Comment on this Tips article:

__________________
Marshall
Romans 1:16



Beartooth: A Bullet Worth Waiting For!

Marshall: When I drilled and tapped my 1897T .22 Marlin, it was almost the way you suggest in your article. What I did different was that I crazy-glued the receiver sight onto the receiver. So from the first hole, I did the #29 drill first and then the #31, and tapped with the sight still there. The sight helps keep the tap aligned perpendicular. After the first screw was in, then did the second hole. With a little acetone and a light tap with a piece of wood, the sight came off for cleaning, oiling of the receiver, and the final assembly of the sight with Loc-tite on the screws.

My biggest concern through all this was where (exactly) to locate the sight before the drilling. I was afraid of obliterating something inside the receiver that absolutely had to be there. So I eyeballed it, with good results!

You don't tell me (and maybe you rightfully should expect me to already know, but I don't) exactly how you keep the tap wrench perpendicular.

The other stuff seems foolproof, but that worries me.

Thanks for a great article!

Leave your work clamped in the drill press, remove the drill bit and put the tap in the chuck. Start the tap by hand with a minimum of down force. You can usually get 2-3 turns on the tap in larger holes, which is enough to align the tap. You can run all the way though with smaller taps.

Bye
Jack

Thanks a bunch! My stepdad has a shop full of wood working tools, I know he has at least one drill press. I guess It's probably just different bits for metal so I'm gonna try this on my Puma .454.

Thanks again!

I prefer using a small diameter center punch designed to fit thru the holes in sight and scope bases than the #26 drill bit. Brownell's has them.