Barrel Staple Lug Woes

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I recently drilled holes in the staple lugs for a .45 caliber 42" 15/16" barrel.

I have been building this scratch made full stock matchlock rifle with almost only muscle powered hand tools over a long slow period of time but have been flying blind for much of this project with the exception of some pretty good advice from these forums.

So far I have already inlet the lock plate area and inlayed the barrel channel into the stock, drilled the ramrod channel, chiseled out the area where the lug staples rest under the barrel and tried to use a barrel tennon drill jig tool but it was so horribly off in measurement that it almost had me drilling through above the staple and into the barrel.

So my solution was to use a barrel pin then a drill bit of the same size as the barrel pin taped tightly to the end edge of a combination square then lightly hammered to make a mark on the stock where to drill in relation to the hole in the staple lug and the top of the barrel.

This worked but not without having the barrel sit a tiny bit too high above the barrel channel, so now the barrel has a very slight rocker play to it. I need to lower the barrel by making the pin holes lie down deeper in the stock.

This would make the pins loose in the stock and I would need either use larger pins which risk weakening the staples, or maybe use strategically placed escutcheons to wedge the pins more properly.

I have read somewhere that escutcheons are sometimes used to hide drilling mistakes in rifle stocks, well I think I am at that point now.

Any advice on how I could deal with this problem?

Thanks for reading this and thank you in advance for any advice or replies which you may care to offer in relation to this post.

 

[ghostdncr]

I'm thinking escutcheons are probably going to be your easiest fix. Properly fitting pins to staples has always been something akin to black magic for me when using the methods you describe. I've been a machinist/tool and die maker for around thirty years and can locate those pin holes within about .0002" in a modern machine shop, but I much prefer building with hand tools.

 

[Black Hand]

Plug the holes with matching wood and drill the pin holes again.

 

[54ball]

Plug the holes with matching wood and drill the pin holes again.

This....

 

[Katahdin]

yep! plug and redrill.

 

[54ball]

Pins, staples...a pain but they must be done.

You need to lay these out on the side of the stock based on a depth gauge. Mark barrel depth and lug depth. Mark pin location. Drill from both sides.

It helps to start the hole with a 1/16 punch. If you drill without a jig or drill press set up you can draw a sight line across the top of the stock and into the barrel channel. It helps to have an assistant to make sure the drill is level.

The drilled holes should meet. If they dont they should be very close, close enough to work one from one side and fit the pin through.

Sometimes even with the jig or the press set up things go awry and you have to work gently on those pin holes.

It is Ok for the drill/pin to mark the lug or just kiss the bottom of the barrel if using a staple.

 

[M. De Land]

A little trick I learned some years back is to start any hole in wood or metal with a center drill then progress to a standard twist drill for final depth.
The center drill will start the hole on course and will not wonder the alignment at the beginning.
I also prefer drill guides like used in the tang to trigger guard screw hole.You don't need to use a center drill to start the hole with a drill guide,in wood.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

Thanks once again for all the replies and advice.

There are 3 staples overall, and with the two outer staple pins installed the barrel was close to flat in the stock channel to where it almost acceptable, but I did have to lift the breech end about half of a single mm to accept the pin all the way through and it would not rock with only the outer two pins installed.

The bigger problem was with the center pin which the barrel had be lifted even more than the breech end to install it. Once that that center pin was in it would make the barrel sit too high in the center and this would cause the rocking.

I thought I had measured for the each of the staple holes individually, but somehow I got thrown off on the center staple.

I also intend to put on a barrel band, a single ramrod pipe, and a fore end cap on this rifle.

When I started this project it was under the premise of using hand tools that could have existed or been used by the average craftsman in the 16th and 17th centuries.

I have not quite lived up to that ruling, because I did depend on a powered hand drill when making the ramrod channel (which turned out beautifully by the way), and a few of the drill holes which did not come out as well as I would have hoped for.

Still, probably about 90% of this project has been done with human powered hand tools.

 

[54ball]

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

Gauges....cheap and well, a nicer one.

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

finding the bottom of the barrel channel...

