More powder drum issues

[Eterry]

Well another of many setbacks for my Leman build . I took the barrel to a gunsmith to have dovetails cut for the sights and underlugs and drill and tap the drum hole. The dovetails turned out great but the drum hole is sloppy which is obviously a real safety concern. I called and told them and of course he said they only do quality work. Anyway I told him that I ordered a 3/8" drum to replace this 5/16" and he said bring it by. I asked how long it would take and he said black powder wasn't a high priority. Well I already waited 5 weeks to get the dovetails cut. So because of the sorry attitude I don't really want to go back.
My question is it looks like the existing hole can be reamed using a "Q" reamer and then tapped but I don't have a drill press. Would you trust reaming by hand and then tapping or should I pay or find somebody with a press? I know reamers will better follow an existing hole than a drill bit but just asking. After 315 hours on this so far I'm getting a little gun shy with all the issues I've had.

On another note hopefully I get this resolved and I can proceed. If so how tight does the drum need to be and should there be anything like blue Locktite on it to keep it secure. Never had a drum gun so don't know. Thanks

There is archival film from Holland & Holland, between the Wars, reaming double rifle chambers by hand.
I thought that might add some perspective.

 

[SDSmlf]

What kind of drill presses di Colonial gunsmiths have?

Believe the Colonial Gunsmiths drilling holes back in the day would have survived an apprenticeship and are what we today would call mission specialists.

 

[Antelope Pete]

Some guns in the good book "Rifles of the American Indians" from Track of the Wolf have drums that a little crooked. Whether that's from use, abuse or were drilled that way it's hard to say.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Well another of many setbacks for my Leman build . I took the barrel to a gunsmith to have dovetails cut for the sights and underlugs and drill and tap the drum hole. The dovetails turned out great but the drum hole is sloppy which is obviously a real safety concern. I called and told them and of course he said they only do quality work. Anyway I told him that I ordered a 3/8" drum to replace this 5/16" and he said bring it by. I asked how long it would take and he said black powder wasn't a high priority. Well I already waited 5 weeks to get the dovetails cut. So because of the sorry attitude I don't really want to go back.
My question is it looks like the existing hole can be reamed using a "Q" reamer and then tapped but I don't have a drill press. Would you trust reaming by hand and then tapping or should I pay or find somebody with a press? I know reamers will better follow an existing hole than a drill bit but just asking. After 315 hours on this so far I'm getting a little gun shy with all the issues I've had.

On another note hopefully I get this resolved and I can proceed. If so how tight does the drum need to be and should there be anything like blue Locktite on it to keep it secure. Never had a drum gun so don't know. Thanks

You can send it to me with a return label and I'll fix it for you for free. I'm a very experienced gun builder. Semper Fi.

 

[Antelope Pete]

ColonialRifleSmith
Thank you very much that's very nice of you. There are some friendly people on this forum.
Well I picked it up from the gunsmith just a few hours ago and very much to my relief they did a good job And it didn't take twice as long as they said. Sooo hopefully I can now do my part.
If a consolation comes out of this at least the things that I've had to do or have had done are an upgrade to what was in the kit. Thanks again.

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Glad you got it sorted out. Rick

 

[LME]

I think you are making this overly difficult. I bought a barrel with a factory drum that was sloppy. I went to hardware store, bought a larger tap and matching drill bit, and just drilled the old threads out with an electric drill, going slowly. Then tapped to new size. Came out fine. Cost about $12 and I still have the tools.

Do drums you can buy have different sizes? If he drills it out can he buy one that is larger? I was under the impression they were a standard size?

 

[ColonialRifleSmith]

Do drums you can buy have different sizes? If he drills it out can he buy one that is larger? I was under the impression they were a standard size?

There are several different drum sizes and thread sizes, to include SAE and metric threads. Semper Fi

 

[Antelope Pete]

Do drums you can buy have different sizes? If he drills it out can he buy one that is larger? I was under the impression they were a standard size?

As ColonialRifleSmith said they come in different sizes. This started as a 5/16" -24 thread and I had to enlarge to 3/8"- 24. Not much realistically going up from there.