I honestly don't know enough about them to give a competent answer. They were copied by so many different countries over so many years, anything is possible I reckon.  The one it came with is one solid unit though.  Don't know about the replacement until I get eyes on it when I get home from work. Thursday or Friday.

Well this was the most uneventful barrel change I've ever done. Spent more time try to fi d my bottle of rosin than doing anything else.  

Started with making some barrel blocks. I don't normally use wood. I hate wood barrel blocks. We don't get along. So this time I used wood. Found a piece of 2"x2" pine laying around. Cut a couple pieces about 3" long. Clamped them together & drilled an 11/16" hole where they join. Then hand planed the side where the half hole down maybe 5/16" between the two blocks.



I removed the crane & cylinder from the frame, then clamped the frame in my trusty action wrench (reversed the top). I don't even remember what this action wrench is even supposed to be for anymore. It's been used on so many different thing. I did break down & order the proper fal action wrench today. Couldn't figure out a way to fudge this one unfortunately.  

But back on topic.  I spent the next hour or so figuring out where I'd put my bottle of rosin at. Finally found it right where I'd stared looking at. Go figure.  Coat the halves of the barrel blocks liberally with the rosin & clamp the ever loving dog piss out of it in the barrel vise. If the wood ain't popping, it ain't tight enough.  

Crane retention screw & pin.






Now repeat in reverse.  Thread the new barrel on by hand as much as possible.  Coat everything in rosin again  & clamp it all down again.  I have no idea what rosin is, but it'll hold a barrel in the blocks nicely without dicking up the finish. I think it's pine sap & talcum or something.

Anywho, torque the barrel down while trying to guess if the sights are in alignment. I'm good, I got it in one. Dumb luck.





This is where I figured the irritation would start. Setting the barrel / cylinder gap. These Colts are supposed to be .006". Guess where I was right off the bat. Right there at the .006", not counting some roughness. Couple swipes of the hand file & perfecto. On the money. Forcing cone was good too. Didn't even bother to dig out the my cones & lapping compound.  



.006" feeler gauge


Just barely able to force the tip of a .007" feeler gauge in.


Reassembled, & test fired. Definitely has some balls behind it. Sellier & Bellow 230gr fmj put holes in the back of my shot trap, & the side of the shed behind it.  My shot trap for pistols is made from 1/4" thick stainless steel plate. With about 2 foot of rubber mulch to catch the projectile.  Gonna need to build a better shot trap me thinks.



Gonna make some new grips here soon.

Birdseye Maple me thinks.

Probably just keep it for posterity & to have the original barrel around.

On to the back project that's been on the back burner for a while now. It's anything but new, probably the oldest functional ish gun in the house. Gonna fiddle with it & attempt to get it working right while I wait on parts / money for others. I'm fairly ignorant about these guns. I shoot an 1874 Sharps, but it's metallic cartridge gun & a modern Italian reproduction.

This is the wife's original 1863 Sharps saddle ring carbine.  In the original .54 percussion. It works, but it doesn't work. If that makes sense. There's something going on with the breech block that's preventing firing. It's not plugged up, but it no go boom. So there's gonna be some detective work & screaming at 160 year old screws & possibly some fuckery involved ??

More to come. But here's some eye candy.

I'm an oddball, I prefer a straight wrist on a rifle as well as tangent sights.  Which definitely puts me in the minority of folks. But, it's how I learned things. Heck, I still shoot most pistols one handed in a side stance.


I am a fiend for a Winchester 97. Just recently let go of one to a friend & still got one in the safe awaiting the motivation to finish a trenchgun conversion.  It's a very late production takedown that was rescued from a Bubba.  Unfortunately not before the barrel was hacked. Got all the parts h a nice bayonet,  but motivation is low.

If be happy to help with your 97 if you'd like.

Very nice. The Black Diamond guns are not all that common.  Any refinishing plans? I like to rust blue the old gun. Looks more authentic to me. Not to say that I won't occasionally cold blue or fire blue small parts.

Found a stock blank I'd started out of purple heart & forgotten about.  Would be about perfect for a 97. Yeah, I do some oddball stock on occasion for the fun of it. If I remember right, this was ment to go on an old Belgian side by side. Might still have that receiver somewhere.

I've an extra magazine clamp thingy & it's screws. You're welcome to it if you need.

This one's sorta off topic. But it's not like I don't bounce around a lot or anything.

