waksupi
09-12-2011, 12:41 AM
I've been working on a Lancaster rifle for Andy, and I guess this may be an easier way to do updates, good and bad.
Andy did some shopping, and found the cheapest kit he could find for the rifle, and he kinda got what he paid for. I looked at what he was going to order on the website, and from the description, it looked like a really good deal.
Then it arrived.
When I unpacked the parts, the first thing that jumped out at me, was the blemish in the butt stock. And I mean a serious blemish. You could see where the limb had been cut off, and bark inclusions in the wood. It stretched from approximately halfway down the cheek piece, to a third of the way back into the after stock. There was also a serious weather check in the butt, and the wood had obviously not been properly cured before profiling. I could actually feel dampness in the wood when I unpacked it.
The supplier had sent along a spare piece of brass gratis, to make a cheek piece inlay to cover it. That was nice, but the brass was 2", the flaw was 4", and there was no way I was going to be able to make this look good. So, I got on the email, and told him I was returning the wood, and a couple other parts that were sub-par, and not suitable for the style of rifle. He back peddled a bit, and tried telling me I am a good enough rifle builder I shouldn't have any problem with the stock. I told him, BS, send another stock, I wasn't going to try and fix his trash. I did it by email, to be sure I got everything in print.
So, a couple weeks later, the new stock showed up, much better quality. I hope he burned the one I sent back, it sure shouldn't be on a decent firearm.
I went ahead and inlet tte barrel, and was fairly lucky, as he hadn't had too much wood hogged out, as is common with pre-inlet stocks (I hate them!)
I guess I got ahead of myself there. I put in a filler piece inside the stock before the barrel inletting. Like some of the fly by nights, they had drilled the first part of the ram rod channel for a couple inches, then routered out the rest of the channel on the inside of the stock. This is a miserable cheap low life way to do a ramrod channel. It removes too much wood for strength, plus makes it extremely difficult to hold the stock in a vise to work on, as you can easily crush the stock, and close up the barrel channel you are trying to inlet.
Ok, got the barrel in, then looked at the under lugs. Brass sand cast, certainly not my first choice, and only three. I like four on this length barrel, so added in an iron one I had here.
Next was the lock inlet, which didn't take a lot of work, but was certainly not fully inlet as advertised. The lock is a Siler, and as I examined it, I found the tip if the tumbler was broke. Great. So, I called Jim Chambers, since they are making the Silers now. We determined it was an old stock lock that Bud Siler had put together, so was not covered by Jim's warranty. So, there goes some more of Andy's bucks down the road.
I've got the butt plate temporarily in place. Easy install, but the wrong screws for this rifle were sent so I will need to locate the right ones to use. So, that is another "let's be cheap" thing this company did.
I also have the trigger guard installed now, and was working on the ramrod thimbles today. Surprise, surprise, they hadn't even soldered the thimbles. Well, I guess it is a kit, and they may have saved three cents on that deal. It all adds up, I guess. Anyway, I soldered those up, and have the rear entry thimble nearly inlet.
A couple good things I can say about the parts. The barrel appears to be excellent, and should be a good shooter. The stock had a lot of wood left on it, so I can take it down where it needs to be. Most kits have too much wood gone where it is needed. Much easier to take it off, than to put it on.
Oh, yes, nearly forgot. I had ordered a different correct trigger guard, trigger and plate from TOW. When I was unpacking the box, I noticed the trigger guard looked a bit funny. I took it out of the baggie, and it basically feel in half in my hand. Flaw in the casting, it happens, but I have already had enough fun with such things with this rifle. So, return to TOW, and another new one was sent.
The lock is rough as a cob inside, so I will probably have a full day of working on that. All in all, this bargain kit is not a bargain, and I am going to end up with many more hours in it than I had expected. So Andy, don't get in a hurry!
Once I get all the parts on the rifle, or nearly so, I will start showing pictures of the progress of the project. I need to take off lots of wood before I can put on the patch box.
Andy did some shopping, and found the cheapest kit he could find for the rifle, and he kinda got what he paid for. I looked at what he was going to order on the website, and from the description, it looked like a really good deal.
Then it arrived.
When I unpacked the parts, the first thing that jumped out at me, was the blemish in the butt stock. And I mean a serious blemish. You could see where the limb had been cut off, and bark inclusions in the wood. It stretched from approximately halfway down the cheek piece, to a third of the way back into the after stock. There was also a serious weather check in the butt, and the wood had obviously not been properly cured before profiling. I could actually feel dampness in the wood when I unpacked it.
The supplier had sent along a spare piece of brass gratis, to make a cheek piece inlay to cover it. That was nice, but the brass was 2", the flaw was 4", and there was no way I was going to be able to make this look good. So, I got on the email, and told him I was returning the wood, and a couple other parts that were sub-par, and not suitable for the style of rifle. He back peddled a bit, and tried telling me I am a good enough rifle builder I shouldn't have any problem with the stock. I told him, BS, send another stock, I wasn't going to try and fix his trash. I did it by email, to be sure I got everything in print.
So, a couple weeks later, the new stock showed up, much better quality. I hope he burned the one I sent back, it sure shouldn't be on a decent firearm.
I went ahead and inlet tte barrel, and was fairly lucky, as he hadn't had too much wood hogged out, as is common with pre-inlet stocks (I hate them!)
I guess I got ahead of myself there. I put in a filler piece inside the stock before the barrel inletting. Like some of the fly by nights, they had drilled the first part of the ram rod channel for a couple inches, then routered out the rest of the channel on the inside of the stock. This is a miserable cheap low life way to do a ramrod channel. It removes too much wood for strength, plus makes it extremely difficult to hold the stock in a vise to work on, as you can easily crush the stock, and close up the barrel channel you are trying to inlet.
Ok, got the barrel in, then looked at the under lugs. Brass sand cast, certainly not my first choice, and only three. I like four on this length barrel, so added in an iron one I had here.
Next was the lock inlet, which didn't take a lot of work, but was certainly not fully inlet as advertised. The lock is a Siler, and as I examined it, I found the tip if the tumbler was broke. Great. So, I called Jim Chambers, since they are making the Silers now. We determined it was an old stock lock that Bud Siler had put together, so was not covered by Jim's warranty. So, there goes some more of Andy's bucks down the road.
I've got the butt plate temporarily in place. Easy install, but the wrong screws for this rifle were sent so I will need to locate the right ones to use. So, that is another "let's be cheap" thing this company did.
I also have the trigger guard installed now, and was working on the ramrod thimbles today. Surprise, surprise, they hadn't even soldered the thimbles. Well, I guess it is a kit, and they may have saved three cents on that deal. It all adds up, I guess. Anyway, I soldered those up, and have the rear entry thimble nearly inlet.
A couple good things I can say about the parts. The barrel appears to be excellent, and should be a good shooter. The stock had a lot of wood left on it, so I can take it down where it needs to be. Most kits have too much wood gone where it is needed. Much easier to take it off, than to put it on.
Oh, yes, nearly forgot. I had ordered a different correct trigger guard, trigger and plate from TOW. When I was unpacking the box, I noticed the trigger guard looked a bit funny. I took it out of the baggie, and it basically feel in half in my hand. Flaw in the casting, it happens, but I have already had enough fun with such things with this rifle. So, return to TOW, and another new one was sent.
The lock is rough as a cob inside, so I will probably have a full day of working on that. All in all, this bargain kit is not a bargain, and I am going to end up with many more hours in it than I had expected. So Andy, don't get in a hurry!
Once I get all the parts on the rifle, or nearly so, I will start showing pictures of the progress of the project. I need to take off lots of wood before I can put on the patch box.