Building Track's Colonial Longrifle

[54ball]

Now to the nitty gritty of rifle building....Layout.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

Here I have traced my stock and laid out the parts to get locations like where the sear is....where to cut the trigger plate...eventually the tang bolt location and length of pull.
I'm going to pin my trigger. Most of this will have to be redrawn. I did not go by the pivot but rather by the front of the trigger so I will have to adjust the drawings for exact trigger location.
As you know trigger location sets the LOP..
It's better to work all this on paper...make mistakes and correct them here, rather than finding these mistakes after the parts are inlet.

On a blank build all this is worked out during the initial layout.
Since this was a pre shaped stock it's OK to set the barrel,breech and lock.

I may even adjust the stock line some especially the belly and toe line....we'll see.

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr

You can see I have a roughed in the LOP. Notice how it's moving in as I corrected for mistakes....It's going to move slightly in some more before it's final.

 

[Davemuzz]

Your cat seemed to do a very nice layout of the rifle. But....are you working that cat overtime for the nice job on the brass cleanup?

You gotta watch the "Cat" Wage 'n Hour people on working conditions and overtime pay!! :nono: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I breeched the rifle. That went well. I think many who are new to building are afraid of that but it's really simple.

I'll always be new to building. To me, installation of the breech plug is one of the most mysterious processes in building an ml rifle. Done wrong, it can present serious problems, even dangerous. I have always been bumfuzzled at how one gets the inside of the plug to fit perfectly with the end of the threads while getting the outside to also fit perfectly against the rear of the barrel and all that while also getting the tang to line up perfectly with the top flat on the barrel. I have read articles on how it is done but none of them helped clear up the bumfuzzle. Only thing I am expert on here is avoiding possible unsafe results. Meaning I have always turned that job over to someone who really knows what they are doing. BTW, when I had my ml shop the breechplug issue was a big reason I choose to feature H&A kits. Their breechplug was (is?) simply a large stainless steel Allen head screw that was put in until snug. The tang had a male hex that fit into the plug. ***** proof and safe.

 

[54ball]

Your cat seemed to do a very nice layout of the rifle. But....are you working that cat overtime for the nice job on the brass cleanup?

You gotta watch the "Cat" Wage 'n Hour people on working conditions and overtime pay!! :nono: :rotf: :rotf:

That's my copy cat as I need duplicates. :wink:

 

[54ball]

I breeched the rifle. That went well. I think many who are new to building are afraid of that but it's really simple.

I'll always be new to building. To me, installation of the breech plug is one of the most mysterious processes in building an ml rifle. Done wrong, it can present serious problems, even dangerous. I have always been bumfuzzled at how one gets the inside of the plug to fit perfectly with the end of the threads while getting the outside to also fit perfectly against the rear of the barrel and all that while also getting the tang to line up perfectly with the top flat on the barrel. I have read articles on how it is done but none of them helped clear up the bumfuzzle. Only thing I am expert on here is avoiding possible unsafe results. Meaning I have always turned that job over to someone who really knows what they are doing. BTW, when I had my ml shop the breechplug issue was a big reason I choose to feature H&A kits. Their breechplug was (is?) simply a large stainless steel Allen head screw that was put in until snug. The tang had a male hex that fit into the plug. ***** proof and safe.

It's easy for me to say it's simple or a piece of cake. The process can be complicated if looked at in the whole.
When reduced to step by step or one simple operation at a time it can be rather mundane. Most of is filing....and filing and then you'll have to file some more. If you really goof up, the solution is a heck of lot more filing.

I wish I would have took photos and I would have if the right plug had come with the set. I would have fit the breech pin first. That way I would have just draw filed the top five flats after the breech plug/pin was fitted instead of all eight.

When I dusted it off and started back this summer, I did not have my phone with me.

Using a depth gauge I got the length from the breech end of the barrel down to the interior shoulder.
I transferred this length to the threaded plug and cut off the excess leaving a couple of threads "extra". These plugs are way too long, sawing off a lot but not all the excess saves hours of filing.
After sawing off the end, I cleaned it up with a file. Then I used a "marking compound" to mark the inside shoulder and the threaded end of the breech pin.
There are many things you can use I suppose soot would work. In this case I used black ink.

With every thing marked up, you screw it down. The female interior face and the threaded male plug will begin to mesh.

You tighten with a wrench but not hillbilly tight.

This first contact will show as a shiny spot on your painted plug. Looking into the breech of the barrel, you'll see a corresponding spot on the interior face. The mesh point on the male plug is a "high spot".

Now it's more of the same. Mark....tighten....remove file. You keep going and going until there is a ring of even contact on the male breech pin.

Now the male breech plug is in full contact with the female interior face.
You mentioned Under hammers. This is all that's done on those.

The male plug/pin is in contact with the interior face....now it's a matter of clocking the tang to meet a barrel flat.
You may have a large gap between the barrel and tang....no problem keep marking, filing and wrenching to close that gap.

Eventually you begin to see what flat it's going to clock too. You mis-file go to deep you have disturbed your ring on the male face.....go to the next flat.

If you are fitting a plug to a finished barrel, you may have to clock to a particular flat. In that case you start working on the exterior tang/lug portion of the plug. You work both these surfaces to go around the clock to your target flat.

Filing the rear face of the barrel should be a last resort. most of these can be fit by just working the plug. Sometimes you may have to....

Final Clocking or Loading the threads...

I use two wrenches...a average sized crescent for light tightening and a 1800s Epic slack jawed steam wrench....the big medicine.

With small wrench I get it to where,... say the tang flat is half way clocked to the barrel flat. Here the inside surfaces are mated. The steam wrench is used to load the threads and finish the clocking.

This is tight but not hill billy tight. To remove the plug....the big wrench is used and the end is slapped by hand or tapped with a dead blow hammer to start it moving to unscrew...

It's a feel thing.

There is no need to over tighten so much that the threads are galled or stuff damaged.....this defeats the whole purpose.

Of course the barrel has to be secure in a good vise.