to getting a swamped barrel to shoot tiny little groups
I will show you how that's done in the next instalment.

[Uncle Russ]

I did my best to clean it up, and still keep things in perspective...

**Let's try hard to keep our responses to questions directly related to this particular project....Personal Messages go a long way in preserving such a valuable thread!

Thanks!

Uncle Russ....

[Wyoming Mike]

Here is the next installment.  I broke the original from Steve into two messages because it was so large and had so many photos.

[Wyoming Mike]

Now I am going to inlet the barrel channel.  I start by going half the depth of the side flats.  You make a shallow channel to the depth of half the height of the side flats.  On a swamped barrel such as this one, you go 1/2 the depth of the flat at the waist.  Then cross hatch it at about 1/8" increments with a chisel so you can cut paper thing shavings out of it to adjust the depth deeper toward the muzzle and the breach.  Keep your chisel like razors!  This is "channel A" from picture #13.

You have to get a bit deeper at 4" increments going towards the breach and the muzzle, as you start from the waist.  So, to recap, you cut "channel A" full length at the shallowest depth, and then gently deepen it as you cut to it's final depth.



 
These are my initial cuts to make "channel B" of picture #13  Again, I take the 1/2 diameter of the barrel at the waist of the barrel and make this channel that deep for it's full length.  Take pains with this!  You want to be very precise and use the side of a file and a scraper to make sure it's the correct depth at ever 3" increment for the full length of the barrel.  I do the procedure the same way as I did "Channel A".  1/2 the depth of the barrel at the waist, and then deepen it a bit at a time with files and scraper going towards the muzzle and then towards the breach.



 
This is the breach end and the roughed out "Channel B"
 


 
This is the breach end of the channel as it's almost done.



 
Now I take a 1/4" chisel and I rough out the "45s" (45 degree angles on the bottom of the octagon barrel channel)

[Wyoming Mike]

Hi Steve.  Sorry, something came up so I have been a little slow.   Everything is back on an even keel now.  I put the rest of it up today or tomorrow.

[Wyoming Mike]

Now I use my "secret" weapons - Gunline Octagon bedding tools. (you can buy then through Brownells)  

You have to use these tools to appreciate them.  However they are a bit pricey.  For building only a few guns you can do the same work with bent "foot rasps" which you can make out of mild steel and just make your own teeth with a 3 corner fail.  They don't work as easily as the Gunline tools, but they will get you through a barrel channel.  You just re-sharpen them with the file a few times per gun.



 
Here you can see the breach end is smoothed out with the gunline tool, and the bottom of the pic you can see the roughed out channel as it was left by the 1/4" chisel from Pic #19



 
Here you see the use of a steel rule.  Any straight non-flexing edge can be used.  I lay it along the bottom and the "45s" and see if it will rock.  Any rock shows you where the high spots are.  You file them down until you have no dips and humps, and you go SLOW so as to not take more than a very few thousandths of an inch in depth so the barrel will not be flexed at all when it's installed.






I now indicate where I will drill a 1/16th hole to make the center of the barrel channel  It will be the center of the rod channel later.  I will drill it PERPENDICULAR to the top edge of the stock so it comes out in the exact center underneath the barrel, and so it comes out at the "dogleg" where the rod will enter the handrail.



 
The barrel is coated with inletting black and the fit is checked and small areas are scraped and filed to insure a perfect fit.  Not that after the barrel is fitted for good I slab off the waste wood that was on the sides.



 
Now we breach the barrel.  The threaded hole and the threaded nose of the plug have to be the same depth/length.  This is a Colorain barrel, so it came to me breached, but if I were to do my own breaching I would first measure the hole with a depth gauge and either file the back of the barrel (if the hole was too deep) or the nose of the plug (if the nose was too long) until I had the correct length/depth relationship between the barrel and the plug.  

Then you screw in the plug and if the stampings of the barrel are showing you would figure out how much you would have to file off BOTH the barrel and the plug to turn them so the stampings are down.

