What gunsmithing or repairs have you done today

[a5werkes]

..... magazine throat repair.

The "hammer" is metal tube bending die from a $20 harbor freight kit. It just needed a non-marring internal shim which i hijacked from a
lamp repair kit; thin white polymer that slides over the wiring about the base of the light bulb.

A slave magazine cap, a new one from Brownells was $20 or so, avoid deforming the magazine cap threads if unprotected.

 

[Coyote3855]

Nothing big. Endshake shims in S&W 15 and 19. Tightened things right up. Still need to do a Model 28, waiting on 2mm shims.

 

[a5werkes]

I like working on revolvers , particularly S&W’s. I will post some items I found of interest, starting with extractor rod assembly and in particular torqueing it to specification as per Kuhnhausen’s Revolver Shop Manual, 5th Ed. P64. He states “left hand threads ideally torqued to 45 in/lb”, not a problem I thought I have several torque wrenches that would work. The problem is the cylinder-extractor star anatomy and how do you get axial torqueing on the extractor rod? I thought there must be some special gunsmith adapter tool hidden in the bowels of Midway USA , Brownells, Powers etc…nada. After searching diligently it seems most are resigned to placing the extractor rod into a padded vise, twist the cylinder right / left depending on thread direction, a dab of blue Loctite, finger snug on the cylinder, done.

So I fabricate a simple adapter to allow direct attachment of torque wrench to the extractor stars to measure the value with precision, which probably is really not that important after all. However, Kuhnhausen reference is the only one I have seen written, anyone has a source for such a shop value?

This was my project.

 

[a5werkes]

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[a5werkes]

I found a new Taurus M85 .38 Spl in my load out room a couple of years ago and decided to modify for dry fire practice with similarities to more expensive revolvers without
adding wear and tear to the nice ones.

Fabricated Front sight insert - Brownell's kit

polished all internal engagement parts

Hogue grip with reduction of last finger separator

Wolff trigger spring 6.5 lb

removed trigger face serrations

bobbed the hammer

removed single action hammer sear

shimmed 0.002" on each side of hammer

reduced DAO trigger pull from 11+ lbs to smooth 9 lbs.

chamfered cylinders

Start with first front sight fabrication I had done on a revolver. Used Brownells front sight kit. Initially thought of using flexible brass shim for the side walls of the sight, but rigid
brass seemed a better choice as well as different clamping setups. Used dovetail and straight files to create front sight opening; staking punch to create shallow wells for polymer to get a
bite.


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[a5werkes]

Bobbing the hammer and removing trigger face serrations, then re-blueing them.

 

[a5werkes]

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[a5werkes]

Chamfering the cylinders.

 

[a5werkes]

.......left out these on the front sight.

 

[stillquietvoice]

I went to @troy fairweather's dad's today with a pitted dwm 98 mauser action complete with bottom metal and an older Bishop walnut stock. AL, Troy's dad, sold me a 20" 6.5x55 sweede barrel a couple weeks ago to be mated to 1 of my 2 98 mauser actions.

He had already made barrel vice blocks for this barrel and had it waiting. Our first step was grinding off some of the pitting for the top of reciever using a belt sander. Fine sandpaper smoothed it out. Then screwed barrel onto the reciever to check headspace we faced the th fee added end to remove any rust. Then re threaded barrel rechecked headspace and torqued it down.

We cleaned up some pitting on the bottom metal, drilled and tapped the reciever top for a Redfield mount and did a rustbluing on both reciever and bottom metal.

Since my bishop stock was pre-owned we had yo I let it for a good fit tithe new barreled action. Still have some work to do on the barrel channel, and the stock's finish, it needs sanded refinished for a smoother satin look.

Many thanks to Troy and his dad for their time and expertise, I learned a lot from them both.

 

[troy fairweather]

I went to @troy fairweather's dad's today with a pitted dwm 98 mauser action complete with bottom metal and an older Bishop walnut stock. AL, Troy's dad, sold me a 20" 6.5x55 sweede barrel a couple weeks ago to be mated to 1 of my 2 98 mauser actions.

He had already made barrel vice blocks for this barrel and had it waiting. Our first step was grinding off some of the pitting for the top of reciever using a belt sander. Fine sandpaper smoothed it out. Then screwed barrel onto the reciever to check headspace we faced the th fee added end to remove any rust. Then re threaded barrel rechecked headspace and torqued it down.

We cleaned up some pitting on the bottom metal, drilled and tapped the reciever top for a Redfield mount and did a rustbluing on both reciever and bottom metal.

Since my bishop stock was pre-owned we had yo I let it for a good fit tithe new barreled action. Still have some work to do on the barrel channel, and the stock's finish, it needs sanded refinished for a smoother satin look.

