Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,576
So far I have made four guns 'from scratch-' excepting some screws and the rifled barrel-liners. These guns weren't made with practicality in mind; they are simply fun projects done for my own amusement. I've done a number of builds where I modified an existing firearm, but that's a whole other subject. I've posted about a couple of them already but here they are in order.
45 ACP Derringer
This was the first. Originally it was going to be a .22, but there was so much metal there, and I had this 1911 barrel lying around... There was at least one seriously unexpected expense on this build- the Cobalt bit used to bore the hole for the barrel-liner cost about $50. Initially the gun was unreliable, and ai needed to modify the hammer and re-engineer the mainspring before it started going 'bang' every time I pulled the trigger on a live round. After a total of about 200 rounds everything looks and works just fine. The gun needs every one of it's 22 oz. to take some of the sting out of .45 ACP!
The second build was a single-shot .22 target pistol-
This gun is obviously based rather heavily on the first, and was fraught with issues. First, I couldn't for the life of me duplicate the lock on the first gun. I tried to do a cross-bolt lock and that worked for a while but then loosened up, so I installed the plunger-type lock at the rear of the barrel by the breach. Once that was sorted I discovered that the barrel handed to walk forward against the set-screws after a dozen rounds or so, causing unreliable ignition. So far this has been sorted by a liberal application of Loc-Tite around the barrel, but this is a temporary solution. I'll be changing out the handle eventually for a larger, better target grip. Been slowly adjusting the sights as the gun consistently shoots high. Can't fault the accuracy- the above group was fired standing/unsupported at the end of a long shooting session. The barrel-weight is free-loafing, BTW. Total weight of the gun is 24 ounces.
Build #3 was a .22 Derringer
This was a project to see how small I could make a gun. I underestimated myself; I can (and probably will) make one a lot smaller than this. Like the two before it this build had problems- mostly that I could not make a leaf-spring work in this gun. I solved the problem with a linear coil-spring fitted around the axis-screw of the hammer. It took three of them before I got one that I thought worked... until I got it to the range, where I discovered that the spring was too weak for reliable ignition and the firing pin was poorly located. With those things remedied it performed flawlessly on the last range trip, even with crappy bulk ammo. I used the same type of plunger-lock as the target pistol. Excepting the grips this gun is a mere 1/2" thick, and is only 3/4" across the grips. Accuracy is problematic with no real good way to mount sights...
Build #4- .22 Magnum Pistol
This is the latest build to-date, and it incorporates a lot of the features from the .22 derringer- the thin side-plates, plunger-type lock the linear coil-spring for the hammer. This was- knock-on-wood- the most trouble-free build so far. The only real issue was after the first test-shot I discovered that the breech-plate was not robust enough. I reinforced it with a pin made of .064 music-wire and it's fine now. A new feature is the narrow-tang grip-frame, which is fully enclosed by the grips. Note that in the photo there appears to be a big scratch on the fore-grip; it's actually a thread, not part of the wood. This build is almost finished- I still haven't mounted sights on it, and I plan to fit it with an extractor, which will be a first... The gun also needs to be properly blued, but that can wait until the end.
Over the course of these builds several things have become apparent. One is that I really want to get the milling-machine and metal-lathe set up. Another is that I cannot yet make an adequate chamber-reamer or finish a chamber decently; all the chambers that I reamed are sticky and no amount of honing or polishing has helped. If anyone has a .22LR or .22 Magnum chamber-reamer lying around that I can borrow...
Anyway, it's been a lot of fun so far, and I have plans for the future; at some point I'll make my first o/u two-shooter, likely based on the .22 Magnum pistol above and using a Remington-style selector. I will probably need to by a cheap Davis or Cobra derringer so I can copy the mechanism. Some day I want to build a Webley RIC clone chambered for a modern cartridge, possibly 9x19mm. I'd also eventually like to copy a S&W .38 Double-Action with modern materials and heat-treat, firing a wildcat .38 Special Short- slightly longer than .38 S&W and with a true .357 bore, and replicating .38 Special performance.
In the meantime I will continue to develop my skills and tools; not certain what the next build will be but given all the .22 caliber barrel-liner I have lying around it's a safe bet it will be a rimfire...
