Author Topic: lateral play in the barrel (Read 667 times)

22popnsplat · « **on:** June 07, 2005, 05:16:58 PM »

I have a custom stock for my contender pistol made by Bill Clark , There is no contact between the stock and the barrel and there is no forend . The stock captures the hinge pin and when the barrel is open it rests on the a padded section of the stock . I found that there is lateral play in the barrel to frame match up . Any suggestions on how to take up the play ?

Keith L · « **Reply #1 on:** June 07, 2005, 10:17:37 PM »

If there is play when the action is open but not when it is closed I woudn't worry about it. a couple of my barrels do that and shoot well. If there is play when the barrel is locked up then you may want to find out where the play is coming from. Many folks swear by the oversized hinge pins advertised by an unnamed Contender smith, but I have never had any luck with them. Play is not coming from your stock, but from the frame/barrel fit and I guess I would send the frame and barrel back to the factory if it were giving me trouble.

Can you post a picture of this stock? I would like to see it.

mjshell · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2005, 03:39:33 AM »

Are you getting acceptable accuracy with the setup? I have used oversized hinge pins and stronger locking lug springs to take the play out of frame/barrel matchups. There are pros and cons to doing this which has been the topic of many posts.

Robert · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2005, 05:20:25 AM »

Yup, the downside of the over-size pins, is that a NEW BARREL is not made to fit them. If you get a new barrel, it might not lock-up. It reminds me of what the guy did to an NEF that I bought. Instead of getting proper scope and rings.....he cut the hammer. Kind of backwards huh?

22popnsplat · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2005, 03:54:34 PM »

Heres a picture , This is for shooting from the Creedmore position

Keith L · « **Reply #5 on:** June 08, 2005, 11:56:32 PM »

Wow!!!

22popnsplat · « **Reply #6 on:** June 09, 2005, 04:09:35 PM »

This setup was in a pachmayr and you could not feel the lateral play , I did some checking and the play is in the barrel to frame fit . I checked the hinge pin at .374 and a .376 wont fit , I will pickup a .375 this weekend and see how it fits and see how much of the play is gone

mjshell · « **Reply #7 on:** June 10, 2005, 03:18:10 AM »

Let us know how it turns out. I'd be interestested to know if it improves the accuracy of the setup. Even if it doesn't improve the accuracy, it sounds that you are like me and just like a tight rig. You are correct in fitting the hinge pin to the hole instead of pounding an oversized one into the hole. I don't remove my barrels very often, since most of my frames are dedicated to one barrel. When i do, i use the factory hinge pin to tap out the oversized pin and reverse the process when putting the barrel back on.

DaddyPaul · « **Reply #8 on:** June 13, 2005, 06:45:26 AM »

My Encore rifle had some play in it as well and I sent it back to TC. Turns out my firing pin bushing was a little on the thin side and they milled me a new one and now it is tight. Fired some groups the other day with a 24" standard taper .223 factory barrel: 3/16"s, 5/8's and 5/8's. Really seemed to help my groups. Might be worth a look?

22popnsplat · « **Reply #9 on:** June 13, 2005, 04:23:43 PM »

The accuracy of the barrel/frame combo was sub moa five shot groups prior to this when my hold was good(with the pachy grips) , I just did not like the feel of the play in the new stock set , I ordered some .375 pins and polished them down for the fit I wanted . I will see how it works this weekend .