White Lightnin' touch hole liner, barrel rust

[Woodchips]

I just drilled and tapped my 50 caliber Rice barrel for a White Lightnin' touch hole liner and have 2 questions:
- How tight should the vent liner be torqued in the barrel?
- The vent liner hole diameter is 0.046" as received. The books I have suggest something closer to 0.062 (1/16). Should I open the hole up or leave as is?

I am a very slow builder and didn't touch the project over the summer. When I leave the barrel in the inletted stock for extended periods the barrel is rusting where it is in contact with the unfinished wood. I tried using paste wax on the barrel but that didn't seem to help. Since the wood is bare I didn't want to put anything on that would affect staining and finishing. My shop has a dehumidifier set to 60% and nothing else rusts. I purchased the red maple KD stock blank from a reputable dealer and have had it in the shop for over a year. The picture was taken after a light abrasive cleaning. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Sam squanch]

Your stock was not dry enough. I had one blank that was not dry at ALL. I just put it up for a few years…..

 

[Phil Coffins]

Torque the liner in tight, you don’t have to go full farmer on it, just tight. Drill the liner to 1/16” after it in and filed flush.
Your wood is damp, leave the barrel out when not working on the project.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

I use a small pair of vise grips and tighten it down pretty good.

I drill to 1/16.

That stock must have some moisture in it. You might want to put a meter on it.

 

[CuNosecap]

Interesting. I have never drilled, or enlarged the branded White Lightning liners, leaving the factory provided hole. They’ve always worked great as is. Maybe I missed the last sentence of the install instructions????

 

[R Ellis]

I would shoot it before drilling .It could work fine

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Interesting. I have never drilled, or enlarged the branded White Lightning liners, leaving the factory provided hole. They’ve always worked great as is. Maybe I missed the last sentence of the install instructions????

I have found that I may need to enlarge touch hole diameter based on barrel wall thickness. What works perfectly on a .40 or .50 caliber barrel may need to be opened up a bit on an 1 1/8" .54 swamped barrel.

 

[Woodchips]

I did check the moisture content when I received the stock over a year ago. I recall that it was about 12% which is high for KD, but not too far off from the equilibrium content for the Northeast summers. I just checked it again with my Wagner L609 and got 9 - 11%