My Current Hobby Pursuit

Discussion in 'Guns & Weapons' started by Frank Sanoica, Sep 4, 2018.

  1. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    Recently picked up one of my all-time favorite shotguns, nifty piece, antique now, last manufactured about 1975. The High Standard Arms Co. endeavored to create an easily maneuvered shotgun for Police use, though nothing about the piece would restrict it from civilian ownership. Easily maneuvered, because it is really short, overall, unlike those unwieldy long-barreled hunting shotguns. This thing was intended for control of lethal human threat. Here's what it looks like:

    upload_2018-9-4_17-31-26.png upload_2018-9-4_17-31-49.png

    It's a "Bullpup" design, meaning the trigger is placed forward of the operating mechanism, thus placing the working parts basically against the user's shoulder. Overall length is only 26 inches. The cartridges or shells are stored below the barrel in a tubular magazine which ends just at the front of the plastic housing. An extended magazine tube was available, but finding one today is probably impossible. Besides, why not make one? That's what I'm up to now:

    Below, the plastic stock pieces disassembled. Considering the vintage age, they did a neat job of enclosing what was basically one of their sporting shotguns, the Flight King.
    [​IMG]


    The shotgun action itself, with magazine tube removed. The design is gas-operated, like the famous and expensive Browning design.
    [​IMG]


    Here is the magazine tube (blued color) sitting atop the blank in my lathe which will hopefully function as an extended tube.
    [​IMG]


    Closer-up showing (possibly) the tiny grooves at left of tubes, which allow combustion gas to act upon the piston which drives the action.
    [​IMG]


    The toughest part of making this part is the tiny square-thread on one end which screws into the action, securing the mag tube in place. In all my years, this is the FIRST ever square-thread I have cut in my lathe! It's super-tiny, because the tube is very thin walled; the tool bit used to cut the thread is 0.048" wide, between 1/32 and 1/16 of an inch. The part marked "USA" is actually a socket wrench which is acting as a support center for the long tube.
    [​IMG]


    A view showing the threading-tool set-up. Having no way to "gauge" the characteristics of the original thread, I used thread-to-thread distance measurement and depth of thread to determine they used 12 threads per inch. The dial indicator set-up was used to verify that my "change gears" were driving the tool bit exactly 0.083" per rotation of the part.
    [​IMG]


    This is what the gear set-up on the end of my lathe looked like, to cut 12 threads per inch:
    [​IMG]

    The stock used to make this part is actually a piece of 3/4-inch standard black gas-pipe I bought at Ace Hardware! Frank
     
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  2. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    Wow, @Frank Sanoica ! I don't understand it all, but I'm impressed. You sure do keep busy.
     
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    Last edited: Sep 4, 2018
  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Nancy Hart
    Ah, come on now! I know from your posting that you understand far more than a lot of folks! And, I appreciate the kind words.

    Actually, lately, I have become something of the sloth, in addition to being a glutton, and chide myself for being less busy than I should be. Spend a couple of hours doing minor movements of machine control wheels and the like, and seems as though I hurt all over! :(
    Frank
     
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  4. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    FWIW, I got that lathe at age 14, funded by my Mother, who kept a cookie jar of weekly left-over money hidden away. It cost $290, built for Sears Roebuck by Atlas Press Co., Kalamazoo, Michigan. My Dad opposed it, being a Tool & Die Maker, he feared my interests were leading up to a similar work experience for me. But, my thinking has always been, I love to work with my hands and my mind, thus learning a lot about the skilled trades, but vowed I would never do that to earn a living! (My Dad never knew that).

    Had to dig out the operating manual last night that came with the machine. Showed it to my wife; she could not believe i had it for 65 years! Needed to brush up on thread-cutting.

    Frank
     
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  5. Thomas Stearn

    Thomas Stearn Veteran Member
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    Good move by your mother. It then means you've had it for over 50 years. Since you moved several times you always took it with you. Considering the weight of the machine how did you transport it? Did it require heavy goods transport of some sort?
     
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  6. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Frank, I didn't think you could use 3/4 steel pipe from Ace Hardware for a rifle barrel! I wouldn't think it would stand up to the heat.

