If you were going to mount a quarter rib on a rifle how would you do it? What I really want to know is how do you fit the rib to the barrel?

Thanks,
Todd E

Todd

Everyone may not approach this the same however quite a few people use a fixture set up on a vertical milling machine.

Basicly you pour a casting of the barrel you are fitting and use an adaptor to use your mill like a pantograph (tracer).

There are some guys on this forum who are experts at this and even teach metal smithing classes for this kind of project. Mark Stratton is one.

Thanks for the input Craftsman. I was familiar with that approach. I guess what I am really after is this.

A friend has a very pretty rifle build by someone who charges alot for his work. Anyway, we shot this rifle the other day for the first time (he did buy it used, but it was supposedly only fired 5 times and it looked like that was true)and after 12 shots I noticed the quarter rib was loose! Being the type of guy I am I pulled up on the forward most part of the rib and pop it comes right off in my hand. Needless to say he was estatic with me!

Now to my further surprise I was shocked at how the rib has been fitted. I have concerns actually whether or not this firearm is safe to fire. I will explain the fitting and someone in the now please let me know if you believe it is safe or not.

There is a slot milled into the barrel into which the quarter rib is inserted. The slot is 0.5" wide and is 0.015" deep at the receiver. This depth is maintained for approximately 1.5" and then the depth increases to 0.155" (leaving a barrel wall of only 0.160") and that depth is continued to the end of the slot (at the slots end it is only 0.035" due to barrel taper). The depth increase of the slot coincides with the shoulder/nech transistion of the chamber, as well as, I can determine without the use of a CMM (coordinate meassuring machine).

The individual who had made the rifle had soldered the rib at the both ends. It appears that they used too much flux. I say this because the solder whetted well to both the barrel and the rib the solder itself was extremely poreous and had very little effectie section holding the jont together. I believe this is why the jont failed couple perhaps with barrel deflection.

Anyway, my friend as I said is a tad upset with me (why I do not know it was already broken), but I am concerned that due to the barrel only being 0.16" thick at the cartridge neck this rifle may not be safe to shoot anyway. What do you guys think? Does he need a new barrel or can he simply reinstall that rib?

The rifle is a 500 Jeffery by the way. The barrel diameter is 1.230" at the the reciever ring and is 1.175" at the point that the slot deepen to 0.155".

Thanks,
Todd E

[This message has been edited by Todd E (edited 10-20-2001).]

The preferred method is intregal, cut from the barrel blank..pretty expensive but is the best way...I like the 4" on standing at an angle, such as on the Holland & Holland.It is small and classy...

Mostly I have soldered and used one screw under the sight slot on my quarter ribs, remember a hot blue can disolve that solder to a degree, and moisture can rust and destroy that solder in time if you hot blue.

Same applies to the Island sight ramp.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

The milling of a slot to hold the rib seems a decent approach if the slot depth is reasonable. In this case the slot depth seems a little excessive but is likely safe enough. A better soldering job would certainly be nice. If I were to use this method I think I would be inclined to make the slot just deep enough to contain the rib then screw and glue it. Regards, Bill.

Bill,

Thank you. Your input makes me feel somewhat better. My friend and I discussed gluing it in already and I believe that is his preference (if I can guarantee him that I can keep the glue off the outside of the barrel). How necessary do you feel the screws are? I am hesitant to drill and tap since there isn't much barrel wall left.

Todd E