I believe I have a very special rifle
- Thread starter Snakeoil
- Start date
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Ian, NP on the ROT thing. If my brain had been fully engaged it would have been a non-issue.
Initial measurement said the ROT was 14 which would have been a very positive thing. But all my research showed that the Bee ROT was 16. When I went back and put a tight patch in the barrel and marked the rod, repeated tries came up with 16. I was hoping Mr. Hubalek had realized that a faster twist would have given the Bee a broader capability.
Brett, yes, I'm casting with 20:1. My goal is to stay with that alloy. I really don't want a pot for every rifle and dumping and filling pots is not on my fun things to do list. But I probably should watch fleabay for another RCBS pot just to have a spare. I have a small Lyman hand dip pot, but I brought it to the lake to do silly things like cast sinkers.
How did you fare in the snowstorm? I heard 5-1/2 feet in some parts of Buffalo. You may want to put snowshoes on your goats.
Initial measurement said the ROT was 14 which would have been a very positive thing. But all my research showed that the Bee ROT was 16. When I went back and put a tight patch in the barrel and marked the rod, repeated tries came up with 16. I was hoping Mr. Hubalek had realized that a faster twist would have given the Bee a broader capability.
Brett, yes, I'm casting with 20:1. My goal is to stay with that alloy. I really don't want a pot for every rifle and dumping and filling pots is not on my fun things to do list. But I probably should watch fleabay for another RCBS pot just to have a spare. I have a small Lyman hand dip pot, but I brought it to the lake to do silly things like cast sinkers.
How did you fare in the snowstorm? I heard 5-1/2 feet in some parts of Buffalo. You may want to put snowshoes on your goats.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
About 6". Lake effect is funny that way. Hit or miss. Ft Drum is supposed to be looking at 4 feet! I imagine Tug Hill area is getting pounded.
I know you'd like to stick with one alloy, but that may not be in the cards. This is where dynamic fit comes into play. You don't necessarily need a HARDER alloy, but you might need a slightly STRONGER one. Or not! Only shooting will make that determination. 1-16 twist is going to mean using shorter bullets, so you've got some pros and cons there. Shoot 'em and see what the rifle says.
I know you'd like to stick with one alloy, but that may not be in the cards. This is where dynamic fit comes into play. You don't necessarily need a HARDER alloy, but you might need a slightly STRONGER one. Or not! Only shooting will make that determination. 1-16 twist is going to mean using shorter bullets, so you've got some pros and cons there. Shoot 'em and see what the rifle says.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Well, short daylight pretty much killed any chance of going back to the range today. I loaded for the match at Wilton tomorrow. I'm thinking of slapping the iron sight on the 03 and shooting the match offhand tomorrow. It is our VT match and was originally intended to be an offhand match. But the geezer factor has pretty much turned every match into a bench match these days. Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoy bench matches because it is more about the bullets and load and reading the conditions than the variable attached to the trigger finger. By the way, loading the 06 cartridges after spending a good chunk of the week putting gas checks on those little Bee pellets and then loading cartridges, was like a walk in the park. I think I could have loaded the 06 rounds with a blindfold on.
So, I loaded more test rounds for the Bee based upon the results from the last two test targets. Loaded 5 each of the following
2400
7.5, 7.3 and 7.1 grains
Unique
4.0, 3.5 and 3.0 grains
The target said that 8gr of 2400 shot dismally yet 7.0gr shot not as good, but close to 7.7gr. So that why I built the ladder in those baby steps. Plus, 2400 meters so well you can do that and know you are not wasting your time on unachievable accuracy in a Uniflow.
The Unique on the other hand is truly a case of self-abuse. I'll shoot those test loads in the ladder, but I'm truly hoping they come out poorly. That stuff is a total waste of time in the Uniflow. Yesterday, I thought I'd found a trick to using it in the Uniflow but that turned out to be total hogwash. I think I just got lucky. Only way I would use that stuff was if I had a Auto Trickler. Otherwise, I'll leave it in the cabinet in case I ever start shooting pistols regularly again.