Well, the first girl child turns 18 in a month. She's been my brat since she was 4 & I love the little shit deeply. Most wouldn't guess that she ain't mine by blood since the poor kid is cursed & acts to much like me for comfort.  But like her daddy, she's got a thing for things that go pew pew. Guess that's what happens why ya raise em right. Got her & her sister (my oldest biological brat, who is 2 months younger)started with a pink 22 cricket at about 5-1/2. She advanced to her own Ar at 7. It's been through many iterations,  but it's still around. It is considered daddy daughter time when putting an Ar together ain't it.



The kid is a scary good shot. She's a recoil junky like her mother (don't know what it is with tiny women & recoil love). But she really likes shooting my Model 1938 Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55mm. She can ring the 200 yard gong with disgusting regularity. She's been saving up her mad money to buy a Swede mauser of her own (slow going, get shiny distracted with new clothes).



In the last year or so though,  she's developed a slight love affair with handguns. She says, & I quote "I can't shoot these for shit. Needs more fucking practice." Yeah, she's got a mouth almost as dirty as mine. I quite trying to break her of it when she graduated 2 years ago. Anywho,  she likes the old pistols. My wife carries a Springfield XDS in .45acp, the kid has essentially zero desire to shoot / practice with that. She wants the M1911, M1917, Nagant & especially my Inglis made Hi-power.  She loves that Hi-power. It's steam punk looking according to her, so therefore it's awesome.



The wife & I decided to get her a pistol for her birthday since she likes em & we'd like her to have a pistol before she heads out into the world. Initially I'd tried finding another stocked Hi-power like mine. I knew I'd gotten a good deal on it due to the Bubba finish job on it, but I hadn't realized how good of a deal. So that idea went out the window.  Couple weeks later we go to Hunts Hardware out in Miller ( wife & daughter are friends with one of the counter girls), and had the kid look & fondle this little gem. The kid thinks it's for me since I've been asking her opinion about potential purchases for years now. She thinks it pertty awesome & steam punk ish (total nerd she is). But I was getting her feel for it the whole time.






I'm pretty damn proud of the kid most days. She's got dumbass moments like all of us did at that age. But she's somehow managed to have her head screwed on straight overall.

Good luck on the pistol hunt for the girl!

ETA, so I get that you've got a soft spot for bringing old clapped out guns back from the dead, which is awesome, but for a pistol for her, could you just make a project out of finding a clapped out RIA 1911, clean it up and replace a few parts to make it a little more robust?

If I were to do a 1911 for the kid, I'd find an old Norinco 1911 & make her a race gun out of it. Completely gut it down to just a slide & frame, then rebuild from there. Those old Norinco are very under rated.

Plus I've already got a fairly clapped out 1911. I just carry it everyday pretty much.  Auto Ordnance 1911a1 that I've had for 10 years or so. Couldn't tell you how many thousands upon thousands of rounds have been through it. Front sights bent & beat to shit. Rear sight is super glued in. Worn one sear & hammer out. Barrel bushing is about trashed. Parts of the main spring housing are missing.  Think I'm on the third extractor now. Grip screw bushings are cracked. Whole thing rattles worse than a couple beans in a tin can.
And yet, it still shoots damn good. Should probably give it some love & attention someday.

The second barrel I ever threaded. The first was 20 minutes before this one, & it wasn't a whole barrel. Just a little stub from a yugo Ak that I practiced on. Had to go to grizzly & get a new die holder. The cheapo aluminum one was lost. Turned the muzzle down to .548", clamped it in the barrel vise, added some lube & the threads came out nice & concentric. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised.

Threads. Forgot to take a before picture.


Flash hider installed.  The L1a1 flash hider is secured by a little steel doughnut & pin that go in the little hump towards the rear. The little doughnut sits down into a keyway cut into the barrel & the pin is a cross pin through it all that gets peened in place. I've got neither the part. Will either make, or source.


This is what an L1a1 blank firing device looks like.  Also doubles as a good hand grippy doodad to screw the flash hider on with.


I dhould pull the barrel off the Galil to chop & thread while I'm in a barrel work mood.

Got the barrel populated & ready ready to install.  Gas port is drilled as well.

Yeah, it definitely ain't a small fry. It's a 21" barrel from the factory,  add on another 3-4" of flash hider & it gets impressive.  But the long flash hiders sure do work well. I have an alternate reasoning for using this one,  but that's a surprise for another day.

Now back to some Galil stuff. Since I'm in a barrel work mood lately,  it was time to get at it. The Galil ARM & AR have an 18" barrel & a lingerie gad system. I had turned the barrel journal back for the shorter gas system previously. But hoped to cheat & skip the extractor cut, which was a failure. So this morning I popped the barrel off to finish up. Did the extractor cut & gave it the chop. A Galil SAR should have a 13" barrel, so it's 5" off the top.  Then turned down for the 13mm threads. I'm not reinstalling  or threading until the stamp shows up,  primarily because the stock is a pain on the ass to take apart. But this gives an idea of what it'll look like.





