a_canadian
Member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2015
- Messages
- 189
I posted a bit about this thing recently in a thread about 'canid defense' but of course the post was deleted, as it was in a non-firearm thread. Silly me. I think of it as a cane, first, made in advance of any real need, considering that some day I may require some support while walking and may want that support to offer a single shot defensive utility, beyond merely helping take the load off a bum knee.
There were a couple of false starts along the way, as my rather weak engineering skills resulted in mechanisms which were overly complicated and weak. What I settled upon, finishing this thing last year, is a .22lr cane made for my height and arm length, with a handle carved to be comfortable, and only one externally obvious sign that it might be more than a walking stick: a small button in a slot to enable unlocking the breech. A slice from an iron pipe forms the locking lug, and is drilled and pinned in 5 places along the 6061 aluminum tube and in 2 places through to the 7075 aluminum plug. which sits above the barrel. A stainless bolt provides the breech face, a magnetically-retained firing pin floating in a hole drilled along its edge. The barrel is a cut-off from some .22lr rifle, forget which model, and is 11" long, suspended between the bronze breech block and a 6061 plug at the muzzle end. 23 belleville washers provide baffles, after an initial 7075 K baffle - I didn't feel like machining a long string of K baffles for a walking stick, seemed excessive, so instead used domed washers with 8mm holes in them. A threaded aluminum end cap holds the baffles in place, and a crutch tip with a bit of very springy foam inserted acts to trap some noise and all the smoke. It's very, very quiet.
Not bad for accuracy either, though sighting down the tube doesn't make for optimum consistency, varying with lighting. I can hold a bit over an inch group at 10 yards. I considered embedding a couple of strong magnets and making a slim scope mount to match the outer curve of the 1" tube, mounting a 2x pistol scope halfway down by just slapping it into place... but that takes away from the spontenaity of the thing. It's really a short range defensive weapon with minimal power, and something fun for plinking now and then. Takes about 20lbs of force to cock the striker rod using the button which is carved flush with the handle. A small steel trigger pops down when cocked. It can be de-cocked by pressing firmly on the button and releasing the trigger, then the button.
The bronze breech block is embedded with 5 delrin buttons to make for smooth mounting and dismounting, preventing wear on the aluminum tube. A 1/8" steel pin with a step cut out drops in behind the locking lug when it's fully tightened, preventing it coming loose until I lift the button and rotate the other way. I use it with CCI Quiet or CCI Semi-Auto Quiet, makes no difference in perceived loudness - it's about like a small, sharp cough. Glad to have this frustrating project behind me. Had I more training in engineering I could no doubt have made a mechanism with greater sophistication - as it is, it's just a pin sear which the trigger pulls out of a groove in a 3/8" diameter stainless rod, which is pushed by a heavy-ish spring to smack into the firing pin. Some delrin rod fills much of the handle end of the tube to guide the rod and spring and hold the trigger and sear in place. Kind of a mess. But it works. Not a single misfire in hundreds of shots. And shooting it into the grass in front of neighbours, everyone was startled, with one friend asking "is that a pellet gun?" He was very surprised to find out an actual bullet had been fired, as it was no louder than the beer tab he'd popped open a moment before.
There were a couple of false starts along the way, as my rather weak engineering skills resulted in mechanisms which were overly complicated and weak. What I settled upon, finishing this thing last year, is a .22lr cane made for my height and arm length, with a handle carved to be comfortable, and only one externally obvious sign that it might be more than a walking stick: a small button in a slot to enable unlocking the breech. A slice from an iron pipe forms the locking lug, and is drilled and pinned in 5 places along the 6061 aluminum tube and in 2 places through to the 7075 aluminum plug. which sits above the barrel. A stainless bolt provides the breech face, a magnetically-retained firing pin floating in a hole drilled along its edge. The barrel is a cut-off from some .22lr rifle, forget which model, and is 11" long, suspended between the bronze breech block and a 6061 plug at the muzzle end. 23 belleville washers provide baffles, after an initial 7075 K baffle - I didn't feel like machining a long string of K baffles for a walking stick, seemed excessive, so instead used domed washers with 8mm holes in them. A threaded aluminum end cap holds the baffles in place, and a crutch tip with a bit of very springy foam inserted acts to trap some noise and all the smoke. It's very, very quiet.
Not bad for accuracy either, though sighting down the tube doesn't make for optimum consistency, varying with lighting. I can hold a bit over an inch group at 10 yards. I considered embedding a couple of strong magnets and making a slim scope mount to match the outer curve of the 1" tube, mounting a 2x pistol scope halfway down by just slapping it into place... but that takes away from the spontenaity of the thing. It's really a short range defensive weapon with minimal power, and something fun for plinking now and then. Takes about 20lbs of force to cock the striker rod using the button which is carved flush with the handle. A small steel trigger pops down when cocked. It can be de-cocked by pressing firmly on the button and releasing the trigger, then the button.
The bronze breech block is embedded with 5 delrin buttons to make for smooth mounting and dismounting, preventing wear on the aluminum tube. A 1/8" steel pin with a step cut out drops in behind the locking lug when it's fully tightened, preventing it coming loose until I lift the button and rotate the other way. I use it with CCI Quiet or CCI Semi-Auto Quiet, makes no difference in perceived loudness - it's about like a small, sharp cough. Glad to have this frustrating project behind me. Had I more training in engineering I could no doubt have made a mechanism with greater sophistication - as it is, it's just a pin sear which the trigger pulls out of a groove in a 3/8" diameter stainless rod, which is pushed by a heavy-ish spring to smack into the firing pin. Some delrin rod fills much of the handle end of the tube to guide the rod and spring and hold the trigger and sear in place. Kind of a mess. But it works. Not a single misfire in hundreds of shots. And shooting it into the grass in front of neighbours, everyone was startled, with one friend asking "is that a pellet gun?" He was very surprised to find out an actual bullet had been fired, as it was no louder than the beer tab he'd popped open a moment before.
