Yesterday's Weapons Forums

All kaintuck's gun adventures got me thinking. I've had this race gun project going for nearly 15 years. My closest friend got the barrel on and fitted. He was going to add the Bomar rib but passed away in the meantime. I left what is shown with a local gunsmith but he also passed away. Dammit.

No local gunsmiths so it's time to do the deal myself. I'll need to score a 6/48 drill & tap. Measure 10X - drill once. Once is all you get.

This will take a bit, but since it's posted here, I am morally bound to carry it off!

S&W 38/44 - former Texas prison gun. Heavy target barrel & Bomar rib for PPC matches. The force is with me! SW


project 001 (1024x601) (2).jpg [ 509.12 KiB | Viewed 11699 times ]



project 002 (1024x683).jpg [ 478.61 KiB | Viewed 11699 times ]

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

thats an interesting piece of history ....

....geeeez ....got a bipod fer that...???

_________________
....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

It will be the real deal for target shooting. Back in the day, I had a PPC gun by Clark made on a Ruger Speed Six. Similar size barrel. Won several matches with it. This one will also be accurate... IF I can D&T straight! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

is that jim clark ?

Yup and he builds a fine competition rig! Pricey but worth it. SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

yes , and a really nice guy when met , not to mention a fun person to spend after shooting hours with , there was a day when all of those fun folks were here and not just shooting but spending time relaxing , i have led a blessed life in oh so many ways

I don't think I could get my hands to hold steady enough to even live up to the potential of that pistola

_________________

It's 5 o'clock and it's watermelon time.....................
because you can't drink beer & load rockets - TXPete

Mark - this is for Bruce - not you. SW


37014790.jpg [ 152.53 KiB | Viewed 11671 times ]

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

My! Three years! Where has time gone? Wifey accuses me of farting things off, but I really forgot this project until I was digging around for something else. So it's time to dive in & do the deal! No guts - no glory!!

First order of biz was take the gun apart so it would be lighter to work with. Also took the rib clear apart. I clamped the rib and not having a more scientific method, I lined up the rib perfectly straight ( and boy, howdy, that took a while!) and dipped a drill bit in paint to mark where I needed to drill.

smith 002 (1024x550).jpg [ 247.11 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


Net result looked like this. A real gunsmith would be banging his head on the wall about now. I took the rib off several times to be sure everything lined up square.

smith 004 (1024x519).jpg [ 230.38 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


Off-a to the garage after that. I did a light center punch to mark where the 1st drill bit would go. Compared the punch marks to the rib screw holes a BUNCH of times to make sure everything was square.

smith 006 (972x1024).jpg [ 483.13 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


There was quite an anxiety moment when I turned the drill press on, but again, no guts - no glory. Once you dive in, there's no going back. Since this is a cheep drill press & Lord knows how much run out is going on, I started with a 1/16 bit to make a place for the #31 bit to bite into with minimum chatter. Made a light cut & checked again and AGAIN making sure everything was lined up right. When that looked "eyeball right", I made a deeper 1/16 hole. With those in place, I chucked up the #31 bit (it's specific to the 6-48 tap) and there was minimum chatter opening up the screw holes.

Next order of biz was to tap the screw holes. I had a bottle of Tap-rite oil on hand & had ordered a tap guide to keep the tap perpendicular to the barrel while cutting threads.

smith 007 (1024x724).jpg [ 319.85 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


Actually cutting the threads was the easy part. The tap guide was worth the money! Cutting oil is also necessary - the tap cuts much easier.

smith 008 (773x1024).jpg [ 347.14 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


Then it was a matter of cleaning out the screw holes and actually mounting the sight on the barrel. Full disclosure here - one hole was about 2mm off & the screw wouldn't grab the threads. Well, 5 of 6 ain't bad for a bone head like me, and the rib is on rock solid. Lined up exactly right!

I'd rather be lucky than good!

smith 011 (1024x593).jpg [ 281.48 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]



smith 012 (1024x558).jpg [ 278.36 KiB | Viewed 11013 times ]


Time to test fire & sight it in? Not yet - I forgot a critical issue = I forgot to get a forcing cone cutter. You need a forcing cone, or you will be spitting lead shavings all over the place. I'll order one from Brownells & that's a simple operation - did it before on my old race gun.

Bottom line - truly anybody can do this... it's a matter of thinking out every step and thinking ahead. And being too cheep to send it off to a real gunsmith!

Always take your time - check and re-check every step. Once a drill bit hits metal, there's no going back.

Thus endeth sight rib installation 101! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

glad to see that one getting done , best of luck on it and looking for good report ,

Hogger
Here's a quick tip from an old die maker. Transferring holes with no transfer punches, take a drill bit as close to hole size as you can get, insert into hole and LIGHTLY!!!! tap on the shank/end as you rotate it. It'll make and center punch the hole fairly close.

_________________
"Like a tank with it's tracks blown off, my turret still swivels and my cannon fires, so whenever the fight kicks off, I'll likely live or die right there, where the fight begins and ends"
John Connor

Thanks for that! I don't know if I'd have been brave enough to try it though. I was scared of breaking the tap or a drill bit the whole time I was doing this.

