Any cool home builds?

Thank you very much now I can go burn my brain on some other puzzle.

Mauser lover said:

So... how did you proof the .30-06? I would like to build a falling block or rolling block either this winter or next.

Beautiful, by the way. Does anyone have more pics?

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I proofed it with a German proof round. I worked for Les at the time and I got the proof round from Manfred Kind, a German Arms dealer who was in the country for the Shot Show. This was in 2007. Don't know how Manfred got the thing past customs. Probably the same way he got a box of Cuban Cohiba Esplendito's into the country. The round came in its own little sealed package that was marked 7.62X63. The case appeared to be steel and the bullet had a reddish tint. I assume for safety reasons. There were warnings in German on the package.

Anyway we did the math converting Metric to PSI and it came out to 85,000 PSI. The Germans are particularly brutal when it comes to proof test pressures. Manfred told me that the 9X19s we sent him were proofed at 60,000PSI. So on that fateful day, in my backyard, I tied the thing to a tire, attached a lanyard to the trigger, stepped around the corner, prayed like hell and yanked the string.

The gun roared like a 300 magnum and I peeked around the corner to see if seven years worth of work was still in one piece. It was! The hammer was stiff to cock, a rolling block's way of telling you your load it too hot. The extractor did eject the case.Ten more factory rounds were fired ( with the lanyard !) and I took it back to work and took a headspace measurement. It was unchanged. The fired cases showed no signs of stretching and less that .001 expansion. They can be run into a full length die with almost no effort. I declared that it had "passed proof."

So much for the old argument that rollers are a "springy" action.

Tark, those guns are awesome! Excellent work.

tark said:

I proofed it with a German proof round. I worked for Les at the time and I got the proof round from Manfred Kind, a German Arms dealer who was in the country for the Shot Show. This was in 2007. Don't know how Manfred got the thing past customs. Probably the same way he got a box of Cuban Cohiba Esplendito's into the country. The round came in its own little sealed package that was marked 7.62X63. The case appeared to be steel and the bullet had a reddish tint. I assume for safety reasons. There were warnings in German on the package.

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Bummer. I was really hoping that you were going to say that you found some load data and you loaded some up yourself. Now I'll have to go find some proofing ammo.

Do you have pics of the innards of your roller you would like to post? Did you start with any drawings from Remington or did you pretty much design it yourself?

Mauser lover said:

Do you have pics of the innards of your roller you would like to post? Did you start with any drawings from Remington or did you pretty much design it yourself?

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It is a direct copy of a Remington, with the following differences: The breech block and hammer are narrower, just a little wider than the 30-06 round itself. The sidewalls on the receiver are thicker and the pins larger in diameter. Remington pins are 7/16", mine are 9/16". All springs are coil. I did this to prove to some people that a properly made rolling block can handle any cartridge. The rifle is accurate, but it would be a rather heavy hunting rifle, at 10 pounds 9 ounces!

Purdy, thanks!

Are you a professional machinist, a dude with hobbyist machine tools, or... ? Obviously not just a dude with files and sandpaper, but this is obviously fantastic work. Beautiful.

I knew nothing about machining until I went to work for Les in 1992. I learned what little I know from him. It really doesn't take much skill when copying a rolling block, the things are stupid simple.

To answer your question, I guess you could call me a hobbyist that has limited machining skills. I made the guns on a bench top Smithy combination machine. I kind of learned by trial and error. One of the first things I learned was this: Carbide cutters and bench top machines do not like one another. Not a stable enough platform. I broke a lot of expensive cutters

Is there any specific 'order' you built them in. Like who is the oldest in the picture.

The 45-70 is the oldest. Built in the mid nineties. The 30-06 was built from 2000-2007. The pistols were sprinkled into that same time period.

Bad back has kept me from doing much work these past 12 years.

tark said:

The 45-70 is the oldest. Built in the mid nineties. The 30-06 was built from 2000-2007. The pistols were sprinkled into that same time period.

Bad back has kept me from doing much wort these past 12 years.

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Sorry to hear that. You have a real talent for the work!

I am in awe. Outstanding work, gentlemen!

Rubber_Duck said:

In the spirit of 80 percent lowers I decided those are too easy, anybody can do those, so I made myself what I call the Mad Max blaster by welding a lower receiver together out of steel plates

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I like the Hole Saw muzzle break!