If I had my druthers, I'd want a list of powders, by burn rate with a description of their type, ball, flake, stick, etc., and hopefully a note on how well they meter. I saw such a list somewhere on the web and I did a bunch of searches and cannot find it. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Probably need to go to the powder OEM sites for description of their powders and make my own list.
While I was putting GCs and lubing/sizing those little Bee bullets, I thought I'd snap a pic of those cute little things. Here's 30 bullets ready to be stuffed into their cases. Ain't they adorable?!! I put a .30-06 cartridge behind them for scale. It's becoming a love/hate relationship.
Before closing, there was another vote in the Sell the Hubalek Rifle column while at the range yesterday. I shoot left handed and the cheekpiece on that RH stock invades the pistol grip area and has a sharp edge. It digs into my arthritic thumb joint and makes me search for comfortable position for my trigger hand. If I do end up keeping this, I'll definitely be talking to George at Treebone about new wood. But I'm still leaning towards letting this one go and building something I really want.
So, I loaded more test rounds for the Bee based upon the results from the last two test targets. Loaded 5 each of the following
2400
7.5, 7.3 and 7.1 grains
Unique
4.0, 3.5 and 3.0 grains
The target said that 8gr of 2400 shot dismally yet 7.0gr shot not as good, but close to 7.7gr. So that why I built the ladder in those baby steps. Plus, 2400 meters so well you can do that and know you are not wasting your time on unachievable accuracy in a Uniflow.
The Unique on the other hand is truly a case of self-abuse. I'll shoot those test loads in the ladder, but I'm truly hoping they come out poorly. That stuff is a total waste of time in the Uniflow. Yesterday, I thought I'd found a trick to using it in the Uniflow but that turned out to be total hogwash. I think I just got lucky. Only way I would use that stuff was if I had a Auto Trickler. Otherwise, I'll leave it in the cabinet in case I ever start shooting pistols regularly again.
If I had my druthers, I'd want a list of powders, by burn rate with a description of their type, ball, flake, stick, etc., and hopefully a note on how well they meter. I saw such a list somewhere on the web and I did a bunch of searches and cannot find it. Grrrrrrrrrr.
Probably need to go to the powder OEM sites for description of their powders and make my own list.
While I was putting GCs and lubing/sizing those little Bee bullets, I thought I'd snap a pic of those cute little things. Here's 30 bullets ready to be stuffed into their cases. Ain't they adorable?!! I put a .30-06 cartridge behind them for scale. It's becoming a love/hate relationship.
Before closing, there was another vote in the Sell the Hubalek Rifle column while at the range yesterday. I shoot left handed and the cheekpiece on that RH stock invades the pistol grip area and has a sharp edge. It digs into my arthritic thumb joint and makes me search for comfortable position for my trigger hand. If I do end up keeping this, I'll definitely be talking to George at Treebone about new wood. But I'm still leaning towards letting this one go and building something I really want.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Not a lot of choices in bullets. 45gr is probably as big as I can go and expect it to shoot.
fiver
Well-Known Member
36-40 is more likely.
for ball powders.
winchester.
accurate,,, not all Accurate powders are ball powders though when you get into the faster/medium rifle speeds.
they don't have any flake types i'm aware of though.
the issue with most ball powders is the deterrent coating.
most are pretty heavily dosed, and some seem to have almost none as you go through the steps.
the amount of deterrent used would be some info i'd be interested in.
for ball powders.
winchester.
accurate,,, not all Accurate powders are ball powders though when you get into the faster/medium rifle speeds.
they don't have any flake types i'm aware of though.
the issue with most ball powders is the deterrent coating.
most are pretty heavily dosed, and some seem to have almost none as you go through the steps.
the amount of deterrent used would be some info i'd be interested in.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Which isn't going to be real 500 yard friendly. You may be right, that this just isn't the rifle for you considering you're a lefty and want to shoot slow and at long range.