The math is easy

Let's say we have a 3/4X16 thread.  There are 1000 thousandths in an inch, so 1000 divided by 16 = 62.5 Then you divide the 62.5 by 8 which equals 7.8.  For each flat you need to advance to hide the stamping you would file about .008" off both the breach plug nose and the barrel.  If you needed to go 1/4 turn it would be .014, and so on.

If you have 18 TPI the You would divide 1000 by 18 = 55.5   Divide that by 8 and we get 6.9 (close enough to .007 to call it that).  You'd file .007" for each flat you needed to advance.

Easy!




Here is the breached barrel, centered over the channel, and ready to inlet.

Make SURE that you keep the barrel to the rear and that the web of the breach plug, and the rear surface of the barrel are inlet tightly to the rear so you have solid wood to metal contact here.




Here is the breach plug inlet fully.

[Wyoming Mike]

No problems.  Just heard from Bill on the next article.  I will post some today.  Send the rest if you have them.

[Wyoming Mike]

Now I install the under lugs.  Make sure the spacing is correct, and that your underlugs don't interfere with the tabs on your rod pipes.  Lay out the spacing of both the pipes and the underlugs first, on the side of your stock, so you don't run into trouble later.
 
This shows an underlug laid on the barrel.  You scribe a line on both sides of the dovetail.


 
This shows a series of saw kerfs cut to the depth of the lug.  KEEP THE 2 OUTSIDE KERFS INSIDE THE 2 SCRIBE LINES about 1/32" so you don't cut away the female dovetail.


 
Now I set the barrel so the kerfs are even with the sides of the jaws of my vice.  I saw out the tabs of steel.  By setting the barrel this way in the vice, I cannot have the blade jump out of the cut and skid over the flat of the barrel.  not important for under lugs, but the same technique is used on sights, so it's a good drill to learn.  This keeps your flats nice, and unscarred.


 
Here I use a 3 corner file to smooth up the bottom and make the dovetail


 

I then take a Vernier Caliper and measure the dovetail section of the underlug.



 
I use the depth gauge to measure the depth of the female dovetail.


 

With most 3 corner files, the edges of the files are not super sharp, so I use my jewelers saw to undercut the dovetails to proper length, and slowly file the length wider and wider, until I have the fit I want.



 
Here you can see the way it should be when it's all filed to fit.


 

Here the underlug is driven into it's dovetail slot, and it's perfectly level to the bottom of the barrel flat.

[Wyoming Mike]

I now measure the depth of the barrel channel to the bottom of the barrel flat, and the top of the pin hole, where it will be drilled.  I will have to come down 1/2 the diameter of the pin to make it center when I drill.



 
Now I transfer that measurement to the outside of the stock.

 
 

Now I come down 1/2 the diameter of the pin width, and drill the hole 1/2 way through the stock, so it's even with the bottom of the barrel flat on the inside, (as I did previously)

 
 

Here the barrel is clamped into the stock, and the pin holes drilled the rest of the way through.

[Wyoming Mike]

When all the underlugs are installed and inlet into the stock, and all are pinned in, it's time to make the rod channel and the rod hole.
 
I now clamp a 3/8" piece of square stock to the bottom of the forestock.  I align the end of it with the hole I drilled in picture 24.  This insures the rod will be exactly at the 6:00 under the barrel where the dogleg of the stock is.  (where the entry pipe will be inlet later)  The square stock is clamped again at the muzzle end of the forstock so it's exactly centered under the muzzle.






A line is scribed down both sides of the 3/8" square stock,  I filled them with pencil so you can see them better.



 
I have cut a square shoulder into the dogleg.  this will give me a place to drill into later.  I will then cut the channel to full depth, and as I do so, I will deepen this area too.  I use a straight edge to make sure everything is level and parallel to the bore of the barrel.  The under lugs in the front is your "depth gauge" and the hole is the rear depth gauge.  You will have to make a measurement to know how deep to sand your rod channel on a swamped barrel, as the lug in the middle of the barrel will not be the same depth as the ones at either end.  On a straight barrel, you'll be able to use the 1st and 2nd lugs as depth gauges.

