"extreme plinking", I like that!
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That is pretty cool. Does it get classified as a DD once built?
I'd love to see more of this project as it comes along! Talk about an ambitious build!
Working on my cleaning kit. It's the little things like this that can be easily forgotten when tackling a heckin big project like this. It will be a while before I can send off the barrel to the maker, so I'm doing little stuff to make life easier down the road. I picked up a Harbor Freight 7x10" lathe specifically to do this project. I have never used a lathe in my life and I gotta say, this harbor freight piece of junk has been making learning a chore. I'm slowly getting there though. The brush is a stiff nylon that I cut down and inserted into a fitting I made. The threaded inserts were turned, threaded, and pressed in to the brass tubing with a little heat. I then faced them once cool and locked in place. I made a bushing for the roller bearing and it's press fit into the rod with heat as well. I then polished everything from 220 grit to 600 and finished it off with polishing compound. It took a shine pretty good. I still have to make the English walnut handle and the jag, but it will be towards the end of the week when my 1" brass stock will be delivered. The jag will be around .930" in diameter. Once this is all done, I'll make a nice case for everything.
The jag is done. Took a long time, but I'm sure I can do it again faster with better results. This was a huge learning experience in how my lathe operates. I had major problems keeping it concentric, likely because the 1" stock wasn't chucked perfectly. I managed to get it concentric by threading it, and boring and threading a smaller piece of brass. It got me perfectly round, but I lost the dimension I wanted by a few thousandths. I might give this another go, now that I got an idea of what I'm doing. Still, it polished up nice and looks pretty. Now I need to make a handle to fit on the bearing and make a case.
Video on the cleaning kit
https://youtu.be/u7YTq0YufZU
Thanks for clearing that up. Too many rules out there to keep everything straight. I wasn't sure if because of it being a new build even though it's BP if that would change anything.
The cleaning kit looks amazing too. You have made a piece of brass into a little functioning work of art.
No worries, nothing like a bunch of BS laws to make it impossible to tell what is and isn't legal.
And thank you! It's definitely turning out better than I expected
So, I turned this 4 bore solid to get an idea on what bullet design I want. I won't be making bullets myself as my lathe can't hold the tolerances like a swiss lathe can. I'm still not sure if I want brass or copper solids yet. I'm definitely having a mold made for lead though. Here are the specs for the solid here, .950", 1.48" long, 4.8 oz / 2100 grains. I was aiming for an even 2000, but my math may be off. Or it could be my scale. I tried weighing it on my digital powder scale, but it maxed it out, so I used my wifes food scale. Will weigh it at work on a calibrated scale.
.22-50, .45-70, and my 12 Gauge from Hell solid for scale
So, to fund this project I was planning on selling my kit car. By some strange cosmic coincidence, I was scrolling through Facebook and got to the kit car group, and none other than Bailey Bradshaw himself posted in the group, looking for the kit car that I happen to have. What are the freaking odds of this!? So, I talked to Mr. Bradshaw and after some discussion, he'll be delivering me my 4 bore when he comes to pick up the car I am freaking ecstatic. What a world.
Fun stuff! A friend finished building a double ten bore recently, and we shot it the past couple weekends. He got it regulated to shoot under 2" at 100 yards. At 16.5#, it's a handful to shoot, but the weight deals with recoil nicely. I would need a shooting staff to shoot it much, but he used it off hand on our trail walk last weekend, and only missed one target. Plays hell on the targets, though. He bought a 8 bore double this past week that should be fun. I look forward to seeing your finished product!
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
Sits between 20 & 30 mm CANNON used in AA/aircraft? No way for me.
KS 23M Rus version
Last edited by popper; 04-26-2021 at 08:36 PM.
Whatever!
TR Roosevelt wrote a book about hunting in Africa. One of the guns was a 4 bore, Good read, informative, not PC. Often the shooter of the 4 bore had a gun bearer standing behind him to hold his shoulders and to keep him from fly backwards on his butt.
https://archive.org/details/africangametrail02roos
You now touching off a 4 ounce bullet is going to hurt..... even at 1050 fps....... Fun , But painful ....... On a second note, Pretty sure CBE in OZ still does a 4 bore mold...
It's great when you get told "DO IT!" like that, person building for you wants your kit car; that's just great
Looks like a fun project, but now my shoulder hurts. Have fun with it.
My understanding is that over .50 bore does not automatically classify something as DD. The fact that your gun is a replica of a historic dangerous game rifle and not used with "anti-personnel" ammo (exploding, incendiary, gas, etc.) should make it Title I. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
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 |