L Ross
Well-Known Member
Yup Snakeoil, as much fun as I have been having reading your posts I missed the part about you being a left handed shooter. In a similar situation if I had a fine and historic piece stocked for a lefty I'd probably let it go and fund a more enjoyable rifle. I have a Cody Ballard with the full blown Schoyen offhand stock in .32-40 that I may wish was in a more bench friendly stock some day. I still love off hand shooting. I'll bet the .32-40 would get to 500 without much difficulty.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
order a copy of Propellant Profiles from Wolfe Publishing, it has about as much powder information on most manufacturers out there.
I missed it that your in you’re right mind as well. So will you take time payments?
I’m sure it’s not your first go around trying to use a rifle built for a right handed person, but I can imagine it’s a pain. Starting fresh and building a rifle might be the way to go.
Ian
Notorious member
It might also rivet the bases.
Putting a RH stock on a falling block rifle is just wrong in SO many ways.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
We have guys shooting .22RF out to 500 yds. But several of us have always been suspect of the scores that they have turned in. I suspect of of the hits were misses that they did not see splash into the bern and called a hit. At 500 yds, the little 40gr bullet does not cause much if any target movement.
Probably never mentioned I shoot left handed. I'm actually right handed and so was my Dad. But for some reason he shot left handed and since he taught me... I also shoot pool left handed and can shoot a bow with either hand. When I was shooting IPSC type events and they would a have a stage that included a weak hand shot from behind cover, it was never a problem for me as my left finger had plenty of trigger time.
I have had a few right handed rifles that I shot left handed. My Shiloh was a righty and it never bothered me. Like shooting a standard stock with no cheek rest. None had any cast off. Only left handed firearm I ever shot with any frequency is my 682X Beretta top single trap gun. I actully went to the factory in MD and picked out the HD stock that I wanted. That's a story for another time.
Thanks for the tip on that book, John. I'll have to look for one. Charlie might even have a copy in his shop. Although, he's of the standing opinion that smokeless is just a passing fad.
Not sure what you mean by riveting the bases, Ian. Unless you mean it will slam them into the breech block and cause some deformation. If that is the case, seeing as how I'm staying well within the pressure limits of the cartridge, I'm not sure why you could think that would happen. I take it you are a southpaw as well. As I mentioned above, I'm a hybrid. Right eye dominant and do pretty much everything with my right hand. But can use both and shoot long arms and pool with my left. It does make shooting in matches much more convenient. My partner sits on the left side of the bench and I sit on the right and we never have to move our junk for the other guy to shoot.
Talking to a friend at the club today, he said there is a superb stock guy in our area. He did a High Wall for another member I know. Actually it was the guy who let me borrow the .22 mould for the Bee. Reading Cambell's book last night, he said that the High Wall is one of the most difficult guns to fit a stock. Part of it is due to the ball and socket fit of the receiver to the nose of the grip area. Needs lots of patience.
Probably never mentioned I shoot left handed. I'm actually right handed and so was my Dad. But for some reason he shot left handed and since he taught me... I also shoot pool left handed and can shoot a bow with either hand. When I was shooting IPSC type events and they would a have a stage that included a weak hand shot from behind cover, it was never a problem for me as my left finger had plenty of trigger time.
I have had a few right handed rifles that I shot left handed. My Shiloh was a righty and it never bothered me. Like shooting a standard stock with no cheek rest. None had any cast off. Only left handed firearm I ever shot with any frequency is my 682X Beretta top single trap gun. I actully went to the factory in MD and picked out the HD stock that I wanted. That's a story for another time.
Thanks for the tip on that book, John. I'll have to look for one. Charlie might even have a copy in his shop. Although, he's of the standing opinion that smokeless is just a passing fad.
Not sure what you mean by riveting the bases, Ian. Unless you mean it will slam them into the breech block and cause some deformation. If that is the case, seeing as how I'm staying well within the pressure limits of the cartridge, I'm not sure why you could think that would happen. I take it you are a southpaw as well. As I mentioned above, I'm a hybrid. Right eye dominant and do pretty much everything with my right hand. But can use both and shoot long arms and pool with my left. It does make shooting in matches much more convenient. My partner sits on the left side of the bench and I sit on the right and we never have to move our junk for the other guy to shoot.
