Barrel pinning/barrel removal

[talkingamoeba]

Hello,
I'm confused. :grin: Once the barrel has been pinned and escutcheons inlet and pinned how can the barrel be put in and taken out for cleaning as I have seen written? The ones with the wedges etc... I understand, but once the escutcheons are pinned in place I'm not understanding barrel removal. Thanks

 

[rafterob]

If you are using escutcheons with pins, the pins go all the way through the escutcheons. the pins (or screws) used to mount the escutcheons to the stock are separate from the pins used to mount the barrel. The barrel pins are best driven out with a Pin Punch but a cut off finnish nail may be used also.

 

[roundball]

I'll give this a try

Escutcheons can be functional, as is normally the case with wedge pins holding hooked breech barrels in place...the wedge pin slides through and is supported by the escutcheon plates that are mounted on the stock.

Escutcheons can be cosmetic where barrel pins are used, to cover/protect the stock wood immediately around he pin hole in the wood that the pins slide through.

I've seen two divided camps on the issue of removing pinned barrels for reasons such as:

1) If not careful, you can accidently booger up the wood around the pin holes using a punch to drive the pins in and out;

2) You can break the elatively long weak forestock without the barrel in it to give the wood strength, etc.

Personally, I've tried cleaning barrel both ways and have arrived at the following conclusions:

1-Ans)
Pins on my fullstocks can be "pushed" out 1/4"-1/2" easily just by gently & carefully using the tip of a proper size pin-punch...I start them all out, flip the ML over to its other side and "pull" the pins the rest of the way out.
I stick the pins in there exact order on to a piece of duct tape, to slide them back into the same holes from the same side I removed them.

2-Ans
I happen to use strong brass ramrods with my longuns and leaving it in the thimbles the whole time gives strong / rigid strength to the forestock while the barrel is out of it.

I have 3 longrifles and have removed / reinstalled the barrels for cleaning several times each.
And an added benefit that I see, the barrels get returned to their stocks with a fresh wipedown of lube on all the underside flats.

I have a waist high carpeted workbench with clearance all around it (carpeted plywood mounted on top of a large Craftsman rolling tool chest) and it makes for a clear easy work space.

I'm not suggesting that anybody should do what I do...just explaining what I do and how I do it.

 

[talkingamoeba]

Thanks. I think where I had the problem is that having never seen one up close, I hadn't considered that the hole was through and through

 

[Birddog6]

A round barrel pin goes thru the escutcheon the same way as a wedgepin does, it is a dif shape, but same function.

Keith Lisle

 

[Zonie]

Yup.
It's pretty easy to see the pins on this Bean pistol.

This brings us to inletting the escutcheon so the hole is exactly in the center of the inlay and it aligns with the barrel pins.

To do this, first drill and install the barrel pins.
Then, drill the same sized hole exactly in the center of the inlay. When you do this sometimes the hole will need to be a little out of round so that the inlay can lay down on the stocks surface without binding on the pin.

Then, insert a pin in the stock allowing a short length of it to protrude and place the inlay on the pin. At this stage I apply a tiny drop of superglue to the underside of the inlay to keep it from moving while I use the edges of it to guide my Exacto knife to cut the mortice.

After cutting straight down into the wood along the edges of the inlay it can be popped off with a light blow from a plastic/rubber mallet allowing the wood that is inside the cut to be removed with a small very sharp chisel.

When the inlay is inserted in the newly cut mortice its hole will line up exactly with the pin.