Low wall action repair lower tang - help request

[JDHasty]

I have a Low Wall action that someone has cut the bottom tang off. I’m thinking of just having a piece of steel welded back on and hand shaping it using hand files. Good idea? If so, is there some particular steel I should use. I thought I would use the existing screw hole and hole I need to have drilled in the new piece to tack it in place. It’s cut off right after the serial number on the lower tang.

[Reg]

Being a low stress part almost any lower carbon steel, 1018–1020, will do and files are a excellent way to shape it. If you want to be fussy you might find a original to copy and get dimensions from.

[gnoahhh]

You wouldn't be the first one to repair a tang in that manner. You can also snoop around for an orphan Winchester 1885 lower tang, the simplest fix (but not necessarily the cheapest). You might get lucky in that regard.

[country gent]

1018, 1045,3130 or 8620 I would get a small piece of each and finish see which matches the best.If it is case hardened getting a good match may be hard.

[Bent Ramrod]

I made a lower tang for a Highwall receiver once from a railroad spike. Used my Atlas shaper and my Unimat, set up as a drill press. A very instructive project.

The spike was, as far as I could determine, just low-carbon mild steel. It’s held up fine for nearly 40 years. Anything of the sort should do for your welded-on extension.

[marlinman93]

I use mild steel since this isn't a critical strength area, and mild steel is easier to shape. Tig welding should be done with mild filler also, so the tig weld will not be hard to file either.
Keeping the original tang with serial number is a better idea than buying a replacement, since that's the only number on an 1885 Win.

[Green Frog]

How much of the tang is missing? Is the screw hole still there? I have a high wall whose upper tang was shortened, and a friend in ASSRA was able to “lengthen it” for me. If a bunch of the tang is missing (say part or all of the serial number gone) then a replacement would probably be your best solution. Thick low wall is it, early panel side with flat mainspring, smooth side, flat spring, panel side coil spring, or?? Each takes a slightly different lower tang, believe it or not!
Keep us informed and add a few pix if it’s convenient.

Froggie

[quack1]

I'll bet someone shortened that tang to fit a stock with a pistol grip. Being a low wall, with little recoil, the upper stock screw would have probably been enough to keep keep action and stock together.

[Gunlaker]

I have a rifle with an upper tang that was shortened just a bit too. Thanks for the useful info. I'd like to fix it one day.

Chris.

[WILCO]

I made a lower tang for a Highwall receiver once from a railroad spike.

Is it possible to share a pic of it?
The direct link to the railroad made my heart skip a beat. :)

[JDHasty]

I will get a photo of it.

I’m immersed in another project right now, but my mind is always busy thinking about how to skin the next cat in line.

I’m going to have to lay the large bench stones to it to clean up some minor pitting, but other than that I think it is a real nice action. It snaps closed good and tight. It’s been blued and has a new 22 Hornet barrel fitted to it. I am going to have someone with knowledge and experience take a look at the breach block to judge the quality of work that has been done on it.

The guy that gave it to me had it sitting for decades.

Thank you for all of the kind responses. There is a really top notch welder local to me who I will have weld it up.

[JDHasty]

Here are some photos
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It is going to need some draw file work. The barrel is supposedly new. It sure looks new. I need it slug it and find out if it is a .224 CF or a RF barrel and twist rate on it. That will determine if I use it or give it away.

[marlinman93]

Be sure to write down the serial number before welding as welding will destroy part of the number. Then after it's shaped and polished you can get the lower tang to an engraver and he or she can return any missing numbers. I've had this done twice, and the local engraver here did a perfect match.

[JDHasty]

Thank you for the tip. I'm thinking of making this up for one of my kids. I wouldn't give them a gun I wouldn't be proud to own myself.

I have had folks suggest that I just go with the short tang and not try and have it welded back on. I'm reluctant to go that route w/o getting input from others who have real actual knowledge gained from experience vs theoretical conjecture regarding that being a good idea... or not.

I'm not at all adverse to having it welded back on and inclined to do so, but am open to considering going with it as it is. My inclination is that having the long lower tang and wood screw was done in the interest of not having the stock break at the wrist if a person carrying the rifle were to trip while carrying the rifle by the wrist and fore end the toe of the stock would naturally be the first thing to hit the ground putting quite a bending moment on the wrist.

[gnoahhh]

Re: .22 bore dimensions. Even if it's a rimfire barrel it'll still shoot Hornet ammo ok. In fact one of my most accurate .22 cast bullet barrels has a 1-16" twist and .223 groove diameter. As a Hornet it handles the 225438 Lyman with aplomb ( have three iterations of that mold as it changed throughout history). The same gun slings Sierra and Speer semi-spitzer 40's & 45's into tack holes.

Thoughts about having the screw in the lower tang: any little bit extra anchorage of the butt stock is always a good thing, no matter the gun. Vibrations from a teeny bit of otherwise undetectable wobble can and do contribute to stinky accuracy. I would weld the extension on and add the wood screw. After all, Winchester deemed it necessary way back when.

[JDHasty]

"Winchester deemed it necessary way back when."

My feelings exactly.

I worked on it a bit yesterday evening. The pitting wasn't bad, but there was some that was a little deep. Sometimes things look worse before they get better. Once I draw file it with a fine cut file and polish it up it's going to look pretty good. I scratched it up pretty good with a second cut mill file, I suppose I could have spent half the night with my fine cut file, but my fine cut file is very fine and the scratches look deeper than they are in the photos. That right rear screw hole was the only thing some previous owner damaged. It is going to come out though. The lines are straight and haven't been too badly broken over. I'll smoke it up with my carbide lamp and get them all nice, sharp and flat. My screws and pins are all good.
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I have absolutely no experience with these Winchester Single Shot rifles. I don't even know if the bolt has been converted to CF.
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I like the Midrange Shotgun for a stock and the second fore end down. I'm waiting on my book to get the dimensions right on the tang and will have Treebone cut the lower tang short to make sure I don't end up with any gaps.
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[marlinman93]

Might just have George cut the tang inletting normal, and don't repair the tang until he sends you the stocks. That's the way I usually do them, so I can fit the tangs to the wood, rather than wood to tangs. Then once the tangs fit length and width I can work the rest of the wood down to fit them.

[JDHasty]

Thanks for the suggestion!

I took a bit of time out of my chores this evening and worked the file marks out a bit. I’ll finish it with 400 wet/dry from here in out on the flats. There are a couple of the pits I used as a depth stop still need a little. I like to quit draw filing just short of the deepest pits.