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

marking the side of the stock...

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

measuring for the lug...

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

transferring to the side of the stock

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

the sight line if not using a press or jig

 

[jrmflintlock]

I've been doing the stand on one leg, cross my eyes and squint method for marking them pin locations for too long!! Thank you for the pictures of the simple gauges!! Measuring and re-measuring a hundred times. So far my luck has been good and I've only had to plug a couple misguided holes. :cursing:

And Perfect timing! I am getting ready to drill those holes on my new smooth bore any day now!

Thanks!!!

 

[Scota4570]

In the future consider using T-shaped lugs. You can locate the slot in the lug when you drill the hole in the stock, It is a much better system IMHO.

 

[jrmflintlock]

T-shaped lugs? I'm not sure how that helps is drilling the holes. Can you explain?

Any and all ideas to make the process less frustrating is appreciated.

I have used staples, dove tail type lugs and solder type lugs for both pins and keys. Getting the hole drilled just right has always been a pain.

 

[MSW]

54Ball, that's a completely righteous mini- tutorial! Thanks for the post!

:grin: :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[Scota4570]

The T-shape is as viewed from the front.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/956/2/UL-NW-4

Dovetail it into the bottom of the barrel.

The pin or wedge hole goes in the middle of the web between the barrel channel and ramrod hole. This is generally just clearing the barrel. The easiest way to locate it is to put you barrel against a fence in the drill press or milling machine. The fence is for the top flat. The bit should hit the lug in the right spot with no stock. Install the barrel in the stock and clamp the barrel and stock to the fence. Spot the hole before you drill, drill bits never go as aimed without spotting the hole. . Drill down until you touch the lug. Stop.

Take the barrel out of the stock. Finish the hole in the stock, using the halfway done hole as a pilot, use a fence to make sure you are going straight across.

Back to the lug in the barrel, use the mark from the drill bit as a guide to make the hole. Favor the barrel side to make the pin/wedge fit draw the barrel in to the stock .

 

[jrmflintlock]

Ah!! A fence would help also!!

The design of the Lug is of no difference they all stick down below the barrel. Be they staples, T-shaped or the type you solder on (round Barrels).

My drill press does not have a fence but I could have clamped a board or something that would have worked too! I now understand the concept.

Thanks for the tip about a fence! I wish I had read this Saturday as I drilled all my holes yesterday. I'll remember it for the next build!

The little tool that 54ball pictured was a big help! I put one together and it made laying out the locations easy! I hit every lug!

[/img]

On to final Shaping!!

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

I put the lug issues aside for a short while and installed a ramrod thimble towards the breech end and will carve the slot for the forward thimble next; this will obviously involve some of the same issues as the barrel lugs, but with a little less trouble. I have not drilled for pins in these yet.

I do have a question about wood plugging.

Should the plugs be the same size as the originally drilled holes which would mean making toothpick like plugs or should a larger plug be used like that from a wooden plug bit and then drill the new holes for the pins?

 

[Black Hand]

I just made pins from stock wood that were slightly tapered and tapped the plug into the hole, dampened the area to swell the wood then dressed the plug flush when dry. After applying finish, the repairs look like little pin knots.

I would not cut oversized plugs as it will make the repair very apparent.

 

[Cpl. Ashencheeks]

Thanks Black Hand. :hatsoff:

I already had made some tapered plugs out of maple that resemble field expedient toothpicks and I will use those.

Sorry if that seemed like a dumb question, but I have seen some rifle stocks with big circle wood plugs before. Most of these were military stocks and probably were done to hide some major chips in the wood.

 

[Black Hand]

If you want to go through the extra effort, you can also make plugs from a cross-section of wood which matches the grain direction of the stock when the plugs are installed (I've done it both ways). I match the plug size to the existing hole rather than enlarging the hole and adding a larger plug. However, this method isn't as user-friendly when the holes are 1/16"...

 

[Grenadier1758]

You want the grain to the plug to match the grain of the stock. If you make the plug across the grain, the the stain as it penetrates the end grain will be muck darker than the stain of the stock.