When a THR member builds his DAUGHTER a toy rifle,

[7mmsavage]

She'll want it to look just like her mom's. Here is one I call the mini Mini. When my 5 yr old daughter saw the wooden M1 I posted here a couple weeks ago, she said she wanted one. My wife suggested I copy her Mini 14. This was done basically like the M1, cut, rasp, chisel, sand and paint. My brother in law suggested I make a bunch of them and get a booth at a local gun show, so I am considering that. Not to start a new carreer, just something to make a few extra bucks. I have been looking in the safe and have some cool ideas. I'm thinking of a Mauser or Mosin and even something like a modern big game or varmint rifle. What do you all think? My biggest problem is time, it takes so long to build one I would have to ask $40-50 for them, which after toy shopping for my kids last night doesn't seem so bad, but I know that is a lot for a wooden gun. Anyway here is the mini Mini, and I am open to any thoughts or suggestions.

 

[22lr]

That is awesome, I like the work you did on both toy rifles.

 

[JustsayMo]

Very cool

 

[Moose458]

Another nice job on this rifle. After seeing your M1, I decided to try one myself, looked like fun. A lot more work than I figured on. I also had to have two guns, so I made a M1 Carbine for the second one. My wife thought that I should make a few more to sell at a craft show, but as you said, they take a lot of time and to make it worth your while, you're going to have to charge at least $50. So I guess it just depends on how much time you have and how much your time is worth. I have to admit they are cute and a lot better than anything you can buy now for the kids. I do think that you would probably do well selling them though, and your brother-in-laws idea about selling them at a gun show is a good one. Here's what I came up with:

 

[armoredman]

Nice work! I'd love to get a Garand for my son - big Call of Duty kid.

 

[bensdad]

Not to be a buzz-kill or a nervous pervous or anything, but isn't there some law about toy guns having an orange crown or somesuch?

If it were me, I'd check that out before selling them. Nice reproductions, BTW.

 

[Big_E]

Another great job. I'm sure people, especially hobbyists, would be willing to spend more than that for a toy with that kind of detail.

However, you could always outsource the toy making to China, thats what a lot of companies here in the US are doing jk

 

[BADUNAME37]

Technically

Shouldn't there be a red cap on the muzzle?

 

[7mmsavage]

My wife said the same thing about the red muzzle cap. It's all just ideas right now, but if I did try to sell any of these I would paint the muzzle red or orange. We do live in a PC world. Oh, and by the way, nice work Moose. I'm sure your kids love them, unless they're for you! I seem to play with these as much as my kids do !!!

 

[Maj Dad]

Nice Work

Have you considered using a piece of hard wood (oak/walnut/etc) for the "receiver" and setting it into the "stock"? I was just admiring your work & thought that would be a nice touch, plus it wouldn't feather the way soft wood does. Maybe you could start an assembly line...

 

[BADUNAME37]

Nice work, indeed!

That makes me wish I were 6 again!

 

[RP88]

just a suggestion: maybe paint the barrel tips with a bright orange so the other kids and the soccer moms don't flip out. That's a pretty good job, though.

 

[hammerklavier]

Very nice work. What's the trigger made from? It probably wouldn't be too hard to make them so they fire caps as well.

 

[Dewey123]

You have some lucky kids.

 

[General Geoff]

If you sell them as "Scale nonfunctioning replicas" you don't need to paint the muzzle red/orange. If you are marketting them specifically as toys, however, it's best if you do. Also, make sure all the paints, stains and solvents you use are nontoxic. Regardless of whether such a small amount of paint or stain could actually hurt a child, in our CYA/litigation happy society, it's best to, well, CYA.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

This are just outstanding, fellas - thanks for the grin.

 

[7mmsavage]

Maj Dad, I will use some better quality wood the next time I do one of these. I just used what was on hand, which was just an old pine 2x6, to do this one and the M1.

Hammerklavier, the trigger, and charging handle on mine is just a piece of dowel rod that was shaped with a rasp. Non funcional, caps would be cool though.

 

[hammerklavier]

Imagine the trigger and cap striker as a single metal rod, shaped accordingly and set to pivot on a metal rod/axle inside the gun. You pull the trigger and the top part of the rod moves forward to press against the plate that holds the cap. Now all you need is a "spring". Imagine a flat curved piece of springy metal (a bow spring so to speak) that is set in the path of the trigger on one side, it provides resistance and then will suddenly give allowing the trigger to continue. It may be necessary to connect the bow spring with a screw through a slot on one end (instead of a hole) to allow it to flex more. I thought of several designs and that seems the simplest to make without special equipment.

 

[Moose458]

I know what you mean. I don't have any kids to give mine to, I was going to give them to the kids next door. But now I'm thinking that these are so neat, maybe I should put them in MY gun room and fondle them myself. I have till Christmas to make up my mind. At first I thought $50 would be a little high (not that they are not worth that much, its just been awhile since I shopped for toy guns), but after seeing what toy guns from Cabelas are going for and what you get for that price, I think you could charge even more. The new toy guns sure aren't as nice as what we had back in the day. They were fun to make though and I've been thinking about maybe trying to make an AK47 or a Vz58, not sure about trying a M16/M4. Be sure to post any other guns you make.

 

[Darkninja]

Man those are awesome! When I was younger my parents didn't let me have any toy guns. =(
I used to have so much fun going to my friend's house and playing with his toy lever-action from wally-world. I've got to say it again, awesome job! They're amazing.

 

[emmie]

when I made up one I drilled caliber size hole part way down,to look like real barrel. then drilled deeper with 22cal size,so old 22 rod could be used to clean. never to young to start off right. might even make dad clean his more?

emmie

 

[Kernel]

Wow. All these toy guns are too cool. Made in mass & marketed right, you could make some big bucks off these.

 

[nwilliams]

Another great job!