Barrel pins & holes

[tom in nc]

My latest find, a .45 caliber that I believe is an early Jukar, now looks pretty good except for the one hole thru the (full) stock for the pin to retain the barrel. The outside(s) of the hole is oversize, so though the pin fits well the visible ends of the pin are "lost" in the hole(s). I'd like to fix it. How should I go about it? Change the tenon on the barrel for a wedge instead of a pin? Make brass escutcheons for the pin? What say ye?

 

[deerstalkert]

well done escutcheons are cool. another method i have used is pins with heads. they can be made to bypass each other through the tenon from both sides and hold as well as a single pin. they can be plain or engraved, domed or flat. oval or round,

 

[Eric Krewson]

Plug the hole and redrill it and use a longer pin so you can see the end. There is not a gunmaker out there who hasn't missed while drilling a pin hole, toothpick to the rescue. On bigger holes I cut a peg out of the same wood as the stock and glue it in for a patch then redrill the hole.

When I tapped the pin through the drilled hole on this rifle it caught something and splintered out the exit hole. I glued in a patch and redrilled it. The macro setting on my camera makes the patch look very obvious but in reality, you have to look very close to even notice it

Here is another patch; a toothpick filling a hole that missed the underlug;

 

[deerstalkert]

like Eric says!
another trick is to put the pin into a drill, spin a rounded, polished end on it and run it through your pre drilled holes and underlug.
i have at least once, with a steel pin used the pin for a drill and had success. once is all i trusted that method.

 

[TDM]

well done escutcheons are cool. another method i have used is pins with heads. they can be made to bypass each other through the tenon from both sides and hold as well as a single pin. they can be plain or engraved, domed or flat. oval or round,

deerstalkert has your answer. Guns are tools, and sometimes tools need repairs.

 

[FlinterNick]

If the pins are breaking the wood at entry or removal then its usually because the Pin has a burr on it and is cutting the wood.

First I make sure the pins i use are slightly counter to the surface of the stock just under a MM, so that when I remove them the pin drifter i’m using will set on the pin head and not slide off of it.

I heat treat my pins and then temper to 700, this gives the pins some spring, so that they move and bend with the wood, if the hole drilled is slightly off a hardened pin will only move and take out whats in its path.

With my pins I make sure the ends are chamfered and the pins are de-burred and polished smooth, i also condition the pin holes with mineral oil so I can remove them when I want to.

 

[FlinterNick]

Barrel keys are more beneficial than a pin, but not all guns will allow for a key. The stock needs to have a little more wood in the forearm for the key mortise and lug.

 

[2 shots]

depending on how much is chipped out, you could drill it out for a dowel plug say 1/4 or 5/16 and redrill