More project than i bargained for project.

[demonwolf444]

I have been having some concerns over the wall thickness's ( if you have ever seen between the ribs on these old guns you would understand why ) So i put a shot through each barrel to day just to make sure i did not stock it then have it blow up on me on first firing. Got a nice 40 ish yard crow with one shot and a tuft of grass with the other shot. The gun actually shot rather nicely and crisply which was a fairly nice surprise. Just tightening that top lever up and the for end up has done it wonders.

 

Even after one shot the barrels were warm, so i don't think I'll be in a rush to take it on a game day or clay shooting any time soon. I'll probably just keep it for the odd wondering. Contemplating just using black powder in it just to keep the pressures down, i have a black powder 24 - 26 gram 50:50 volume (I forget ) load i load occasionally and it works pretty well so i may just use that. Thing with shooting guns is the very next cartridge you shoot could be the one that blows up your barrels ( the staw that breaks the camels back so to speak ) and this is no less true for a modern gun over an old one but while it handled the hull cartridge 26 gram nitro's i religiously use in all my game guns just seemed overly odd for the barrels to be warm after a single shot, so just to be on the safe side i'll use BP which is what the gun was originally proofed for.

 

If you have seen between the ribs on old guns, you will likely understand the while wall thickness and proof are probably fairly irrelevant on old guns.

 

interested to know your thoughts.

 

James.

[elmar fudd]

Has there been any more progress on this project mate?

 

Fudd

[demonwolf444]

Well i think i was up to date on here so far as the barrels were stripped and the ribs re layed and re browned and finished. The forend has been tightened up, and the firing pins repaired, however i dry fired it a bit (idiot ) and the one i repaired is a little bent and the one that was fine has snapped, so i will have to make some new pins.

 

Yesterday i started restocking it and so i have a huge update to do tonight with loads of photo's of the restocking on going.

 

Got two other projects on which when i get towards finishing this restock and restoration i will begin to start running threads on.

 

I'll nip to the workshop and post an update now.

[demonwolf444]

So ive started to restock which involves disassembling everything and committing to memory how everything goes back together, which is very easy to do when you have a good memory and idea of how shotgun actions work. The mechanisms and interactions between parts are generally very simple, rugged and reliable. Complicated mechanisms are not usually favored in shotguns small parts are more likely to fail, and more difficult to make and replaces when they do.

 

Stripping the action of its mechanisms leaves us with the action body and top tang. The first job is to get the top tang seated, you can inlet it from above or slowly widen your inlet and push it in from the head of the stock. I choose to do the latter.

 

To start with i cut an undersized channel for the top tang with a stanley knife to mark out the edges of the channel, and cut the whole channel to about 5mm depth.

 

 

We can see the top tang will sit in this channel but it is not yet wide enough to accept the full length of the tang. The inletting procedure will slowly widen and deapen the slot untill it perfectly accepts the tang with ( hopefully ) no gaps between metal and wood, with little pressure at the contact points. To much of a gap will allow the action to move fractionally under recoil and will result in a poor stock which will eventually break, to tighter contact and the tangs can act like a wedge and split.

 

 

The inletting procedure is painstakingly slow though with practice you can become quicker at it. You soot the action under the orange flame of an oil lamp and press it into the channel, where the wood is too high black marks will be left from the soot. These marks can be chipped off with a chisel, and a sharp chisel is a must.

 

 

millimeter by millimeter the tang is inletted and the action is moved towards the head of the stock.

 

 

When the head of the stock makes contact with the rear of the action both the rear of the action and the tang must be sooted over the lamp and the stock must be headed up so as the head meets up flush with the rear of the action. The tang may need to move back until perfect contact is achieved.

 

 

 

 

[demonwolf444]

The channel will need to be made wider and deeper repeatedly, the slower you approach this job the better the finished product.

 

 

You want there to be plenty of wood proud around the tang so keep seating it down untill you have 2 - 3mm excess wood above the metal

 

 

And keep sooting and pressing in the action.

 

 

Its a very slow process but very satisfying, i am glad to be stocking again.

 

 

Good lighting is essential, my workshop is a bit dark, so i have set up a halogen flood light above my bench which has replaced the balanced torch in earlier photo's.

 

 

[demonwolf444]

Not there yet, just need to get the tang seated deeper and pushed back that last few mm then start heading up. Fortunately the stock that was previously on the gun fits me very well an so the measurements can be copied almost exactly.