Many thanks to Troy and his dad for their time and expertise, I learned a lot from them both.

Glad to help, maybe you will get lucky and find some ppu Swede ammo.

 

[stillquietvoice]

That would be good, been looking for components brass and bullets, but need dies yo load too. It's a process to aquire all of it.

 

[Coyote3855]

a5werks, wow! I feel ham handed to have just tightened things down by hand. Everything seems to work fine and endshake is cured, but I admire your attention to details beyond my skill set and toolset.

 

[a5werkes]

Here's a Winchester Model 1903, mfg in 1906 by serial #. It was gifted from one generation to the next for almost 100 years, not sure when it was last used but when a family member asked if I wanted for a keepsake. On first observation it had a rusty "patina" throughout on every part; someone had used baling wire to secure the forend together, the butt stock was in awful oiled stained wood with a cracked wrist. I decided the project would entail a complete parts disassembly with down to the metal restoration and abandon the original furniture in favor of fancy wood. Cold blued all the steel. The only part I could not remove was an ejector screw and i tried all the tricks. Re-assembled it and purchased some fancy wood that required a huge amount of shaping, fitting and inletting. The barrel bore was filthy with lead, after a good cleaning it was bright and shiney without any pitting whatsoever. It runs like a sewing machine. Winchester .22 Auto ammunition is unobtanium and expensive. I authored a 220+ page technical manual on the Winchester 1903*1963

 

[a5werkes]

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[a5werkes]

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[troy fairweather]

Just about finished the 1909 bottom metal, will need to weld the button to push on in the floor plate release. For now I decided to leave the serial number and inspectors mark by the front screw, it matches my action so kinda makes sense. The trigger bow is now .525 wide from .650 makes a big difference in person. Beveled to follow the contour of the floor plate, took a long time with the dremel used about 15 sanding wheel things. Hard part was blending it all together and keeping it square, I don't have many tools I sure could have used a larger file. Finished with green scotchbrite since it will be rust blued one day.

Shame this stock was sporterized it's in amazing condition, the bottom is like a press fit.

This rifle will be a 9.3x62 I wanted to order the barrel but Shaw has almost a year wait time, hard for me to set aside that money to not get anything for a year. I have to get it drilled and taped after I do the work on the action mostly making sure it's contured properly and removing the clip guide. I want to do 8-40 base screws since the 9.3 has some recoil. Fun will get nice sights probably from necg. A lpvo with qd rings.

 

[a5werkes]

A couple of contributions.
1. Charlie Kelsey and 1911 innovations, in particular the safety modification to allow the slide to be retracted with the safety ON. How this has now become a modern
standard of 1911 firearms bewilders myself.
2. Variety of bench blocks on the work bench for catalogue of taskings. Polymer, lead, delrin, steel, wood, grade 8 bolts / nuts, aluminum blocks, brass plumbing connectors etc. Example of using them for securing pistol frames for assembly, starting short roll pin installations and AR trigger guard installations as apparently a number of real amateurs either bend or break off the bilateral receiver extensions ("ears") while attempting simple installation of the part. I modified a Colt Officer 1911 w/Kelsey touch and a clip-draw accessory.

First up, Mr. Kelsey, RIP.

 

[a5werkes]

Blocks on my bench I have found useful. The Starrett's I powder-coated, as I observed despite Barricade application, they had an affinity for acquiring fine rust patina.

 

[a5werkes]

........a recent 300 Blackout build using the alternative bench blocks.

 

[a5werkes]

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[EMC45]

Put a Shield Arms steel mag button in my G48. Kind of fiddly and a slight pain to pop the springbar, but got it in and it works perfectly with the 2 15rd Shield mags, 2 19 round ETS mags and the Glock 10rd mags as well. Not really gunsmithing by my definition, but still gun wrenching.

 

[a5werkes]

I thought some might appreciate the steps involved in mounting a red dot optic.

This project is installing Leupold Delta Point Pro red dot optic on a Smith & Wesson M&P9 2.0 C.O.R.E. (Competition Optic Ready Equipment), chose to use C&H Precision adapter plate which (1) fit the slide mortise better (2) was thinner than S&W alternatives, so lower profile (3) was steel not S&W polymer.

The S&W Performance Center came with ported slide and barrel. Didn’t care for the ported barrel, so hand fit Apex barrel / trigger / sear dot.

Removal of factory sights to install Dawson tall Patridge style fiber optic front sight / Leupold accessory adjustable rear sight, the combination allowing co-witness of iron sights with optic dot. Had to use old style punch to remove factor rear sight, one of a few MGW Pro Sight couldn’t budge it in my experience.

Use torx fasteners rather than S&W hex fasteners.

Range results.

 

[a5werkes]

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[a5werkes]

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