hmmm
I would also be interested in that homegunsmithing link!
The main interest in the open bolt fixed firing pin is that it is the most simple action. Essentially, a power source (spring or rubber band) and a nail is the mechanism, but having a trip mechanism (i.e. trigger) to hold the potential force in the spring steady until you are ready to shoot is such a basic modification that i would include it in plans for the ultimate 'simple gun'.
I mentioned it before, i think, but the recent SAR article on the weapons of the Irish Underground really piqued my interest. Some of the underground stuff was pretty well professionally machined. But I was most interested in the question of what can virtually anyone make with little to no professional machining skills?
Of course, making ammunition goes beyond my metalworking skills, but that's a seperate issue for a later date.
But, i wanted to be sure it was actually legal to make one at all before I got too interested in this topic.
So the image in my head right now has the ultimate simple gun as consisting of:
a barrel and chamber(*),
the bolt with a nubbin for firing pin,
a mainspring,
a simple trigger/trip mechanism,
a wire or otherwise minimal stock.
(*) for this concept, since this is not an actual underground resistance project nor do i want to break any law at all, i concede some ideas which onne might forego in a 'real' situation; and would be using a rifled barrel of legal length. Also would have to make sure the OAL is legal and the receiver is engraved with necessary info, etc etc.
Maybe a single 26 inch long tube with an internal diameter of 7.9mm can function as the receiver, stock, and barrel shroud all at once? The front 16 inches can be filled with a barrel liner from Brownell's, then the chamber reamed, then a section of the tube cut away for a loading/ejecting port and behind that the bolt/spring (which all have to fit into a .315 inner diameter) are held in with hose clamps or something, and the remainder of the tube is the arm of the shoulder stock; place a pad on it for your shoulder and you have the most rudimentary rifle. Just ideas at this point.
C-
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