I know we have a few gunsmiths, both professional and amateur( only meaning not done for hire) on this site. Thought it would be fun to hear about some of their most interesting projects/builds they have recently completed. I have always enjoyed threads about these projects and thought it might be interesting to hear from some of our creative members.
Lord willing, I'll get to these that came from a friend someday. A 1917 Remington and a couple of 98 Mausers.
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There is a post I am doing in the Muzzleloading section.
It was a expensive rifle kit that was put together totally bad.
I can't post pictures on the forum.
So the rifle owner is showing some of the work I have done so far.
But a lot of viewers only want to see the finished product.
Not what it took to get it to that point , or how bad it started off.
Working on building several things - custom conversion of 1851 Colt Navy to .32-20 cartridge, build up of two dummy guns - MG42 and ZB30 from parts kits, and a custom .300 PRC on a Savage 110 action, heavy barrel, and Oryx stock.
Latest project was making a barrel for a Beretta Pico. This is a little 380 auto that the customer wanted a barrel with a slower twist of 1 in 32" with the idea that the bullet would tumble when it hit the target. My thought was that the bullet would tumble as soon as it left the barrel. I thought I gave a high enough quote but it took over 12 hours to make. Started off with a piece of 30 caliber Douglas blank that was cut off when make a rifle barrel. Bored and reamed it out and turned it down enough to fit in a tube that would give enough length to hold in the rifling machine. From there it was just removing metal to match the old barrel, lots of different set-ups to make the cuts. The job before that was installing a new barrel on a BAR. The locking lugs on a BAR are part of the barrel so the old barrel is cut off and the part with the locking lugs is bored out and threaded for the new barrel. Then the barrel is contoured to the old barrel profile and the gas port is dovetailed and silver soldered on. Some of the jobs are a bit of a challenge but that's what make life interesting.
As I'm reading this I've got two Mauser's sitting beside my desk that I just finished the last parts on today. One is a "military" style 98 in 7x57 that was made from various parts left over from earlier projects. The other one is a sporter based on a Turkish 98 with a 6.5x55 barrel. Builds like this one were popular a decade or two ago. Putting a Swedish barrel on a Turk Mauser was called a "Twede". I had a short chambered 6.5x55 sporter barrel with small ring threads sitting around for years so I finally decided to put it to use. Hopefully next weekend I can test fire them and sight them in.
Box-'O-Parts Hopkins & Allen Model 3922 Jr. Schuetzen
restored and upgraded
Wow that is nice.Originally Posted by 2152hq
Box-'O-Parts Hopkins & Allen Model 3922 Jr. Schuetzen
restored and upgraded
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
Boxes on boxes! But right now rotating between restoring a Marlin 66M for a dear old friend. Fitting a Uberti barrel on my ASM Walker and working on a family hand down IJ 55 32 making and fitting new cylinder pin, setting back barrel to fix the .033" barrel/cyl gap found, slicking up guts and maybe one or two more times inside I will get the hand just right. I am getting REAL close to retirement and I have made real sure Larry gots some piles to play with to enhance the many range trips in his future.
Fantastic !! Keep them coming,
The Bitza Ballard. Started 15+ years ago with nothing but a Stevens .28-30-120 barrel that had been sleeved and threaded to fit a Ballard. Found on evilBay for chicken feed. Real nice bore. Over the years two different cast "parts guns" yielded enough bits to make one complete plain-trigger action that locks up correctly. Amazingly the barrel clocked correctly with no trimming! Made new lever screw, link, and firing pin. Found a rare .28-30 extractor among my Stevens bits. What's the chances of that? And what was it doing in the Stevens parts pile? Forearm was easy, I mostly collect Stevens 44s. Buttstock from Gunbroker; I think it's from a #7 but not sure. Beach front sight, replica tang from MVA. Not glamorous to look at, but it's together and has been function-fired. Still need a buttplate. Bought an expensive batch of UMC brass a couple of years ago. Cast a batch of bullets over the winter. Will get out to try it when (if) the doctors can fix my back so I can walk far enough to set targets.
Cognitive Dissident
Ruger OM 357 BlackHawk bought as a project gun some yrs ago . Had a scope mount hole D&T'd in top strap.
Finally got around to it late last yr.
Converted to 45Colt. Cylinder rechambered. Bbl replaced with 5 1/2" NM 45 cal Ruger bbl that was turned down/tapered in profile.
Colt style Target front sight base and pinned blade added.
Steel Ruger 'Old Army' grip frame added. Steel Ejector Rod housing added along with Donut style ejector rod head.
Original Ruger Adj Rear Sights removed and space filled in. Top Strap then reshaped and contoured to S&W M&P fixed sight style.
New grips made from Am Walnut.
Power Custom Bisley style hammer fitted to action.
Shop made custom trigger in European Revolver style. Trigger return plunger and spring moved to inside grip frame so it does not show behind trigger.
Polished and in the white in the pics except for the cylinder still needed polishing.
Since the pics taken it has been finished polished, engraved and rust blued.
Shoots well.
This was a restoration project I took on a while back. It is a small ring Mauser that someone had barreled with a takeoff Remington barrel and chambered in 250 Savage. The rifle had a Fajen sporter stock with a plastic fore end tip and pistol grip cap. I re barreled it with a Douglas barrel and re chambered it to same 250 Savage chambering. I then bedded the action and free floated the barrel. The plastic parts were removed and replaced with some mahogany I had on hand. there was enough wood to allow reshaping to what I thought was a more pleasing look. Sanding and filling took place and a rubbed Truoil finish was applied. I was very happy with the results and and then worked up a good venison harvesting load. initial groups were approximately 3/4" at 100 yds. this turned into a nice little walking around rifle. I'm one of those in the category of amateur status.
Nice work, Hdskip. Nice stock finish. You're beyond amateur, I think.
DG
Thanks for the kind words. I just don't do this professionally. I'm just a retired fellow having a good time enjoying my shop.
My most interesting/challenging project was re-barreling my T. Turner 500-450 3 1/4" BPE double. Too many cordite powered nitro-for-black loads had severely washed the barrels. I started by making a mono-block then turned the barrel profiles and pressed and TIG welded the barrels into the mono-block. Along with all the usual small parts I had to make a fixture to hold the material to make the top rib and one to hold and regulate the barrels while I soldered them up. I only worked on it when I wanted to so it took several months to complete but I think it turned out OK.
BIG OR SMALL I LIKE THEM ALL, 577 TO 22 HORNET.
Wow! An amazing amount of talent...and just down the road from me. That's the stuff of the Old English gunmakers.
DG
That's really nice work.
2152hq; you possess a God Given Talent; excellent skills in metal and wood. Beautiful workmanship. Really like the crown on the now 45 Colt.
I did the same thing on a Winchester model 21 in 416-500. Recoil was a bit hard. I threaded the mono block for the barrels.My most interesting/challenging project was re-barreling my T. Turner 500-450 3 1/4" BPE double. Too many cordite powered nitro-for-black loads had severely washed the barrels. I started by making a mono-block then turned the barrel profiles and pressed and TIG welded the barrels into the mono-block. Along with all the usual small parts I had to make a fixture to hold the material to make the top rib and one to hold and regulate the barrels while I soldered them up. I only worked on it when I wanted to so it took several months to complete but I think it turned out OK.
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| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
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