I’m reluctant to do anything with pits that formed where the sharp edges had been broken over from wear and tear. In my experience breaking the edge over any further always looks far worse than a couple minor pits.

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None of the sharp edge is badly broken over. They look pretty good, glare from my light makes it hard to see in the photos. I swiveled the vise to a more comfortable position, where I had it positioned yesterday I wasn’t getting the glare. I’m pretty satisfied with it right now. I’ll probably mask off the flats tomorrow just to keep them from an inadvertent scratch and work on the top and bottom a bit. They won’t need much.

[Chill Wills]

I use mild steel since this isn't a critical strength area, and mild steel is easier to shape. Tig welding should be done with mild filler also, so the tig weld will not be hard to file either.
Keeping the original tang with serial number is a better idea than buying a replacement, since that's the only number on an 1885 Win.

I think the cut off part has the SN on it. I think it is lost at this point.
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Lower tangs are not too much money. I would just replace the whole lower tang. MVA has new ones in the white, $145.00 and by the time you mess around and try to do it, you can have one that is perfect.

[ulav8r]

I think the cut off part has the SN on it. I think it is lost at this point.
---.

According to the original post the serial number is still there.

[marlinman93]

I think the cut off part has the SN on it. I think it is lost at this point.
---
Lower tangs are not too much money. I would just replace the whole lower tang. MVA has new ones in the white, $145.00 and by the time you mess around and try to do it, you can have one that is perfect.

I disagree based on it's still a 6 digit number, 108797. If there was a missing digit it would be way too high for a 1885 action. There were none in the over 1 million range.

[JDHasty]

It’s pictured above.

[Chill Wills]

According to the original post the serial number is still there.

Right all! For some reason I did not even see the middle posts and pictures that went with this. I stand corrected.
Interesting project. I will finish reading this and looking at the pictures.
Again, sorry for the error and thanks to all for the correction.

[JDHasty]

I talked to Bert Hartman,
"It was originally manufactured as a 22 Long (rim fire) with a 24-inch octagon barrel."

Other than keeping the lines straight while dealing with the pitting and the tang issue. I am not seeing anything that gives me much concern. That being said, I don't have any experience with these. I do know that I need to give Jim Wisner a call and get a mainspring headed my way.

[Chill Wills]

By the SN it looks like it was a post 1898 action and still in the flat mainspring era. Sometime in this SN range the actions were no longer Color cased but were blued. Do you know which yours was.

[JDHasty]

Not a clue. It had been hot blued over some pitting.

That beats the heck out of having it having been butchered on a buffing wheel. I have this and a Stevens 44 to learn on. These are my first single shots other than Contenders and Encores.

[marlinman93]

Serial number should put this 1885 in around 1912 era.

[JDHasty]

I have a main spring on the way, but no screw. Is this something I can pick up at a fastener outfit, or is it a specialized gun screw.

[marlinman93]

Not positive, as I don't own an 1885 anymore, but I think it was an oddball 10-36 thread?

[Chill Wills]

I just looked at my parts stash. The screw indeed is an oddball. Winchester came up with a (I will spell it) -thirty five and a half- thread for some of the screws. If I had an extra I would send you one. I have made a few on my lathe using a 36 setting on the leadscrew and it works for the few threads it is turned into.
MVA has correct, new made parts
https://montanavintagearms.com/winchester-parts/

That link will get you to a pdf of the action drawing and parts list. Really handy, even as an exploded view even if you don't order anything.

[JDHasty]

One of the screws on a Model 43 is something just as cockamamie. Really nice guy at MVA. He called me right back. I am going to get that and a few other screws coming my way.

[JDHasty]

Boy am I underwhelmed by Pferd. I had a gap in my files and ordered a right hand 10" fine single cut mill file. For the second time in about eight years I got a brand new file that is worse than useless. It's going back pronto. If any of the machinists have a suggestion on which brand of file they find to be of universally high quality and a source I would appreciate them sharing. I wasn't all that enthusiastic about the look of this latest file when it arrived, but chalked it and tried both sides on a piece of cold rolled steel clamped in my vise and if it made a single cut anywhere it was not apparent. All I can see that it did was leave scratches. Rather deep scratches too. Upon examination the edges of the file are a mess.

[marlinman93]

Boy am I underwhelmed by Pferd. I had a gap in my files and ordered a right hand 10" fine single cut mill file. For the second time in about eight years I got a brand new file that is worse than useless. It's going back pronto. If any of the machinists have a suggestion on which brand of file they find to be of universally high quality and a source I would appreciate them sharing. I wasn't all that enthusiastic about the look of this latest file when it arrived, but chalked it and tried both sides on a piece of cold rolled steel clamped in my vise and if it made a single cut anywhere it was not apparent. All I can see that it did was leave scratches. Rather deep scratches too. Upon examination the edges of the file are a mess.

I buy used files in as good a shape as possible. Often at garage sales for $.50 to $2 each. Then send them to Boggs to have them sharpened at around $3.50 each.
Boggs also sells files, and have new files for sale at their site too. The files they sharpen are excellent quality when returned. New Nicholson are still better than most files, and Boggs prices are fair for them too.

https://boggstool.com/file-%26-rasp-services

[JDHasty]

A buddy and I get together and send files to Boggs every other year. Outstanding service. I think I will probably sort out the ones that need to go down and order a Nicholson at the same time.

[country gent]

Goberts are very good. Nichelsons used to bc not sure now.

[JDHasty]

Well, my main spring showed up and… of course I had to see how that functions. I’m feeling pretty good about having reassembled everything. The extractor was a bit tricky, and getting the knock off back in, but I managed to get it reassembled.

I’ve got screws headed my way from MVA, the main spring screw among them. I was able to hold it in place and see how it functions and see that the perch on the barrel and screw hole for the spring do appear to be properly located.

Oh boy, MVA. That double set trigger assembly for five Ben Franklins is certainly enticing. I had myself all but talked into it, but then reminded myself what this project is all about (that and not having the cost spiral drastically upward). This, and my Stevens 44 are to be a learning exercise. I’m going to go ahead and weld up my lower tang, but I am going to order the MVA single set parts to convert it over.

[JDHasty]

I fiddled the split pin out of the hammer and block. Is there a trick or a tool?

I used a butchers shop knife sharpening steel and was able to clean up a few pits in tight radius's. Trick I learned from a retired gunsmith. The lever is polished up. I’m going to just boil the hammer and block to convert the tiny bit of rust on them. It isn’t bad and I am reluctant to start in on them and go through the case hardening. We drilled the 5/64 gas escape hole in the block on my buddy’s mill. The rest of the CF conversion work on it looks to be top notch.

