Pre-inlet stock a good idea for a beginner?

[Trapper1993]

I have a 44 inch g. r. douglas barrel and a LH manton lock that im hoping to get a Pecatonica Tennessee mountain "kit" for. I see that they offer pre-inlet stocks with a 42 inch barrel channel that would fit the 13/16 barrel and manton lock i have. Since the barrel does not have a breechplug, touch hole or dove tails do you think it would be safe to order a pre-inlet since this is my first build? I intend on having a professional drill the touchhole since I dont trust myself to do that.
For my 2nd build I have a sharon 54 cal percussion barrel and a ron long lock i intend on turning into a fullstock leman trade rifle with a pre-shaped stock with only the ramrod hole and barrel channel inletted. 3rd build I have a 20 gauge smoothbore straight octagon barrel i'm not sure what i can turn it into, maybe a hand carved LH jaeger?

 

[deerstalkert]

your best advise would come direct from the folks at Pecatonica.
I would call and discuss it with them.

 

[Treestalker]

Yes, the precarved stock is the way to go for your 1st (or later) build/s. The time you save will be well spent in dollars, and your gun/s will be finished in your hand much sooner. You will also learn rifle architecture quicker, and learn what is proper design for each gun and arrive at the 'fun part' of building, the carving, inletting of inlays, and finishing, much sooner. I recommend Pecatonica River highly, I've always been pleasantly surprised and pleased with their choices of wood and blank carving, Geo.

 

[Trapper1993]

your best advise would come direct from the folks at Pecatonica.
I would call and discuss it with them.

fair enough

 

[tenngun]

Only caveat is get one without a lock mortise. You need to fit the barrel breach and tang then match the lock to it.
It’s easy for a mortise to be wrongly placed, it only takes an 1/8 of an inch

 

[deerstalkert]

fair enough

i wasn't trying to be flippant or short, and if my answer seemed like it was i apologize.
As Tenngun says the lock mortice is something you want to fit your lock or the build looks like pucky!
if i were to buy a stock from someone, i would have them drill the ramrod channel, then inlet the rest myself.
it is an art, but not rocket science. the thing i had to keep reminding myself is almost all inletting is in a vertical plane. add to that the practice of doing your vertical stabs with the chisel , well within the scribe lines . wood is sooooooooo much easier to remove than put back.
if i can do an inlet of barrel, lock, and trigger that doesn't create a draft with the gaps, anyone can.
i suffer from multiple sclerosis's and sometimes shake like a hound at the back door on a cold winter night. yet with patience i get it done.

the reward of doing the whole thing is immeasurable. Notice i excluded the ramrod channel of those parts I do. a misaligned RR channel can cause much heart burn!

 

[Trapper1993]

i wasn't trying to be flippant or short, and if my answer seemed like it was i apologize.
As Tenngun says the lock mortice is something you want to fit your lock or the build looks like pucky!
if i were to buy a stock from someone, i would have them drill the ramrod channel, then inlet the rest myself.
it is an art, but not rocket science. the thing i had to keep reminding myself is almost all inletting is in a vertical plane. add to that the practice of doing your vertical stabs with the chisel , well within the scribe lines . wood is sooooooooo much easier to remove than put back.
if i can do an inlet of barrel, lock, and trigger that doesn't create a draft with the gaps, anyone can.
i suffer from multiple sclerosis's and sometimes shake like a hound at the back door on a cold winter night. yet with patience i get it done.

the reward of doing the whole thing is immeasurable. Notice i excluded the ramrod channel of those parts I do. a misaligned RR channel can cause much heart burn!

I didn't think you were being rude at all. I have two old/junk muzzleloader stocks that I can practice on before I decide on how much work I want them to do on the stock. I appreciate the all of the input

 

[deerstalkert]

I didn't think you were being rude at all. I have two old/junk muzzleloader stocks that I can practice on before I decide on how much work I want them to do on the stock. I appreciate the all of the input

got pictures of those "old/junk" stocks? maybe someone here needs just what you have!

 

[Eric Krewson]

If you get the the lock inlet cut it is a crap shoot whether it will be in the right place or not, from what I have read from other posters there is about a 50-50 chance it will be off. Inletting a lock isn't difficult and you can be sure it will be in the right place and save yourself a lot of grief down the road. If you have minimal gun building skills you definitely don't want to have to jump through all the hoops you have to to reposition a bad lock inlet.

