Traditions Kentucky Rifle Kit - tang doesn't fit?

[Esoteria]

Hi all, I'm assembling a Traditions Kentucky rifle from one of the kits. I've assembled a Trapper flintlock pistol before with good results (for a first try, anyway). Generally speaking I'm only moderately handy. No significant woodworking experience.




With this one I can't figure out what I should do. It looks like the tang is way too high over the stock. The barrel is sitting about as far down as it'll go. I've put the screw in to cinch it down, and that gets me maybe another 1/32", but half the thickness of the tang is still above the stock.

I can think of 3 options, and I don't know that any of them make sense here.
(1) Sand/file down the tang. It'll be pretty thin at the end and I'd have to redo the counter sink or chamfering or whatever it's called around the screw hole
(2) Sand down the inletting under the tang, and then sand down the stock. where it drops down to the barrel. Seems like I'd be taking off a lot of wood and it'd be hard to contour it correctly. Also I'm not sure it'd work without sanding down the barrel's own inletting, which definitely seems like something I shouldn't do.
(3) Bend the tang down to fit the contour of the barrel. Honestly this seems like the most realistic option but nothing I've seen indicates that this part should be curved.

What's the deal here? Should there be a curve to the tang? Am I missing something stupid?

I have sent off an e-mail to Traditions asking about this, but no response yet.

Pay no mind to the rust you see on the barrel. I foolishly left this out while letting some fresh air into the house for a few days when it was nice out. As it is consistently 2937.0% humidity around here, that has caused every metal thing in my house that isn't powder coated to rust. This isn't the first time I've made this mistake. You should see the reloading dies. =(

 

[Curator]

The tang is meant to be filed down to fit the curve of the wood. That's why it is a "Kit", not a completed rifle since you do the final finishing.

 

[Stony]

You can generally just take a plastic hammer or some such tool, and tap the tang down closer. It should have a curve in it to match the shape of the wood.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Bend the tang. Pound it or bend it down and then put it into the stock. When it's close, you can file it down and then file the wood flush to the tang.

 

[Esoteria]

Thanks for the input, guys.

I did some measurements and found that the inlet for the tang was definitely deep enough to accommodate it, so removing metal probably isn't the right way to go. Realizing that if it was sticking that far above the inlet, and it wasn't the inlet itself holding it up, and if the front of the stock was contacting the barrel, something else must've been holding up the tang side of the barrel. Turns out the V-spring on the percussion lock was protruding far enough into the barrel inlet that it was actually holding up the barrel on one of the angled sides. With the lock removed the barrel fits in just about right (only a small amount of tang is showing over the stock, and that might just require a little more sanding or screwing down).

So now I'm just working on how to prevent the hammer spring from interfering with the barrel. I got a response from Traditions support, and having explained this, I'm hoping to get an answer from one of their gunsmiths about whether grinding down about 40 or 50 mils off the width of the spring is an acceptable solution.

Whether the correct answer is this, filing the metal down, or taking off a lot of wood, the fact that this is a "kit" doesn't mean I should be removing nearly 1/8" of any material. These are meant to be done with basic hand tools, and while I have a small bench grinder, that or a belt sander are not things that I would expect to be required here (nor do I believe Traditions expects them to be required).

The lock interfering with the barrel seems to be a design issue, but if that's the case I'd probably have got a quick answer from support about it. Maybe I got a percussion lock with a larger spring intended for another rifle or pistol by accident. Not sure....

Anyway, I'll update the thread once I've resolved it in case someone runs into the same issue.

 

[Diogenes415]

IMHO you should bend the tang to uniformly contact the stock inside the recess and then sand down the stock to match the profile of the tang. There may be low areas of the stock where the tang is proud (even if the tang is properly bedded) and if the difference is negligible you can file some metal from the tang to fit the contour. If it's dramatic and you have to remove more than, say, 25% of the tang's height then you just have to come to terms with it, leave it be and move on... that's the nature of a kit... you want perfection, build it from scratch. Alternatively you can use a chisel to deepen the groove and make the tang fit flush but that's up to the user's abilities/patience

From what I've seen I honestly think that kits are comprised of parts the manufacturer deemed out of spec for 'factory builds' so they throw the odd bits into a box, label it as a 'kit' and sell it to the consumer as a "here, you try to make this stuff fit together nicely" project.

 

[Jeepergeo]

^^^Hmmmm...you're observation is making me rethink buying a kit. The input is appreciated.

 

[4v50 Gary]

BTW, some of us had to heat and bend the hammer to get it to time with the nipple.

 

[frontiergander]

If removing 1/8" of material bothers some, Dont buy a lyman great plains rifle! They are a lot more work than any traditions kit ive seen.

 

[desidog]

...and while you're filing, get that awful writing off the barrel!

 

[4v50 Gary]

We had to draw file all the markings off our Trapper kit barrels.

 

[another pake]

It's a pretty common practice among builders to reshape metal parts such as the tang to fit the inlet. You can do this in a a variety of ways, one being a plastic mallet as mentioned. I like to support the area under the center of the tang's length with a small dowel while tapping the end in the direction needed. Do this on a vice or sturdy bench and make small adjustments. Bend and check, bend and check. Once the tang fits all the way down to the bottom of the inlet you can can dress it down further if need be with a file.

Hope this helps.

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

tang isn't meant to be filed that much to fit the curve of the stock.

This is a case of a factory oops.

best remedy, take the barrel and tang and stock to a welding shop or such, unless you have your own torch setup.
have the section that sticks up heated and bent, but remember no more than is necessary, so that the bolt still lines up with the stock hole to the trigger assembly plate.
This will reduce the amount of filing needed and leave the tang thick enough to do it's job.

provided there isn't something else wrong we can't see from here.
Over the years building them for friends and relatives, found a lot of factory oops!

 

[frontiergander]

some can turn a small job into a nightmare LOL

 

[Stony]

Shouldn't need any heat...it isn't a hardened part you are dealing with. Just set it in the stock and tap it down, the metal is soft. I agree, these things can get "overthunk", and turned into a nightmare.

 

[4v50 Gary]

What Stony said. You can cold hammer forge it. The first book I bought on longrifle building says the same thing (or put it in a vise and bending it).

 

[bannockburn]

I didn't have any problem fitting the barrel or the lockwork on my Traditions Hawken but the brass buttplate was totally off center for the stock and took a judicious amount of filing, sanding, and countless fittings to get it to be the proper shape when finished.

 

[DD4lifeusmc]

if the tang needs bent that much, it is best to heat it and relieve the stress from bending, even if it is not hardened in anyway.

Been doing jobs similar to this for many many years.

But to each his own.

 

[Erwan]

Just bend the tail head with a hammer or mallet.
Some kits have the breech plug in micro-fusion made steel but doing it gently there is no risk.
I did this on a Ardesa gun (not the best on the market) a few months ago for a young shooter. It works well...

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Did anyone read the OP's reply as to why the tang was sticking up?????? He is way beyond a problem with the tang and is working on a problem with the hammer spring. I would recheck the clearances with the stock on all the parts individually to see if there is a problem causing the trigger spring to intrude. I have completed 5 Pedersoli kits and have seen nothing to convince me that the kits are made of seconds. They are made of unfinished parts which do require hand fitting and finishing. That is the lure of a well made kit to me.