Loose barrel wedge

[Crawfish]

I have a nice Interarms Hawken that I have had for more than 30 yrs. It was my first BP gun, and gave me my injection of the flintlock virus. Still have it, and the virus too.
The Barrel wedge is not a tight enough fit. I was looking at the rifle in my shop, and it fell right out of the gun.
it was always finger tight before.

TOW has a replacement, but it is blued steel, not brass. I have not seen any other barrel wedges online anywhere. I could make one but am allergic to filing.
Any ideas? I guess I could put some solder on it and file to fit.

 

[Tumbledown]

Give it a *very* slight bend.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

what he said.

 

[Mattox Forge]

Third that.
Mike

 

[2 shots]

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’d suggest tightening the barrel loop.

 

[Gun Tramp]

I have not seen any other barrel wedges online anywhere.

RMC Ox Yoke has them, made in USA:
https://rmcoxyoke.com/product/barrel-wedge-pins/

 

[Indy Durtdigger]

Lyman has a video on You Tube showing how to adjust this.

Edit. I had it backwards. The video shows how to make a too tight wedge fit by adjusting the screws on the tang.

 

[Coolhand]

Also can check to see if the front tank bolt is not to loose. I had to loosen the front tang bolt on one of my Great Plains about 1/4 turn just to get the wedges to go all the way inn.

 

[Crawfish]

thank you guys! I gave that little rascal a couple of light taps, and it is nicely tight now. Snug, but easy to remove with a decent push.
another of the many reasons I like this forum.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

You never bend a wedge. You "re-shape" it to fit.

 

[TrophyGuy]

Work like a machinist, aware of what a wedge is called to do. First fit barrel to stock and eyeball the alignment of slots. Ford and aft alignment doesn’t matter as the tang holds the barrel longitudinally. You only need big enough longitudinal slots so that the wedge is free axially leaving clearance to adjust the wedge radially with the barrel. A very slight bow in the wedge might suffice as would a slight “thickening” of the wedge profile if it is malleable brass. If the wedge is steel it will take spirited pounding to re-dimension. Go slow with a ball peen hammer, checking often for fit.

 

[rickpa]

I would also advise pinning the wedge in the stock. I use a small brad cut to length and install from the barrel channel. Cut the slot in the wedge long enough to allow the wedge to clear the barrel lug. Be careful when drilling the hole for the pin not to go completely through the stock.

 

[Crawfish]

I wonder if an overly tight wedge would affect accuracy in some way. I suspect it would, but do not actually know.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I would also advise pinning the wedge in the stock. I use a small brad cut to length and install from the barrel channel. Cut the slot in the wedge long enough to allow the wedge to clear the barrel lug. Be careful when drilling the hole for the pin not to go completely through the stock.

I've wondered about this. It seems to me that it would be better to drill the pin hole completely through the stock so that the wedge could be removed if needed.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I put the pin under the escutcheons in a slot, then should it need removed un screwing the escutcheon is easy access to the pin.

 

[M. De Land]

Give it a *very* slight bend.

That or try it flipped over. Another thing to try is with a punch strike the wedge loop in the barrel in the middle and tighten the slot up a bit.

 

[Col. Batguano]

I like captured and pinned barrel wedges better myself. Due to wood movement, this time of year is the time that wood will be swelled the most, and, (most of the time) the wedges will be loosest. Apart from the excellent suggestions above (slotting and capturing, making the wedge bigger, the slot smaller) a piece of masking tape around the wedge while using or carrying the gun would give you an extra bit of insurance.

And, carry an extra couple of them in your patch box just in case. Finding lost wedges in the leaves is really tough even if you know right where it is.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I put the pin under the escutcheons in a slot, then should it need removed un screwing the escutcheon is easy access to the pin.

I'm having trouble visualizing this since the pins are 90 degrees to the wedge and escutcheons. Also, I think some of the escutcheons on some guns were fastened by pins driven through them or pins soldered on the back and tapped in on the final fit of the escutcheons. I haven't handled any guns with pinned wedges to know but I have seen one where some dummy had ruined the forend trying to drive out pinned wedges without removing the pins.

 

[wiscoaster]

You never bend a wedge. You "re-shape" it to fit.

What I was going to say; you beat me to it.