Work on my second (or is it third???) 16" barrel continues. If you've read through page one and this page up to here, then this is all a repeat of what has gone before. I have done a few things differently, and I want to preserve them for future reference, so please bear along with me...
(23) Cutting the rear of the forearm. I've cut the 'scallops' so that they will recoil over the frame ~3/8". It makes the forearm wider, but the side profile will be similar.
(24) Now that the forearm has been fitted to the barrel and inletted to clear the frame, I need to locate where I will cut the dovetail for the forearm lug. To do that, I need to finish off the chamber and fasten the barrel to the receiver for the last time. Here I'm chambering it for 7.65 Parabellum.
(25) Cutting the feed ramp.
(26) Cutting the extractor notch. I use two Woodruff keyway cutters, and smooth the interior corners with a triangular file.
The barrel has now been screwed into the receiver and torqued to place the rear sight at exactly 12 o'clock relative to the extractor notch/feed ramp.
Next will be locating the screw holes in the forearm and then milling out a slot in the barrel for the dovetailed lug.
(27) Milling the slot for the brass inlay.
(28) Side-milling the bottom of the forearm; final cut.
(29 & 30) Milling a flat for the forearm attachment lug, and milling the ends for a 60º dovetail.
I'll make the lug next, with a 60º chamfer on each end for a ~2 1/8" long x 3/8" wide dovetailed lug.
(31) Milling the lug with a 60º cutter.
(32) Forearm lug drilled & tapped for attaching screws.
(33) Side milling the forearm taper.
(34) Milling the brass inlay for the forearm.
The barrel is completed. I'll fine sand the barrel itself to make it shinier. Rest of the remaining work will be on the forearm wood and the brass inlay.
Woodworking - I hate it. I hate sanding.
So most of my woodworking will be done with metalworking tools.
(35) Using a corner-rounding end mill to round the bottom of the forearm.
(36) Using a tapered burr to relieve the top of the forearm.
(37) I'm rounding the tip of the forearm on my belt sander. I've left this to last because in the previous forearms, I've chipped the curl when milling the sides first. I had to make a wedge-shaped jig to hold the forearm square with the belt. Next, the part I hate - finish sanding the wood to minimize tool marks.
(38) This shot is to show the assembled barrel & forearm in battery and under recoil. You can see that the fixed forearm, with its carbine profile, recoils past the trigger guard. I had wondered if this would pinch the shooters trigger finger, but unless the shooter has fat sausage fingers, it doesn't hit the finger. In fact, I couldn't release the trigger quickly enough to even be close to the forearm tang.
That pretty much wraps it up for the fixed forearm and long barrel. The barrel will go out for bluing, and I'll put a couple coats of BLO on the forearm. The brass inlay also needs a couple thin cuts to make it level with the forearm.
Originally, I had worried that I would need to screw the dovetailed lug to the barrel so it wouldn't come loose. It has to be removable, as the rear sight needs to move past it on assembly. But while fitting the forearm wood to the barrel, I realized that the dovetail lug holds the forearm tight to the barrel and the sides of the forearm hold the dovetail lug from moving. It's a non-problem.
Here's a couple pics showing the completed barrel/forearm combination, with and without frame assembly.
I'll replace those pics with the 'finished' pics when the barrel comes back from being blued. Hopefully, I can take the pics outside.