Things are progressing nicely. Breech block is complete, side plates are complete, striker is complete, trigger & sear bar are complete. Two items are left, the barrel and the stock & forearm.

I'm now working on installing the breech plug in the barrel, along with the drum & nipple and ramrod pipes.

I plan to use a ten-inch long aluminum tube under the rear section of the barrel to serve as a ramrod pipe. It will be covered by the forearm.

But I shudder at the thought of either cutting dovetails into the barrel or drilling and tapping blind holes to attach the tube. Then I got to thinking about attaching it with the Devcon plastic steel that was used to bed the barrel on the Omega X7.



Would that be strong enough? Would it hold if I want to attach a sling stud to the forearm? A test is in order. But how to test?

Here's what I did.

Devcon plastic steel was used to glue a one-inch section of the aluminum tube to a small piece of the 3/4" plate that was used for the breech block, and left to cure for two days.



Then a rope was attached to the block with a C-clamp, and a steel rod inserted through the tube.



With the rope secured to my deck, I stood on a bathroom scale and pulled as hard as I dared. It did not come apart.




I pulled 120 pounds before quitting for fear of a back injury.

That was only one-inch of attachment. I do think a ten-inch section secured like that "just might" be strong enough for a sling.