Build thread for PHPD1295
- Thread starter grit
- Start date
grit
Well-Known Member
All right, I had several actions and barrels to do in this batch. Ready to move forward with this one again.
Bill chose a 20" barrel. This is a shorter barrel than I can do through the headstock with my chuck installed. Saturday I built a spider and welded it to a face plate to run the short barrel. The face plate is cast iron and has been used with the lathe for a few years. It must have been saturated with oil, proving challenging to weld.
For the stout barrel contour, I chose to blend a brake to the barrel. This required building a brake to suit. In this photo, I have installed the brake and am cutting the taper to blend the brake and barrel.
This required dialing in off the bore to thread, crown, and ream the brake. Then, I dialed in the outside of the barrel so I could shape the brake to match perfectly.
Bill chose a 20" barrel. This is a shorter barrel than I can do through the headstock with my chuck installed. Saturday I built a spider and welded it to a face plate to run the short barrel. The face plate is cast iron and has been used with the lathe for a few years. It must have been saturated with oil, proving challenging to weld.
For the stout barrel contour, I chose to blend a brake to the barrel. This required building a brake to suit. In this photo, I have installed the brake and am cutting the taper to blend the brake and barrel.
This required dialing in off the bore to thread, crown, and ream the brake. Then, I dialed in the outside of the barrel so I could shape the brake to match perfectly.
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grit
Well-Known Member
These two photos show a few things. The brake has been tapered to match the barrel, and blended seamlessly. For entertainment, the barrel taper is .067 degrees. In keeping with the short, burly barrel, I added a little wall thickness between the ports for a stout look. I cut the thread tenon length and crown after the barrel has been timed. This allows me to place the crown flush with the first port for easy cleaning. An exaggerated recessed crown is cut on the front of the brake for looks.
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phpd1295
Well-Known Member
I've been in contact with Lorenzo and we are at the point where he needs to stop posting pics of the build to maintain the surprise for the me. He is predicting about two weeks for cleanup, assembly and test firing. As soon the rifle is here Lorenzo will post more pics of the build process and of the finished project. I should have it in mid August which leaves plenty of time for load testing and development before deer season. :D
Browninglover1
Well-Known Member
You lucky dog! He won't finish mine till around November, but that should give me time to get ready for Christmas/New Years coyotes :)
Mike 338
Well-Known Member
Can't you just go on the honor system and not look?:) This is a great thread.
phpd1295
Well-Known Member
Normally I would but I don't trust myself in this case. I feel like a kid at Christmas. I know I will peek and ruin the surprise. This thread is worse than crack! I am checking for updates several times a day
phpd1295
Well-Known Member
wildrose, Let's see a pic of Final Retribution along with the details on her
phpd1295
Well-Known Member
A while back on this thread Wildrose posted this "Thanks again for starting up this thread. I think it will help a lot of people begin to understand the difference in an of the rack gun vs something crafted by an artisan."
I think this really defines what Lorenzo is doing on this build and every job he takes on. In this case I requested a very thick barrel (M40) contour and I wanted it cut short at 20" for use in a deer blind. Because of this when Lorenzo cut the barrel to length the end of the barrel was thicker than the average off the shelf muzzle brake. He didn't just slap on a muzzle brake and do it "half ***". He went the extra mile and hand crafted a custom muzzle brake that would follow the barrel contour perfectly and make it look like part of the barrel. I think that this attention to detail shows the difference between a true craftsman building the best rifle possible and a run of the mill gunsmith building a gun from a bunch of parts from a catalog and calling it a custom gun.
grit
Well-Known Member
Got to function and accuracy test today. Can't post a pic of the rifle yet, Bill wants to be surprised. Here's the first five rounds out of the rifle. Factory ammo from Wal mart. Two rounds to sight in and blow the oil out, three for group. This is just a hint of the rifles potential. Love the rifle except for the bolt on the wrong side. I love these custom rigs! Remember the old days? Sometimes it'd take a whole box of ammo to get sighted. The scope wouldn't take the adjustment, then it'd jump clear across the target. By the time you got close the factory barrel was hot and shooting all over the place.....
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elkaholic
Well-Known Member
Looks like you may have a shooter there!......Rich
trueblue
Well-Known Member
Where is the will power:)
phpd1295
Well-Known Member
If that square above the bullseye is an inch that group looks like 1/2 moa with cheap ammo. I can't wait to see what match ammo or handloads can do!
grit
Well-Known Member
The inner circle of the bull is .38 for reference.
Don't forget to email your address. :D