[Old farrier]

Looking good your just getting better and better and the way you explain makes it a pleasure to follow your threads

All the best

Of

[demonwolf444]

I am glad that people enjoy my threads, there are a good few people from the forums who have invested their time, and knowledge and plenty more into helping me further my knowledge, that being so i am glad i can give something back that others can enjoy at their leisure.

 

Have to keep exercising the muscle in a hope of improving. Really striving for a perfect fit, i am at a point now where i look back at my previous work and while perfectly safe and functional, there is plenty of room for improvement and refinement. So when i look at my previous work now i look at it as if to review it, for example I recently opened up the linsley brothers stock, and was very pleased with the in letting its self, though my method for drilling the screw holes was poor and resulted in the stock not being headed up correctly. However more study and practice meant that when i did my muzzle loader, the bolt holes for the tang bolts and heading up were perfect, however my tools were a limitation for some inletting which being a sidelock was more complex.

 

I keep making adjustments to my tools and methods, recently i spend a lot of time studying the shapes of gunstock from different periods, and note that the shape of the stock on the muzzle loader is poor, period design at the time was be strength in the wrist with a more rounded profile which slowly changes to a more oval profile in finer guns. By the time we get to breach loaders fine sidelocks and boxlocks have a cross section almost like a rounded diamond, and therefore when i look at the linsley brothers stock its a bit to rectangular in cross section.

 

Running parallel to this is finishing, i am constantly trying to improve my wood and metal finishing abilities, experimenting with oil mixtures and different solutions.

 

Finally i am always trying to extend my practice on metal work its self, general repairs like tightening an action, and re laying ribs.

 

Hopefully this gives people a bit of insight into the detail and skill level i am striving for.

 

Cheers guys,

 

James.

[demonwolf444]

I posted an image of a forend i was working on for a friend and never followed up on it.

 

Before slimming down

 

 

After chequering and finishing.

 

 

 

 

The gun in question has two sets of barrels and the forend must fit both. The forend is a little bulky and the shape is not quite right, the shape is important in gun stocking, so have recently spent a long time studying the shapes of different gun stocks in order to replicate them better. I also intend to use more gauges to help me replicate the profiles of different stocks.

[WelshAndy]

Amazing as usual James

[demonwolf444]

Back to the back action!

 

Finally got there just about with the top tang and began heading up.

 

 

When you start heading up the tang must also be opened up to allow the head of the action to move back into the stock.

 

 

Can see the gap we need to close up here, we are aiming for full contact between the head of the stock and the rear of the action.

 

 

Smoking the rear of the action to cover it with soot, along with the top tang.

 

 

First contact shows the high spots which must be removed carefully.

 

 

Tang is all in quite nicely.

 

 

All the time while heading up i am trying to see a potato print of the read of the action on the head of the stock, showing full contact.

 

 

My efforts got me this far the other night, i think i can improve the contact a little more and will persist. While heading up, the tang inlet may become too tight and need to be opened up. All the inlets should have as much contact with the surrounding wood as possible but should not be placing any pressure between the metal and the wood.

 

Another update soon!

[Gordon R]

Very, very impressive and interesting. I wish I had the skill and patience. :good:

[demonwolf444]

It is a lot of patience but the methods are simple and so long as you are never tempted to cut corners the result is very worth while!

 

You always have to remind yourself not to rush, i am trying to work on making my cuts cleaner which will leave a better contact area between the wood and metal.

 

James.

[demonwolf444]

Lord! there will be an update soon! had a busy week this week!

[demonwolf444]

Had a kranks trip, and stocked up on some bits for muzzle loading and reloading.

 

 

Loaded 30 pryodex shells i had primed, loaded 60 pre rolled cartridges. Loaded a handful of steel pre rolled.

Black seems to have a bit more punch than pyrodex so i might need to re consider my loads.

 

Carried on heading up, going steady on this as i really want this one to be perfect. Still not quite there, planning on spending two days next week on heading up just to get that finished. As i stated i am absolutely being anal with this i seek perfection.

 

 

Been practicing sharpening chisels, seem to have a good reliable method that gives me a razor edge, essential for clean and accurate cuts.

While everyone likes seeing progress this is as much about recording my learning to the detail may be tedious and the progress slow, but i'm just aiming for higher quality work all the time so that seems to come at a cost of time.

 

James.

[demonwolf444]

Right due to college starting, family visits, and other work taking priority i have not been able to put as much into this as i should like. Publicly committing four full days to this next week!