Ballard barreled action

[marlinman93]

That's a pretty big improvement, 1 second faster in the eighth. I really like the old Falcons. I used to drag race the quarter mile with my father and brother a couple of decades ago. We had a seven second '62 Corvette and a ten second '67 Chevelle.

A couple of years ago I bought a '66 Chevy II for drag racing. I haven't got it going yet because these schuetzen an BPCR rifles keep distracting me

Good luck with the car and the rifles.

Chris.

I've been stuck with a love affair with old guns and old cars since I was a kid. 64 now, and still can't shake either! Both of my cars are old 60's style gassers that are street legal race cars. Built my first gasser in 1968, and just can't shake the feelings I have for them. The other is a little British Austin sedan from WWII era. I put a SBC 355 in it, and it's a little quicker than the Falcon. Runs low 7's in the 1/8th mile.

[Teddo]

Love the classics, guns and cars. Here is mine not a drag car but a classic just the same.55 Olds convertible....Teddo

[marlinman93]

Love the classics, guns and cars. Here is mine not a drag car but a classic just the same.55 Olds convertible....Teddo

Nice Teddo! That's a beauty! Seems many gun guys are also car guys!

[marlinman93]

Been awhile since I had an update, but finally got my new stocks built, and finished for the engraved Ballard! Got a semi inletted stock set from Dave Crossno in Ok. and fitted them to the action and barrel. Lot of extra wood to work down, but that's OK.


A few laters of blue tape to protect the receiver, and set the height of the wood, and it's beginning to settle into place.

A little rough sanding with 80 grit, and then 120 grit. It's ready to be wet sanded with Minn Wax Wipe On Poly.

After 8-10 coats of poly, and sanding in between. Looks a bit off, but it's getting close.


A little work with 4/0 steel wool, and it's ready to cure. Then the final cut and buff begins.

After rubbing the stocks out with rottenstone and paste wax, they're ready to send to the checkerer for checkering.

[Gunlaker]

That wood looks great!

Chris.

[marlinman93]

That wood looks great!

Chris.

Thanks Chris! I tried something different with the final polish this time. I usually use automotive polish as a lubricant to apply the rottenstone when cutting. I used the wood paste wax as the lubricant this time, and surprised how well it worked!

[Bigslug]

Silly drag racers! Don't you know that cars are just something to transport guns in?

I've been waiting eagerly for you to come back to this thread. Ballards weren't even on my radar 2 years ago when my father (the retired single shot addict) stumbled into a #5 Pacific .45-70, that strangely, had a destroyed forend crossbolt and no forend, but intact original thimbles and wiping rod. Also has a wood ball on the lever and a non-pistol grip version of your replacement stock with a Swiss plate on it - interesting combo eh? This thread got us turned onto sources for a replacement forend, so many thanks for that.

We've since acquired a #2 .38 (crazy fun, that one!) and a re-barreled, re-wooded .38-55 that we believe to have started life as either a #4 or a #5. It has the socket in the front of the receiver for the end of the Pacific's wiping rod, but I don't know if that socket was exclusive to the #5 and 5 1/2 - Dutcher's book is thin on photos of that area. I was hoping some of you could shed some light on that.

Looking forward to seeing it all done. Nice find!

[SgtDog0311]

See you brought it out of the basement Vall. Looks better every time I see it.

Bigslug, you are asking the right guy!! I'm sure he'll see it and answer soon.

[marlinman93]

Silly drag racers! Don't you know that cars are just something to transport guns in?

I've been waiting eagerly for you to come back to this thread. Ballards weren't even on my radar 2 years ago when my father (the retired single shot addict) stumbled into a #5 Pacific .45-70, that strangely, had a destroyed forend crossbolt and no forend, but intact original thimbles and wiping rod. Also has a wood ball on the lever and a non-pistol grip version of your replacement stock with a Swiss plate on it - interesting combo eh? This thread got us turned onto sources for a replacement forend, so many thanks for that.

