Need Help Fast!

[Goat]

Took my Lyman Deerstalker apart to clean today, and when I went to put it together again a couple of hours later I could not get the wedge pin back in. It looks as if the stock has twisted or warped or something. I can push the barrel down against the stock but the stock is so twisted tho ramrod will not go in either. How is it possible for this to happen in such a short period of time. I never had a problem before, and the gun is always stored in the same place, so there isn't a moisture problem or anything. The gun is only a little over a year old. I hope somebody out their can help. Thanks

 

[Keppy]

:hmm: I'm new to muzzleloaders but I have been around firearms for a long time. I haven't see that happen in a couple hours. Did you get the stock wet or next to heat? I had a full stock that I had left standing in a corner while the barrel was getting work done. When I went to put it back together couple months later, the stock had warped. Where is lyman rifle made? Do they have a good warrenty?

 

[jtmattison]

When you put the barrel into the stock can you look through the wedge hole and see all the way through?
Is it possible you bent the barrel lug to the point the wedge will not go in?

I can't imagine the stock warping to where you could not get it assembled again.

Huntin Dawg

 

[roundball]

Took my Lyman Deerstalker apart to clean today, and when I went to put it together again a couple of hours later I could not get the wedge pin back in. It looks as if the stock has twisted or warped or something. I can push the barrel down against the stock but the stock is so twisted tho ramrod will not go in either. How is it possible for this to happen in such a short period of time. I never had a problem before, and the gun is always stored in the same place, so there isn't a moisture problem or anything. The gun is only a little over a year old. I hope somebody out their can help. Thanks

It actually sounds to me like the wedge pin tenon is setting down too deep into the barrel bed...therefore the wedge pin slot is below the line of sight through the wedge pin escutcheons so the wedge pin won't go through, and with the tenon being so low, the ramrod is hitting it and won't slide all the way in.

How is the wedge pin tenon attached to the bottom of the barrel?
Dovetail?
Screws?
Is it centered?
Loose?

 

[Gary]

I'm thinking the wood was warped and returned to its natural state (according to the humidity). Take a straight edge ruler to it and test for parallel lines. Better yet, put a level on it.

 

[Goat]

The wedge pin hole is not down far enough in to the stock to get pin through. The front part of the stock seems to be slightly twisted, just enough to not allow the barrel to seat in the stock. I don't know what happened because I had just had the gun apart a couple of days earlier to clean and everything fit together fine when I put it back together. It figures today is the first day of Pa's late flintlock season.

 

[Gary]

I suspect humidity. Wood is kiln dried and stored for several years before it is cut into a stock. So long as it stays in the environment that the factory is at, it should be stable. Once you move it to another environment, humidity can cause the wood (if not really well sealed) to start moving. It absorbs moisture and some cells will expand and push against wood cells that don't expand at the same rate. It could be that the factory didn't age the wood enough before they cut it. Warpaage is perfectly natural (and it sucks) and it's why modern sniper rifles have synthetic stocks.

 

Always remember , wood like rust never sleeps. Take a junker barrel and put in the stock with clamps and draw it back , leave it to set and then make sure that the inside of the barel channel is varnished or oiled.

 

[Stumpkiller]

That's an AWFUL lot of warp if it is preventing the ramrod from seating! I'm not familiar with the Deerstalker, but I'd be more suspect that the breech cut-out has something wedged in preventing the barrel from setting into place. Some custom longrifles are so "tight" that the forward lock bolt has to be in a certain position for the rammer to pass by a relieved portion of the bolt. Never heard of this on a factory rifle. I'd be really suspicious of something binding or assembled improperly before I'd blame the wood. Remove all the fasteners at the lock and then try the rammer. Could you have got the wrong bolts in the sideplate? I'm a T/C baby, and they have only the one so it can't be mixed up. Some sideplates have a short woodscrew instead of a bolt and a long screw would possibly get into the rammer channel.

If it was get it together or miss hunting I would wrap the barrel in a layer of masking tape or wax paper, steam the forend over a tea kettle, and then clamp it together with Jorgenson (wood) clamps until I could get the parts re-assembled. Then leave it to cool with the clamps in place.

 

[Landngroove]

The Lyman Deerstalker has a hooked breach. It also has a pretty heavy duty stock. Sometimes with a hooked breach, when mating the barrel to the tang, (breach) there is a slight misalingnment, and the barrel will not seat into the barrel channel of the stock correctly. Sometimes when I clean and reassemble some of my T/C's with hooked breach this happens. Take the barrel and insert it into the tang, and gently wiggle it up and down until it finds itself, and mates correctly. Also you could try loosening the two screws, slightly that hold the tang to the stock before reassembling. This may help with alignment. I also have a Lyman Deerstalker, and don't get me wrong, I like it and it shoots great, but the fit of the barrel to the tang is visably off a little. The machineing could have been better.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Good advice also check to see if a little piece (chip) of wood has made it's way into the tand on the hooked breech. You can take it off easy enough and check to make sure there is nothing there keeping the barrel from seating all the way.

I agree that something can't warp that fast that you can't reassemble without a little bit of force.