Rifle diversion

Looking forward to seeing the finished rifle, fantastic work. Youve got to be one of the most diverse/talented makers on the planet.

What kind of final metal finish are you going choose?
 
Ken,

I have to agree with you, the Scottish round action is about as sleek and pleasing as it gets. I knew this action was too narrow to fully round it, but would have if it were a double with enough width. I loosly based the shape off A.H. Fox actions.

I have been able to handle hundreds of fine guns at the Dallas Safari club show over the yrs. Lewis Drake always has a couple of Dicksons and McKay Browns guns. Screwes up my phsycological perspective for weeks...


I am working on a design for a rimfire double, and it will be a rounded action.

Matt,

I will blue it after engraving, then french grey the engraving and finaly heat color it to give a subtle but contrasting color on the scrollwork. Finish it off with laquer for protection. The barrel will be rust blued.

I weighed it last night on my bathroom scale. 7 lbs even and it balances right on the hinge pin. I will need to rebalance it when I put the recoil pad on it.
 
Bailey Bradshaw said:
Ken,

I have to agree with you, the Scottish round action is about as sleek and pleasing as it gets. I knew this action was too narrow to fully round it, but would have if it were a double with enough width. I loosly based the shape off A.H. Fox actions.

I have been able to handle hundreds of fine guns at the Dallas Safari club show over the yrs. Lewis Drake always has a couple of Dicksons and McKay Browns guns. Screwes up my phsycological perspective for weeks...


I am working on a design for a rimfire double, and it will be a rounded action.

Matt,

I will blue it after engraving, then french grey the engraving and finaly heat color it to give a subtle but contrasting color on the scrollwork. Finish it off with laquer for protection. The barrel will be rust blued.

I weighed it last night on my bathroom scale. 7 lbs even and it balances right on the hinge pin. I will need to rebalance it when I put the recoil pad on it.
Click to expand...
Now why would you need a recoil pad on a 7mm Mauser? That thing needs a skeletonized buttplate:D What kind of glass are you going to mount on it? On the topic of Dickson type actions, isn't Dakota building their double on an Italian made round action?
 
You've really outdone yourself with this project, Baily.........Larry's gonna have a hard time catching up with you with the one he's started. ;)
 
Joe,

I will have to hollow out some of the stock to balance the rifle for a little barrel forward weighting. I guess I could use a wood cap inleted to cover the holes and have the skeleton plate cover the seam.

No glass, just open sights. I don't like the look of a scope on break action guns. Kills the nostalgia, plus it makes life a little more interesting.

Ferlib is making Dakota's double rifles. On the outside the look like Scottish round actions, but am not sure if they are completely true to form on the inside. A true Scott has a trigger plate lock with large bow springs.

Dawkind, I've been proding Larry to get going on it, but he is a very busy man.
 
Bailey Bradshaw said:
Joe,

I will have to hollow out some of the stock to balance the rifle for a little barrel forward weighting. I guess I could use a wood cap inleted to cover the holes and have the skeleton plate cover the seam.

No glass, just open sights. I don't like the look of a scope on break action guns. Kills the nostalgia, plus it makes life a little more interesting.

Ferlib is making Dakota's double rifles. On the outside the look like Scottish round actions, but am not sure if they are completely true to form on the inside. A true Scott has a trigger plate lock with large bow springs.

Dawkind, I've been proding Larry to get going on it, but he is a very busy man.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was checking that out. Both their double rifle and expensive shotguns use those Ferlib actions and their "cheaper" game gun uses a standard Anson boxlock. Aren't the Dicksons actually considered to be "droplocks"? For some reason, I was thinking that the one "modern" gun that used that type of actions was the Remington 32/Krieghoff. I may be wrong. The DDickson is proof that you don't have to have removable sidelocks to be a "best" quality gun. I have heard some opine that the Dickson lock may actually be a better system, but don't let any well healed Purder owners hear you say that..lol.;)
 
Joe,

A drop lock is a removeable lock under the floorplate on Westley Richards guns. Scottish actions use a trigger plate lock that is mounted behind the body of the action above the triggers. Thats what makes them so strong, all the lockwork doesn't interfere with the mass of the action body. I did a similar setup for the same reason. Also notics I have no exposed pins or screws going from one side of the action to the other. Evidence of no lock components in the action bars, which means no material was removed to create space for them......mass=strength

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That is too cool. You must be younger than me if you aren't going to need a scope:D A set of claw mounts with a low powered German scope would be nice on a piece such as that:thumbup: So.....are you going to make a second...or third career out of this custom gun building thing or does it cost more to make one that you can sell it for like when you first started making knives? lol
 
I have found that the word custom equals near poverty;) I am looking into producing guns, but they won't be true customs. Standard models with options. What i am really after is building a sellable business. My knife business isn't marketable beyond the product. With 5 kids, that just isn't the level of stability I would like to have.