Nearly forgot,  I was a smartass & put a target crown on it. Just for giggles

Well after a not so cooperative weekend I didn't get much done. Ordered some really good round bar Wednesday to make a long flash hider for the Galil. McMaster Carr is great, it's like the Amazon of the industrial world  with 2 day shipping.  

So I design myself a  little flash hider based off the Israeli Galatz type flash hider.  Then the mini lathe crapped out in the middle of it. Super....... Now I get to try warranty the thing. Ain't had it 5 yet. Wish I could afford better one, but oh well. So the Galil is back on the back burner.

Got the fal barrel installed finally . Mostly free of issues.  Fn-fal barrels are supposed to be torqued down to 150 pounds,  since I didn't quite time it right when initially fitting it I had some issue with it.  When I hit 180 foot pounds without hitting the mark, I popped the receiver back off & faced it a smidgen more. Bear in mind that I'm talking about .001 to .0001 of an inch done by hand. It's an acquired skill. I'd much rather work the barrel in a lathe, much much  easier. Hand working stuff is satisfying though. Back on topic,  after facing the receiver again. The magic number was 157 foot pounds.






The Fn-fal is a tilting bolt design. In these guns the bolt is a separate piece from the bolt carrier & is actuated by cam surfaces in the carrier. When the bolt face hits the breech face of the barrel  it stops moving & those cam surfaces push down on the bolt tilting it into the receiver as the carrier finishes its travel. There's a locking lug on the rear of the bolt that mates up to a corresponding hardend cross bar in the receiver. This cross bar is what these headspace off of, you can get them in precision ground sizes.  The other famous rifle with this design  is the SKS. There are others, but none are nearly as successful. My original locking shoulder just barely to be used. But the headspace is stupid tight & is causing extraction problems. Tilting bolt actions have no primary extraction. No happy little twist to loosen the brass. It's all straight line, consequently these things have monstrous extractors. Regardless,  I need a smaller  locking shoulder.  Should be here soon.

Brass looks pretty good though. Not bulged or stretched.



While I wait on a lathe to sort its self out & a locking shoulder,  I'll get back to another older back burner project.  Really  Firebird's Winchester is prompting me to get back to it. Been languishing for about a year now.  Rescued a damaged Winchester 97 & am doing another trenchgun clone.

What I'll end up with.

That's a blade from back when they took their killing seriously ??.

Pattern 1913 / M1917  (there's lots of Model of 1917 stuff) bayonet.  Which is based on the British Pattern 1907 bayonet. They're essentially exactly the same bayonet with the exception of the barrel ring. The Pattern 1913 was developed for the P14 Enfield rifle. When American joined the war in 1917 we didn't have enough guns. Remington, Winchester, & Edsystone had essentially idle production lines for the P14 rifle that the government bought back from the Brits. The P14 rifle was the slightly redesigned to take the .30-06 service cartridge  & thus the US Rifle Caliber 30 Model of 1917 was born.  Which went on to arm most of the American troops in the war. Well an infantry rifle of the day needed one hell of a bayonet, so we simply carried over the Pattern 1913 British bayonet & renamed it the (you guessed it) M1917 bayonet.  Sine Remington & Winchester had been producing the bayonet for the British, they still had a fair amount of stock on hand that went with the production lines. These had the British proof marks defaced & American proofs added. These blades were also used on the Winchester 1897 martial shotguns as well as others such as the Winchester Model 12, Ithaca 37 (the name trenchgun was news paper sensationalism that caught on). The bayonet was used up through Vietnam.  In fact there was a new production contract sent out during the Vietnam War. While essentially the same, these had some minor differences. Checkered black plastic grip panels & the cross guard was attached with roll pins. The blade was also a dark phosphate finish while originally they had a bright blade with a blued ricasso.  End of WW2 some bayonets went through refurb & were placed in storage. This amounted to parkerizing, new grip panels & a Beckwith scabbard.  These aren't exactly common funds anymore. There were only around 75,000 units done. Then attrition through Korea, Vietnam,  & standard wear & tear. First World War examples are more common.

So of course I'm gonna show one off.


Notice the pre American involvement production date. As well as being a Pattern 1913.


Defaced British proofs.  Uncle Sam didn't get a whole lot of these with the production lines. I've read anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000.


