Inletting actions by novices: more to it than meets the eye

Shooting Industry, May, 1989 by William Schumaker

Inletting Actions By Novices: More To It Than Meets The Eye

Hobbyists and gun owners, who occasionally inlet and fit semi-finished stocks to rifles, seldom have tools and equipment to remove barrels from actions, so that the "action only" may be fitted into the stock first -- and then re-installed with the barrel at correct headspace. A considerable amount of time is lost when an entire barreled action is inletted into a stock. It is also more difficult to achieve a perfect fit.

Gunsmiths have the advantage in that they are equipped with barrel vises and wrenches, to properly remove barrels and return them to the correct headspace position after the action is fitted into the stock blank. A word of caution: If there is no identifiable barrel-to-action index mark, one should be made on the underside of the barreled action prior to its removal. This simplifies the return to correct headspace.

If you have customers who you know are going to inlet actions, let them know that they shouldn't be concerned about a little extra expense incurred by having your gunsmith remove the barrel for them, and then having him reset it when the stock has the action inletting completed. Pipe and other wrench marks on barrels and actions (which gunsmiths see often), only devalue firearms, and are a constant reminder of unnecessary blunders. Furthermore, home equipment is often incapable of returning a barrel to the correct headspace index mark position.

Inletting Actions Only

When inletting actions only, start by turning inletting guide screws into the guard screw holes of the action. These are not costly and are available through gunsmith supply firms. (Check the Directory in the December '88 SHOT SHOW issue of SI, under "Gunsmith Supplies" for a complete listing.) These guide screws are long enough to extend beyond the lower magazine area of the stock.

Removing the trigger group, ejector housing, safety units, etc. (depending upon which action you have), avoids contact interference other than action-to-stock wood. This enables you to carefully watch the extended guide screws for in-line straightness. Under no circumstances allow the action to seek its own position in the wood, regardless of how these guide screws align. Keep them straight.

It is possible that a slight enlargement of the guard screw holes might be required. We keep an assortment of round, fine-cut chain saw-type files on hand for this and other shop work. After the action, with guide screws that can be lowered into the action stock mortice (hopefully, partway into it), you are ready to coat the undersides with black or brown inletting paint. (I prefer a light brown oil paint, rather than the black, which soaks into the end grain and discolors the wood. It's also messy on hands and tools.)

We use cotton swabs to spread the oil paint lightly into all the corners and surfaces of the action. Lower the action into the stock's action mortice gently -- and straight. Tap the top of the action with a rubber hammer. Then remove the action by lifting it straight up. Avoid shifting motions, as this will give you false bottoming readings.

Use sharp stocking chisels to remove wood carefully.

Learn to read the points of heaviest contact first. It might not be necessary to remove wood from some of the "light touch" areas in the beginning, if at all. Before you attempt inletting a semi-finished gunstock, it is imperative that you know which parts of the action must be bedded firmly onto the wood.

That recoil lug area, the over-hang on the bottom forward part of the action, must be mated firmly with its corresponding surface in the stock. This, not the guard screws, or any surface contact on the rear tang of the action, transmits the recoil shock to the stock. Shortage of contact onto the stock's recoil block area transmits its energy to bending the guard screws, and setting back and splitting the tang area behind the rear guard screw. (Many novices miss out on this important fit.)

The bottom flat of the action behind the recoil block and the bottom of the tang portion of the action around the rear guard screw must fit. By using flat bottoming and other tools, these surfaces can be levelled. When your inletting paint so demonstrates, without bind and pinching along the sides of the action and stock, it is time to turn your stock over, and start inletting the magazine section.

At this point, wipe the inletting paint off of the action, then clean and dry it. Place the action (within the stock) upside down into your vise, using a sufficiently deep cloth pad to support action vertically into the stock as you firm up the vise jaws. Now, with the magazine section coated with inletting paint, slip it over the extended guide screws; bottom it gently to arrive at contact points that must be removed.

Practice Helps

You begin learning on your first attempt. After several stocks, you'll acquire "feel and judgement" in removing small amounts of wood where the heaviest contact points are, rather than along the upper edges, which can leave a "gappy" loose fit.