Barrel Fitting Question

[Brewster]

I recently picked up Huntsman .50 barrel for use on my SB2 frame.  The barrel was factory issue to another SB2, but has excessive lateral movement on my frame.

No problem.  Just shim the underlug .003 inches, and followed the suggestion in FAQ's.  The shim results in a lockup that's tight as a bull's behind.  Extreme.

I notice, however, that the barrel latch does not engage as deeply as it does on my 45-70 barrel which was factory fit my frame.  A visual observation.

My question is:  Should I continue to work on the shim with my emery cloth until the engagement is comparable to that on the 45-70 barrel?

[Spanky]

If it locks up tight and square I wouldn't worry about latch engagement as long as it doesn't pop open when you fire it. If you just want a little more latch engagement you could stone the latch shelf just a hair. Just make sure to keep it flat and square if you do. It doesn't take much polishing to change how it latches. The best advice might be to just shoot it and let the parts wear into each other. That alone might be enough to do the trick for you.



Spanky

[gcrank1]

+1 that!
Let those parts wear in for that barrel. If you snap it closed with some authority and it stays closed on firing it is OK.
Only if you continue to have pop-open issues should you remove metal!

[Brewster]

After smoking the latch seat this morning, I decided that the latch engagement was way short on being safe.  Looked at my shim surface with the magnifying glass and thought I spotted a high spot, too.  So I took a few more strokes with the fine stone.  On the pivot shim only.  Now she locks up tight, and the latch is where it's supposed to be.  The fitting of this barrel has been relatively simple, when ya have patience.