The Beckwith M1917 marked scabbard.


As mounted on its originally intended rifle. These things are flat beastly. The rifle itself is bigger than the fal I've been working on, then add another 18" of knife.


If only these things could talk & the stories they could tell.

In case y'all hadn't noticed. Apart from building stuff, I'm kind of a redneck super nerd.

That's my favorite kind of nerd.

Well, when the wife got me to quit drinking I needed a new hobby. So I turned to history & guns. Frankly, the drinking was probably cheaper. I've always had a really good memory which is a blessing and a curse (somethings I'd like to forget). So I tend to remember details well once I read stuff.

Also got to bring the kid's birthday present home. Hidden in plain sight. Told the little shit that it's for me, but had her help break it down, clean, inspect and generally go thru it with a fine tooth comb. The kid thinks that I'm an asshole because she wants it rather badly.  I think it's funny as heck.

Found an extra Walther banner P38 stamped mag & the wife ordered a reproduction soft shell holster & a paratrooper holster.  It's the paratrooper holster that has the kid drooling.  







Turned out to have a rather nice bore. What I though was pitting was dirt & grease.

Been busy. Kids started graduating from high school.  So I ain't got really anything done. But for a few updates,  the Galil Sar is gonna stay a shorty, waiting on paperwork.  Hopefully it's not as long as the last one. Bren jig is finally done & at home, not that I've gotten to see it. The wife has been a blessing running parts back & forth to the machine shop.  So I can hopefully get back to that some here soon.  

I've also added a new project.  Should be a lot of fun & piss off more than a few collectors and purists.





This is going to be a restoration & caliber change. Because it's not a super collectable piece & 7.65 luger is a pain in the ass. It's in need of some love & attention.

Damn clown world we are living in, having to wait & wait & wait some for obscure gun parts even now. With 5 separate projects goin at once, I truly didn't expect to be stonewalled on all at once. Guess that's the price you pay for shopping international these days, shipping times are a real bitch. Bought some parts off an acquaintance in Moscow last year, those took 6 months to show. Mostly because of both Russian & American customs holds. So here I wait.

Did get a nice reproduction Luger holster. Got some reproduction grips as well, but they sucked & are being sent back. I've always liked the look of the old hard shell German military holsters. Found a decent supply of ammo too. Cheaper than 9mm to boot. Wont be getting a caliber change anytime soon due to that & the bore cleaned up super nice. JB bore paste is your friend for old nasty leaded up bores.




Since I'm waiting on parts, I'm doing one of my favorite pastimes. Reloading! I find it to be rather cathartic. Working on 45-70 Government & 6.5x55mm Swede. The two favorites in our house.  Found the correct mould to cast for the 45-70, but I still gotta learning to do there. I suck at it still.








Also, the girl child who I really should start calling a young woman. Thinks that here P38 is finer than frogs fur split 4 ways :). Once she realized that it's hers, she was trying not to cry. Had me showing her how to field strip & clean it within half an hour. The gun shop guys who helped the wife prank me gave her a couple hundred rounds to play with. Gonna try to get out this weekend so she can shoot it.
This is a happy kid.

She's a pretty damn good kid for the most part & I'm  pretty damn proud of her. Has her head on fairly straight, aside from some serious daddy issues. That jackass hasn't been but a small footnote in her life & it bothers her a lot. I detest him for it. She's been my brat since she was 4 & calls me dad. Poor kid acts like me even, fortunately she looks like her mom. Unlike my two, they take after their mother far more than I care for. She's gonna go out with me on the semi next week.

Great update on the P38.  Thanks for sharing.

While not a build, I did get it back in order. In case y'all ain't noticed,  I've favor large chunks of milled steel & a good Kalashnikov based  rifle. So the recognized the probable best of the current milled imports is Arsenal of Bulgaria.  I've wanted an Arsenal for decades, bit they've never imported many true Bulgarian made & built guns. Most are essentially kit guns assembled here with imported oarts & a rough forged receiver that's also finished here. Arsenal does from time to time import small batches of rifles from time to time, but the batches are rather random, small, pricey, & sell out fast. I was never willing to pay the price of entry & never managed to trade for one. Which worked out.

I sorta fell into this one almost by happen stance. 5.56mm milled Arsenal guns are probably the most uncommon of the Arsenal made & imported guns, which is of course exactly what I wanted.  

I believe on the keep it simple stupid philosophy of rifles. I don't like a pile of bolt on crap on a gun & this one had every bolt on doodad the is. Sold off all that junk for a tiddy profit & set about to putting it right.



