Inletting The Barrel Tang:

The following procedure was used to inlet barrel tang into the stock.

Chisel out a cavity the size of the tang at the breech of the barrel.  For the width, I use the width under the tail of the tang. This is narrower and allows for wood removal and not leave a gap along the sides of the tang.

Then I use a candle to blacken the bottom of the tang. This leaves good impressions where excess wood needs to be cut away with my knives.

Place the barrel and tang into the stock and gently tap the barrel down into the stock. Make sure the end of the barrel is tight against the end of the barrel channel breech.

Continue inletting the tang down until the bottom of the tang rests on top of the stock. Now you can use your knife to cut along either side of the tang to where the tang and the wood create a gap.

Next I remove the barrel and deepen the cuts. With a 1/4" chisel I cut along these lines and will remove wood to just short of the depth of the tang. (In this case the tang measures 8/32" or 1/4").

Once the tang is inletted down, you will note the tang will have a more defined gap at the end. Now you can determine where the tang will need to be bent.  There are several methods of doing this , but I use my metal bench vise.

Do this a little at a time, until you have the bend that matches your wrist of the stock. Remember to lay the barrel parallel to the stock with 1/2 barrel exposed along the length of the stock.  Now put the barrel into the stock and you will see the tang now lays flat on top of the stock.

Now you can use your knife and cut around the perimeter of the tang. Note, the end of the tang is slightly tapered in and is not straight up and down. When this cut is chiseled in, you want to do this at an angle, so as not to chip out any wood, when you remove the barrel from the stock.

Continue inletting the tang using candle black, until the bottom of the tang and barrel touch the bottom of the barrel channel.

Once the barrel is fully inletted, I use a file to file off the excess wood around the tang and draw file the tang and barrel to the stock.

Now the tang is done. Next is the ramrod channel.

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