45 ACP Derringer
This was the first. Originally it was going to be a .22, but there was so much metal there, and I had this 1911 barrel lying around... There was at least one seriously unexpected expense on this build- the Cobalt bit used to bore the hole for the barrel-liner cost about $50. Initially the gun was unreliable, and ai needed to modify the hammer and re-engineer the mainspring before it started going 'bang' every time I pulled the trigger on a live round. After a total of about 200 rounds everything looks and works just fine. The gun needs every one of it's 22 oz. to take some of the sting out of .45 ACP!
The second build was a single-shot .22 target pistol-
This gun is obviously based rather heavily on the first, and was fraught with issues. First, I couldn't for the life of me duplicate the lock on the first gun. I tried to do a cross-bolt lock and that worked for a while but then loosened up, so I installed the plunger-type lock at the rear of the barrel by the breach. Once that was sorted I discovered that the barrel handed to walk forward against the set-screws after a dozen rounds or so, causing unreliable ignition. So far this has been sorted by a liberal application of Loc-Tite around the barrel, but this is a temporary solution. I'll be changing out the handle eventually for a larger, better target grip. Been slowly adjusting the sights as the gun consistently shoots high. Can't fault the accuracy- the above group was fired standing/unsupported at the end of a long shooting session. The barrel-weight is free-loafing, BTW. Total weight of the gun is 24 ounces.
Build #3 was a .22 Derringer
This was a project to see how small I could make a gun. I underestimated myself; I can (and probably will) make one a lot smaller than this. Like the two before it this build had problems- mostly that I could not make a leaf-spring work in this gun. I solved the problem with a linear coil-spring fitted around the axis-screw of the hammer. It took three of them before I got one that I thought worked... until I got it to the range, where I discovered that the spring was too weak for reliable ignition and the firing pin was poorly located. With those things remedied it performed flawlessly on the last range trip, even with crappy bulk ammo. I used the same type of plunger-lock as the target pistol. Excepting the grips this gun is a mere 1/2" thick, and is only 3/4" across the grips. Accuracy is problematic with no real good way to mount sights...
Build #4- .22 Magnum Pistol
This is the latest build to-date, and it incorporates a lot of the features from the .22 derringer- the thin side-plates, plunger-type lock the linear coil-spring for the hammer. This was- knock-on-wood- the most trouble-free build so far. The only real issue was after the first test-shot I discovered that the breech-plate was not robust enough. I reinforced it with a pin made of .064 music-wire and it's fine now. A new feature is the narrow-tang grip-frame, which is fully enclosed by the grips. Note that in the photo there appears to be a big scratch on the fore-grip; it's actually a thread, not part of the wood. This build is almost finished- I still haven't mounted sights on it, and I plan to fit it with an extractor, which will be a first... The gun also needs to be properly blued, but that can wait until the end.
Over the course of these builds several things have become apparent. One is that I really want to get the milling-machine and metal-lathe set up. Another is that I cannot yet make an adequate chamber-reamer or finish a chamber decently; all the chambers that I reamed are sticky and no amount of honing or polishing has helped. If anyone has a .22LR or .22 Magnum chamber-reamer lying around that I can borrow...
Anyway, it's been a lot of fun so far, and I have plans for the future; at some point I'll make my first o/u two-shooter, likely based on the .22 Magnum pistol above and using a Remington-style selector. I will probably need to by a cheap Davis or Cobra derringer so I can copy the mechanism. Some day I want to build a Webley RIC clone chambered for a modern cartridge, possibly 9x19mm. I'd also eventually like to copy a S&W .38 Double-Action with modern materials and heat-treat, firing a wildcat .38 Special Short- slightly longer than .38 S&W and with a true .357 bore, and replicating .38 Special performance.
In the meantime I will continue to develop my skills and tools; not certain what the next build will be but given all the .22 caliber barrel-liner I have lying around it's a safe bet it will be a rimfire...
![IMG_3312[1].JPG](/data/attachments/167/167976-4f320b05cd79d06a95b09e2035ec424a.jpg)
![IMG_3313[1].JPG](/data/attachments/167/167977-8f67c896727741415ede111ed30d3a82.jpg)
