Rifle from Scratch

[TRX]

I've wanted to build a bolt-action rifle from scratch for a long time. At least, machine the receiver and bolt; I might wimp out and buy a barrel for it.

The other day came across Raymond Benwood's 10-pdf set "A Guide to the Drilling, Reaming, and Broaching a Bolt Action Receiver at Home". It's an illustrated guide to building a 98 Mauser receiver from a chunk of round bar stock.

Benwood's guide answered a lot of questions I had, and the Mauser is certainly a fine design, but are there any other DIY guides out there? Benwood wanted to use a Mauser bolt and bits in his receiver, which means it's far more complex than a modern "piece of pipe" design like a Remington 700 or Savage.

[yondering]

The Mauser is certainly a most excellent design, and often copied, but it's definitely complex from a machining standpoint. I read somewhere that to build a true Mauser 98 style action today, the machining would be so expensive, that the rifle would be basically un-marketable. It would certainly be awesome to have your own home built Mauser action though!

The Rem 700 might be one of the easiest to copy, if you have one already you might be able to copy the dimensions, and have a finished product in hand to compare your work to.

Don't forget to consider heat treat. Hopefully, when you have it heat treated, the action won't warp!

[gzig5]

There is a ton of info and home builds here

http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

If you register, don't have send money, several more catagories will become available. In particular is the Projects section. there are a lot of interesting builds going on over there.

[TRX]

I don't have a 98 on hand, but I do have a P17 Enfield I could disassemble and use for basic dimensions.

I reigstered at the homegunsmith.com site, but there's nothing much visible.

[TRX]

As a question of design, my rifle-disassembly book shows a number of Savage models that have bolts assembled out of tubing instead of solid forgings. They have a front section with lugs pinned to the bolt, and behind that, another lugged section that appears to swivel on the bolt, apparently staying fixed in the raceways. I don't have access to a Savage to inspect one directly.

What's the purpose of the two-piece bolt head?

[Frank46]

From what I've heard the two piece bolt head allows the locking lugs to seat evenly in the seats in the receiver. What I do know is that my 110fp in 308 shoots quite well. And the two piece bolt head allows you to swap bolt heads like 308 to 223. But
you will have to change out the magazine assembly. The 110fp I spoke about is their long action with magazine designed for the shorter 308 cartridge. I believe that midway sells barrels, and bolt heads not sure about the magazine assemblies. Frank

[TRX]

I've seen various methods suggested for cutting the raceways. Broach, shaper, EDM.

Today I had another thought. Why couldn't I cut the raceways with a single-tooth broach? That's how rifling is cut - you use a single tooth, and adjust shims to increase the depth every time you pull the rifling tool through.

In this case, assuming a 3/4 inch bolt, there's room for a 3/4 inch mandrel, threads, and I could have room for a hole for a round-shanked bit and some threads for an adjustment screw to run it out. Heck, I'd have room for several bits on a two or three foot mandrel... hmm, I probably don't want to exceed my press stroke, though.


Looking at the P17, the left raceway runs the full length of the receiver, but the right raceway is almost entirely milled away - just a bit present behind the threads, and a short piece at the back. The bottom of the right lug rides on metal, but the side and top of the lug are free through the cartridge area.

I started building an action wrench this afternoon, it'll take a few days of round tuits to finish it off.

[heathydee]

Get into the homegunsmith "your projects" section . There towards the top of page one is my first draft of a home built bolt action . I have just KaBoomed it in the interests of knowledge after the thing survived factory ammo and proof loads, and even gross overloads .

[TRX]

I don't see any "your projects" link anywhere. There's nothing useful visible unless you send them $35.

[heathydee]

TRX. You should just have to register to see that section . It is freely available to a public member . A subscriber has access to the library and a Community Pillar has access to a little more. bothe of these membership levels cost money.

[TRX]

I am registered. It has Messages - Newcomers Corner - Roderus Custom Gunworks - Soapbox Podium - Black Powder. The black powder subforum looks like it has a fair amount of traffic, but it's not something I'm interested in at the moment.

[heathydee]

I would try giving it a couple of days. sometimes Frank , the site owner is often a little busy . For the meantime here is a picture of my action which was buillt to destroy in order to test the design and the materials used . This is a two lug mid-locking design . No need for trigger ,extractor , striker etc at this time . The mark 2 will incorporate those features. I set it off with a weight falling down a tube. I am aiming at a 7.62 x39 size action but to proove the concept I screwed a 6.5x55 junker barrel onto the action. As it stands here this action has withstood every factory load I could throw at it and several gross overloads with only a slight increase in headspace.

[TRX]

I have an Eddystone P17 Enfield, Kuhnhausen's Mauser book, and a "Sporting Rifle Disassembly" book for reference material.

Rather than try a 100% home-designed action, I'm going to base things loosely on the Enfield. The primary changes will be things that will simplify the machining - Savage M110 style bolt, barrel lug, and barrel nut, Remington-type recessed bolt stop.

I like the Mauser-style non-rotating extractor the P17 uses, but conventional hook-type extractors are a lot simpler. I'm not planning to be using the rifle around anything that might bite a leg off or shoot back if I have an extraction problem.

Hmm... the primary project is to build a working action; the secondary project is to complete a bolt-action carbine in .45-70 for cast bullet handloads of low to medium pressure.

[PatMarlin]

Subscribing with great interest.

Awesome thread. Please keep it going... :drinks:

[trevj]

There is a pictorial thread over there showing some of the simplified design features of the German Peoples Rifle(Volkssturm gewehr 1), a cheap, last ditch armament for the masses.

Really straightforward design principles, truly 180 degrees from the way that German designers were accustomed to thinking, I'm sure!

The design allows the use of two locking lugs at the front of the bolt, plus the bolt handle as a third lug, and the lugways can be cut with an end mill.

Not pretty, but a solid prospect for a limited home machine shop.

Cheers
Trev

[PatMarlin]

Perfect.

[scrapcan]

I just ran across this set of links from JPFO

it is how to drill, ream, and broach a bolt action receiver.

http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/boltaction.htm

[PatMarlin]

Awesome. Just downloaded them all.