Best guns you've made up?

[fouronesix]

Hard to decide which of several muzzleloaders and modern bolt guns would be my favorite. This latest one comes close. Not exactly a cast bullet dedicated shooter or replica gun of any kind. A dangerous game modern bolt rifle in 450 Watts (a cartridge developed in the early 50s +/- and similar to the Lott).

Montana Long Mag action, right side front and rear relieved port, 8 groove- 14" twist barrel, NECG front and rear sights, 2.5 FX Leupold scope with dual dovetail mounts, NOS Winchester late New Haven M70 stock fitted to action, pillar bedded with fully reinforced channel, second recoil lug in fore end. Total weight empty- 10 lbs. Not a bad shooter either Seems to be particularly fond of both 450 gr Barnes TSXs and 500 gr GS flat point solids. While this one shoots extremely well and IMO looks good, the number one priority for these guns is power with smooth reliability. Designed for large and tough dangerous game like the Cape Buffalo that Ruark so appropriately described in Horn of the Hunter.

[bgmkithaca]

My best work is a marlin factory engraved 336-It came to me as just a stripped receiver and a lot of light pitting. It took a lot of restoring and some of the engraving had to be re-cut, a local retired mold maker did that work. Used a nice piece of English Walnut and checkered it in one of Marlin's old checkering patterns with a 24" octagon barrel in 38-55. A beauty to behold and it shoots as well as I can. I can't post pictures of it though-Dial-up.

[Blackwater]

You guys ALL impress me! Real craftsmanship and ingenuity, and concepts are NOT dead! Far from it. It's just "hidden" by not being very attractive to the media today, and with the general and growing consensus that an inanimate object, like a gun, can be "bad." You guys are keeping alive some VERY vital and important skills that aren't appreciated by many today. That ain't no small thing!

[Eddie2002]

I built a .54 caliber ship's cannon modeled off of a 1700's British 24 pounder last year. Bought the cannon as a rough casting off e-bay and used a slab of 5/4 Coco Bolo for the base. Here's a picture of it almost done, just needed two more loops on the side of the carrage. Overall length of the barrel is 14 1/2 inches and the entire thing weighs in at 17 lbs. I've case different trunnions straps and replaced the ones shown in this picture. Been using a 75 grain FFF charge of black powder pushing a .53 patched round ball and have gone up to a 100 grain charge of FFF which was loud enough to make me say "YIKES" and shut down the shop for the night. It just fit on my old South Bend heavy 10inch and I had to modify a wood lathe to drill the bore. It was a real fun project and I was able to get in a 10 inch circle at 25yds with it first time at the range. Would like to build a nice Parrot gun next.

[Eddie2002]

Here's another shot of it finished with the new trunnion straps Attachment 149030

[Clark]

The top gun is a Uberti 1885 that I made a combination scope mount / floating bi pod mount in 257 Roberts Ackley rimmed. It killed 4 deer out to 400 yards.
The middle gun is a 10 ga lower with water pipe upper that accepts bushings that accept pistol barrels to drop in for high pressure ammo testing.
The bottom is a 16 ga lower with a 50CB upper I made. The 50CB is a 56/50 case I cut down to 0.45" long and swage a lead ball into with two presses end on end. This propels a 50 cal ball with the sound of BB gun. I killed a raccoon with a body shot.

Not the BEST guns I made up but...

[Blackwater]

Nothing at all to apologize for Clark. That's the kind of simple ingenuity and inventiveness that I've come to admire a lot. Just being able to look around, find stuff you have, and figure out how to make it into something you want, ain't no small thing. I've always admired folks who don't let "it's never been done before" stop them!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Since knives appear to be allowed, how about this one? I failed to post it a while ago, and have just found out that it was because of an apostrophe in the file name.

Attachment 150732

I made it 32 years ago, but the friend who owns it has kept it so well that you can still shave a sliver from a tight stretched human hair with either edge. It is O1 steel, with the threaded tang silver soldered into the standard length of steel, so as not to waste any of the eighteen inches. The fittings are milled and turned from brass and nickel-plated by me, and the etching is done with paint and Letraset transfer lettering, which resists 20% nitric acid well. You can feel the lettering with your fingers and the background is darkened with cream gun blue, which is the only good use I ever found for the stuff.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Wow! Very impressive. Good job.

[Bodean98]

That is just elegant!
Well done!

