ram rod hole suggestions

[chuck-ia]

Had the upper forestock groove as close as I could possibly get it, for 1/8" web, had the drill bit fitting good in the groove, had bearings made to hold the drill bit snug in the groove (I thought) my problem is I now have a web thickness of .310", really makes me mad at myself, after I started the hole I noticed where the bit started in the upper forestock it wasn't perfect, should have stopped and made some adjustments then. Any how what are my options? Scrape the upper hole? Which to my thinking really is not going to do any good, I really can't set the barrel any deeper cause it will affect the upper forestock web, which at the muzzle is 1/8", or just leave it? thanks, chuck

 

[chuck-ia]

I think I have 2 options, leave it, or beings it is a swamped barrel, I could inlet it deeper,kinda tipping the breech down more than the muzzle? I don't know what kind of gun this will be yet, but maybe something with a bigger lock might hide the thick web? flinch

 

[Stophel]

Plug it and redrill it. Done it myself a few times... actually, more than a few...

Make a somewhat-but-not-really snug (NOT tight) fitting wood rod plug, slather it up with Titebond II, and drive it in (of course, you must make sure you have air/glue release holes drilled in the barrel channel. You need witness holes there anyway).

If the drill bit is going to go off, it will probably go off right away. So when you start drilling, just go 2 or 3 inches, then drill down a witness hole to measure and see EXACTLY where the rod hole is going. Much easier to plug and restart with a 2" hole than a 12" hole!

 

[galamb]

You could plug it - if you were drilling a 3/8" hole an "off the shelf" 3/8" dowel should do the job nicely.

On the other hand, depending on whether you have enough "meat" around the lock panel area as far as depth, you might get away without doing anything.

I just took my caliper to rifle sitting on my bench.

It has a 7/8" ATF straight barrel and the height of the stock at the lockpanel/breech is 1.80" (it's a heavier stocked, full-stock Ohio)

The barrel extends .875 from the top, so that leaves .925" of wood "below" the barrel on this rifle, at least back near the breech.

If my web was .310 (like yours that "wandered") I would still have .615 from the bottom of the web to the bottom of the fore stock.

A 3/8" ramrod hole would only take up .375" of that leaving more than enough below the ramrod hole that I would have no worries about "breaking through".

Now if you are going for that "super slim look" that may be an issue, but maybe measure where you want things to "finish up" and see if the lower ramrod hole is going to be an issue.

As long as the ramrod sits tight on the upper forestock/muzzle area, it will look fine and no one (except you - and now us) will know it's out of whack once it enters "the tunnel"...

 

[crockett]

Wait a while and think a lot on this one. As stated, if the ramrod goes in okay then I don't see the problem with the web being a little thicker if it is at the breech. Since the issue is the hole- one thing I would be very reluctent to do is start changing everything else- such as the barrel inlet.
I once scraped the top of a ramrod hole- it's been a while and I'm trying to remember how I did it. I think I fitted a metal scraper into a saw cut on only the top side. What I do recall was that it was a lot more work than I thought.
Top side of a dowell

 

[Swamp Rat]

A 3/8" steel rod from the hardware store and tap on it with a hammer making a burr on the edge scraped the channel and hole just fine. just make sure to start with a small burr so it fits. I did not harden the steel because I knew I was not going to get the right size the first time.

I like the plug idea best.

 

[Vaino]

Must be a reason why the web went from 1/8" to 5/16"? Plugging the hole and redrilling might be a repeat of a 5/16" web? Is the RR groove pointed in the right direction? What is the dia. of the hole? A 5/16" web is a disaster in many styles of LRs, but might be OK in some "beefier" styles. What are you building?....Fred

 

[kaintuck]

ahhhhh....just leave it, shape the forestock and rifle in front of the TG grouping...if it braeks thru, then you need to do a LONG RR entry pipe... :stir:
i bet it's ok~and will do fine.....

 

[chuck-ia]

The dia. of the drill is .405, bought from Track years ago for a 3/8" ram rod. I have used it on other rifles with no problem. I think the drill going an 1/8" low is my fault with not having the drill bit snug in the upper groove. Side to side seems ok, I think I just got in a hurry. Had today off so am picking away at inletting the barrel a tad lower probably only went .020" so far, I think I will stop once I get the barrel fitting right again. I may scrape the upper hole a bit also. I don't build perfect guns, nothing fancy just simple guns, don't sell them, will just give them away. But I still try not to cobble anything, and do the best I can. I don't know what type of gun this will be yet, I figure with a blank, with the barrel in and rod hole drilled I should have quite a few options. By the way the barrel is a swamped c-weight 42" 54 cal. I just want to make a simple deer hunting gun. What problems will I run into if I get the web down to around 1/4" (or if I leave it as is) looks only? Am thinking on going with a Chamber Co. Virg. lock, (big lock) have this lock on a couple other guns and really like it. A big lock like this might cover up my mistake? Or, even if I use a smaller lock will the ordinary person be able to see it is a bit out of proportion? Thanks for all the suggestions. flinch

 

[chuck-ia]

Thought about the plug, am afraid the bit would just follow the dowel. I don't know. thanks, flinch

 

[Stophel]

The bit will follow whatever direction it is started in, regardless of any plug. If it is started off/canted/angled in even the slightest bit, it will wander way off in that direction.

Lowering the barrel at the rear will likely cause problems. First, your ramrod groove will no longer be straight. The ramrod will end up "swamped" just like the barrel. Not necessarily bad, depending upon just how everything is, but probably not a good thing, messing up the lines of the fore end. Also, lowering the barrel at the rear will drastically change the position of the butt on the stock blank. So much so that the butt may end up not being on the blank anymore!

And what is this "upper hole" that everyone is scraping???

 

[chuck-ia]

My thought on scraping the top side of the rod hole in the lower forestock is just so the ram rod will go in straighter???? And maybe not bind so much at the entry thimble?? flinch

 

[Stophel]

I doubt you'd have problems with the rod binding. Scraping the top of the hole up might straighten out the top side of the hole, but the bottom would still be where it was, leaving paper thin wood (or a breakthrough) at the bottom. I still think plugging the hole and recutting it is far and away the best way to go. You can get the hole where it needs to be, and keep solid wood where it needs to be.

Now I have also, some time ago, had to plug the hole and then I just cut down from inside the barrel channel so I could put the rod hole precisely where I wanted it (rather like the way that one or two of the precarve makers used to rout the ramrod hole from inside the barrel channel). After doing that, I put a waxed rod in and fitted a strip of wood to refill the "web" where I had cut it out and glued it in place.

I have finally gotten where I am reasonably competent (though not perfect) at drilling ramrod holes. It has only taken me, oh, about 18 years of practice! :shocked2:

 

[fusil de chase]

Any shame in opening a square groove in the barrel channel, drilling a hole in a matching size square of wood, gluing it in and re- inleting your tennons? Least it would be a diffrent task and it would rescue you from the merry-go round of pondering.

 

[Birddog6]

Build the rifle & go on. You are not emulating a particular rifle, don't worry about it. :idunno:
You know what ya did wrong, do it right the next time.

Keith Lisle

 

[chuck-ia]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will get the barrel back down fitting nice and move on. flinch