 


I now take a 2" chisel and a gouge to "hog out"  the channel.  I get to within about 90% of full depth this way.






Here you see the work progressing.




I now take a dowel and wrap it in 60 grit sand paper to take the channel to it's final depth.  If You are making a rifle with a 5/16 rod, use a 1/4" dowel.  If you are using a 3/8" rod, use a 5/16" dowel.  For a 7/16" rod use a 3/8" dowel.  The wrap of the paper will bring them up to correct diameter as you sand.




Here is the finished channel.



 
Now lay your rod drill into the channel and drill to full depth.  I use grease to lube the drill, and clear the chips out about every 3/8" of drilling.  If you don't clear the chips the drill will drift off line, and you'll have REAL problems later.



 
Here is the rod, slipped into the stock.   Make sure you are deep enough so you don't wend up with a rod that's too short.  I like to have them about 1/2" longer than the bore of the barrel.  When everything is perfect, cut the ramrod to length.

[Wyoming Mike]

You see the butt plate inlet.  Note how I left a little bit of wood oversized at the toe when I bandsawed the stock out.  This is where it's helpful.  As I inlet the butt plate, the toe of the stock is not fragile here because of that.  I will plane the toeline down later when i am shaping the stock.



 
Here you have  another view of the butt plate installed.  I will then file and plane the excess wood down around the butt so everything fits nicely.


 

Next I install the muzzlecap, and shape the wood around it.  I sand it down to it's final finish, about 400 grit, for about 3/4 inch back.  I will also polish the brass to it's final stage here, and then I have no work to do later on it.



 
At this stage of the build I inlet my lock plate.  I plane, file and sand the outmost flat to it's finished surface and make it the right thickness so the bottom of the lock bevel is even all the way around the plate with the top of the wood.  I then shape the lock area all around.  When it's done, I copy it to the "off side" of the stock, so I have an identical panel on the other side, also taken down to it's final height, and sanded to 400 grit.




Here you take your side plate, and bend and/or file it so it fits within the inside boundaries of the lock plate.  You know the side plate will fit if you do this now, because you know the lock plate fits your panels, and the side plate is within it's outside boundaries.  This one is hand made as it's a left hand Lehigh style, and no one makes such a part, so I made it myself.




I now locate the point where I want my lock bolt to intersect with my lock plate and I drill through the stock and the breach plug bolster with the ROOT drill.  I am using a 10X32 bolt here, so I am drilling with a #22 drill.




I have C-Clamped the lock plate into the stock, and with the same #22 drill, I go back through from the off side to make the root hole in the lock plate.



 
Here I take a #8 Clearance drill, and I drill through wood and the bolster of the breach plug, but i stop as soon as it touches the lock plate.



 
Here I tap the hole with a 10X32 tap. Doing this in this fashion as outlined in these last four steps will give you absolutely perfect alignment of your bolt and holes   It's important to keep your barrel clamped down through all this too, so the hole through the breach plug is also in perfect alignment.

[Wyoming Mike]

The lock bolt now is passed through the side plate, and snugged up in the lock plate.  You align the side plate as you want it to be at this point, and draw a line with a pencil around it.  



 
I now take a 60 degree V tool and cut around the inside of the pencil line.  Get about 1/32" away from it, but don't cut into the line.



 
Now hog out the wood inside the V cut.



 
Paint inletting black (or blue) on your side plate and screw it down again.  Tap around it's edge with a tool handle and it will make a sharp print like this.  You then take small SHARP tools and trim away the black until you get a good level fit.............



 
Like this!
At this point of the project, you will inlet all your "lock guts"  



 
Now I plane down the toeline as I want it, and rough shape the buttstock to it's final form.

[mike rumping]

Dad-Gummit Wyosmith, you got me droolin' now!!!
My wife just walked in, saw what I was lookin' at,
and said, "No way can we afford it now!!!"  Oh well.