Building the Steven's Favorite

[TGriffin]

Frank: I'm not confident the action would be strong enough for a centerfire cartridge since the largest caliber Steven's produced for the Favorite was a 32 rimfire. There are lots of other single shot actions that are strong enough so I'll save that for a future project.

hedspace: No, not a glutton for punishment. I enjoy the challenge of making things myself. If I only wanted something to shoot I'd just buy an old Favorite. For me the fun is in the build.

Tom

[Alphawolf45]

If I only wanted something to shoot I'd just buy an old Favorite. For me the fun is in the build.

Tom

I am that way..Guns are cheap but one bought or traded for cant beat the satisfaction you get shooting one that you built yourself....
I have built 2 Favorites but slammed them together in a few weeks..Didnt turn out as nice as what I see you are building.I love the metalsworking, unfortunate that a quality gun build can take literally months of a mans free time.

[TGriffin]

unfortunate that a quality gun build can take literally months of a mans free time.

Yup, months and months of pure fun and entertainment (I really need to get out more).

Tom

[radkins]

No, not a glutton for punishment. I enjoy the challenge of making things myself. If I only wanted something to shoot I'd just buy an old Favorite. For me the fun is in the build.Tom

First congrats on what is a fantastic job!

I agree and there's really no other way to justify building from scratch, if I figured the worth of the time involved in my scratch-built 1885 Highwall I could probably have bought 4 or 5 of them for the cost. The only things I did buy was the barrel blank and the rear sight, the sight because it was a darn good looking sight for about only $20 and the barrel blank because I just could not figure out a practical way to rifle the darn thing and get a quality job on it. My hat's off to you for undertaking such an intimidating task as boring and rifling a barrel and I hope you keep us posted on the progress (have you finished that part yet?), I for one will certainly be watching for any info you might have on this process.

[TGriffin]

First congrats on what is a fantastic job!

I agree and there's really no other way to justify building from scratch, if I figured the worth of the time involved in my scratch-built 1885 Highwall I could probably have bought 4 or 5 of them for the cost. The only things I did buy was the barrel blank and the rear sight, the sight because it was a darn good looking sight for about only $20 and the barrel blank because I just could not figure out a practical way to rifle the darn thing and get a quality job on it. My hat's off to you for undertaking such an intimidating task as boring and rifling a barrel and I hope you keep us posted on the progress (have you finished that part yet?), I for one will certainly be watching for any info you might have on this process.

Thanks!

Progress is currently at a lull with summer in full awing, but I will keep the progress updated when it resumes. I have been thinking about the barrel and have found a source for a proper sized gun drill and a high pressure pump for the cooling oil. I plan on doing the drilling in my lathe, but I haven't figured out the rifling part yet. I know I could build a dedicated machine to do it, but doubt I would get enough use out of it to justify the build. Still thinking on that one.

Tom

[radkins]

I could build a dedicated machine to do it, but doubt I would get enough use out of it to justify the build. Still thinking on that one.
Tom

That was my dilemma, I really wanted to do this 100% but from a practical standpoint I had to make an exception on the barrel, it was becoming clear that, for me anyway, building the equipment to make the barrel was going to be a bigger job than the rifle! I instead bought a rough 4140 blank that was 35"x1.27" and milled it into a tapered octagon but I too would really like to make my own barrel from scratch, I even have some 4150 bar that would be suitable.


Once again, very impressive job on that rifle and I'm looking forward to your future posts!

[38_Cal]

You don't really have to build much of a machine to do the rifling. This is an old muzzleloading rifle maker's method I read years ago: If you have a longer barrel than you are making with the correct twist...never mind the caliber, the bigger the better for this...you can make a long "bench" with the rifled barrel one one side (Call this the "donor" barrel) and the blank on the other. A long rod is run through the donor barrel and a hard lead slug is cast on the rod end closest to the blank. A pull handle is set up on the other end right at the muzzle. The actual rifling rod is then attached to the donor barrel's rod. The far end of this rod has a bore diameter - .001" wood, brass or even lead piece attached, with a pocket in it at the correct rifling pitch angle to accept your rifling cutter. The cutter is raised by shims, usually thin strips of cigarette paper.

Yep, the description is rough, but I'm sure you get the idea.

David

[xalky]

First off, nice project and nice job so far.. I second buying a barrel blank. The expense required for tooling and then the ability hold a straight concentric hole down the length of the barrel is next to impossible in a home shop. Especilly if you want it to shoot straight. If it was project I'd get the barrel blank and chamber it myself, plus all the other secondary operations. There's plenty of machining you can do on it that'll still keep you satisfied . my 2 cents.

[Highpower]

Thanks!

I plan on doing the drilling in my lathe, but I haven't figured out the rifling part yet. I know I could build a dedicated machine to do it, but doubt I would get enough use out of it to justify the build. Still thinking on that one.

Tom

Machine a mandrel and start hammer forging???

[radkins]

First off, nice project and nice job so far.. I second buying a barrel blank. The expense required for tooling and then the ability hold a straight concentric hole down the length of the barrel is next to impossible in a home shop. Especilly if you want it to shoot straight. If it was project I'd get the barrel blank and chamber it myself, plus all the other secondary operations. There's plenty of machining you can do on it that'll still keep you satisfied . my 2 cents.

These were my concerns also, not only was it going to be a huge task just to set up there was that nagging question of quality of the bore/rifling when finished vs the quality of the finish of a premium barrel blank that was made using big bucks machinery. Still I greatly admire the OP's desire to do this and I will be watching with great interest, I got discouraged and gave up on the idea I hope he doesn't.


BTW,your note about there being plenty of machining to keep a person busy with a raw blank is certainly true, turning that raw barrel blank into a tapered octagon barrel for my rifle turned out to be one of the most time consuming operations of the entire project!