My plan...build a business, get it established and when it is time to expand it beyond my capabilities, sell it and be able to make what I want with knives and guns. Right now, I would like to have total artistic freedom, and the abov eplan helps me get as close I think I will ever come to it.

As for sights, I am turning 39 next few days. I have been blessed with good eyes, but when they do get bad enough not to shoot with open sights, I will retire it to a display case...or get lasik and keep blasting away:D
 
Great day today!!

I received the chamber reamer today and immediately set about chambering the rifle. Got that complete without a hitch, and decided to go ahead and do the first couple of test shots. Straped it to a tire, ran some line for the trigger, and BOOM. No problems on the outside!

I placed a clean white rag around the action to see if there would be any residue from gas leakage. There wasn't any. The top lever moved just as it did before and didn't shift at all from where it was before the shot
.
BUT...when I tried to open the action, it was stuck. I pushed it down over my leg and it came free. Turns out I need to make a new firing pin and inlay some steel in the slot of the striker bushing. The primer had expanded into the slot and into the hole for the firing pin. The tip of the pin is tapered, and when retracted it has a gap. The loads were only Norma factory with 156gr fmj ( they were on sale at Midway for $20). I will make a new pin that will seal the hole better and inlay steel into the slot where the primer sits. Should be no problem.

After the first shot, I measured everything, and checked for any change in dimension, fit or function. No changes, so I doned some safety gear ( eye/ face protection ) and let one go from the shoulder. Same result with the primer, but still no other problem. It felt like a 20ga!

I figure if i made it this far and with such a minor problem, I am way ahead of the curve, so despite hurricane Ike looming on the horizon, I am pretty happy!!

Bailey Bradshaw
 
Bailey, be sure and post pics! I still have the Norma ammo to send you, looks like its time to do so!
 
Congrats, Bailey...........sounds like it's all downhill from here. ;)

Now get ol' lazza fired up........no pun intended. :D
 
A nervous moment for sure. Congratulations to you sir.
I expect you are enjoying a feeling of great accomplishment.
 
Thanks for sharing the great news. Have many more days like today on future projects.

Take care, Craig
 
;)Thanks everyone.....while it is certainly a milestone, there is much work left to do. The nice thing is that I can begin to enjoy useing it once I get the sights installed.

I have lots of ferral hogs running around on my land, and they make ideal targets ( pretty good smoked sausage too:p) I was hoping to get the rifle shooting before it cools down to hunting weather, so it looks like I will be carrying it quite often this fall.

Engraving will probably take another year to get finished....at least. Since this job doesn't pay, I am treating it like a hobby, spending time on it after hrs. The thought of it drawing out that long is a little intimidating, but I am determined to see it through as my original plans dictated. That is full coverage deep releif sculpted scrolls with gold accents. This will probably be the only gun I will ever make for myself, so it is a once in a lifetime project. Hopefully it will become a family heirloom for several generations. Serves as a motivator when I feel like I am working for my unborn grand and greatgrand children. With about 8 yrs invested ( off an on over that time period), motivation is a good thing......where ever it comes from.
 
"full coverage deep relief sculpted scrolls with gold accents."

You'll be hog hunting in style.


Mitch
 
Here is the latest. I have the rifle shooting pretty nice. Did a 2" group at 100yds with a seriously hard trigger, factory ammo and the uncertainty of a new gun/shooter familiarity. I have since tuned the trigger to pull about 3 to 4 lbs. That's a good hunting weight, but probably too hard for you bench shooters.

There is still a good bit of work to do, but it's all odds and ends. The major stuff is done and I can hunt with it, which I will go do in about an hour:D ( pigs beware!!)

The forend still needs to be checkered, some of the internal parts need to be polished and I still need to figure out what I want on the butt of the stock. Then there is the engraving.....That will probably not be complete for another year.

Here are the pics.

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