Lithgow No1 mk III* nose piece fitting?

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Attachment 35677After obtaining a new forend form the nice folks at BDL and reading Mr Laidler's article on forend fitting many times I jumped in head first this week end on my debubba project. Following the instructions I marked, fitted,trimmed the draws to a very snug fit. I thought that was going to be the hard part until I attempted to fit the nose piece. Followed the same mark,fit ,trim procedure to obtain fitment to the forend.The problen arose when trying to fit the upper hand guard.
There is insufficent clearence for the metal cap on the end of the upper handguard to tuck under the nose piece.Thinking there might be some variance in tolerances I tried three diffrent nose pieces with the same result.
Here is the question. Is there a proper procedure for fitting the nose piece?

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I hope the answer is not so obvious that no one will answer.

[muffett.2008]

Go back to Laidlers articles, there should be one specifically related to nosecap fitting, if not, there is one by tbonesmith, check the stickies and the archives.

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Will do. Thanks!

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I have searched and googled until my eyes are goggled and cannot seem to find an answer.
Perhaps a picture will spur some input. She cetainly looks better with an un clipped forend. I want to finish but am very reluctant about carving away at a new forend without some input from those with more expertise than I possess.

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[paulseamus]

I can see your dilemma. I have also searched extensively and failed to find any suitable articles to give any qualified direction.

I will make my own contribution, hopefully this will prompt someone more qualified/experienced to also offer advice.

From the pictures it appears that you problem is 4 to 6 thou.

As I can see it you serveral options to get the nose cap to fit.
1. sand down the handguard so that it's overall height is lower
2. sand down the foreend so that the handguard can sit lower
3. bed the nosecap higher into the handguard
4. a combination of the above.

Once fitted you want to acheive a 4 to 7 pounds of pressure on the barrel and have the barrel line up with the hole in the nosecap.

I would be examining how much higher you can bed the nosecap into the forend and how much you can lower the height of the handguard

If you were to remove 3 to 4 thou of timber from the forend so that the nosecap bedded 3 to 4 thou higher:
- will this enable you to fit the handguard?
- how will the nosecap hole for the barrel and barrel line up
Can you remove a 2 to 3 thou of timber from the handguard, tapered back to nil at the barrel band, so that it sits 2 to 3 thou lower on the forend?
- will the lowered handguard still clear the barrel?
- will the lowered handguard now fit?

As every area that you touch will affect your bedding, I would suggest that you tackle the issue with a smidge at a time, fit and refit, rather than try to get it to fit on the first go.

I encourage other members to contribute.

Cheers

Paul

[muffett.2008]

Your barrel is sitting too high in the forewood.
You need to ascertain why. Is the barrel clear of the channel except for the last 1.5 inches at the front? you should be able to slip a piece of paper under and run it along the channel.

Attachment 35844Attachment 35843
If not, you will need to deepen the channel,( the quickest way is with a sheet of coarse paper wrapped around a dowel) continually checking for clearence and nosecap fit.
If your forewood is new and unfitted, you will need to ensure the rear setup is correct first.
Without timber, fit your trigger housing to the action, ensure the spacer is in place. Measure the total depth of timber required at this point, allow an extra 1/16th for crush.
Now measure the depth of the cutout in the forewood, it's probably massive.
This needs to be corrected while also watching the fit of the draws and nosecap angle.
It's hard to describe, but the barrel angle is determined by the rear setup, you need to correct the rear, ensure the barrel lies flat with slight downforce in the channel, then line up the nosecap.
If this means removing timber from the front then so be it, but if set up correctly, it should require only minor adjustment of the topwood to get it to slip in.
Check the width of the forend in relation to the top front guard, this will determine if you sand the top or the bottom, ensure you maintain clearence on the top also.
Have fun.

[Homer]

Without the handguard on, the nosecap should slide onto the forend and over the barrel without any resistance between barrel and nosecap. The barrel should not clip the edges of the hole as it passes. Once this is achieved and the barrel is bedded soundly, i would think no more fitting of the nosecap should be required. Looks to me from your photos that you may need to remove wood from the flat underside of the handguard. I've got several unused coachwood handguards and all are consistently large in this way an would require individual hand fitting
Thats my untrained tak e on it. Hope it helps.

[RobD]

My suggestion:
When you remove the forewood from the rifle, will the upper handguard and nose-cap fit together?
If "yes", then the forewood and hanguard are not too bulky, but the problem lies with the position of the barrel in the channel - and taking wood off the forewood or handguard will just make things worse.
If "no", then the forewood and hanguard are too bulky: suggest sand away wood from whatever of the two pieces seems easiest. Do it in small repeated stages, dust talcum powder onto the surfaces before fitting each time, so you can see where the wood is rubbing together.

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Thanks to all who have replied. I took a brief moment to read each reply (will have more time later) The barrel has no effect on the issue at present. The nose of the upper hand guard tip will not engage the nose cap when it is seated fully on the forend. I will try to provide a few more detailed photos which may help.