I’m going to get the stock ordered Monday. I want the barrel on for now, but will pull it off and clean up the pitting on it after I have the stock fitting done. We need to get the fore end mounting stud on it too. I still need to run a rod through it to see what the rate of twist is and slug it to determine the diameter.

I just got off the phone with a buddy, he asked me what I was doing up at 03:30 when I sent him a quick note It’s not uncommon for me to be downstairs in my shop at any time of the day or night when I have something interesting.

The lever is pretty much cleaned up now, all that remains is the lower tang. I’m going to get measurements off a couple rifles at my buddy’s house today and make up a jig to hold the extension in place to tack it.

I’ll try and get a few photos up later.

[JDHasty]

If anyone can give me a measurement between the bottom tang screws center to center and a hole size on the rear hole it would be mucho appreciated. I’ll worry about the countersink angle once I get my screws. Had a lot on my plate today and headed to church shortly. If I get a chance to get a few photos when we get home I’ll post them tonight or tomorrow morning.

[marlinman93]

Wish I could help, but I sold off all my 1885's and Stevens rifles some time ago. But you should be able to use a standard tang screw to determine size, and by holding the head of the screw tightly into the top tang you can get a measurement to the center of the screw to know where the hole will go.

[JDHasty]

If anyone can give me a measurement between the bottom tang screws center to center and a hole size on the rear hole it would be mucho appreciated. I’ll worry about the countersink angle once I get my screws. Had a lot on my plate today and headed to church shortly. If I get a chance to get a few photos when we get home I’ll post them tonight or tomorrow morning.

[JDHasty]

I think I’m about as far along on cleaning up the frame and lever as I want to go right now. I got some done early this morning and it’s looking a lot better than it did. There are a few rust pits that I still need to work on and a few I’m thinking about leaving, so to not mess up any of the sharp edges.

I’m not having much success in getting a nice photo of the right side. Glare from the lights in my shop make it hard to see the transitions. The right side photographed better when I had it in the big machinist vise in the garage.

The barrel looks to be 1:14 and tapers to .55 @ 22 inches. My first choice was half octagon with wedding ring transition, but this would be my second choice if I were going to purchase a barrel. There is no real reason to slug it now, it’s a CF barrel. I prefer 40 grain V-max and this should be a dandy.

The rust pits on the barrel exterior cleaned up nicely with 320 then 400 wet/dry sand paper. The bore is pristine. I’ll pull the barrel off and clean up the breach end after I get the stock inletting and fitting done. It makes too good of a handle to pull it off now.

My work bench is cluttered with three model 43s, two Remington 580s that have been converted to CF, a BRNO model 5 and a Model 69A plus magazines and ammo for the above sitting on it that I need to get to the range with. I’m slowly getting some new shelving units built and once I get them in service life is going to be good. I’ve got such a clutter of stuff from my garage in my shop it’s hard to get anything done in there. I’ve only got a single car garage and in order to have room over there to build the shelving I have to either have it in the shop or the house temporarily.

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[gnoahhh]

Looking good!

[Chill Wills]

If anyone can give me a measurement between the bottom tang screws center to center and a hole size on the rear hole it would be mucho appreciated. I’ll worry about the countersink angle once I get my screws. Had a lot on my plate today and headed to church shortly. If I get a chance to get a few photos when we get home I’ll post them tonight or tomorrow morning.

Sorry, I had not looked back for a few days. Looking like great work on the clean-up!

I measured a few and I come up with 1.880" to 1.890" using a good dial caliber. This is eyeballed on 6-8 tries. This is very close but I am sure there is a better known measurement published.

By pin-gauge, the largest pin pass is .340" on the screw head and .218" on the screw shank.
Michael Rix

If you want some pictures, PM me with an email and I can send you a few.
******************************************
I measured the two outside holes - I got going too fast.
I think you wanted the distance from the stock Machine screw to the rear stock WOOD screw. (different hole)
That measurement is 1.526" center to center.
I will send you a full set of pictures and measurements.

[JDHasty]

Thanks so much. That is what has been holding me up in fabricating a jig to hold the tang in place until it's tacked. I have a lot on my plate and never made it to my buddy's house to look his 1885s over and take measurements.

I'm a little hung up right now in getting the wood ordered and for the most frustrating reason. Lost the primary keys to both of my vehicles and if they aren't found I'm going to be paying about a thousand dollars for a couple digital keys. This is going to delay me ordering wood until they are found or have been replaced. That money has to come out of my entertainment budget if they are not located in the next few days. I sure hope I find them. I have a Tile app, but it is on my old iPad that went TU and I forgot to put it on my replacement iPad. It may be cheaper to get the iPad repaired and locate the keys.

[JDHasty]

I really had to search to find a piece of steel that was about the right thickness. This piece is just a hair thinner than I would have preferred, but every other alternative was way thicker. I think it will be just fine though. I’ve got it cut down and drilled and jigged up to weld Wednesday.

We will then be able to level it in my buddy’s mill and cut the sides to mate up. Once I get there and get a countersink on the wood screw hole I’m thinking we can drill a couple holes in a half inch piece of square bar stock and tap the one for the wood screw and use a machine screw to screw it down to something we can get hold of to taper it but leave it a bit thick and I’ll radius and finish it with a draw file. If we machine off the slot in the machine screw in the process, I’ll just drill the head off.

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[marlinman93]

I've just shaped the metal by hand with a mill file myself. In the last one I did the donor metal was too thick by about .010" so I matched up the inside to the tang, and just filed down the outside after it was welded. Then filed the taper into the donor piece until it fit. I had to do all this to an existing original stock I found and bought, so it was file and fit until it fit the existing inletting, and depth of the inletting.
I actually found it much easier to fit metal to wood than it's been to fit wood to metal for me! Seems like it's always a tough thing for me to gradually remove wood in the tangs, and not make a mess of it. But removing metal with a file slowly was easy.

[JDHasty]

Slow and easy is my constant reminder to myself.

I pretty much use my old Jerry Fisher scrapers, a Grobet swiss pattern file that is football shaped and occasionally an X-Acto type tool handle with V-gouge or chisel blade on wood and it takes me 15-20 hours minimum to sink a bolt action into a 90% stock. I imagine this tang area on this rifle will take nearly that amount of time to inlet. Milling the sides and extra metal off the taper is pretty low risk. Once we have it dead level to the existing flat on the tang the sides should be pretty straight forward, I'll hand file the angle on them. The taper I'm going to leave high and just get some of the extra metal out of the way and draw file the radius. We have a good supply of wedges and blocks to get it clamped up solidly before milling it. If I have any doubts I will go back to my hand files.

