Barrel channel slack removing.

[EC121]

Since my winter project is to build this 32" .62cal. shoulder cannon from scratch. Instead of sending it off to have the barrel inlet, I had to inlet the barrel myself. The wood was free so in case of a major screw up I could always salvage the parts and toss the stock. Once I had black spotting all the way, there were still minor gaps here and there in the channel. I waited until I had the barrel pinned and then wet the channel and smeared some Gorilla Glue in spots plus some under the breech. After a coat of wax I pinned the barrel in and waited 3hrs. Here is the result. No need for a full coat, and the glue is paper thin and rock hard. No wiggles!!

 

[2 shots]

were these low spots or are the other spots high?

 

[EC121]

Both. The sides and the bottom flat were hitting well, but the more I scraped the spots just kept moving. Finally I got it in with just a lttle minor rocking in the middle. Could have been a side flat hitting or the bottom flat. At that point it wasn't worth chasing the spots. The pins held the barrel in place, and the glue expanded to fill the channel. I didn't see any reason to totally bed the channel. The old timers just inlet the ends and planed the middle round bottomed. Only the side flats have to touch the barrel.

 

[64Springer]

Seems like a solid fix.

Ugly but solid.

No one else will know it's there.

 

[oldwood]

Don't forget to elongate your pin lug holes. Barrel channel looks good enough. I won't tell , if you won't tell , about any inletting ugly's. The last 15 , or so , yrs. , I hunted deer, the .62 w/ 90 Gr. ffg. , was my 37" barrel longrifle of choice. It was a killer , but make sure to carry your short starter in a safe place. One day , I walked up to a group of 18 deer @ 20 yards. Killed the big lead doe , and the herd ran down hill to my buddy , and he shot a buck from the bunch. The 16 deer left , ran back up to me and stood there , again at 20 yds.. I stood there like a dunce , holding an empty rifle , 'cause I lost my short starter somewhere in the snow , and couldn't reload. Oh well , it would have been illegal to shoot 2 deer the same day here in Pa. ......oldwood

 

[EC121]

This wood must be 20yrs. old. My buddy gave it to me because it would only take a 37" barrel.

My last .62 rifle shot through two small deer(I didn't know they were lined up.) and kept going. But I sold it. I use a Ron Scott .60 now. It hits about as hard with a .586 ball.

 

[oldwood]

My old hunting buddy shot a cow elk , with his .60 , side to side. The guide was shocked even after the cloud of smoke cleared. The animal took two steps and collapsed stone dead. He stated he had seen elk, hit with modern rifles and went further , before securing them.

 

[FishDFly]

Don't forget to elongate your pin lug holes. Barrel channel looks good enough. I won't tell , if you won't tell , about any inletting ugly's. The last 15 , or so , yrs. , I hunted deer, the .62 w/ 90 Gr. ffg. , was my 37" barrel longrifle of choice. It was a killer , but make sure to carry your short starter in a safe place. One day , I walked up to a group of 18 deer @ 20 yards. Killed the big lead doe , and the herd ran down hill to my buddy , and he shot a buck from the bunch. The 16 deer left , ran back up to me and stood there , again at 20 yds.. I stood there like a dunce , holding an empty rifle , 'cause I lost my short starter somewhere in the snow , and couldn't reload. Oh well , it would have been illegal to shoot 2 deer the same day here in Pa. ......oldwood

Okay I have to ask, why do they have a law on how many deer you can shoot in one day?

I understand how many deer in a season, but per day?

 

[The Appalachian]

Okay I have to ask, why do they have a law on how many deer you can shoot in one day?

I understand how many deer in a season, but per day?

30 years ago here in VA it was two a day bag limit. Then the game dept felt the need to change it to just one. 15 years ago or so they switched it back to two per day. Just depends on how each state's game commission wants to handle the kill. Some days of the week rarely get hunted because people are at work and such. Other days they can see the kill count go way up. If those days are limited to just one deer and the overall count isn't what they want, then they play around with bag limits, length of seasons, and stuff to hopefully increase, or decrease the harvest.
My county this year is involved in a CWD management program. They gave us 4 weeks of regular rifle season this year. And, believe it or not, they gave us a late rifle season from Jan 8th to March 26th 2023. Does only on private land. They really really want this county's population reduced like right now.