We've since acquired a #2 .38 (crazy fun, that one!) and a re-barreled, re-wooded .38-55 that we believe to have started life as either a #4 or a #5. It has the socket in the front of the receiver for the end of the Pacific's wiping rod, but I don't know if that socket was exclusive to the #5 and 5 1/2 - Dutcher's book is thin on photos of that area. I was hoping some of you could shed some light on that.

Looking forward to seeing it all done. Nice find!

The hole in the front of the receiver was found on every Ballard I've ever had apart. Not exclusive to any particular model. Your Pacific sounds like the one I bought years ago. Also missing the forearm wood, and wiping rod, and in .45-70 caliber. I picked up a piece of walnut from my local Woodcrafters, and used my mill to cut an octagon shape trough in the wood. Then fitted it to the barrel, and receiver, and drilled a hole for the forearm escutcheons, and screw. I have a source for the forearm screws if you haven't found one?
A lot of Pacific Ballards got customized, so not unusual that yours is refitted to a shooter's liking. I really like the ones that have been modified back in the say for individuals, and think they're neat! The wood ball on a Pacific #5 or #6 Schuetzen was a era addition found quite often. The ring on those levers lent itself well to that added wood ball. My #6 Schuetzen has the same piece added by Zettler Bros. in NY City back around 1900 era.
Watch out with those Ballards! They're addictive!-Vall

[marlinman93]

See you brought it out of the basement Vall. Looks better every time I see it.

Bigslug, you are asking the right guy!! I'm sure he'll see it and answer soon.

Yeah, it took me over 4 months to get around to it, but it's moving along now! I get anxious when they start to come together, and get past the hard parts!

[marlinman93]

Did a test fit before I take it apart to checker wood, and rust blue the barrel. Still need to finish the buttplate by recessing the screws and polishing it out.
Really need to polish the barrel out and rust blue it also. Looks a bit weathered next to the new stocks.

[Bigslug]

I have a source for the forearm screws if you haven't found one?

Thanks, but we've got it covered. We had a fine time first fitting the forend, then lining the rifle up with the drill press so the bit would go cleanly through the hole in the barrel, THEN placing the wood without disturbing any of that. It went off without a hitch, but fingernails were definitely chewed down some.

Any tips for keeping the rod from backing out under recoil?

As for your most recent pic: Oh DAYUM!!

[rbertalotto]

I finally finished my Ballard. Wrote an article about it for "single Shot Exchange" magazine. You can read it here
www.rvbprecision.com
"a Ballad about a Ballard"

yours is beyond beautiful!

[marlinman93]

Thanks, but we've got it covered. We had a fine time first fitting the forend, then lining the rifle up with the drill press so the bit would go cleanly through the hole in the barrel, THEN placing the wood without disturbing any of that. It went off without a hitch, but fingernails were definitely chewed down some.

Any tips for keeping the rod from backing out under recoil?



As for your most recent pic: Oh DAYUM!!

Thanks! As for the wiping rod, I simply set it to the side when shooting mine. Then put it back in place after I'm done shooting. Mine doesn't move much, as I started with 3/8" hickory, and spun it in the drill press while I held sandpaper to it. I got it to just slide in place, so it doesn't fall out easily. For hunting it rarely moves with 1-2 shots. Only at the range where it gets lots of shooting!

I decided to pull the barrel today, and refinish it. Just too gray, and a bit splotchy to leave it with the new wood and finish. When I got the barrel off I attempted to remove the target scope bases, and found the front base had soft solder over the screw heads! Yikes! I used a soldering gun to heat the heads, and dug the screw slots out with a dental pick. I coaxed the screws out, and discovered the base stayed in place! A tap with a drift punch popped the base off, and underneath was more solder on the barrel! I'm unsure why the solder was used, as the threads and screws were good, and the base fit tight when I reassembled it after cleaning the holes?
Put all the bases and screws aside, and used a razor blade to shave the solder off the barrel flat. Then began sanding the barrel flats with a wood block and 240 grit paper. Got it looking good, and another hour's work with 320 grit should have it ready to rust blue.

