What I've been up to...

excellent !
Now thats how to bush the firing pin hole .
Seems a person is having to make jigs and hold down blocks for every process .More time in set up than actual work on the project
That bolt will superior in every way to the original
 
My goodness! Beautiful work! Hope your employer has enough brains to keep you. My machine shop expertise consists pretty much of a grinder, cutting torch, and arc welder.

So nice to see work like yours. Thanks for sharing!
 
Ha Ha, I don't think so, look at the pictures on his first post, that is the stuff of wet dreams, for gunsmiths/ tinkers.
Mind you , same as the gun , it is the talent behind the controls, But good stuff to work with sure makes things go good.
My hat is off to you sir.
fingers284 said:
Is that just a common "round column" Mill-drill machine that you are using...if so that is the best example of critical machining I have ever seen come from one...very well done!!!
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marshall said:
Ha Ha, I don't think so, look at the pictures on his first post, that is the stuff of wet dreams, for gunsmiths/ tinkers.
Mind you , same as the gun , it is the talent behind the controls, But good stuff to work with sure makes things go good.
My hat is off to you sir.
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Indeed.

As the old saying does go, "It's the Indian, not the arrow!"

With due care and an understanding of the tools, you can accomplish an awful lot! Having a bunch of good tools only makes that process different, and only sometimes, easier.
One of the most common whinges from the apprentices at work, used to be that "if I was on THAT lathe instead of this one, it would work out!". So I'd put them on the other lathe, and it still the poor results. Then to demonstrate that the original lathe worked just fine. Then to put them back at the practice! :)
 
leelad said:
The thought has definitely crossed my mind... If I ever get my hands on an original take down, I'll happily draw it up!
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I was surfing the web looking for ideas relating to an 1886 Browning project, and found a link in to a directory of the Turnbull's Restorations files of photos of an original 1886 that they did up for Tom Selleck the actor.
One of the series of photos show their welding and machining of the action to convert it to a takedown.

Pretty sure if you did an image search for Selleck 1886 turnbullrestorations.com you should be able to find. Not gonna post a direct link in to their server files. PM if you can't find it, though.
 
Yes its definitely no mill/drill.

How do I describe it? It's a Microcut branded (Taiwanese) Vertical mill, similar to a Bridgeport and has been converted from new with a Southwestern Industries "Programable DRO" which gives the user the ability to program X,Y coordinate cycles. Its been fitted with AC servo motors and ball screws (X,Y axes).

It's marketed to small shops looking for a new manual milling machine with the sales pitch of "may as well be able to program a contour..."
We have a number of "beefs" with the way its put together but it does fit a niche in our shop.
For someones garage, it'd be dream come true, in a shop, its a toy... I wont be buying one when the time comes but it's definitely allowed me to do stuff that would have been a pain on our straight manual machines.
 
pmatuk: I agree! Guys do bush these and get away with it seems sketchy to me... This way I have control of the material used, the firing pin hole size, ejector style, and the fit to the receiver (the original one had about .02" side to side play, this one is hand fitted with maybe .002 and runs like glass! :D)

Kjohn: My employer and I get along quite well, I am well looked after. That said, I'm not alone in the shop, we have some very talented guys here!

TrevJ, building an 86 is on my bucket list... I also have plans half drawn up for an external hammer, pump action guide gun built around the 45-70 cartridge! but it'll prob be a couple years till I'm set up to make those.

edit: I found that Turnbull project... WOW! Beautiful work as always!!
 
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you might have to modify the cartridge elevator/guide as it may not line up the new bottle neck cartridge to enter the chamber correctly as these 30 wild cats were run in single shot platforms from my reading.And then again it might work with what you have ,was just thinking thats all
 
Another late night into this project this past weekend and things are coming together...

Making my chamber reamer. This isn't the way to make a precision rifle reamer, but for this project, It'll save me ~$300 and probably 4 months of waiting on PTG to grind me one...

Profile turned


Milling set up


Primary Flutes milled


Ready for heat treat.


Polishing the 700P barrel post re-contour(Has anyone else done this? I was surprised how soft the steel was, I took the chamber end stub and whacked it against some 4140.
The 4140 didnt even mar but the barrel stub was deeply gouged... Easy on tooling at the factory I suppose...)


Chamber cut! (It seems I take pictures less and less, as the night wears on...)


Came out pretty nice actually!


One last push to finish the new firing pin...


Hand tight bbl and re-assembly for test firing.


Torquing on the barrel for test firing.


Now to make some ammo...



Lights out, 2:30am
 
pmatuk: I agree, I'm going to see right away if feeding will be an issue. I intend to make a new elevator to accommodate longer OAL rounds anyway.
(It'd sure be nice to be able to push 150gr rn bullets out of this thing... Time will tell. I've got some 130gr speers coming to play with as well.)
But I realize feed lips/ramps and loading gate door may also need modifying...

Fun and games.... Should make for a really fun little carbine though!
 
Man, when I see work like this I question whether I picked the right career. Im a handy person but I've got zero experience with mills and metal lathes, I'm more of a wood and welding kinda guy. I've got two sons, maybe I should push one in this direction! Lol

Very nice work OP!
 
I have a lathe and have made some pretty cool things with it, but when I see what you are doing, it just amazes me and it’s like watching an artist create a masterpiece.
I too think maybe a machinist would have been better for me than plumbing and heating.
I am a very mechanical guy and love to make things but this is what I truly would love to be able to achieve.
We will live through you and be in awe of your masterful skills. Keep up the great work
 
Suther said:
Man, when I see work like this I question whether I picked the right career. Im a handy person but I've got zero experience with mills and metal lathes, I'm more of a wood and welding kinda guy. I've got two sons, maybe I should push one in this direction! Lol

Very nice work OP!
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Never too late to pick it up as a hobby.

This fellow here retired as a civil engineer before he decided he needed something to do. http://www.telusplanet.net/public/celias/TheStory.htm Well worth going through the stuff he posted there on his site.
 
this is one of my favorite threads.

makes me want to buy a milling machine.

I have done some milling operations on a lathe, using the tool holder to hold the material and the tool in the chuck but its really limited what you can do that way.
 
I put in one more session, and this girl is off to the range!

Due to the relatively light barrel contour (just under .6"dia. at muzzle) I decided to make my own front sight so I could cut a shallower than standard dovetail in the barrel and still have a sight that looked like it belonged.

lil nugget of 4140.


Making it square...


Cutting the dovetail...


Cutting ramp angles...


VEEEERRRY carefully, cutting the blade to width (.062")... Have I ever mentioned how much I love Kurt vices?? I LOVE Kurt vices!!


Hand ground front radius and we's got us a sight!


Now to cut the dovetails into the barrel...


Fitted sight!


Assembled rifle, ready for test firing! The rear sight is the leftover "test" sight from my highwall project. Should shoot low on this one, but again, it'll give me a base line for what I'll need.


For making brass I made two dies. The first, a finishing die with a 40deg shoulder. I quickly found that to be a little aggressive so I made a step die with a 20deg shoulder that sizes about 2/3 to finish.

"Step die" on left, "finish die" on right.


The first dozen rounds, ready to go to the range. I'm pretty stoked about this!


Range report to follow...
 
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