 

[64Springer]

The OP convinced me to bite the bullet. Painted a thin layer of 5 minute epoxy in my antique 20ga barrel channel and pinned it in place.

Like night and day. Ugly repair. But no one will see it. Besides, epoxy is one of those things the 18th century gunsmiths would have used. Along with digital calipers. And Spotify.

Thanks for the kick in the butt, OP.

 

[HighUintas]

@EC121 , you used gorilla glue? The epoxy or the CA glue?

It's hard to tell in your picture, but it looks like you just kept the glue away from the barrel lug inlets in the channel, correct?

 

[EC121]

I used a thin coat of regular expanding Gorilla Glue. Mostly on the bottom flat and let it expand up the sides. I didn't want it to get in the lugs.
There is no real advantage to completely seal the channel. All that does is hold the moisture against the barrel metal. I just don't like to grab a rifle and feel the wood move.

 

[Don Steele]

All this talk about painting epoxies and Gorilla Glue in the barrel channel, then pinning in the barrel makes me wonder why the barrel isn’t glued into the channel..??

 

[EC121]

Because some sort of mold release is used. Paste wax, etc.

 

[oldwood]

Fishde fly.......The one per day rule for deer , has been around for a long time in Pa.. That's all I know. Better check w/ a Pa. Blame Warden for sure...........oldwood

 

[64Springer]

All this talk about painting epoxies and Gorilla Glue in the barrel channel, then pinning in the barrel makes me wonder why the barrel isn’t glued into the channel..??

I use an ultra thin invisible coating of red bearing grease.

Then mineral spirits to remove the grease from the barrel and barrel channel.

 

[oldwood]

I weened myself from using expensive and troublesome Brownell's release agent, and expensive bedding epoxie. The last 40 yrs. ,been using free cutup , thin grocery store plastic bags to act as release agent for all I glass bed. Also, simple , bulk , Harbor Freight epoxie glue , will bed any barrel ,or whatever needed for a muzzleloader rifle build. This ain't rocket science , guys. If ya think the epoxie needs to be tougher ,git some JB Weld Epoxie w/ powdered metal in it. Note....The free grocery store release agent bags ,peal right off the hardened epoxie , and ta..da....you got a bedded part , no muss , no fuss.

 

[64Springer]

I tried a plastic film one time.

The bunched up film doesn't allow free access to the 90 degree joint formed by the stock and barrel.

I couldn't get a scraper in there to clean out the ooze. Went back to the grease.

 

[oldwood]

That's odd....Never had ooze near breech plug , using plastic sheet for a release barrier . I bet , greasing up , a soon to be browned barrel , would be fun to clean up , so browning solution works well ??? Dunno??? Used the thin plastic grocery bag release process , 40+ yrs. , w/great success. No gooe either.??

 

[M. De Land]

Since my winter project is to build this 32" .62cal. shoulder cannon from scratch. Instead of sending it off to have the barrel inlet, I had to inlet the barrel myself. The wood was free so in case of a major screw up I could always salvage the parts and toss the stock. Once I had black spotting all the way, there were still minor gaps here and there in the channel. I waited until I had the barrel pinned and then wet the channel and smeared some Gorilla Glue in spots plus some under the breech. After a coat of wax I pinned the barrel in and waited 3hrs. Here is the result. No need for a full coat, and the glue is paper thin and rock hard. No wiggles!!

View attachment 182417

Boy, I which I had some of that "free" stock wood on hand. It will be an eye popper when stained and finished ! Glass bedding compound would probably be the best bet but it looks like the foaming Gorilla glue will work. I still glass bed my lock plates and under the tang to seal the wood against moisture and oil but also to reinforce this area that has so much wood removal made necessary by lock, tang, trigger guard and loading rod convergence.