Empty bullet caseings for pins?

V

Vaunripped

Joined
Nov 20, 2010
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Ok, this morning I was putting away all my hunting stuff, yesterday was the last day of rifle season here, and dropped a .22 mag round. The thought of using a few empty's for handle pins put a smile on my face just for the hole "something different" part of it. I dropped a round in the 1/4" holes that I have already and it fit, not tight but it fit. Have any of you tried this? Any pros or cons to this idea?
 
I have seen a number of knives using the ends of the casing for an insert and one that enlarged the firing pin hole a touch and used it as a butt cap insert with the tang peined through. They might work if you could fit them together like cutlers rivets but I would make sure you had the slabs glued well.
 
tattooedfreak said:
I have seen a number of knives using the ends of the casing for an insert and one that enlarged the firing pin hole a touch and used it as a butt cap insert with the tang peined through. They might work if you could fit them together like cutlers rivets but I would make sure you had the slabs glued well.
Click to expand...

Use a slow epoxy and peen them while it's still wet...It's messy for sure, but you do not risk beating the slabs and cracking the dried epoxy this way.
 
Vaunripped said:
Ok, this morning I was putting away all my hunting stuff, yesterday was the last day of rifle season here, and dropped a .22 mag round.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...something you wanna tell us? Isn't a 22 mag a little small for Deer in MT? At least during the daylight hours?









LOL...just messin' with ya :)
 
There was thread here a while ago that instructed you on how to use a 30-06 case head as an inlay, not a pin. I have it somewhere at home if you cant find it here. 22 Mag for deer? Not a problem, had a 5mm mag and used hollow points and got 2 deer with 2 rounds quite a while ago when I was very rifle poor. Neck shots do it, but you need to be able to place the shot.
 
LOL, it was more the lose mag rounds in my hunting bag from deer camp. I use a .243 for deer, and yotes, and most every thing else the 22 dose.

Thanks for the info on this, I'm looking at the knife and I'm real sure I can't do it on this one. I didn't leave enough room at the top of the scales to counter sink at all. Lesson learned :D. The next one may get them, or the one after... Well they are all waiting till I get a belt sander.
 
Ive made large pins out of 2 45 cal caseings cut and pushed together took some work but came out ok.
 
By cutting a shallow shoulder in the handle for the rim, and a body hole that fits the casing , the rivet acts like a Corby.
All this is done after the handle is assembled and sanded. You can not put the rivets in before without ruining them in the sanding and shaping stages. You can put a piece of dowel rod in the holes while shaping, and tap it out when ready to install the bullet casings. If it won't tap out, drill it out. You will need to drill the rivet holes and shoulders for the casings anyway.

What I do is cut the two casings so they are just a tad short of the total length of the handle rivet needed. I then take a piece of round stock that snugly fits the inside of the casings. I rough up the rod , and glue the rod in one casing. After the epoxy is cured, I clean it up and cut the rod to the length to allow the other casing to fit on it and make the right rivet length ( I make it a tad shorter to allow for Murphy). I rough up the outside of both casings, put the male piece in from one side and the female from the other, and epoxy the assembly into the handle.A spring clamp holds it in place while curing. Make sure the casings heads are turned the way you want them before pressing them flush, as it is hard to move them once pressed all the way home. They should match from one side to the other.
A trick when doing this is to drill a couple of tiny holes (1mm drill) in each casing just below the rim. This allows the air and excess epoxy to escape when assembling the rivet. The hole will be below the handle surface, and will not be visible.
Also, don't put more than a swabbing of epoxy in the shell casing as there will be very little gap to fill if the round rod is a good fit. You can start with a rod that is a little larger, and "turn" it down to a perfect fit ,using a bastard file to reduce the diameter. This will leave a grooved surface ready for the epoxy. You should clean out the casings and give the inside a little rough up, too.
 
Let me check when home and I'll see. If not, I have some made up but not installed. I'll shoot some photos of those.
 
I think it looks attractive when done well.

The biggest downside is that it won't appeal to everyone.
I would do it on a custom request basis.

You can have the perfect knife that appeals to someone on your show table,
but if you do that and it's not "his caliber" than that's a deal breaker.

Of course you probably won't go wrong with 30-30, 30-06 and 308
 
Wow thanks a ton Stacy, that give me more confidence that I can do it and it will be strong enough with the epoxy to take a beating.

Thanks for the tip Count, I said 22 mag because I have 1/4" holes and they dropped right in like I drilled the hole for them. You are very right, it would be a deal breaker for me if it was anything but 243.
 
I've used .22 mag cases tor lanyard hole liners for years. Brass welding rod works great for pins, once you scrape the coating off.
 
Do a search for this thread. I can't figure out how to create a direct link, as I am a dummie.

Medallions and thong hole ideas
 
OK, I found them.

This was a set made from 50 calibre pistol casings. I took photos of the epoxy vent holes as well as the center stud. I soldered the one part together. The discoloration is from the acid flux. It will clean off ( if I care) when these get used.
 

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