This will probably be the end of my gunsmith adventures for quite a while. Unless I get another Nepal Martini "yak fat special", but that's mostly a wood working adventure. SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

Don't be nervous, I regularly use a tap as a center punch,( I did get a smack in the back of the head from my Kraut Mentor Art for that early on) never broke a tap that way yet, bout 45 years of time.
You need another yak fat special to keep you occupied now that you're not jockeying a throttle.

_________________
"Like a tank with it's tracks blown off, my turret still swivels and my cannon fires, so whenever the fight kicks off, I'll likely live or die right there, where the fight begins and ends"
John Connor

I always wanted to learn machine work. My closest friend was a self-taught machinist & I noticed how much he spent on just tooling. Also accessories like dial indicator, tool post grinder... it's a long list & I just couldn't justify the expense.

Ordered the forcing cone cutter yesterday & that was bad enough! But I gots to have a forcing cone. It was a brang new barrel & no cone at all. I tried to cold blue it last night but no luck that way. I should have remembered it's stainless since it sat all those years & no rust spots.

I took a camera this morning hoping to get you a bighorn sheep pic. Saw 2, but they were too far off. No rattlesnakes, either.

Not that it bothered me! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

If when you cut the forcing cone and end up with ripples or a non smooth surface let me know and I'll turn you up a steel lap to smooth it out. Make sure you don't reverse the tool while it is in contact with the barrel or it will almost instantly dull the cutting edges. And use plenty of cutting oil.

_________________
"Like a tank with it's tracks blown off, my turret still swivels and my cannon fires, so whenever the fight kicks off, I'll likely live or die right there, where the fight begins and ends"
John Connor

yup , plenty of cutting oil , that was always my grandfathers advice , "dont short change the oil" you cannot backtrack and add more , better to over do it up front ,

Got the box from Brownells today & dived right in. First order of biz was to pull the barrel. Probably didn't *need* to, but it made polishing the cone a lot easier.


Also made pics a lot easier. Here's the never been shot barrel with no forcing cone.

cone 008 (1024x805).jpg [ 256.37 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


Not much to the kit - threaded the cutter on the rod & added the muzzle guide so the rod wouldn't mess up the crown.

cone 010 (1024x210).jpg [ 125.09 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


It didn't take long to cut the cone. Instructions mentioned not getting too carried away & that plan has me written all over it! If this doesn't work, it will be no big deal to cut more.

cone 014 (1024x743).jpg [ 320.31 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


The plan moved on to polishing the cone. Found the polishing set right away.

cone 016 (1024x537).jpg [ 338.02 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


Chucked an abrasive bob in the dremel & went to work. I went slowly so there was no chatter from the cutter. My plan here was to remove anything that might have been caused by metal chips.

cone 017 (1024x422).jpg [ 188.18 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


That turned out well so back together it went. It took longer to put the rib back on than to cut the cone. Also took a bit to wipe up all the cutting oil. Don't go cheep on that!

cone 022 (1024x566).jpg [ 246.88 KiB | Viewed 10923 times ]


Got the Dillon set up to crank out a couple hundred 38s. Then out to the range I use & get it sighted in! More on that later! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!

in case - anyone that does not know , jim clark died a bit back , a friend that attended the funeral said it was a sad day for the shooting industry , im glad i got to meet him when he was here , a very nice man ,

your project is looking good , more than i would tackle these days , it will be a fine finished product

As mentioned, I cranked out 200 rounds of ammo last night. 158 grain lead SWCs over 2.8/Titegroup. Brang new Winchester primed brass.

Out to the rancho this morning with a target taped to a large moving box. First 2 groups were from 7 yards just to see if there was any problem. Also to get a feel for how the sights needed to be adjusted.


groups 009 (641x1024).jpg [ 305.11 KiB | Viewed 10908 times ]



groups 010 (972x989).jpg [ 503.4 KiB | Viewed 10908 times ]


Both of which are good... but if you can't shoot a good group @ 7 yards, you'd just as well take up knitting.

Then it was back to 25 yards for the sight in. That took several shots to get the W & E right. I also whacked some rocks for the same reason since I only brought 1 target.

groups 007 (1024x768).jpg [ 371.57 KiB | Viewed 10908 times ]


After that, I was wishing I hadn't forgot a folding chair... and chronograph. Well, if I didn't forget something, you'd think it wasn't me posting.
So I shot over the door using my range bag to pad the gun. Took a tight grip like it was Hitlery's windpipe & cranked off the last 6 shots.

groups 011 (1024x768).jpg [ 505.32 KiB | Viewed 10908 times ]


Considering a poor rest & I was wearing trifocals, I'm happy with it! I'll make a list of the stuff I need to take along for the next range session & load more ammo.

Overall, I don't think it turned out too badly since I'm neither a gunsmith or machinist. For those of you thinking I just got lucky, I have no argument for that!

I also put a few rounds through my "concealed carry Swiss Vett. Which functioned just fine now that I know how far to seat the bullets out so they will feed through the magazine. But it shot way high. Like WAY high!

groups 008 (1024x256).jpg [ 200.97 KiB | Viewed 10907 times ]



Back to the drawing board to think of a way to get a higher front sight.

But I'm happy with the revolver! SW

_________________
Slava Ukraini!!