Talking to a friend at the club today, he said there is a superb stock guy in our area. He did a High Wall for another member I know. Actually it was the guy who let me borrow the .22 mould for the Bee. Reading Cambell's book last night, he said that the High Wall is one of the most difficult guns to fit a stock. Part of it is due to the ball and socket fit of the receiver to the nose of the grip area. Needs lots of patience.
Ian
Notorious member
Base riveting is what happens when you have a combination of too fast of a pressure rise, too squishy of an alloy, and too much engraving resistance all at once. The bullet base rivets halfway into the throat and then gets blown through the step and squeeze portion of the end of the chamber and throat, often screwing up the bullet's form. We of course do this when loading black powder for rifle cartridges, however we use a different static fit approach to accommodate the bullet bump.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Got it. When you said rivet the bases, I thought you meant the base of the cartridge cases. Hence my confusion. And yes, bullet obturation is something that needs to be considered. It would appear that none of the powders I'm trying has a steep pressure spike. But I realize the shape of the curve is dependent on things like the bullet not stopping when it engraves.
Ian
Notorious member
Breech seating would eliminate the issue, in fact breech seating eliminates MOST of the challenges of getting cast bullets to shoot straight. When you think about that real hard, a lot of problems with fixed ammunition---and some things we can do to mitigate them---become more apparent.
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Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Yup. Been thinking about a breech seater that would work with multiple calibers. Main body would stay and adapters would screw into the end just past the lugs and probably the seating rod might have to change. It's just an idea in my foggy brain right now. I like to machine things based upon visual images I have in my head. But I might have to put this one on paper to make sure it will work as I intend it to. Not sure yet if I want to us a camming action or a toggle set-up.
I still have my Browning High Wall in .38-55. I looked up the twist rate. It's 1:15. That's pretty quick. I noticed that the originals were 1:18. I may go back to the 250 gr bullet or maybe a lighter one to see if I can get it to shoot like I want it too. It has such pretty wood that I just cannot part with it. Plus, it belonged to a very good friend who passed this year. He was a pisser. I'm sure he'd haunt the daylights out of me if I sold it. He bought my Shiloh so he could leave it to his son.
I still have my Browning High Wall in .38-55. I looked up the twist rate. It's 1:15. That's pretty quick. I noticed that the originals were 1:18. I may go back to the 250 gr bullet or maybe a lighter one to see if I can get it to shoot like I want it too. It has such pretty wood that I just cannot part with it. Plus, it belonged to a very good friend who passed this year. He was a pisser. I'm sure he'd haunt the daylights out of me if I sold it. He bought my Shiloh so he could leave it to his son.
Snakeoil
Well-Known Member
Today was dig into the High Wall to see what secrets it might reveal. Having finished Vol 1 of Campbell's book, Winchester Single Shots, I'm now a bonafide expert on High Walls. 
And the day was not without it's OH SCHITT!!! moments.
Pulled the wood off for the 2nd time since getting it and did a careful look around the exposed metal for any old markings, stampings, proof marks etc. on the barrel. Nothing there other than A.Hubalek stamped in plain view on top of the barrel. Pulled the breech block and extractor out of the receiver and then removed the lower tang and trigger assembly. Diassembled the breech block from the finger lever and removed the link from the block. Also removed the retaining screw to allow removal of the firing pin.
I had two questions I wanted to answer with the disassembly.
1. Being made in 1891, has the large firing pin been replaced with a small firing pin for high pressure smokeless rounds and was the breech block bushed to accept the small firing pin?
2. Are there any markings on the extractor that might hint to the original caliber?
With the action in pieces, first thing was the extractor. Since nobody was making aftermarket parts for these when this was built prior to WWII, the extractor should be original to this or another rifle or a Winchester repacement part. The extractor was stamped .32-40 and .38-55. So, that might be a clue to the original caliber. Both of thoses were amonst the most popular for the entire run of the Model 85.
