What gunsmithing or repairs have you done today

[4v50 Gary]

Just finished reassembling a no-dash S&W M19. It was blued three times and the first two times it was blued I found that it was still rusting. Third time it was boiled in hot water to desalinate it and this time after the blue tank it hasn't turned red.

 

[a5werkes]

I have this 1966 unfired outside factory M19-3 4" .357 Magnum with optional over-travel trigger stop; case coloring is handsome.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Shortened a cylinder on a replica Colt Walker. It was too long and binding against the barrel. Mounted the cylinder in a four jaw chuck with dial indicator on the hole for the arbor to ensure it was centered. To shave off .002-003", applied dykem and then one pass faced it and afterward polished it. No more binding & the owner person very happy.

 

[45 Dragoon]

Shortened a cylinder on a replica Colt Walker. It was too long and binding against the barrel. Mounted the cylinder in a four jaw chuck with dial indicator on the hole for the arbor to ensure it was centered. To shave off .002-003", applied dykem and then one pass faced it and afterward polished it. No more binding & the owner person very happy.

Probably the arbor is too short. (Since Pietta doesn't make Walkers I'm sure it is)
If you drive the wedge in further it'll probably bind again.
Mike

 

[4v50 Gary]

Walker cylinder was caddywampus and had high spot (uneven). It rotates easily now after the wedge is driven in.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Reinstalled the S&W K-frame bolt (attaches to the cylinder release) and noticed the lack of tension for the pin. Took it out and played with it. Spring for the pin was straight and therewere no kinks. Whittled a round toothpick down and dropped it into the bolthole. It dropped at least 1/2" down! Got 3/8" long piece of brass that fit the hole and by trial and error shortened it by filing until there was more tension. This is the first time in almost forty years of working on S&W revolvers that I've had do this. The hole was drilled too deep but why the thing worked for years escapes me. Perhaps there was a burr that supported the spring that finally gave out?

 

[4v50 Gary]

Red ramp sight poured this morning.

 

[a5werkes]

I fabricated a front sight ramp for a Taurus M85 that I wanted to use for dry fire practice, similar to other hamerless carry J-frames without putting the wear and tear on them. Dovetailed and dimpled sight base. Poured resin between rigid brass shim stock; added yellow to red to get desired orange sight color. Trimmed with razor blades and final shaping / smoothing with modeling sanding sticks. Also bobbed the hammer, removed single-action sear, conversion to DAO, removed ,
shimmed hammer, chamfered cylinders, polished action parts, Wolff 6.5 lb trigger spring, reduced trigger pull weight from stock 11.5 to smooth 9 lbs., Hogue grip with lowest finger separator removed.

 

[a5werkes]

I have tried using flexible brass shim forms with various clamps for the molding. The rigid brass pieces and parallel jaws seemed to work best for me.

 

[4v50 Gary]

@a5werkes - what type of pliers? I used parallel clamps (monster can for dams) but I see your pliers are much easier.

 

[a5werkes]

I have both the Gesswein & Grobet mfg's in both smooth / serrated jaws. The one in the photo are the Grobet's serrated.

 

[Ray P]

I have both the Gesswein & Grobet mfg's in both smooth / serrated jaws. The one in the photo are the Grobet's serrated.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thanks. Ordered the Gesswein smooth jaws.

 

[Mauser fan]

Research into case hardening mostly I have 2 jars of casenite and some receivers to experiment with. Other than that I made a handle for a 27 inch Diston back saw blade that I picked up last week for $5. I have married it to a Millers Falls M24 miter box that I have had for years without a saw.

 

[a5werkes]

I have used Cherry Red case hardening. Here’s a Brownells screwdriver for the ejector of the Winchester 1903 .22 Automatic I restored. Easy to use, but messy and use in very well ventilated area with a mask. Checked the hardness with the Tsubosan Rockwell test file set. The 65 HRC could lightly scratch the tip, #60 could not, so 60+ Rockwell after treatment.