[marlinman93]

I finally finished my Ballard. Wrote an article about it for "single Shot Exchange" magazine. You can read it here
www.rvbprecision.com
"a Ballad about a Ballard"

yours is beyond beautiful!

Yes, I saw the write up, and you did a great job on your Ballard! Looks very nice, and I was envious of the stocks you found for it. I wish I could have found an original set in such good shape!

[Bigslug]

Gotta wonder about the soldered bases. . .38-55 is not exactly a bone cruncher. Are you fixing to re-color case the receiver? I think you're pretty much committed at this point.

[marlinman93]

Gotta wonder about the soldered bases. . .38-55 is not exactly a bone cruncher. Are you fixing to re-color case the receiver? I think you're pretty much committed at this point.

Yeah, just crazy that someone would only solder one base, even if they did think it was to protect against recoil. Once the barrel is blued, and the mounts reinstalled, I have an old Lyman scope with offset bases that will situate the scope slightly to the left so the iron sights or scope can both be used.
No, I'm afraid to re-color a Nimschke engraved Ballard receiver! If anything happened to it, I'd be devastated. Also Marlin engraved guns had lighter case coloring than non engraved guns, so the receiver is not far off from the light colors that are on my engraved 1893. I've never seen a Marlin repeater, or Ballard with brilliant case colors, even when the gun was very nice. If you get a chance to check out the two beautiful engraved Ballards on the dust cover of Dutcher's Ballard book, you'll see what I mean. It will look correct with the receiver colors as they are, and nice barrel bluing.

[marlinman93]

Got the barrel off, and decided to redo the rust bluing on it. Got the repop small Farrow buttplate polished out, and I'm leaving that in the white. It looks more like nickel plate than most nickel today, so best to stop. Just need to get it checkered, and it's good to go. Waiting on reply from the checkerer, so hopefully I'll work up loads while I wait.
Put an old Ranger scope with a nice 4 point mounting system on it for now. Have a Stevens with offset bases being repaired now, and it will go on when it's finished. That way I can use the iron sights or scope, and not remove the scope.

[Bigslug]

Ye gads that's purty! You're gonna love shooting it - in the time you've been furnishing that one, Pops has got his .38-55 running as well. Turns out the re-barreler was nice enough to install a 32" 1-18" twist tube, get the set trigger juuuussssst right, and tap it for Unertl blocks. We haven't scoped it - yet - but it's doing just fine with 300 grain LBT spitzers and the "temporary measure" tang/17A sight combo. I'm not afraid of recoil necessarily, but the .38-55's not really having any doesn't seem to bug me at all.

Yeah. . .I don't understand how people can get hooked on meth and heroin when there's vintage single shots to play with. . .

[Ballistics in Scotland]

That is a beautiful rifle, and the sort of restoration job it deserves. It annoys me when we see rarer firearms than a Nimschke Ballard, even, acquiring a high collector value when they earned their rarity by having the reek of disaster about them. Or collectors considering a dilapidated but original finish superior to the sort of work Ballard, Marlin and Nimschke would have been flattered to see done in the century after next.

My own Ballard also came as a barreled action, but is just the plainest type of Ball and Williams rimfire, not pitted but subject to every other sort of deterioration, and unsuitable for doing anything really exciting with. I wonder if factory information on a Marlin Ballard could be available, probably from the Buffalo Bill Center, as to the type of butt originally installed? Some would feel obliged to follow that, but I am not so sure the three gentlemen aforementioned would have worried. It isn't like it was an Austin Seven or something.

You have made that buttplate look very much in keeping. I think it did demand a bit of concavity in the line of the bottom of the butt. A pretty good line of Scheutzen buttplates is available from Track of the Wolf, http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/696/1 . I once modeled a set in wax, buttplate and forend cap with sling loop, for a target Martini, and had them cast in stainless steel. I think a buttplate without at least the upper prong might be better for someone who plans on doing much shooting from a position other than standing.


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