Thanks guys! To answer the questions; yes Boats the felt does conform, but some trimming is also required. It wont stay in place unless glued. I use plain old Elmers glue to glue it in place, but not so much as to saturate the felt.
I start by laying out all the pieces and the gun in the way I want it all to situate. Once I have it laid out I mark around everything with pencil or felt pen. Then I cut and fit dividers from scrap wood and assemble them in the order I want them. Once they test fit OK I remove them and glue them in position.
After it's all glued into position I begin by cutting felt for all the dividers and gluing it in place. After they are all covered (and before I cover the bottom of each compartment) I use a razor knife to trim the excess that overlaps the bottom. I then cut and fit all the bottom pieces and glue them in one at a time.
Finally I cover any filler blocks with felt and glue them in place last. In a few handgun boxes I have insert blocks for ammo and I drill holes for the ammo prior to covering. Once covered I cut an X over each hole and push the material down into the holes to leave a opening for the cartridges.
Here's a pair of old Marlin .32 cal. RF pistols I did in an old junk box:
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) I covered the center block for cartridges, but needed something to give it some extra appeal, so I made two small dividers and covered them, then fitted them on each side of the center block to asthetically improve the appearance.
On the 1893 Deluxe TD with two barrels, I color copied the Marlin trademark from one of my early 1900's Marlin catalogs. Then I cut it out and glued it to the lid of the box. Hardware was removed from an old tattered briefcase I got for $1 at Goodwill store. Marlin never offered hard cases, but most people think it's a factory cased set.