I talked to Jim Wisner over the weekend and he tore his Low Wall down and got back to me with some measurements form CL of bore and face of breach for the spring perch. It looks good to me, but I want to double check. He is going to get a couple wood screws for the tang out to me today. Doesn't hurt to have a spare.

[JDHasty]

I buy used files in as good a shape as possible. Often at garage sales for $.50 to $2 each. Then send them to Boggs to have them sharpened at around $3.50 each.
Boggs also sells files, and have new files for sale at their site too. The files they sharpen are excellent quality when returned. New Nicholson are still better than most files, and Boggs prices are fair for them too.

https://boggstool.com/file-%26-rasp-services

Boggs is going to hand select a smooth, 10" single cut mill file and send it out with an invoice. I have an eight incher that is a beauty, but I want more width. Great people to do business with.

[Chill Wills]

Looking forward to seeing how the tang weld up goes. TIG I assume?

[JDHasty]

Yes.

I’m back on track to order the stock and checkered steel butt plate from Treebone. My eight year old daughter found the missing keys for the F150 and Explorer. If the keys weren’t found I would have had to replace them out of my play money.

I should have hardware from Wisners and MVA showing up here tomorrow and/or Friday.

[JDHasty]

Got the stock ordered, it will be here in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, thinking of scope bases. I'm partial to Burris Zee Rings and Leupold deluxe steel Weaver bases. I'm thinking looking at the Remington 541 base might be a good place to start. If it is pretty close it won't be a big deal to attach a set of rings to a one inch steel rod and mount the basses then contact cement sandpaper to the barrel and work the bases down to a nice fit. Once I get close I can replace the steel rod with an old Sportview or some such and finish it up checking alignment using a laser bore sighter.

[Chill Wills]

You might enjoy looking at this web sight for Steve's products. He makes the highest quality products and he is 100% a straight shooter. Look at the scope base options for singleshots.

https://www.steveearleproducts.com/

BTW- Did you get the tang welded up? Pictures?

[JDHasty]

Not welded yet. Maybe tonight. I'm at the mercy of my neighbor's schedule.

Very interesting to me:

Cross-dovetail blocks

Meant to go into a standard 3/8" x 60° barrel dovetail. The lower ones are either 3/16" or 1/4" high. The higher ones are duplicates of the Unertl BK, K and KK blocks - .365", .420", and .470" respectively. Provided with the brass set screw. I have some that are intentionally .005" larger, to be filed to fit.

Price: $30.80 each

I have an exceedingly rare sightless Winchester Model 43 that has a dovetail cut in the barrel that has never had a sight inserted in it. Proof marked on the side of the barrel, not on the top. My inclination is that this dovetail was cut so that the purchaser could install a scope w/o having to drill and tap holes in the barrel by using a dovetail cross slot scope block in it. I had never thought that I would ever find the proper cross slot scope block to set it up with a target scope w/o altering the original condition of the rifle.

Unfortunately we traded off our Jr Targetspots and Unertls. I will have to go shopping for one now that I know these exist.

[JDHasty]

I did some block polishing tonight and then gave it a rub down with my carding brush just to get an idea how it’s coming along. I’m pretty OK with it. I might have to wait until Saturday morning to get the tang welded up.

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I’ll put the carding wheel on the bench grinder and get the final polishing marks all going the right direction before sending it off to be blued. I’m new to having to deal with large flats and keeping the edges straight and am learning as I go. They really haven’t given me as much trouble as I had been expecting.

[JDHasty]

Well, for our first shot at something like this it’s looking pretty good to me at this point.
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The guy who promised to TIG weld it flaked out, so this evening my neighbor welded it with a MIG welder I gave him. I went by the welding supply shop and they gave me a spool of wire they sell to a couple gunsmiths. We got some splatter in the serial number and it looked pretty sad after I tried to clean it up. Jim Wisner has a friend who does engraving, I might pay him to put it back. I’ve got the right side looking pretty good, the left is coming along. Slowly but surely I’ll get it. Once I get the extra cut off the tail end and shaped and the screw hole finished out it’s going to look pretty decent. It still needs to be tapered and that comes off the top side. Once I get that done I’ll get the radius looking better.

I forgot I took an elk tenderloin steak out to thaw. When I came upstairs at eleven PM I was thinking I would have a bowl of cereal and call it a day, but went ahead and made it with some taters and these carrots that are kind of like a rutabaga cross and an onion from our garden. That turned out to be a nice reward for a decent day’s work. I’ve been up and busy since 05:00.

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Once I get the tang wrapped up, I’m kind of stuck until the stock blank shows up.

[JDHasty]

The serial number area had a bunch of waves. I didn’t notice them before we welded it, so I’m guessing we were the cause. I worked the taper down by draw filing and block sanding and we had the hole perfect until I decided to work the taper down a bit more. But over all it’s looking good. I’m going to leave the feint serial number for the engraver to use as a guide. We will re do the screw countersink hole last thing before sending the parts out to be blued.

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The wild end makes a good handle. I’ll get it cut to length and radiused before the stock blank gets here.

[Chill Wills]

Looking good! Keep the pictures coming, please.

[JDHasty]

Looking good! Keep the pictures coming, please.

Thank you for the encouragement. I can be really critical of my own work, it's good to hear complements. It is a lot of fun, that's for sure.

My neighbor across the street hasn't welded in nine years, we practiced on a couple pieces of scrap and one thing I can promise is that tang isn't going to break at the weld. I gave him my new 180 AMP Lincoln MIG Welder and everything I bought at an estate sale with the intention of teaching myself to weld. It sat in my garage for a couple years before giving it to the two brothers. There are some holes in the weld, but hey it's not bad for a first attempt at something like this. These two single shot projects are for me to learn on and I could have bought a tang, but keep reminding myself what it's all about. They are really nice kids and always help me out when I need a hand.

I suppose that what I can do now is get something going for scope mounting. I also either have to cut a dovetail with a milling machine or file one for the fore end hanger. I want to get the stock blanks in hand before that happens.

[JDHasty]

The guy I consider my mentor said: I guess it’s good enough. Between him and I that means I’m being lazy. So I did some more draw filing and what are left are not going to come out. I looked at under my magnifying hood after finishing up tonight and they either have to be ground down and welded or left. If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll have him weld them in.