Try this one on for size; and yes it is from the P place.

This one is from the P place as well without a lock inlet, it wasn't a bad precarve, just a few minor things to work around and correct in the stock shaping. This rifle is similar to what you want to build, It has a 13/16" GM barrel in .40. I used their TN Classic precarve. And yes, the lock is perfectly positioned.

 

[flntlokr]

I have built several guns from the 'P' place. I get them '90%' inlet; rr hole, barrel channel, lock, trigger all roughly inlet.(because I'm too lazy to do all of the grunt work myself) Nothing fits in the inlets, so you have to do all of the fitting yourself. Every one was properly done; no nasty mis-fits, and good wood. When I built my blunderbuss, they called to tell me that they didn't have some of the iron bits (trigger guard, butt plate. I didn't want to wait a couple of months, so I asked if they had brass instead. They did, so now I have a Chief Grade (lol) blunderbuss. Needless to say, I like their service, and love their stuff! By all means give them a call; they don't bite (often).

 

[rafterob]

What worked well for me on the only rifle I built, and after talking with the folks at Pecatonica, Was to get a pre-carve stock, barrel channel and ramrod hole cut. I did not find it difficult to inlet the various parts. The butt plate being the most tedious.

 

[rickpa]

I will add my vote for not getting the lock inletted. My last build used a precarve from Pecatonica with the Colerain swamped barrel inlet and the RR hole drilled. Very easy people to deal with and I was able to place the lock exactly where I wanted it.

 

[Trapper1993]

got pictures of those "old/junk" stocks? maybe someone here needs just what you have!

The left one used to have an original barrel but I sold it. Most of the original furniture is missing and there is a large crack in the butt. The one on the right was some homemade project someone made using a literal pipe as a barrel and using a piece of rawhide to attach it to the stock

 

[Trapper1993]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I will not get the lock inletted

 

[appalichian hunter]

Trapper the pic of the gun on the right may have some promence as in a gun some third world person cobbled together (see I am politically correct) When I was in the Marine Corps I worked with a Staff Sgt. who was a embassy guard in one of the Africa places, he had two of those called them monkey guns that he bartered for from one of the local tribes.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Like I said, you don't want to have to do this;

To get to here;

 

[EttoreR]

I have a 44 inch g. r. douglas barrel and a LH manton lock that im hoping to get a Pecatonica Tennessee mountain "kit" for. I see that they offer pre-inlet stocks with a 42 inch barrel channel that would fit the 13/16 barrel and manton lock i have. Since the barrel does not have a breechplug, touch hole or dove tails do you think it would be safe to order a pre-inlet since this is my first build? I intend on having a professional drill the touchhole since I dont trust myself to do that.
For my 2nd build I have a sharon 54 cal percussion barrel and a ron long lock i intend on turning into a fullstock leman trade rifle with a pre-shaped stock with only the ramrod hole and barrel channel inletted. 3rd build I have a 20 gauge smoothbore straight octagon barrel i'm not sure what i can turn it into, maybe a hand carved LH jaeger?

pre-inlet stocks are great for beginners, however, you will come across some issues though in certain areas if you don't pay attention to how much wood you're removing. My biggest gripe was always the butt plate, on a pre-carved you are left little room for adjustment in your LOP depending on how much wood needs to come off in order to seat your butt plate. I've also run into some situations where the entry thimble thumbnail doesn't seat well due to how little wood was left between the stocks belly and the ram rod channel. Aside from those cautions, go for it, it is a great way to learn your way around the gun!

 

[geb324]

Don't think they do a left hand Tennesee best to call and all there kits are for 42" barrels

 

[deerstalkert]

The left one used to have an original barrel but I sold it. Most of the original furniture is missing and there is a large crack in the butt. The one on the right was some homemade project someone made using a literal pipe as a barrel and using a piece of rawhide to attach it to the stockView attachment 136733View attachment 136741

Interesting! not something i need but interesting! wish these relics could talk!

 

[Redlemur60]

Like I said, you don't want to have to do this;

View attachment 136895

To get to here;

View attachment 136896

Wow. ,pretty darn nice disapear man!