[Ithaca Gunner]

Standard old tired Ruger 10/22 with a new stainless take off barrel from flea-bay and Mannlicher stock added. The scope is a Weaver 4X Classic.



Next up is a pair of Mausers I made up from WWII actions, both .30/06. The first uses a BYF/44 action completely gone over by the man who liberated it in 1945, Mr. Gilbert Gault, Capt. U.S. Army. "Gib" sold the action to me sometime in the 90's. A standard weight Adams and Bennett barrel on it now, I had a pre-64 Winchester M-70 target barrel on it, but opted for a slimmer sporter after several years of groundhog hunting with it. The scope is an old Burris 3-9X Fullfield.



This Mauser wears a Shilen #5 barrel, 26" long and has proved very accurate for long range shooting. The scope is a Burris 3-9X Signature. When I want to test a cast boolit .30/06 load, this is the rifle that gets the job.




A pair of .45 Light Weight Commanders I made up on 80% frames flanking a WWII G.I. .45.

[Whiterabbit]

how did you find cutting a 1911 frame compared to an AR-15 frame? just as easy?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I'm still skeptical of claims that you can get a better sporting rifle than a good Mauser 98, or a better sporting cartridge than some of its original cartridges.

[Ithaca Gunner]

how did you find cutting a 1911 frame compared to an AR-15 frame? just as easy?

Easy, if you don't have access to a mill, just order the Phantom jig from Stealth Arms. All you'll need in addition is a drill press and hand tools. If a SS or carbon steel frame is wanted, 1911 builders.com has the best frames, not cheap though, beautifully machined and a pleasure to work with.

[Whiterabbit]

got a mill. I found the AR-15 jig useful for fixturing, but don't need half the capability. The pilot holes for drilling were certainly convenient, along with the ready-made slots to indicate off of rather than indicating off the side of the part. But it was pretty straightforward.

Looks like additional operations are done for 1911 frames, cutting an internal slot, etc. But if just as easy as milling a channel, then heck.

[Ithaca Gunner]

A mill makes an 80% 1911easy if you have a jig and proper tooling. Stealth Arms standard jig will do nicely. Sportsman's Guide sells them at a discount. A # 22 and a #35 drill bit are needed as well as mills. Check you tube for videos, or Stealth Arms and 1911builders.com The stainless frames from 1911 builders require carbide mills and different cuts than Stealth alloy frames.

(edit) Some frames, like Stealth Arms require the two holes drilled, slide rails cut, and barrel seat cut in. 1911 Builders frames require the same two holes drilled, the slide rails cut, but he barrel seat is already cut, the frame requires decking though, approx. .025" taken off the top to meet ATF regs. It pays to buy quality parts to begin with, (stay away from SARCO's parts kits, you'll just end up replacing most of their junk anyway). Some fine files and stones, grinding compound and a staking tool for the plunger tube will also be needed as well as a link kit for the barrel. Commander slides and parts are getting scarce and pricey, but standard 1911 stuff is still plentiful and much more reasonable in price. Frame parts, I buy from Brownell's, slides and slide parts usually flea-bay or Gun Broker. If your set up is square and level, you'll turn out a good frame ready for final fitting and parts in less time than you'd think.

[Green Frog]

The best gun I've "made up" myself is a Winchester Model 1885 high wall "Plain Sporter" in 32-40. The man at the gun shop brought out a barreled receiver in one hand and a brownie tin with parts soaking from a Mossberg 22 and the poor old high wall. I sorted out all of the parts I could find and got back home to find I needed a sear and sear pin as well as the lower tang (wood type) screw to complete the metal parts of the gun. I found the butt stock and butt plate at a gunshow then at another gunshow I swapped a friend out of a fore end... and they matched each other as well as any original set I've seen! I did add a period correct globe front sight and a Lyman windage tang sight because I wanted to get the best accuracy out of the gun possible. When I showed it to John Campbell, the author of The Winchester Single Shot Rifle(vols I & II) he declared it to look totally righteous except the globe front sight was a little too nice for the rest of the gun's condition. It's an all original gun, it just didn't leave Winchester the same day.

The best gun I've had made up is my stainless S&W 327 Fed Mag K-frame built on a Model 66 platform, but I just found the parts and paid to have all the work done, so I can't really claim to have "made up" that one.

Froggie