How tight is too tight?

[WVAED]

I am building a 40 cal. tennessee rifle. The 13/16 barrel is pretty tight in the channel. I have used 80 grit sand paper on a small board to sand so that it will go in easier. At first it did not go it at all, Now it will go in, but i have to give it a little sqeeze with my hand and then it is a little difficutl to come out. Also i have to sligtly peck the tang with a mallet to get it to go into my stock. Is this too tight? What should i do?

 

[Birddog6]

Blacken it all & work it in & then back out & remove the blackened areas on the stock. It should Easily go in & out at all points. If not, once ya put the finish in the barrel channel & etc, you are going to have issues getting it in & out & could crack or break the forestock.

As you build the rifle & inlet the pipes & etc, the forestock is weaker in those places. Slim the stock down & it is weaker yet..... So get the barrel fit correct before ya go any further.

Keith Lisle

 

[Zonie]

I try to get the barrel to easily drop into the barrel channel but still have no visible gaps.

If I were to guess at the amount of clearance I would say the barrel would be about .007 (seven thousandths of an inch) smaller than the stocks channel. That figures out to be about the thickness of one human hair per side.

.015 clearance (.0075 per side) would start to be visible and would be about the maximum I would want to use.

I'm not suggesting that measurements should be taken. Just use the feel when inserting the barrel into the stock. With the right amount of clearance the barrel will drop easily into place but you won't be able to see a gap.

Like Birdog6 was saying, when the finishing oils are applied the wood will swell which will shrink the size of the barrel channel and if everything was done correctly the finished guns barrel will slide smoothly into place with virtually no clearance.

 

[billymas]

I fit a barrel to tight on one of my first builds, and just thought I'd take a look under it the other day,and took out all the pins the tang bolt and gave it the usual tap like Hershel taught us in his vidio, and it still wont come out. It only comes out at tang moving foward about a foot and thats it. I think its a varnish or sealer problem. Any suggestions anyone?

 

[Zonie]

I don't need to tell you to be dam careful in trying to remove the barrel but if it were mine and I really wanted to get the barrel out I would try working a real thin, narrow knife blade under the barrel from the muzzle.

With enough time and a lot of luck I should be able
to work the barrel out of the stock.

If I was able to get the barrel out without ruining the stocks forend I would use a short piece of a broken hack saw blade to make a scraper.
I would then use this scraper to remove any finish that was on the sides of the barrel channel until the barrel slipped in easily.

 

[Bill Hall]

Billymas, another idea to try. A non-flame heat source will probably do the trick, like a heat gun, hair dryer, eletric heater. You need to heat up the wood where it comes into contact with the side flat of the barrel, and also heat up the barrel. You want to get the barrel hot enough so that the heat transfers to the underside of the barrel, so there is heat in the barrel bed. The heat on the wood will relax it just a hair, and the heat in the barrel should soften up any stuck finish (fingers crossed). I've done this before to solve the same problem you're describing, and it worked great. Heat everything up slowly, and use just enough heat so that the finish doesn't ruin and the wood doesn't scorch.

Then do like Zonie said and open up that barrel channel a little. Good luck. Bill