Guns as an excuse

[Alphawolf45]

Guns as an excuse to play with my metalsworking toys...My big hobby is metalsworking..I've got the multiple lathes and milling machines, bandsaws , surface grinder, heat treating furnace , welders, torch and plasma burner...Big compressor, big press...Rockwell hardness tester...In total I've invested some serious money but over a long period of time.. Could had a nice bassboat instead I guess..
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Yesterday I made a 3/16-36 tap for working on Winchester 1873 I am building. It not a size tap I could find anywhere..I didnt do a pretty job of it but it works AND I ENJOYED making the tap...Thats my point..I like gun projects as it gives me opportunity to use all my tools... Also yesterday I messed up and drilled a hole in the wrong place in a lower tang I am making for the 1873 and I quick filled the hole with new metal using the MIG welder and it went right back onto the mill table to continue drilling and tapping holes......Lots of fun..Very satisfying....I also having frequent opportunity to use the TIG welder..Have a receiver thats badly pocked with rust that I have TIG welded and then finished with files..
Heres a picture of the last rifle I built. Its my version of a Winchester 1885 Highwall in .38-55 caliber.. I used a barrel blank but made every single other piece..Every bolt and pin and spring...Its a project that kept me entertained in my shop for months..Metalsworking is a Fantastic hobby.....

[japcas]

Great looing rifle and it looks like you definitely have a knack for gun work. I know I'm not the only one who would like to see more of your work. Thanks for sharing.

[Bob Ford]

Very nice work. The ability to make taps, dies, fixtures, and tools is badly needed in making a firearm from scratch. Enjoy yourself and show us more.

Bob

[davidh]

you must have the patients of a saint . nice, no, beautiful work.

[Alphawolf45]

I have a grasp of the mechanicals and thats enough to get going but I dont have near enough experience to be getting a big head over this stuff.. I have quite a few gun projects I started and just quit ,was more work or too tedius to be fun..
What helps is to get a good grasp on a good reason to do the build.. For instance see the following rifle.. I had a Marlin / Glenfield model 60 with a ugly painted aluminum receiver and triggerguard and the stock was ugly blond colored birch stock... I copped the attitude that I could build something nicer...Note I did not make every piece of this one..I didnt make the internals nor do anything special for barrel except blued it.. I did make the steel reciever and triggerguard and carved the walnut stock...NICE little plinker..




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[Alphawolf45]

I got to mention that this was the first stock I carved that had the pistol grip..That was heaps tougher than I ever imagined because of the endgrains front side of the grip that had to be sanded thoroughly....And I also cast the aluminum buttplate......Yeup I have a lot of patience...Too much time on my hands..

[Al Messer]

Great looing rifle and it looks like you definitely have a knack for gun work. I know I'm not the only one who would like to see more of your work. Thanks for sharing.

Me too! Great looking project! Where did you get the plans for the High Wall receiver?

[Alphawolf45]

My computer crashed hard and took lot of my pictures with it..Heres the last gun I built that I have got good pictures of it..These gun pictures were in photobucket so didnt go down with my 'puter....And anyway they are my best and most recent builds..Some of my earlier builds are not embarrassing but I admit they are not as good. As you might expect I am getting better with each project..

This is copy I made of my original Marlin 1892 ,22 rifle...Very cool to empty a tubular magazine as fast as I can pull the trigger and lever out the empties.. Again I used a rifled barrel blank from Numrich and a tube magazine from Wisners but I made every single other piece including the sights and all bolts and springs...

[Alphawolf45]

couple more pictures..I sandcast the bronze buttplate



A couple hundred hours labor , maybe more..Heaps of fun..

[Alphawolf45]

Me too! Great looking project! Where did you get the plans for the High Wall receiver?

AhhhHAH!! AL You snuck a question in after I'd read it...... I dont work from plans... I copy original guns . I have an original low wall and copied it back in 2005..Heres that copy I built...Uhmmmm this is just the third gun I ever built.. Took me three months..

I chambered it for .45 Colt...And then when I wanted to build the highwall I merely changed the low wall in Autocad into a highwall per my thinking what a highwall should be.. I gave it some extra meat in a few dimensions just to be safe..
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