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[JDHasty]

I’ve been just poking around a bit at the parts waiting for either the stock or scope bases to arrive. I’m going to use Leupold QRW 541 bases and Burris Signature Zee rings. The Remington 580/541 receiver is probably about as small diameter as any that this base is made for. It’s just over an inch and my barrel is just under an inch. I will drill a depth stop hole in the bottom of each base after I decide exactly where I want them placed on the barrel and doing the math. Then I’ll put the bases and rings on a one inch aluminum rod I have and glue sand paper to the barrel and after roughing the bases down with a half round file will work them down on the sand paper. Rubber cement or contact cement works good to glue the sand paper in place with. We have used that method in the past and I don’t know how other people do it, but that works very well for us.

I’m going to polish the bases up after fitting them. I’ve changed my mind and am going to have the action color case hardened. I’ve got a couple sets of Talley two screw sling swivel studs on the way and will inlet one set into the stock and am going to have the butt plate, sling swivels and rings & bases color case hardened along with the action. I’m going back and forth on if I want the hammer and trigger blued or color case hardened.

[JDHasty]

I am giving serious consideration to to convert my standard trigger to a single set trigger using MVA parts. Fitting the trigger spring is supposedly the only tricky part of the conversion. Word I have is that the hammers are the same with the exception that the hammer I have can be annealed and a slot for the fly cut and pin hole drilled in the original. Does anyone have any idea where I can locate the specs for this cut and pin hole? Other than that from what I hear is it is a pretty straight forward conversion with the lower tang being able to be taken out of the rifle and held in a vise while doing the fitting and adjustment.

[JDHasty]

I got my Leupold QRW 541 bases today and my thought that these would more likely than not be the closest fit for my barrel was correct. I needed to take .015 off the rear one, all I had to do was match it to the taper on the barrel. I used a file to go down .015 on both ends of the rear for witness marks and then used a rat tail file to get it close. 220 grit wet n dry sand paper on the barrel made short work of getting them mated up to the barrel contour. We will probably drill and tap the barrel tomorrow. When I do the final assembly I’ll still put release agent on the barrel and bed the base to the barrel with Pro Bed.

[JDHasty]

Got the rings and bases mounted today and cut & profiled the lower tang and fixed the countersink hole for the wood screw. I’m pretty happy with how the lower tang turned out.

I’m pretty much stuck on this one until my wood shows up. I’ll get photos up later.

My Stevens 44 22 LR barrel is home from Oregon bored to take the liner. I have that to keep busy on for a bit. I’ll get the liner glued in and take it to my buddy’s house and we can face off the breech and muzzle and crown it. That’s all I can do until March or April, I sent my action to John Taylor. He is going to build a barrel for it in 17 HMR. Third octagon, number 2 profile like the original I have, but with Wedding band transition. I’ll chamber the barrel and file the extractor slot when the action gets home here. It was originally a Model 45 Range Rifle, it will have a shotgun butt and checkered steel Niedner butt plate on it when I get it stocked.

The Low wall stock should be inletted and fitted by mid November and I can then send the metal off to be color case hardened. That will take three weeks.

[Rockindaddy]

I could repair that lower tang. Would TIG a new piece of steel and machine it to the original dimensions. I am an old tool and die maker. I have made all of the Winchester serial number dies. Remarking the original number is easy. Have quite a few of the address roll dies I made to restore the barrel addresses.

[JDHasty]

We MIG welded it, that’s what we have. Got a couple holes, but not bad for a guy that hasn’t welded in years. I gave my welder to my neighbor because I bought it to teach myself and just couldn’t make the time. He’s a great young guy, he welded it up and I hand filed it. It’s made from a part off of another neighbor’s Ducati motorcycle.

I wanted the engraver to redo the serial number, but he won’t do anything with serial numbers.

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[Green Frog]

As someone who has installed a set of factory SST parts in a Winder musket 22 that already had the hammer fly, it’s a very sketchy installation. Mine is still very temperamental and takes a lot of fiddling every outing. OTOH, my high wall with an original factory SST installation is reliable as a freight train - works first time every time.
Your parts might work first time… then again you might learn some new obscenities!

Froggie

[JDHasty]

As someone who has installed a set of factory SST parts in a Winder musket 22 that already had the hammer fly, it’s a very sketchy installation. Mine is still very temperamental and takes a lot of fiddling every outing. OTOH, my high wall with an original factory SST installation is reliable as a freight train - works first time every time.
Your parts might work first time… then again you might learn some new obscenities!

Froggie

Sincere thanks for the heads up.

[JDHasty]

Look what showed up today:

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I thought it was a new shop apron I had ordered until I opened the box. I’m liking it. I just made a seven hour run to central WA to bring my RV home, apple prices are so low that the fruit is hanging on the trees. I’ll get started on assessing the inletting after I wake up. I might even start on it. I’m beat.

FYI, the Brownells shop aprons we have all come to know and love are no more. Dropped from their catalog. I’m going to give something else a try. I’ve got a couple old Brownells aprons that I guess I will have patched up. I kind of like them.

I stopped at a LGS on my trip this morning. They had a Winchester Model 43 in a fiberglass stock. They didn’t know what brand the stock is, but I did. It’s really nice, the rifle is in 218 Bee and I would have bought it if it was an “A” prefix later production rifle. I have a good idea who stocked the rifle. I don’t think they ever offered a stock specifically inletted for the Model 43. It was likely a raw blank that could be used for any application. It is entirely consistent with this guy’s workmanship. Really nice.

[Chill Wills]

That should finish with some really nice grain contrast.

[marlinman93]

Nice looking wood, and appears to be pretty smoothly finished on the exterior surfaces.

[JDHasty]

It is pretty smooth, but a lot of it will be coming off. I have the action back together and the butt inletted, I’m going to set it up in a mill and use Forstner bit to get the two screw swivel studs started in and cut it to length today. That way I can inlet the fore end, shape the butt and inlett the Niedner butt plate next week.

I’m extremely happy with the wood. My buddy turned me on to Treebone Carving, I’ll be back to do more business with them.

[JDHasty]

We got the tang screw hole drilled in the stock yesterday evening. Turned up a threaded pilot to get the action lined up and clamped solidly on the mill and then replaced the pilot with a twist drill and went about 90% of the way and finished the hole with a hand drill. That is how we do it on Browning Auto 5 shotguns. I don't know how others do it, but this works well for us. About three licks with a chainsaw sharpening file and it is spot on. Going to use a Forstner bit to rough inlet for the two screw sling swivels tonight then will finish them out with an X-Acto blade. As a general rule, that has been a good way to do these.

