My American Rook Rifle

[tbx-4]

I sure liked what John Taylor did making the garden gun or rook rifle for Outpost75. Though .38 SW is not a caliber I wanted to try because I had a Star .357 barrel blank left, the last of three I bought. Also wanted to see if I could trim down .38 Spl brass down to .38 Short Colt length.

John Taylor recommended I use my .357 mag chamber reamer but only cut to .38 SC depth and that's what I did.

But first I needed some ammo.




Using parts from both .38 spl and 9mm Lee Classic Loaders I was able to put together 30 rounds. I used 95 gr cast .380, 100 gr plated .380 and 124 gr 9mm bullets.
Powder is Bullseye at 1.5 & 2 gr.

[tbx-4]

The donor gun is a Rossi 410 youth shotgun I picked up cheap. It looks like it was never used.

[Outpost75]

Very nice! I look forward to more pictures and results!

[tbx-4]

Next was to turn the .357 barrel shank down to the same OD as the 410.



Once that was done I parted both ends of the barrel to remove the cone in the breach and the step at the muzzle. Crowned the muzzle and cut the chamber. Used my .357 reamer but marked the shallower depth for the .38 Short Colt and stopped there. Put the barrel back in the lathe and cut the rim relief with a boring tool (this was per John Taylor).

[tbx-4]

Used a thin cutting disk for a die grinder but installed it in my dermal tool to cut the barrel lug from the 410 barrel.



Disassembled the extractor/ejector to modify.


Welded more material onto the extractor.


Ground and filed new extractor to shape but how to get the rim relief cut in the extractor?
Make a jig to hold it and use the reamer! (sorry for the blurry pic)


What you are looking at is a .30 cal barrel stub welded to a block of steel. The bore is drilled to the .38 bore diameter to guide the pilot of the reamer.
Taking a measurement from the barrel lug, from center of bore to center of extractor hole, I marked that on the block and drilled a clearance hole deep enough to drop the extractor in. Then marked width of extractor lip and ground out the barrel and block so extractor fit in tight then used reamer to cut the extractor rim relief.

Then ground the clearance slot in new .357 barrel for extractor. Clamp 410 barrel lug to new barrel and weld.
welds ain't pretty but they're strong. Assemble extractor, less ejector mechanism.

[tbx-4]

Inletted the fore stock barrel channel and put it together. Not too shabby (but don't look too close!).


Went out back and shot 15 rounds. was hitting 6" plates with no sights at 20 yards.
Now I need to find or make suitable sights and blue it.

[tbx-4]

Ok, it's finished.





Rear sight is a piece of 3/4" angle iron cut 3/8" wide.
Bore sighted at 25 yards. Went out back and was hitting 6" gongs at 50 yards off hand. When the rain lets up I'll see how good it's really doing on paper.

[tbx-4]

Thanks to John Taylor for the advice and nice example. John, I just had to try and see if I could make it on my own. There were a couple screw ups on the way but I was able to fix them.

Thanks to Outpost75 for his thread on his little garden gun.

All up weight of the little feller is 4lbs 10oz.

[JoeJames]

I know the 38 S&W case is a tad wider than the 38 Special. Is the 38 short colt case the same diameter as 38 Special/357 magnum case, and is that why you are calling it 38 Short Colt? Being lazy here and not taking the time to check on the 38 short colt cartridge. BTW I greatly admire your mechanical ability. I would be bugging the fire out of you if you lived here in NE Arkansas.

[tbx-4]

.38 Short Colt begat the .38 Long Colt which begat the .38 Spl. All the dimensions are the same except the case length. The .357 mag came from the .38 Spl but has a slightly thicker rim and case wall.

Cool, huh?

Thanks for the kind words. My work doesn't compare to John Taylor's and a lot of other guys here but I try. I really don't have that much experience either. I bought this old lathe just over a year ago to do the Trapdoor/.357 mag conversion and just bought a little welder to do this last conversion. Learning as I go. Oh, and I'm 59 yo, so no spring chicken.

[cold1]

Nice project!

[JoeJames]

.38 Short Colt begat the .38 Long Colt which begat the .38 Spl. All the dimensions are the same except the case length. The .357 mag came from the .38 Spl but has a slightly thicker rim and case wall.

Cool, huh?

Beyond cool. Course the 357 is @1/10" longer just to keep the dim folk from firing it up in ancient hand-ejectors. Years ago I had a junker Rem RB, and came up with a 50-70 Naval barrel (not truly 50-70 but the short carbine 50-70 round), and had my gunsmith fit them together, and I used cut down 50-70 brass from Dixie Gun Company. Kind of proud of it, but traded it off about 30 years ago - dern it. Yours is so much more impressive.

[Outpost75]

Great project. Thanks for sharing!

[Nueces]

Nicely done! I enjoy seeing fellows do real work on the old flat bed lathes (like my Myford Super 7B). Back in the 70s, I visited the Austin Texas gun shop of Buster Kreuz, who had done work for generations of Texas Rangers, including Frank Hamer. His machine tools were all Atlas, including two long bed lathes with the small 3/4" spindle bores. All his barrel work was done between centers or with one end chucked as you did.

[kbstenberg]

I wondered why stubed barrels guns were so expensive. Now i know why.

[Texas by God]

Great work. Those Rossi shotguns are sleepers waiting to be transformed. Trim and light, I like them.

[Jedman]

I like it ! I like seeing these projects done without all the machines to make parts and make modifications. Thinking things out will almost always give you a way to do what you want with what you have to work with.
Stories I have read say J M Browning made his first gun around age 10 out of scrap metal and pieces from the scrap bin from his fathers shop.

Jedman

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Nice! What was the final weight?

[tbx-4]

All up weight: 4lbs 10oz

[Harleysboss]

Neat little rifle you got there. I've got a skinner peep sight that would look sweet on that one. It's the "860" model, meaning the hole spacing is .860. Has a radius base to fit to your round barrel. PM if you have any interest.