But being a .218 Bee which is based upon the Win. .25-20 case, this extractor should not work, being too big. Closer inspection shows that it was welded up and recut for the Bee case. They did a great job. Only a tiny amount of excess metal from the weld is visible on the back of the extractor hook. Was the rifle a larger caliber. Only way to confirm is to request a letter from Cody Museum.
Next was the breech block. My answer was obvious as soon as the block came out of the receiver. It was a block from a later model, coil spring rifle. It has the two extra holes for the tails of the coil spring to engage. The later model High Walls had the smaller, high pressure firing pin. So, it would appear that Mr. Hubalek simply dropped in a later breech block to suit his needs. It means nothing to rifle functionality. But if someone were looking for an original High Wall, this would be a minor issue. Minor because correct breech block are available both new and used.
With the action apart, the original case colors on the hammer and breech block were very evident. They were still gorgeous. Nothing quite like bone charcoal case hardening. I see the Uberti High Walls for sale and the have case colored receivers. But they are either the fake case coloring like Ruger uses on the Vaquero or they are the cyanide case hardening process colors which are entirely different to bone charcoal colors.
The OH SCHITT!! moment.
I was putting the rifle back together. All the pins on High Walls are tapered and meant to go in from right to left and removed left to right. Most do not know this (remember, I'm an expert now) and drive them the wrong way and destroy the fit. Well, it would appear that all my pins have been driven the wrong way at least once in the last 131 years. They all fit well, but are all cylindrical fits now. The exception is the hammer pin. this is a split pin which looks like a screw from the end. But it is spring steel and you have to squeeze the split end together to get it to start and then it drives thru and springs back open when it reaches the other side. there is a slight heat on both ends of the pin and mating counterbores in the breech block. When it springs back open, the head on the spring end is now in the counterbore and the pin will not move laterally.
So, I'm squeezing the pin with a set of duckbill pliers when it slips and launches to my right. I hear it hit the metal cabinet next to me but never hear a second impact. Hmmmm... It landed somewhere soft. That's lots of places. To might right are 3 boxes of small pieces of scrap wood, a huge wooden box full of short pieces of wood. Behind that is length of various dimensional lumber and a block wall. The cabinet is open shelves which have collected the various stuff I use for gunsmithing and other projects. The shelves are organized chaos. I check the floor which has indoor/outdoor carpet by my workbench. So that's a quiet landing spot. Nothing. Use a flashlight like CSI and still nothing. I have several nooks and crannies to the right to boot. Service panel is there and there is a canyon of spiderwebs under the bench to the right. I search them all, hoping to avoid stripping the shelves. No luck. DAMN!!
I start with the bottom shelf and work my way up. I won't bore you with the details. The process was clear the shelf off into a box, make sure the pin is not stuck in a corner or where the shelf has pulled away from the cabinet. There are 4 shelves and I strip each one separately. While I'm doing this, I'm muttering to myself and my wife is in the basement doing laundry. She keeps asking if I did this or did that and I was considering stuffing her into the dryer and putting it on high heat. She's Sicilian so she would understand this. I simply said her name in a slow, menacing manner and she said, "Okay".
All that was left was the top of the cabinet. This was piled with piece of cardboard I use for templates and other things. Plus there are some old wanut plaques I use as donors for fixing chips in stocks. It's a mess up there and I'd already resigned myself that the pin was gone and I'd need to source a new one. I never thought the pin flew that high. But, I'm not a quitter so I started unstacking cardboard being careful not to have something roll off and slip behind the cabinet, which would be a mutha to empty again so I could move it. I got everything off and was discovering stuff I forgot I had. Then on a tiny little walnut desk plaque that held something at an angle, like an easel, was the pin resting in the bottom shelf of that tiny walnut easel. I could not believe that I found it. Wife said he had been praying to St. Jude. My guess is John Browning was having a beer with Jude when Jo phoned.
I put the rifle back together, coating the sear and spring surfaces with STP. Then I looked at the tang site screw hole plug screws and they just bothered me. The original had almost no slot and what was there had been butchered. There was an extra hole right behind it that someone drilled and tapped, probably because the sight base they wanted to use was for another rifle. That hole had the thread somewhat butchered. It looked like it was originally a 10-32, but someone had run a 10-24 screw or tap into it for a few threads. The plug screw was a 10-32. The hole was sloppy at the surface of the tang.