I cut the sprues off two checkered Neidner butt plate castings and then went after them with a smooth mill file followed by 320 grit wet n dry on a wood block and then a popsicle stick. If there is anything that beats a popsicle stick for this kind of work it is kept secret from me. I promised the kids I would make some bird house kits for them tonight, but will probably have time to finish polishing those butt plates with 600 and thousand grit. I've seen, and tried, and use a lot of different things used for fine sanding wood and polishing metal. For me, although I have and use a bunch of different things, a popsicle stick is what I use more often than any of the others. A lot more often.

I have a couple old Nicholson rasps I am pretty fond of, and a pattern makers file and a cobblers rasp that I like, but have not been 100% satisfied with what I have for rasps. I've tried a half dozen over the course of the last couple years and didn't really like any of them. Some of them were real dogs, some were just not quite right. Rasps are like hunting dogs, if they don't have it in them it's best to just cut your losses and get rid of them. I bit the bullet and ordered a 10" nine grain Auriou Cabinetmaker's Rasp a while ago and am hoping it shows up soon. A buddy has one and it's what I have been looking for.

[JDHasty]

Got a little fitting and shaping in done tonight. It’s coming along OK so far.
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[JDHasty]

The butt stock is pretty close to being done except finishing. It took about as long to inlet the checkered steel Niedner butt plate and Tally 2-screw sling swivel stud as it did the stock. Those butt plates are a chore to bed, and you are working on end grain the entire time. The swivel wasn’t a big deal. Setting up the stock in a milling vise took a bit of time. But the swivel inletting can be milled and it is clean. I believe I took about a quarter of the wood off with rasps and sand paper. You get a lot to work with. I would have carved a shadow line cheek piece, but my daughter shoots off her left side. She is left eye dominant. Definitely born that way, I have photos of her looking through rifle scopes before she was a year old and always from the left side.

My buddy with a milling machine is headed to Arizona for the winter on Thursday. I am going to put a 1/2 square steel block in front of the flat spring to attach the foreend to. DeHaas suggested that somewhere. I send our Contender foreends to Steve Stratton and have him mill them to use his hanger bar. The DeHaas fore end hanger is only about 1-1/4 inches long, but should function pretty much the same.

[marlinman93]

I have a number of Remington Hepburn and Rolling Block sporting rifles that all have a block dovetailed into the barrel for a forearm screw. I think that was pretty standard for Remington on their sporting rifles.
None of those blocks are as long as 1.25" though. All appear to be maybe 3/4" long.

[JDHasty]

I have a dovetail I could cut a slot for, but like the idea of doing it this way. It was in his gunsmithing Ideas Book.

[JDHasty]

I will try a lower ring set, this high set is a tad bit high for my liking. I can live with it and don’t want to have to fight the hammer, maybe a medium set will work out better. I doubt that a low set will let me cock it without fighting the hammer, but I’ll try them anyway. There is plenty of clearance up front, so it’s just a matter of having room to cock it and also be able to lower the hammer safely. I’m too tired tonight to play with rings.

The action looks like has been drug behind a truck, once I settle on rings and pull it down I’ll polish it back up before packing it up to send the parts off to have it color case hardened and blued. No deep scratches, but it’s pretty scuffed up from inletting the stock set.

My Montana Vintage Arms screws and pins got lost in the mail. A second set is on the way. Inletting the action was not bad, the Neidner butt plate was far worse, the fore end took a lot of time and effort. Once I had it inletted we made a fore end hanger per Frank DeHaas. An old lathe bit worked great and I rough contoured it with a cut off wheel on my Foredom flex shaft tool then used 320 wet n dry. It’s bedded in Pro Bed.

I’m pretty happy with it at this point. It’s winding down and it won’t be long now until the metal is away at the finishers while I’m finishing the stock. The inletting is pretty tight, it doesn’t photograph well, but I’m pretty critical of my own work and if it had any gaps I’d be the first one to point them out. I think it is as clean as any I’ve ever done.

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[Chill Wills]

Looks good from where I sit! You are much faster and better than I am with the wood. I have trouble fitting the cone on a 1885. Good for you!

[JDHasty]

Thank you for your kind words. It really surprised me how little trouble it gave me. It really was a nice piece of lumber to work with and that helped. Quite hard, but cut well with everything from chisels and rasps to files and sand paper. It didn’t want to chip either. I’ve wet it down a few times with mineral spirits to get an idea how it’s going to finish up and am quite pleased with it. I love the knot.

[marlinman93]

Looks great to me too! I really like your choice of buttplate, as those old Winchester steel buttplates are wonderful!

[JDHasty]

I sure wish we would have run a ball end mill down the barrel channel. It had a half inch slot that took a lot of time, even with a couple Gunline barrel channel scrapers. It was really a slow go finishing it with a Fisher scraper and Grobet pattern file. Took me nearly as long as a complete bolt action to sink it. I don’t know why.

[Chill Wills]

On forearms, going from scratch, I found a table saw and rip fence would hog out a lot of it. I know you are done..... May have to make a work holding jig to use the saw. Works well.

[JDHasty]

I’ve done that on bolt action stocks, it does work well. We had it set up in the mill to cut the mortise for the fore end hanger and all it would have taken is changing out the tooling and setting the depth. My buddy bought a bunch of brand new ball end mills at Boeing Surplus decades ago for the per pound price of about a sawbuck. He’s got six or seven of them from half inch through about inch and a sixteenth.

I finished up sanding the fore end and it’s got a coat of 50/50 polyurethane varnish and mineral spirits on it. I’ll probably get the butt stock off and finish sanding it and get a coat on it before the kids get up in the morning.

The extractor is a couple thousandths too long and it appears that I can address that with a file. It will not allow brass to chamber once i assembled the action. It was looking good when the action was stripped. I’m not going to touch it until I get a better look under my illuminated magnifying hood. It’s scratching the cases, so I know what the problem is. I want to see if I can pin it down a bit further.

The high ring set is what it’s going to need to be with that scope. I had a friend comment on my choice of scope for this rifle. They’re not the best looking from my point of view, but I like them quite well for the shooting we do. I might send along a second set of medium height Zee rings and have them color case hardened in case I want to put something like a Leupold six power on it.

It would look good with a Targetspot, but they were next to impossible to find rockchucks on basalt with their limited field of view. We still have a few target scopes, but haven’t used them since giving variables a try back in the 1980s. After we tried 6.5-20 Leupolds, we pretty much haven’t used the old target scopes and use them or something equivalent on our bench rifles and smaller variables 3-12 or 4-16 is about right on our walking around varmint rifles. This is a 4-16x42 Diamondback, I like them quite well on rimfire, Hornet and Bee based center fire rifles.

[marlinman93]

On forearms I just clamp a piece of wood in my mill and cut the main channel with an end mill. Then begin widening it until it fits the muzzle end of my barrel. Switch to a 45 degree cutter and do the two 45 degree cuts, and then open up the bottom flat to meet the 45's.
Once it's roughed out inside I wrap my barrel with sandpaper and tape it on the barrel. Then slide the forearm over the sandpaper and begin to open the channel, checking occasionally to see how far up the barrel it slips until it fit up to the action.
After it will fit up to the action snug, I switch to a finer grit paper for the last bit. Then I shape the outside dimensions to what I want to see for the finished forearm.
It's the buttstocks and tang areas that take me forever, and drive me a little crazy with all the little shapes needing to be shaped out perfectly to avoid gaps!

[JDHasty]

I was all prepared for inletting the tangs and butt to be a slow go. I used X-Acto type gouge and chisel blades, a small Grobet Swiss pattern file and detail sanding tools and was stunned when it went home in a couple hours. Maybe less. None of my friends use X-Acto type tools nearly to the degree I do. That is curious to me, I use my carving chisels and gouges, but not nearly to the degree they do. They claim to have more control, as do I.

These are the detail sanders I use. I have found them to be pretty useful. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039ZCQAK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I isolated the issues with the extractor then worked through them with a chainsaw file and an ignition point file. There was a burr that was scratching the case and that was easy to take care of with the chainsaw file and then a hone to polish it back up. That was contributing, but not the primary issue. Once that was cleared up the case dropped all the way to the rim against the extractor. The action was closing, but quite tightly. Then it took a good snap to eject the case. I was looking at the ejector w/o a case in the chamber and comparing it to with a case and the case head was definitely seating the extractor deeper. So w/o a case in the chamber I used a brass drift and watch makers mallet and drove the extractor deeper and when I went to open it it took the same snap to kick it out of the extractor cut in the barrel shank. I marked it up with a sharpie and using a case to fully seat it was able to take care of where it had been wedging into the slot using an ignition point file. It probably took 50 iterations before it was totally free to move forward and back its full range without interference. It’s all good now though. It takes just ever so little additional force to close it over some new PPU brass that I’m totally satisfied with how it’s working now.

I put the firing pin in the block and checked the height of the breach block and it’s spot on. I don’t have the main spring on it right now so I drove it forward with a brass punch and small dead blow mallet. I have 20K CCI SR primers here and wouldn’t you know the one I had put in the first case was defective. That was a head scratcher, why it was dented dead center but failed to fire. Defective primers are an extreme rarity, once I set that case aside and put the other three cases in all was well. I tried that first one a few more times and it’s not going to go off. Firing pin projection is spot on.

The guy that gave me the barreled action bought it forty years ago as a partially completed project from the estate of a well known gunsmith. My inclination is that he was probably just finishing up fitting the extractor when he tipped over. The work that had been done when I got it had been very well done.

[JDHasty]

I’m quite close to sending the BA and other parts off to be color space hardened. Gave them a rub down with my carding wheel today and they are looking good. I have the stock set finish sanded and am on the third coat of 50/50 polyurethane/mineral spirits. I have a check in a knot to fill with ? I haven’t made up my mind yet. I’m leaning toward black tint epoxy, but may go with brown Pro Bed with a little black mixed in. It’s minor and in a dark knot. I’ll sand the polyurethane off with 1,000 grit wet n dry and look it over really close for anything I might have missed. Maybe a couple more coats of thin polyurethane before I start finishing the stock and fore end with Tru Oil. There are a few minor grain checks that I am not wanting to deal with once I start building the oil finish. Im going to go ahead and send a pair of medium gloss Zee Rings and have them color case hardened. We have a Unertl Vulture 10 power here somewhere that will look nicer on it. It doesn’t have the large ocular that the Vortex has. I might as well set it up to go on this rifle. Friends and I go on vintage chuck shooting weekends. There are no written rules, but everybody tries to keep it to 1950s/1960s gear. I have a Hensoldt Wetzlar 8 x 56 Nacht-Dialyt Binocular and a B&L Balscope Sr that I have had since way back when we were kids. It’s kind of fun. I’ve been showing up with one of our Model 43s and either a Model 69a or BRNO Model 1. Friends have had old school varmint rifles ranging from Sakos and Mausers to Martinis

[JDHasty]

I’m in wait until tomorrow mode right now. Tomorrow evening I should have the parts I’m waiting for before sending the BA and parts to Wyoming to be color case hardened and blued. I’m going to send along a high, medium and low set of Burris Zee rings to have color case hardened. I have teens of new Zee rings here, but not glossy ones. That way I can mount different scopes and have them the right height.

I would be amiss if I didn’t give a big shout out to Weaver. I have four or five sets of screwdrivers and an among them is a large set from Weaver. When you like working on neglected guns, frozen or “farmer tight” screws are just a fact of life. One of the tricks I use is to turn a can of compressed air upside down and freeze the screw with the dry ice that will form. Then warm it with a heat gun. Then freeze it and heat it again a few times with Kroil or PB Blaster working its way in. That also freezes the screwdriver tip and they get brittle, especially the thin ones. I called Weaver this morning and inquired about where to source a replacement #106 and #107. They just ask for my mailing address and flat out refused to take any payment for them.

I have a Snapon set that must have 200 tips and have replaced a few of them over the years and they too have replaced them without cost to me. This is really appreciated, I could chase them down as I have for the other sets, but that is a real nuisance. My other sets are not cheap sets, but they don’t even provide replacement tips. I can’t just call and order them by number and give them a card number.

The stock and fore end are all but done. I usually figure on anywhere from 15 - 40 coats of Tru Oil before I am satisfied. They have about 15 and are just about there. I changed my mind on the sling swivel studs and have a couple sets of Talley Super Grade studs headed my way. I had inletted both for Talley Custom Sling Studs, but had a change of heart. The Super Grade are larger, so no harm, no foul. I’m going to have a month to get them inletted and finish up the stock and fore end.

So, in the meantime, I have a CZ 457 that came as a synthetic stock American. My eight year old bugged me all summer about a “sniper rifle.” I picked up a take off Boyd’s AT-One and a varmint weight 22LR barrel. I’ll pillar bed it and get a scope on it for him for Christmas. Hopefully by late March I’ll come up with a 17 HMR barrel for him too. We start shooting rock chucks in April and my suspicion is he will want to shoot his sniper rifle instead of one of the kids’ 17 Hornet Contenders.

Next time I post on the low wall it should be together and ready to go to the range.

