Pistol/dagger project

LOL yes they do make lighter ones next year i will bring a 38-55 in a winchester hi-wall. it is my sheutzen rifle.
 
Bruce I cant wait to see the Finished Product. IT is looking great already cant imagine it getting better but bet it will.

Larry
 
Bruce,

I’ve been following your pistol/knife projects with great interest. As a knifemaker and gunsmith myself, I can appreciate the work that you are putting into these pieces. Thanks for the progression threads.
 
sculver said:
Bruce,

I’ve been following your pistol/knife projects with great interest. As a knifemaker and gunsmith myself, I can appreciate the work that you are putting into these pieces. Thanks for the progression threads.
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Hi Steve. There must be something in the water in Kansas. I was born in Sedan and grew up in Olathe. Too bad there is so much countryside between us now or we could get together sometime and compare notes.
 
Hey, Bruce, you've inspired to start planning out my own, thank you for that. I do have a few questions (pardon me if they've been answered previously) but here they are.

1. What type of steel for the barrel and what hardness?
2. What is the minimum barrel wall thickness (I'm thinking of making it .36 caliber)?
3. Where do you get the cap nipples and such from?

Thanks again for the great project. Beautiful piece!
 
Mods, this thread needs to be put in a new section like "best of the best" or "All stars" or something. :thumbup:
 
TekSec said:
Hey, Bruce, you've inspired to start planning out my own, thank you for that. I do have a few questions (pardon me if they've been answered previously) but here they are.

1. What type of steel for the barrel and what hardness?
2. What is the minimum barrel wall thickness (I'm thinking of making it .36 caliber)?
3. Where do you get the cap nipples and such from?

Thanks again for the great project. Beautiful piece!
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The dagger barrel is simply 1018 mild steel. Mild steel is very tough as it will not break apart. Its hard to overload this short of a barrel anyway. I dont really know the formula for barrel thickness/calibur. This one is around .110" at the thinnest place just behind the muzzle. I feel the shape of the barrel is important too. The muzzle should be thicker as thats where it will split open like an old cartoon cannon. Did you notice the barrel on the bowling ball cannon? Well here ya go if you havent been on the Custom and Handmade forum, there are threads from Josh's hammer-in there that will blow you away! Look at this barrel shape:
100_1351-1.jpg

Here is Bill Burke placing the charge of black powder with a mop handle with WyoninSmith threading the fuse through the touch hole.
Notice the thin wall but heavy collar on the muzzle? This thing shot a full size bowling ball over 1.5 miles. No swells in the tube. It did however bend the chit out of the trailer tounge.

If you want rifling in your barrel you can turn down an old barrel and use it as a sleeve. I use Brownells for my .22 liners and simply bore out 1018 or 4140 and JB weld in a liner section. Every black powder barrel needs a removable breech plug so be sure to thread the chamber end of the barrel before glueing in the liner. A .36 cal is sweet! You can buy "off the shelf" lead balls for it too.

I've used standard nipples from any sporting goods store but this dagger has a "muskett" nipple. I love it because it plays double role as the breech plug. The muskett caps have like 100 times more firing power than a #11 to boot. Not much chance of a misfire. At the hammer-in we all shot the dagger and had no misfires. People got pretty fast at reloading also. The big musket caps are easy to handle unlike the small #11s.
 
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I took this video with my little camera of the bowling ball cannon with about one pound of black powder. You may have already seen it but if not enjoy!

 
Bruce Bump said:
A .36 cal is sweet! You can buy "off the shelf" lead balls for it too.
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That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm thinking of a double barrel (side by side) on a bowie style blade. I'm sure this will be years in the making as I will fit it in where I can, but I have the design drawn up (concept anyhow) so we'll see where it goes. Thanks again for all.
 
Bruce Bump said:
I took this video with my little camera of the bowling ball cannon with about one pound of black powder. You may have already seen it but if not enjoy!

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Ha! That's great!:thumbup:

--The comment of the onlookers afterward are pretty funny too!
 
Here is nice image of the finished piece taken by our own Jim Cooper at Josh's Hammer-in last weekend. Its the last picture you will see of it until I get it back from Jere Davidson fully engraved. I can hardly wait to see what Jere does with it. I told him it was French and I didnt want gold anywhere. He should be done by the first of August for the Montana Show.

picture.jpg
 
Bruce,

I've followed this thread since it's begining and it has been the first thread I look for when I come to BF. Looking at all the cool pics of this piece as it has progressed has been a real treat!
The last photos are simply stunning!
Great work from a great artist!!

-Mike-
 
Bruce great work! What a great process to follow, this should be in the stickied thread at the top.

That bowling ball cannon, the whole barrel wouldn'y happen to be an old oxygen tank would it? I hear tell they are ID almost the exact size as a 11 pound ladies bowling ball:D.
 
Sam Salvati said:
Bruce great work! What a great process to follow, this should be in the stickied thread at the top.

That bowling ball cannon, the whole barrel wouldn'y happen to be an old oxygen tank would it? I hear tell they are ID almost the exact size as a 11 pound ladies bowling ball:D.
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All bowling balls, no matter what the weight of them, are the same size. A 16 pounder, might not go as far, but would make a bigger hole.
 
Sam Salvati said:
Bruce great work! What a great process to follow, this should be in the stickied thread at the top.

That bowling ball cannon, the whole barrel wouldn'y happen to be an old oxygen tank would it? I hear tell they are ID almost the exact size as a 11 pound ladies bowling ball:D.
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I dont know what type of tube its made from. Somebody said it was hydraulic tubing. I think its longer than an oxygen tank.

Thanks Sam for staying with this thread and the compliments along the way.
 
The finished piece looks incredible. I'm having a hard time imagining how much more amazing it will be with the engraving!

Thanks for posting this thread!
 
There must be something in the water in Kansas.
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Hi Bruce,

There may be something in the water in Kansas. Most people think it is good to have a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. We Kansas boys know that sometimes, it is best to have them both in one hand. That way, your other hand is free to hold your beer!! :)

I was watching an extreme videos show a couple of weeks ago and they had some guys on there that were “Toilet Bowling”. They would set up ten commodes (complete with tanks), as you would bowling pins. They were using a bowling ball canon to shoot them down. They were doing a surprisingly good job of taking them all out with one shot. The chunks and shards from the toilets in the front would fan out and shatter the ones in the rear rows. Looked like a lot of fun, but would have been a real mess to clean up.

I would really like to get together with you. Maybe could catch up with you at a show some time.
 
sculver said:
Hi Bruce,

There may be something in the water in Kansas. Most people think it is good to have a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. We Kansas boys know that sometimes, it is best to have them both in one hand. That way, your other hand is free to hold your beer!! :)

I was watching an extreme videos show a couple of weeks ago and they had some guys on there that were “Toilet Bowling”. They would set up ten commodes (complete with tanks), as you would bowling pins. They were using a bowling ball canon to shoot them down. They were doing a surprisingly good job of taking them all out with one shot. The chunks and shards from the toilets in the front would fan out and shatter the ones in the rear rows. Looked like a lot of fun, but would have been a real mess to clean up.


I would really like to get together with you. Maybe could catch up with you at a show some time.
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Thats Great!! Toilet bowling :D:D
Hey I wonder if Josh could find a dozen toilets for next year:D:D
 
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