Installing the Patchbox: 

The patchbox was now positioned onto the buttstock.  Pre-pilot Holes were drilled into the finial for the screws. Pilot holes drilled into the stock and the finial was then screwed onto the stock. 

Brian cut around the finial and around the inside of the finial.  He wrote himself a message on the the stock to note, "DO NOT TOUCH".  This way he did not remove too much wood from the wrong place.  When cutting the "V" cut it is important to cut it on the outside of the center area, not the inside like the perimeter of the outside edge of the finial. 

Here he is removing blackened areas indicating high points. 

Then he places the finial back into the stock for another fitting.

Brian is really liking the gun work he is learning.

Once the lid was inletted, one of the side finials was inletted into the stock. (the lower finial) Next he inletted the top finial into the stock.  Note the exposed wood in the center of the finials. He did a fine job with the inletting.

Next he inletted the latch spring for the lid cam. This was positioned so the high end of the spring extended just past the hinge on the lid, yet low enough for the cam to be pushed upward by the spring to help hold the lid closed.

 Now it was time to remove the excess wood in the patchbox cavity area.  A 5/16" wall was left between the opening and the rear buttplate. A 1/4" thick wall was left in tact between the cavity and the lid cam spring. This way although the box area is small, if something is placed inside, it will not interfere with the spring cam mechanism.  This was Brian's idea. 

Note the tape used to cover the spring cam area to keep the wood out. It worked great. 

Brian then started filing the brass and the wood to blend the patchbox into the stock.

Now the patchbox is done for now.

Next step was engraving the patchbox.

Hoot AL Rifle Shop

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