I am in the process of inletting the bottom metal on my 7mm-08 project and I realized that I always struggle with this. Specifically around the front and rear guard screw where the pocket that the bottom metal goes into transitions into a radius. What tools/techniques do you guys use to work this area?

I have been using a gouge pressed down parallel to the guard screw hole then chipping out the wood with a chisel. Then I try to clean it up with a scraper. But it is really difficult to work the scraper in the radiused area.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've made several bent round-nosed gouges, shaped to different radii including the radius of most bottom metal. These gouges are bent sufficiently to allow their (flat) bottom sides to be placed flat on the bottom of the inletting so that their radiused noses can then be pushed forward to cut off the bottoms of the vertical shavings remaining from your half-round chisel work.

Brownell's sells a pair of right-angle scrapers, one right-side and the other left-side, made especially for scraping the vertical surfaces at the curved ends of the bottom metal. These are great, I use them regularly and have never needed to make any other sizes.

I'll try to take pics later.
Regards, Joe

Joe, Thanks for the reply. I have the brownells scrapers and am really happy with them. I would be really interested in a picture of your special gouge.

I use a Milling machine. gets it close enough then clean up with a scraper

The box is tapered from top to bottom. I use a Dremmel with an aggressive carbide cutter. Jarrods inletting black. This works well for me