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    My o/h would give a kings' ransom to come and play Gun restoration with you Frank...
     
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  8. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Thomas Stearn
    Actually, the lathe is just about the lightest of my machines, weighing perhaps 250 lbs. My Bridgeport Milling Machine is another matter. The lathe followed me through, let's see now.....eight moves! The mill, however, I obtained while living in Phoenix, only two moves from the final one! To move it, I had to break it down into 3 major pieces, each liftable (barely) using my engine hoist.

    Below, milling machine on the left, 2500 lbs, bandsaw left of tool roll-around, only about 250 lbs.
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Joe Riley What I'm making is a tube which acts as a magazine for the shotshells to be stored within; it "sees" very minimal heat from the actual barrel above it.
    Frank
     
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  10. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    My son-in-law's milling machine is a monster too, and I think some kind of engine hoist or crane came with it to move it. He also has a band saw and a metal lathe. I suggested to him that he go into gunsmithing to add a little income, but so far I don't think he has done it. Do you do gun work for others, or just your own? I have a friend who collects old military shoulder weapons. He found a gunsmith who will work with him on the metal work, but I don't know how reliable he is. Do you use Brownell's or Midway USA?
     
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  11. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Don Alaska
    Actually, I have always preferred to do work only for myself, especially gun work. I bent a bit in Missouri several times, once to repair a Remington Nylon 66 rifle which wouldn't feed properly, refused to take any money, the guy was overwhelmed. Another time, a special coupling failed which drove a hydraulic pump on another neighbor's front-end loader, the very machine which had carried my mill to my new shop. I made up a a new coupling; he claimed the part was no longer available. Surely it would be, but without internet.......?

    I have purchased many times from Midway, all types of parts, powder, etc. Doing work on guns is fascinating for me, as are all kinds of mechanical challenges. Electricity is my "biggie", though!
    Frank
     
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  12. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    ....then I guess you know of Reddy Kilowatt!
    [​IMG]
     
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  13. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Joe Riley
    Where I grew up, he was called "Little Bill", looked sort of a cross between a songbird and a roadrunner. My friend's dad called him "vulture" rather than referring to a "little bill"!
    Frank
     
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  14. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    @Frank, I never owned a Bridgeport, but I've owned a few bench lathes, my first one being a genuine 9" South Bend, shipped in 1935.

    The one shown is a Jet, which I no longer have. It made it possible for me to build 3 Lightning Machines, which required accurately-aligned belt drives.

    I also have a Drill Press, a Bench Grinder, a Disc Grinder, a Band Saw, a Bench saw, and other power tools.
    Hal
    097.jpg
     
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  15. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Hal Pollner
    Nice lathe! Maybe about a 10" swing? Looks like about 2' between centers, my ancient Atlas (Craftsman) is a 12 X 24 inch, I couldn't afford the 36 inch bed! Nor the quick-change gearbox, for $90 extra!

    South Bend is an old and respected bench-lathe maker, as was Hardinge. Thought I'd wrap-up my OP here with a view of the shotgun with the new mag tube I made installed, along with the 3-part plastic stocks positioned above and below the firearm, in their respective positions.

    [​IMG]

    The original magazine tube is at bottom, about 4-1/2" shorter than the new one installed, almost as long as the barrel. The cap on the old tube squeezed the upper and lower stocks together; the silvery-tube above it encloses the extended tube and holds the stocks together similarly. It's gas-operated, semi-automatic, with the mag tube serving as a fixed gas cylinder, the piston surrounding it located about halfway along the length of the tube. The piston activates the bolt through two attached arms, one being visible between the tube and barrel.

    As you can see, the trigger is located far forward of the action itself, thus eliminating the need for a long shoulder stock. This type of design is called "Bullpup", but why, I dunno. Really a neat way of making a short, easily-maneuverable shotgun, while keeping lengths of barrel and overall-length legal per NFA 1934.

    The new tube cycles shotshells very acceptably manually, even though my tube has an ID of 0.906", while the factory tube is 0.918". I'm itching to try it out! Told my wife I may fire a single round in the shop; she is rather against it! Frank
     
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