So, I first took the original screw, faced it off in the lathe and cut a new slot. Came out nice and looks good. One down. The other was too far gone. I ran a 10-32 tap into the existing thread to clean it up. The hole was a blind hole so used a bottoming tap. Then I took a 10-32 screw, threaded it into the hole, marked it and cut it off. Because the hole was sloppy, I peened the end of the screw to expand it a bit. Almost like a very small oval head screw. I then gave it a nice radius and cut a new slot. Boy, does that screw look better in the tang that the one that was in there.
Next project is to fix a tiny chimp in the nose of the wrist where it meets the receiver. I'll use the process I learned from Mr. Phillips to fix this. I'm hoping the fix will be invisible.
I know, I should have taken pictures. I'm pooped. Been a long day. I think the stress of the pin getting launched helped contribute. The half glass of Cab in me doesn't help, either. Well, it helps, but not in a renewed energy kinda way. Maybe I'll take a pic of the new plug screws tomorrow.
And the day was not without it's OH SCHITT!!! moments.
Pulled the wood off for the 2nd time since getting it and did a careful look around the exposed metal for any old markings, stampings, proof marks etc. on the barrel. Nothing there other than A.Hubalek stamped in plain view on top of the barrel. Pulled the breech block and extractor out of the receiver and then removed the lower tang and trigger assembly. Diassembled the breech block from the finger lever and removed the link from the block. Also removed the retaining screw to allow removal of the firing pin.
I had two questions I wanted to answer with the disassembly.
1. Being made in 1891, has the large firing pin been replaced with a small firing pin for high pressure smokeless rounds and was the breech block bushed to accept the small firing pin?
2. Are there any markings on the extractor that might hint to the original caliber?
With the action in pieces, first thing was the extractor. Since nobody was making aftermarket parts for these when this was built prior to WWII, the extractor should be original to this or another rifle or a Winchester repacement part. The extractor was stamped .32-40 and .38-55. So, that might be a clue to the original caliber. Both of thoses were amonst the most popular for the entire run of the Model 85.
But being a .218 Bee which is based upon the Win. .25-20 case, this extractor should not work, being too big. Closer inspection shows that it was welded up and recut for the Bee case. They did a great job. Only a tiny amount of excess metal from the weld is visible on the back of the extractor hook. Was the rifle a larger caliber. Only way to confirm is to request a letter from Cody Museum.
Next was the breech block. My answer was obvious as soon as the block came out of the receiver. It was a block from a later model, coil spring rifle. It has the two extra holes for the tails of the coil spring to engage. The later model High Walls had the smaller, high pressure firing pin. So, it would appear that Mr. Hubalek simply dropped in a later breech block to suit his needs. It means nothing to rifle functionality. But if someone were looking for an original High Wall, this would be a minor issue. Minor because correct breech block are available both new and used.
With the action apart, the original case colors on the hammer and breech block were very evident. They were still gorgeous. Nothing quite like bone charcoal case hardening. I see the Uberti High Walls for sale and the have case colored receivers. But they are either the fake case coloring like Ruger uses on the Vaquero or they are the cyanide case hardening process colors which are entirely different to bone charcoal colors.
The OH SCHITT!! moment.
I was putting the rifle back together. All the pins on High Walls are tapered and meant to go in from right to left and removed left to right. Most do not know this (remember, I'm an expert now) and drive them the wrong way and destroy the fit. Well, it would appear that all my pins have been driven the wrong way at least once in the last 131 years. They all fit well, but are all cylindrical fits now. The exception is the hammer pin. this is a split pin which looks like a screw from the end. But it is spring steel and you have to squeeze the split end together to get it to start and then it drives thru and springs back open when it reaches the other side. there is a slight heat on both ends of the pin and mating counterbores in the breech block. When it springs back open, the head on the spring end is now in the counterbore and the pin will not move laterally.
