How important is barrel inletting to accuracy?

[Dithsoer]

I'm working on my first kit, a J.P. Beck from Track of the Wolf. I'm concerned that unless the barrel is perfectly inletted into it's channel that I may hinder the accuracy of the finished rifle. The channel that I've ended up with isn't horrifically sloppy, but then again, no one is going to mistake it for a Buchele either. How much does proper or improper barrel inletting affect accuracy? How about breech plug/barrel shoulder fitting? I know that this is important for recoil, but how about for shooting tiny groups? Should I just inlet everything a little deeper and acraglas-bed it? I know that this would be blasphemy to design, but my primary reason for building the weapon is for target use.

 

[flaming canvas]

You aren't going to get a perfect fit, no matter how long you whittle on it, so don't let that worry you.

Try to get it so that the contact points are all along the barrel and not just a couple of high points and she should do ok.

 

[Allan Gray]

Others may not agree, but I believe that the barrel and sight relationship decide accuracy.
The stock provides a comfortable way to hold them while you squeeze the trigger and wait for the FLA-BAMM!. It's good to have a nice fit but I wouldn't lose sleep if metal isn't touching wood 100%.

On an off topic note: Flaming Canvas, I laugh myself to tears when I see your avatar...gotta' be a great story there! :rotf:

 

[Birddog6]

As long as the barrel Easily goes into the wood without binding or stressing it, you are OK. If you have to force the barrel in & out of the wood, you are putting pressure on the barrel & could change the POI, same as in any other gun.
Personally, I glass bed every breech on every rifle I build, and am not concerned of what others think of it. You can't see it, it makes a perfect fit at the breech, it is stronger, waterproof, and there to stay...

:thumbsup:

 

[Many Klatch]

Most of the time the stock on a long rifle is only there to provide a holder for the ramrod. I don't think it affects the shooting much if the barrel is a little thicker than some of the really lightweight barrels.

I have always been told that the spacing of the pins was more important in accuracy. They should be spaced evenly.

Many Klatch

 

[shortstring]

I just assembled a TOW kit a week or so ago. Something that I had to contend with is that the barrel channel was warped left to right. You could see the barrel was effected by the stresses put on it. Something that I found to work was to take a heat gun & heat a 6 to 8 inch area of the forstock. The heat was enough to allow me to induce a bit of bend & straighten the mess out. I do the same with arrows & hickory golf club shafts.

Like others have said you basically don't want any stresses put on the barrel by the wood. Loose is not neccessarly bad. Although I would glass bed the breech & the first few inches. Make sure that you fill in (with clay or wax) the little area where the breech threads into the barrel. Quite commonly there's a little cavity right there.Don't ask me how I know. :cursing:

Paul

 

[LRB]

I'm with you Birddog6, I bed the breech areas on mine for the same reasons.

 

[MSW]

ayup, what Birddog said. (if you're careful with the inlet, the accraglas won't show)

good luck with your build

msw

 

[Mike Brooks]

I've had a few originals apart that had oct. barrels and chopped in round channels.
Two things I'm a stickler on for accuracy, well fitted wood to metal contact at the breech and pins that don't bind in the barrel lugs.

 

[Dithsoer]

The stock that came with my kit is the exact same way. The forearm is visibly warped from right to left and tilts down. Can I just hold the warped portion over a heat source such as a hot burner on a stove and carefully bend it in the opposite direction to take care of this problem? I've read that when doing this on bent arrows that grease should be used on the wood first (I believe that some Indian tribes used bear grease). Would it be better to use some sort of grease or oil or not?

 

[barebackjack]

I had a pecatonica pre-carve with this same problem, a severly warped forearm.

With advice from this site, I put the barrel in the channel, wrapped the whole thing with vet wrap to hold it, and placed warm moist towels over it. (lightly oil the barrel first). After a few days it was fine and dry.

 

[shortstring]

As I recall I put water on the wood to help heat it. While oil would work (probably better) it would seriously screw up the finish later. Keep in mind that when you bend wood with steam or any heat source, that you compress the fibers on the inside of the bend. No matter how much steam or heat, you can not stretch wood. We did some steam bending of wood at a shop I worked at. To bend a tight radius a steel band was used around the outside of the bend. I guess any heat source will work but a Wagner heat gun is pretty hard to beat because it's not hot enough to burn the wood but does bring the wood up to a temperature where it starts to become plyable. Take a piece of scrap wood of some sort & put some heat to it to get a feel as to how this works. We're not talking about something you're going to be able to tie in a knot but you should find a bit of flexability. You then clamp it straight until it cools & drys out & it will stay.

 

[srottman]

Birddog6 what do you mean when you say you glass bed your breech plugs?

 

[LRB]

He glassbeds the breech area, not the plug itself. I do the same. The rear face of the barrel that the tang, and it's bolster don't cover. The bottom 4", to 6" of the barrel, the tang and it's bolster. I like to leave just a few thousandths of clearance behind the termination of the tang itself, in most cases. Less, or about .005. That is insurance against cracking the wood from recoil. By doing this, you are distributing recoil shock, and pressures in a more even manner, and protecting the wood end grain from soaking up oils, grime, fouling, ect. while at the same time, gaining a bit more accuracy, even if you can't measure it. In some cases, you can see a difference, although a very skillful builder can inlet all this to a point that it may not be all that much different in accuracy, if at all, but, it will help to keep what accuracy you may have over the years.

 

[2158]

hey ditchsoer, most important is the breech area
first, any play here is a cracked stock over time.
usually tang area. as for play in fore stock.
most first time builder don't elongate barrel
pin holes in dovetailed lugs in barrel. most forestocks move up to a 1/8 inch with humidity.
where on a light weight barrel say "a" weight @42" length or more
over time could affect barrel accuracy with stress. :youcrazy: mike

 

[srottman]

bareback jack, what is vet wrap

 

[Old40Rod]

Vet wrap is a stretchable, very tough wrapping material typically used for bandaging over gauze or gauze wrap. You can find it in most drug stores. It sticks to itself, so its good for holding things in place (non-permanently) on odd shapes or where you need flex.
http://www.sitstay.com/dog/supplie...storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=39106