 

[a5werkes]

I most commonly use the simple method of heat temper & draw, quenching in oil.

I learned from Master Browning gunsmith Art Isacsson; he demonstrates his method here;

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I f

 

[a5werkes]

This afternoon was able to get into the shop to fabricate a precision taper-plug gage for the AR-15 / M4 bolt cam pin aperture. Used the Bridgeport with the 0.313" No-Go gage size precision pin held in 5c collet+square collet holder to flip it 180 deg, 1/4" carbide square mill bit. Desired a 0.125" final width for taper tip; fine buffing wheel under magnification to break the sharp milling edges. Also acquired a new Evolution Gun Works certified picatinny precision gage to check the rails. Interestingly, none of the Magpul polymer rails were able to fit within the +0.002 gage template.

 

[a5werkes]

...........

 

[a5werkes]

Needed to make a displaced "reference surface" for the iGage to use for < 1/2" depth dimensions. The gage has a 1" travel, however the thin tipped adapters are 1.2" long, so the the gage range of travel is bottomed out when there remains 1.2" of pointed tip accessory attached. Used 3" 7075-T6 round stock, on the lathe, faced the ends, counter-bored a #7 drill for the gage arbor and a #36 drill for the tip accessory, cut off to desired over-all cylinder length.. Milled a gentle interference fit to mate with the square iGage reference surface. Now I have 1/2" of reference surface travel for fine screw slot depths etc. The bottom reference surface does not need to be milled to silly tolerances, as the gage is measuring delta's. That's all I have for a Sunday morning in the shop.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Probably the arbor is too short. (Since Pietta doesn't make Walkers I'm sure it is)
If you drive the wedge in further it'll probably bind again.
Mike

Now the question is does the cylinder bind when the wedge is seated? If so the arbor is still short and nothing is resolved. The wedge has to be tapped in firmly to seat it. You have several options to fix it from shims in the arbor hole in the barrel, adding length to the arbor, or shortening the frame and cylinder both, definitely not recommended.

 

[45 Dragoon]

I'm thinking if the cylinder was already shortened, you're gonna haftah "eat into the barrel lug. The last thing to "shorten" is the cyl. If the cylinder is too "long", always remove material from the forcing cone. Long cylinder = "the more the merrier " ( unless "cattywampus" of course !!) !!!
One can always assume that the arbor is short ( cause it is . . . ) and adjust things accordingly. Shortening the cylinder is rarely the thing to do for a cap gun. I always order a Pietta cylinder from Kirst for an Uberti "belt pistol" because "more is better" and like I said, reducing the forcing cone is very easy!!

Mike

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'm thinking if the cylinder was already shortened, you're gonna haftah "eat into the barrel lug. The last thing to "shorten" is the cyl. If the cylinder is too "long", always remove material from the forcing cone. Long cylinder = "the more the merrier " ( unless "cattywampus" of course !!) !!!
One can always assume that the arbor is short ( cause it is . . . ) and adjust things accordingly. Shortening the cylinder is rarely the thing to do for a cap gun. I always order a Pietta cylinder from Kirst for an Uberti "belt pistol" because "more is better" and like I said, reducing the forcing cone is very easy!!

Mike

I measured the cylinder. It was .0242 at the lowest and .0250 at the highest. Didn't bother to measure it after the work and just checked to ensure that it rotated. Another student grabbed it to clean off the dykem that spilled down the chamber or sides. Last I saw of it since the instructor put it away.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

The other problem that comes up is if you do have to dig into the frame or barrel lug it changes the wedge tension opening up another little can of worms. Guess it come down to cause and effect kinda stuff.

 

[45 Dragoon]

The other problem that comes up is if you do have to dig into the frame or barrel lug it changes the wedge tension opening up another little can of worms. Guess it come down to cause and effect kinda stuff.

Best reason for an adjustable wedge bearing . . .

Mike

 

[Coyote3855]

Installed an Apex trigger in my Glock 19.