GPR .54 "kit" done. L&R RPL05 lock swapped in ...
DGW .50 "kit" up next for stock wood shaping and finishing ...
the pair of 'em ...
GPR .54 "kit" done. L&R RPL05 lock swapped in ...
DGW .50 "kit" up next for stock wood shaping and finishing ...
the pair of 'em ...
Darn nice rfd!!
rfd. Can you pm or post an up close pic of underneath the gun showing trigger and trigger guard. Also how the stock is formed around the breech and tang. I need to see how you finished the stock around these areas. Thanks!
there are no rules to shaping the proud stock wood. do whatever you think is best. hold and shoulder the stock then take off wood as need be, it's all good.
i used a proxxon mini belt sanding stick and 80 grit to take down the wood around the wrist and tang. i take off just a little of the bottom wood, by the trigger guard and trigger DST assembly. the finish is a number of warmed TOTW linseed oil (w/dryers) coats rubbed in with a piece of flannel cloth, each very light coat is cured overnight then buffed out with 4/0 steel wool. final three warmed and light coat of rubbed in varnish oil (tru-oil) with 4/0 buffing after all coats. i want an olde tyme finish that looks, well, old - no grain filling done or needed, and fast finish completion.
all of the investarms trad ml's have what appears to be cnc machining stock humps just aft of the lock sides and tang - those i take down and fair into the wrist and aft of that into the back stock itself.
Been putting in some time most everyday an hour here and there. Stock has been shape to my liking and brought to a 180 grit finish for now. Brought the wood down closer to the triggers so the curve of trigger guard has some light between it and the stock. Brought the forend cap, escutcheon, and ram rod entry pipe to a 0000 steel wool finish. I and dreding polishing the trigger guard. I also took the faux finish off the lock with 0000 steel wool as I want to brown it. Hoping to get the butt plate and maybe trigger guard done over the weekend. It's coming along quite nicely. I may have caught the bug for this stuff.
Well, after about 5 hours I got the butt plate and toe plate to a 0000 steel wool shiny finish. I think I'll finish sand the stock next and then start working on the barrel. I bought a mill file and Dykem.....the barrel is not that bad but I might just smooth it up for practice and just get some experience doing it.
if ya haven't done so yet, the ante-chamber is fulla proofing residue, clean it out first with a .32 brush with a wet patch wrapped around it, then clean the chamber and barrel with a jagged wet patch.
rfd....I was thinking I needed to clean the barrel. I is it worth taking out breach plug if possible or just stick to regular cleaning methods?
I Plum browned all the steel furniture minus the trigger guard as I am darn tired of polishing metal. Cleaned everything up with Acetone and then into the 280 degree oven for 45 min. Did 4 coats this way, steel wooling and hot soapy water inbetween. Came out nice. Put a coat of motor oil on and will let set overnight. Also did three coats on the lock using same method. Next I'll finish sand stock and wisker it, then on to staining and sealing.
there is no pressing need to remove the breech plug. i posted above how to clean out the barrel's ante-chamber. that's all that's needed to be done before loading and firing the first time (which should be a "blank" shot of maybe 10 grains of bp to scare out any oil left after you cleaned and lubed the barrel).
the only reason i can think of to want to pull the plug on a new barrel is not to clean out the ante-chamber, but to apply a good anti-seize lube so that the plug can be removed after the gun's been shot. there is no lube of any type on any of these offshore breech plugs. bp residue will eventually get into the plug threads. it will be hell to remove such a plug, but only IF it needs removing, which basically it shouldn't. maybe.
however, it's an investarms rifle, so the breech plug can be removed without much hassle, if any at all. there's the hobbyist way of breech removal and the pro way - it's just a matter of tools. in both cases you'll need a good bench mounted vise.