[JDHasty]

The stock actually finished out a lot sooner than I expected. I like it just fine. I just couldn’t warm up to the Talley Custom two screw sling swivel studs. Inletted these Super Grade studs over them. I screwed them up, they are a little off center.

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[marlinman93]

I need to do a similar repair on a #1 Sporting Rifle I have. At some time in the past it had the lower tang broken off at the wood screw that helps hold the longer tang the Sporting Rifles have. Someone just rounded the end of the tang, and then used wood putty to fill in the stock.
So the repair will be to shorten the tang just a bit more so when I drill the new hole to match the original location it wont be in the middle of a weld. Then carefully dig the wood putty out, and it should be done with no further work. I'll blend in the repair, so I wont need to re-color case the receiver, since there's almost no case colors left anyway.

[JDHasty]

I made a simple jig to hold the donor piece in place and line up one side with a straight edge, that left me with only one side to file down. Saved me a bit of work. Other than that it went real well. We MIG welded it, if you have TIG available use that instead.

I didn’t know where I was going with this project when I started. I didn’t go nuts on it, but did go further than I had anticipated.

The JR sniper rifle is ready for sniping. It’s sitting there done. I really want to do a BRNO Model 2 project and tried to buy a candidate for that. That turned into a first rate Charlie Foxtrot of a fiasco. I’ve had a couple folks try and help out, but I’m looking for a project, not a rifle that is already in great shape.

[Chill Wills]

The contrast in the wood came out very well!
If you find a way to delete pictures to make room, please let me know. I have looked and tried... but then I am much better with firearms than I am with keyboards!

[M-Tecs]

The contrast in the wood came out very well!
If you find a way to delete pictures to make room, please let me know. I have looked and tried... but then I am much better with firearms than I am with keyboards!

Go to Forum Actions - General Setting - Miscellaneous than click on attachments. You can select the ones you want to delete. Those pics will also be deleted from the thread they were posted in.

[marlinman93]

I tore my #1 Rolling Block apart yesterday and decided to fix the tang. Getting the old wood putty out of the stock was so easy I'm surprised it didn't fall out before! I took a small screwdriver in the lower inletting and gave the putty a tap with the tip and it fell out in one piece, leaving the original inletting perfect!
Measured up the piece I needed to add on, and cut it off of a piece of old angle iron I had in my scrap bin. Needed to be .6" wide, and about 3/16" thick. Length was just over an inch, and I left some extra to fit it to my inletting.
I don't have a tig welder, so I mig welded it. Once shaped and filed to fit I saw some area along the edge of the weld that needed touching up, so gave it a couple tacks to fill those in, and filed it down again. It filled in fine, and I used my 1" belt sander to get the welds down close before switching to a mill file to get the last part down to match.
Measured out where the old hole was for the wood screw that goes in the lower tang extension, and drilled and countersank for the head. I touched it up with some Oxpho Blue solution, and then hit it with steel wool to remove most of the bluing and try to match. I think it needs some browning solution to get the color closer, but I'll leave it for awhile to see how it ages. At least the ugly wood putty is gone, and it's properly repaired. Not sure why I waited so long, and glad you posted your repair to get me off my lazy rear and do it.

[JDHasty]

Great to hear. It took me more time and effort to think it through and solicit advice than to do it. Once I got started it went smoothly. I will see if I can get rid of photos this week so I can post more in the future.

[JDHasty]

Go to Forum Actions - General Setting - Miscellaneous than click on attachments. You can select the ones you want to delete. Those pics will also be deleted from the thread they were posted in.

It worked, I added a few above after deleting others.

[JDHasty]

I went back and forth on using what I call Red Oil on the stock. Really glad I didn’t on this stock. I think the color case hardened checkered Niedner butt plate is going to look amazing on it.

Take a look at this https://hallowellco.com/steven_dodd_hughes%20-%20Dubber%20Low%20Wall.html

It makes me want to hunt up another flat side Low Wall action. I thought about doing something similar with this stock, but think I made the right call given the barrel I have on mine. I want to do one with third octagon, double set trigger, straight grip, Niedner shotgun butt plate in this style and the wedge fore end fastener is a must have. 17 Hornet or maybe 17 Ackley Bee

[Chill Wills]

Go to Forum Actions - General Setting - Miscellaneous than click on attachments. You can select the ones you want to delete. Those pics will also be deleted from the thread they were posted in.

Thank you for posting this. Sorry this was a bit of HiJacking the thread!!!!

[marlinman93]

I went back and forth on using what I call Red Oil on the stock. Really glad I didn’t on this stock. I think the color case hardened checkered Niedner butt plate is going to look amazing on it.

Take a look at this https://hallowellco.com/steven_dodd_hughes%20-%20Dubber%20Low%20Wall.html

It makes me want to hunt up another flat side Low Wall action. I thought about doing something similar with this stock, but think I made the right call given the barrel I have on mine. I want to do one with third octagon, double set trigger, straight grip, Niedner shotgun butt plate in this style and the wedge fore end fastener is a must have. 17 Hornet or maybe 17 Ackley Bee

That's a gorgeous stock set, with nice grain! The wedge forearm is just super cool, and a very classy touch! I have the same setup on my Freund Sharps.

https://i.imgur.com/0PNaQdIl.jpg

[JDHasty]

Thank you for posting this. Sorry this was a bit of HiJacking the thread!!!!

I can tend to be all over the place myself. It never bothers me in the least when someone adds value to anyone’s visit to a thread I started.

[JDHasty]

While in this project I had an epiphany. I was lining up the stock and getting it clamped in my drill press to make sure I got the screw holes dead centered for the Super Grade studs. I noticed a Vix Bit in my drawer that holds my drill indexes. I have three and thought to myself that this is the much more efficient way to get this done. I used the smallest one in a cordless drill motor to drill a pilot hole in the other screw for that stud. Followed it with the correct size drill and it worked beautifully. I did the last two with it too. It was much faster and if there’s anything to be gained by going through all of the setup to do it on a drill press, I sure didn’t see it on these three holes.

I’m not one for short cuts, in fact I have said more times than I can count: Just as good, rarely is. Unless I find out that I’m overlooking something, from now on for me this is the right way to center up a hole in a stock that is beneath an exiting countersunk hole that accepts a screw head. It should work great for butt plate and tang screws too. I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t.

[JDHasty]

I got an email and the BA and parts are soon to be in the mail back home.

[JDHasty]

It shipped yesterday and should be back home Monday. I’m excited to put it back together.

[JDHasty]

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[JDHasty]

I got the BA back yesterday. Will try and clean out old photos to make room for new. Hopefully I will have the rest of it back together this evening.