With others.

Apologies,  I forget that not everyone is an Ak super nerd. Which I most certainly am.

It's the one on the top with the plum / purple furniture.  

Top: Arsenal Sam5 in 5.56x45mm

Middle: Yugoslavia M64 in 7.62x39mm (I've a very serious love hate relationship with this gun. Put a bullet through a knee with it)

Bottom: Israeli Galil SAR in 5.56x45mm

Can agree with that. Feels much more substantial in use as well, despite being smaller.  Hope to have the time to finish /  paint it this weekend. Now that I can legally put the stock on :)

For those of us are into some serious techno babble, some eye candy. For a project that's in the pipeline. Just lining up the ducks to make it happen.



Bonus points if you can identify it.

1874 Sharps?

Winner winner! Won't say exactly what the plan is, but it'll be nifty. Got an idea for for another classic, but I need to dig through the box of blue prints to see if I've still got them.

Cool iron.  What caliber is it?  I know very little about Sharps (much like every other firearm you post in this thread...), what I do know is that every time I watch Quigley, my interest is reignited, though if I ever convinced myself to pull the trigger, I'd probably just stick to 45-70.

That one is a Pedersoli reproduction in 45-70. This is the one that sparked my love of cowboy guns. I had watched Quigley one time to many & had some extra cash from a side job. Did some research & decided that a Pedersoli was best fit for me. They use a forged receiver & broch cut rifling. As well as costing half as much as  Shiloh or C. Sharps. Ended up finding it I. The fancy gun room in Bass Pro & discovered that you can haggle the price down  there.  Got $300 off the price tag due to some compression damage on the stock which I easily steamed out.



It's stupid accurate

They are a ton of fun!

That looks similar to a Pedersoli Business Rifle I once owned.  I fell into a .45-70 Shiloh Sharps. After upgrading the sights, I've taken it to 500 yards with black powder handloads.  I wish it were .45-90 for a little extra powder.

l'm looking forward to seeing what's up your sleeve.

Haven't had the time to do much of anything past work. Dealing with an inordinate about of family crap when home for the weekend & ain't sure when it'll let up.

But I did manage to get some cool old stuff to fiddle with later on when there's a bit more free time.

1896 Remington rolling block in 7x57mm Mauser.  Has a really nice bore for a 126 year old gun. Not a lot to do it past a light conservation (good thorough cleaning & repair). Should be a good fun shooter. I've got a fair bit of Spanish hunting ammo from the 40's that should do well in it. I will be working up some light loads for it.
Honestly I was hoping for a more or less junk rifle with a good action.  I'd like to build up a target rolling block in 45-70 to go with the Sharps. But this one is too nice for such a fate & rare as well. It's one of 1100 or so that Remington made in 7mm in 1896.





I like the girl child's Walther P38 so much, I wanted one of my own. Would have been nice if I'd managed to get myself one. The wife has laid cliam to this one. Before I even got to fiddle with it.  A really nice Russian captured pistol.  Forced matching numbers with a super nice bore, 2 wartime mags  and holster.





Family photo of the wartime pistols. I really need to get off my ass & fix the finish of the Hi-power.  I don't like the two tone thing.



The one thing I did mange to find the time to work on, is an old M91 Carcano long rifle that I adore. Its been broken for a couple of years with a bullet stuck in the bore. But it is finally back together and working.  This was made in 1893, which was the second year of production for the Carcano rifles.

Bet y'all thought that my Bren gun project was dead & gone or just plain forgotten about, well it ain't. Just been on the back burner & it time to get some more work done.
Done a lot of reading & research in the intervening months & have answers to ton of questions. Picked up a new part that will both make this easier & harder at the same time. Not sure if I'll use it as just yet. Probably will as the wife would castrate me if I don't, since it kinda cost as much the original kit & ain't exactly too common nowadays.  

A center section, from back in ole days. Before the fud alphabet soup guys decided that things needed more cut up. Where was I 15 or so years ago when these were dirt cheap? I was still thinking that slapping Ar parts together was "building" a gun. Didn't know things like this existed.





1944 Inglis. Canadian goodness.


This would also have the added benefit of saving the cool little proof marks.



The good thing about this part, all the critical dimensions up front are intact.  But there is some serious machining that takes place in the magwell to fir the L4a1 mags. Which is scary.

Here's the one that has been the bane of my build stuff existence for the better part of a decade. Not something that most have seen in person & probably the second most expensive gun I've ever delt with. Well almost gun, still in cut up chunks. But it takes an $800 magazine. Talking on another site begging for help to problem solve.