The stock work is far enough down the road now with all of the forearms and the buttstock close to the final dimensions that I can now concentrate on getting the chest and case materials together, determining the dimensions and creating a final design.
I got the last of the wood today. These will be the side panels for the chest.
I have a very nice 30's Ambercrombie and Fitch case that came with a gun that I purchased some time ago and dimensionally it is what I will use. It is just roomy enough at 30”x9 1/4”x3” to accommodate one of the barrel sets, the action/buttstock, one of the scopes and an ammunition block. I have a very nice board of Honduran mahogany that is 8' long, 16" wide and 3/4" thick and I should be able to get the entire case from it.
This case will slide into a compartment at the base of the chest. This is the plan; Two side-by-side drawers will be above the case compartment and finally above the drawers will be a compartment with a lid where the four barrel sets and the action/buttstock will reside. The purpose of the case is a travel vessel for one of the rifle configurations.
The left drawer will be wider to accommodate the two scopes, four ammunition blocks and additional gun parts. The right drawer will house the .25-20 WCF loading tools.
Like a Gerstner chest, a panel will shutter the drawers and the lower case compartment.
I have nearly 30 board feet of black walnut on hand that will be used for the chest.
I have no experience with lining a gun case or a chest so that needs to be figured out too.
Here are some images of things that have to be housed in the chest somewhere. I'll describe the reloading tools later. The last of the hardware is in transit from Lee Valley. Oh for the old days of Garrett Wade's huge high quality hardware inventory.
And some of the hardware that I already had on hand.