So, I'm squeezing the pin with a set of duckbill pliers when it slips and launches to my right. I hear it hit the metal cabinet next to me but never hear a second impact. Hmmmm... It landed somewhere soft. That's lots of places. To might right are 3 boxes of small pieces of scrap wood, a huge wooden box full of short pieces of wood. Behind that is length of various dimensional lumber and a block wall. The cabinet is open shelves which have collected the various stuff I use for gunsmithing and other projects. The shelves are organized chaos. I check the floor which has indoor/outdoor carpet by my workbench. So that's a quiet landing spot. Nothing. Use a flashlight like CSI and still nothing. I have several nooks and crannies to the right to boot. Service panel is there and there is a canyon of spiderwebs under the bench to the right. I search them all, hoping to avoid stripping the shelves. No luck. DAMN!!
I start with the bottom shelf and work my way up. I won't bore you with the details. The process was clear the shelf off into a box, make sure the pin is not stuck in a corner or where the shelf has pulled away from the cabinet. There are 4 shelves and I strip each one separately. While I'm doing this, I'm muttering to myself and my wife is in the basement doing laundry. She keeps asking if I did this or did that and I was considering stuffing her into the dryer and putting it on high heat. She's Sicilian so she would understand this. I simply said her name in a slow, menacing manner and she said, "Okay".
All that was left was the top of the cabinet. This was piled with piece of cardboard I use for templates and other things. Plus there are some old wanut plaques I use as donors for fixing chips in stocks. It's a mess up there and I'd already resigned myself that the pin was gone and I'd need to source a new one. I never thought the pin flew that high. But, I'm not a quitter so I started unstacking cardboard being careful not to have something roll off and slip behind the cabinet, which would be a mutha to empty again so I could move it. I got everything off and was discovering stuff I forgot I had. Then on a tiny little walnut desk plaque that held something at an angle, like an easel, was the pin resting in the bottom shelf of that tiny walnut easel. I could not believe that I found it. Wife said he had been praying to St. Jude. My guess is John Browning was having a beer with Jude when Jo phoned.
I put the rifle back together, coating the sear and spring surfaces with STP. Then I looked at the tang site screw hole plug screws and they just bothered me. The original had almost no slot and what was there had been butchered. There was an extra hole right behind it that someone drilled and tapped, probably because the sight base they wanted to use was for another rifle. That hole had the thread somewhat butchered. It looked like it was originally a 10-32, but someone had run a 10-24 screw or tap into it for a few threads. The plug screw was a 10-32. The hole was sloppy at the surface of the tang.
So, I first took the original screw, faced it off in the lathe and cut a new slot. Came out nice and looks good. One down. The other was too far gone. I ran a 10-32 tap into the existing thread to clean it up. The hole was a blind hole so used a bottoming tap. Then I took a 10-32 screw, threaded it into the hole, marked it and cut it off. Because the hole was sloppy, I peened the end of the screw to expand it a bit. Almost like a very small oval head screw. I then gave it a nice radius and cut a new slot. Boy, does that screw look better in the tang that the one that was in there.
Next project is to fix a tiny chimp in the nose of the wrist where it meets the receiver. I'll use the process I learned from Mr. Phillips to fix this. I'm hoping the fix will be invisible.
I know, I should have taken pictures. I'm pooped. Been a long day. I think the stress of the pin getting launched helped contribute. The half glass of Cab in me doesn't help, either. Well, it helps, but not in a renewed energy kinda way. Maybe I'll take a pic of the new plug screws tomorrow.
fiver
Well-Known Member
i couldn't help but smile about the pin thing.
i'd tell where i found the spring and washer to my model 120 bolt 3 days after i ordered replacements, but you probably wouldn't believe me.
i know better, and i shoulda already had a replacement on hand since,,, well,,, since,,, you know,,, i've done it before.
with several other winchesters of the same pattern.
i'd tell where i found the spring and washer to my model 120 bolt 3 days after i ordered replacements, but you probably wouldn't believe me.
i know better, and i shoulda already had a replacement on hand since,,, well,,, since,,, you know,,, i've done it before.
with several other winchesters of the same pattern.