it can be very hard to see the barrel/breech joint as the barrel is filed and polished after the plug is installed. once located, scratch in a fine line witness mark or two on the barrel's bottom, scratching across the breech plug and the barrel. you'll use those marks to realign the barrel when the plug gets screwed back into the barrel.
the hobbyist approach is to pad the vise jaws with good plywood or heavy stiff leather, and also wrap a few layers of painters tape on the barrel within a 1/2" or so of the breech plug joint in order to limit torque to the barrel itself. apply the largest wrench you have to the breech plug, protecting the plug with something like cut aluminum can. it will mar the metal no matter what. you may need to slip a 2' to 3' iron pipe over the wrench's handle for added leverage.
better tools to pull an offshore patent breech would be a rice barrel company's octagonal vise pads ($40), and a large flat jawed wrench such as an 18" reed corp (about $70), along with a special wrench socket that's made for these offshore patent breech plugs which is available on ebay for about $30 (they're sized to match the barrel - the GP barrels are 15/16"). this wrench socket also needs some aluminum can shimming to protect the barrel from serious marring, though typically there will be some light marring. it takes a goodly amount of torque to get the breech plug to move. once it moves, it's easy from that point on to spin off.
Started prepping barrel tonight. Took me one hour to draw file two flats. Carding and chalking every two to three passes and slowly workingman way down from the muzzle to breech. The breech seems to need more attention. Overall it is a great practice in taking ones time so as not to round a corner! Should be done tomorrow night and then will bring the surface up to a 320 grit. Gonna try Tacks Tried and true rust brown, I also have Plum brown left and a restaurant sized oven I could use to heat the entire deal up at once...Still thinking on that one.
careful with over polishing that barrel, doing so can cause the browning process to not take. Plus if you are rust browning it, why bother with a smooth polish? 150 grit is the most I use.
I have been seeing different info on processes and procedures for finishing a barrel. I was thinking that 320 seemed to smooth, ill do what ever folks recommend for a cold rust finish, I am using a Smooth cut mill file and wondering if this would compare to a 150 +- finish. Would it need more prep after filing?
Finished filling all the flats on the barrel then hit em all with 150 grit, touched up a few spots. Assembled gun and pencil marked some high spots to take down on the stock. Need to take down the flats on the breech hook.
rfd or FrontierMuzzleloadin
So I need some help with fitting the barrel and tang into stock. I have the barrel all mill filed and brought to a 150 finish, the tang (unfinished) is screwed into stock. The Lyman directions on fitting are lacking. Should the bottom flat of the Tang sit against the wood of the stock?? I have a strong 1/16" of gap under the bottom flat on the tang....with this gap I have just a slight spring in barrel which I feel is just right and after installing the wedges everything is snug, and the flats on barrel and tang are just about flush. The fit of the tang and breech lug are perfect when together out of the stock. I did take a little wood out from the breech area of the stock. Now if I tighten the forward tang screw down and close the gap I have more than desired spiring in the barrel. Is there a happy medium??
Last edited by duckey; 03-23-2017 at 06:19 PM.
A slight spring is ok. On all of my GPR, there was a very large gap under the tang and stock channel. 1/16" is nothing at all. You can actually shim with a washer or bedding compound if it bothers you.
If the gap/spring increases with the screws tightened down all the way, Its time to bed the tang.
i first fit the barrel's hook into the tang, then the tang and barrel are placed ON their stock routs together, and the tang bolt is slowly screwed home as pressue is placed on the barrel/tang assembly. the fit is very tight. go slow. it will all fit like a hand-in-glove. i've built 4 GPR's and numerous DGW's, all in the same manner and all of them have fitted well and deep into their routs, with lots of proud stock wood around the tang to later remove. the key for me was learning to first hook up the barrel/tang, insert the tang bolt, and use the screwing in of the tang bolt to seat the barrel/tang. i lube the tang bolt threads and dry fit just the bolt into its bushing that's captured in the stock, deep in the lock mortise, prior to adding it to the barrel/tang assembly.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |