It's a rainy weekend - what to do?

[Wapiti]

Looks like another rain band has set in. The paddocks are super boggy and not a good idea to get around.

Do you guys have a shed to spend your days in when you can't get out or get away?
Any firearm related hobby stuff going on? Mods?
Anyone thinking of knocking up any special tools to work on your guns? There could be some great ideas to share with other forum members.

[bigrich]

Looks like another rain band has set in. The paddocks are super boggy and not a good idea to get around.

Do you guys have a shed to spend your days in when you can't get out or get away?
Any firearm related hobby stuff going on? Mods?
Anyone thinking of knocking up any special tools to work on your guns? There could be some great ideas to share with other forum members.

i just picked up my 308 tikka from the big C , so swapping it into B&C stock, mounting scope , loading ammo . gunna get out to the range tomorrow if possible . i don't trust the forecasters , nice weather this morning down logan way mate. if i didn't have the new rifle i'd be brass prepping .
years ago when i was in the muscle car/hot rod scene i'd be in the shed tinkering on a rainy weekend . don't spend that much time on cars these days since i bought a diesel toyota

[No1Mk3]

Being a collector, I always have something to study and since the advent of the internet to augment my books I have access to many sources of information regarding pieces in the collection. So today I am trying to dig up more info on the Jarmann 1878 Trials Rifle, cutting down 7.62x54R cases to 36mm to make ammo for the M1870 Gasser revolver, cutting down 30-30 cases to 27mm to make ammo for the KNIL M91 revolver, and planning on cleaning the Sniders. Then there's the bikes, alway's something to tinker with,

[Wapiti]

Bloomin" continuous rain here since probably 9am. Place has been wet on the ground for weeks, then 40mm Wednesday, now goodness knows how much today when it ends. Traprock country can get nastily boggy despite the claims, especially with the underground streams that run just below the surface and only show when you are sitting on your diffs.
Be glad you're in town right now BigRich, and not out here. Flipping freezing.

I made a couple of muzzle caps for two stainless varmint 308's, one for the long suffering grand-dads axe paddock gun Remington, and one for its replacement the Howa. Made them from 304SS as it's supposed to be nicer machining but you wouldn't know it.

Got one to go, a heavy barrelled Howa mini SS 223, muzzle thread on barrel too.

And then there's the bolt handle extensions to thread for. Gulp.

[bigrich]

Bloomin" continuous rain here since probably 9am. Place has been wet on the ground for weeks, then 40mm Wednesday, now goodness knows how much today when it ends. Traprock country can get nastily boggy despite the claims, especially with the underground streams that run just below the surface and only show when you are sitting on your diffs.
Be glad you're in town right now BigRich, and not out here. Flipping freezing.

I made a couple of muzzle caps for two stainless varmint 308's, one for the long suffering grand-dads axe paddock gun Remington, and one for its replacement the Howa. Made them from 304SS as it's supposed to be nicer machining but you wouldn't know it.

Got one to go, a heavy barrelled Howa mini SS 223, muzzle thread on barrel too.

And then there's the bolt handle extensions to thread for. Gulp.

good to hear your getting decent rain mate , we've had enough on the coast , trust me . should be just cloudy tomorrow around ripley where my local range is. i'm getting lazy , bought a box of ADI 165gn factory ammo game kings to run in/sight in my new 308 tomorrow. i like ADI brass. i should get the lead out and do up a few loads with 2208 and 150sst's and see how they fly one thing i noticed about my new tikka t3 lite is it's 1-10 twist . 30 cal sako's and tikkas were always 1-11 for years . i don't mind as lots of the newer projectiles are designed for the faster 1-10 twist . i got 1-12 when i rebarreled my musgrave 308 and it's fussy with what it likes . mostly older design projectiles . sounds like you've been busy in the shed . do you have a lathe ? dunno bout the bolt handle extensions , your arms must be really short

sorry, can't help myself . cheers

[perentie]

I have been meaning to fit chokes to my new shotgun. It has chokes but I want it to take Carlsons as there is more choice and one can install without tools.
I did the C-More I had and as I have the reamer and tap already I may as well do the Bush Pig.
Thats only if its wet as I have a Black Powder shoot on if its not raining.

[Wapiti]

I have been meaning to fit chokes to my new shotgun. It has chokes but I want it to take Carlsons as there is more choice and one can install without tools.
I did the C-More I had and as I have the reamer and tap already I may as well do the Bush Pig.
Thats only if its wet as I have a Black Powder shoot on if its not raining.

How is that done mate? Cut on a lathe or a special tool?

[Wapiti]

good to hear your getting decent rain mate , we've had enough on the coast , trust me . should be just cloudy tomorrow around ripley where my local range is. i'm getting lazy , bought a box of ADI 165gn factory ammo game kings to run in/sight in my new 308 tomorrow. i like ADI brass. i should get the lead out and do up a few loads with 2208 and 150sst's and see how they fly one thing i noticed about my new tikka t3 lite is it's 1-10 twist . 30 cal sako's and tikkas were always 1-11 for years . i don't mind as lots of the newer projectiles are designed for the faster 1-10 twist . i got 1-12 when i rebarreled my musgrave 308 and it's fussy with what it likes . mostly older design projectiles . sounds like you've been busy in the shed . do you have a lathe ? dunno bout the bolt handle extensions , your arms must be really short

sorry, can't help myself . cheers

Yes, 1-10 is the choice nowadays as everybody is nuts about heavy bullets for target shooting. The grand-dads axe paddock basher (ex 700 Police 20") ended up with a 1-12 from TSE for it's 2nd barrel because I didn't think about that at the time, but iyt shoots 168's just great. But it only ever eats 135 and 150gn bullets in the paddocks. If I want to shoot heavier bullets I'll shoot a .300.

Yeah, got a lathe. Take off and fit barrels, true up actions etc. Just finished tightening up the chamber of grand-dad's axe actually, set it back 6 thou so it closes with "feel" on new unfired brass so there's no first shot stretch. Made quite a difference.

This is the first muzzle cap just finished knurling, the shiny section next to it closer to the 4-jaw is the second one. I size and knurl the outside before tapping the internal thread and parting it off.

[Wapiti]

Barrelled action in the pipe wrench vice to hold it, with a home-made action wrench ready to undo the action.
The barrel is wrapped in 2.5mm sheet aluminium, so as not to mark it in the jaws.

[Wapiti]

The two caps. Stops me drinking beer. Make stuff instead

[perentie]

I have been meaning to fit chokes to my new shotgun. It has chokes but I want it to take Carlsons as there is more choice and one can install without tools.
I did the C-More I had and as I have the reamer and tap already I may as well do the Bush Pig.
Thats only if its wet as I have a Black Powder shoot on if its not raining.

How is that done mate? Cut on a lathe or a special tool?

If the barrel is removable it is reamed in the lathe at slow speed. Tapping is done by hand with the barrel verticle in a vice and a T handle on the tap. Some have done the whole operation in a vice by hand if the barrel cant be put through the chuck.
Both the reamer and tap are a matched pair. Mine is for the Winchoke system as there are a lot of different ones.

[perentie]

good to hear your getting decent rain mate , we've had enough on the coast , trust me . should be just cloudy tomorrow around ripley where my local range is. i'm getting lazy , bought a box of ADI 165gn factory ammo game kings to run in/sight in my new 308 tomorrow. i like ADI brass. i should get the lead out and do up a few loads with 2208 and 150sst's and see how they fly one thing i noticed about my new tikka t3 lite is it's 1-10 twist . 30 cal sako's and tikkas were always 1-11 for years . i don't mind as lots of the newer projectiles are designed for the faster 1-10 twist . i got 1-12 when i rebarreled my musgrave 308 and it's fussy with what it likes . mostly older design projectiles . sounds like you've been busy in the shed . do you have a lathe ? dunno bout the bolt handle extensions , your arms must be really short

sorry, can't help myself . cheers

Yes, 1-10 is the choice nowadays as everybody is nuts about heavy bullets for target shooting. The grand-dads axe paddock basher (ex 700 Police 20") ended up with a 1-12 from TSE for it's 2nd barrel because I didn't think about that at the time, but iyt shoots 168's just great. But it only ever eats 135 and 150gn bullets in the paddocks. If I want to shoot heavier bullets I'll shoot a .300.

Yeah, got a lathe. Take off and fit barrels, true up actions etc. Just finished tightening up the chamber of grand-dad's axe actually, set it back 6 thou so it closes with "feel" on new unfired brass so there's no first shot stretch. Made quite a difference.

This is the first muzzle cap just finished knurling, the shiny section next to it closer to the 4-jaw is the second one. I size and knurl the outside before tapping the internal thread and parting it off.

Nice job. Never done Knurling. I have a proper alloy barrel vice I used when fitting target barrels to my late wifes 6.5-284. It was a long range tack driver but ate barrels. Still got the reamer for it and her 6BR I must get rid of one day.

[Wm.Traynor]

Not rainy here until 6pm but looked like it nearly all day, so that's my excuse for posting.
This afternoon (bought an electric razor this a.m.) the water blaster died and I volunteered to look under all the outside-plastic. What a mission that was but finally the innards were exposed. A garden hose was connected and turned on and the switch flipped.................Nothing but I suppose I should not have been surprised. I had however, checked all connections and found nothing amiss.
Water simply passed out the nozzle at hose pressure while the motor was running and then that motor just stopped dead, just like it had this a.m. My wife ventured an opinion about the switch and no sooner had she done so when the damn thing burst in to life. The motor that is, not the motor and pump.

Now, I will, rightly or wrongly, look for the price of a new switch. It might be worth replacing, instead of buying a whole new blaster.
p.s. I think the wife wants a whole new machine....................................

[bigpete]

Major arrows

[bigrich]

The two caps. Stops me drinking beer. Make stuff instead

nice work mate . i'd give a bit of gun smithing a go if i had the gear . i used to bed and float my rifles myself years ago (no pillars) and got some real nice accuracy out of them . but ole jim kent in toowoomba does such a nice job i just get him to pillar and bed my guns these days . i gotta think up a excuse for more work so i can pay him a visit , really top bloke .
i try to keep busy these days, sitting around drinking p!ss is a bit of a time waste to me these days . i'd rather be doing stuff . when i do drink it's a occasion, visiting friends or firing up the stereo and playing my vynal records . i've got a good collection of 60's through to early 80's LP's , blues/rock . got good quality system too , the sound quality is better than cd's, except for the slight static crackle you get when playing vynal the more pale ale's i have the better it sounds . always seem to drift to bon scott ac-dc , Lynard Skynyrd or stuff of that era

[wanneroo]

It's a rainy weekend here with heat and humidity which has scuppered my plans to mow the property. With all the rain this year I have yet to finish a complete mow before part of it grows back. It takes about 12 hours to mow everything.

We did have a cool down last week for two days so I got out and did some kayaking.

When it rains or snows since I do so much video content these days, there is always something to film or edit or upload. I am always behind.

Generally in winter when the days are short, it's cold and possibly snowy, reloading projects are a great thing to do, along with gun cleaning. I have an insulated and heated barn/garage and have space now to do car projects in winter so might start doing that soon. It's also a good time to do little cleaning or repair projects that don't fit in summer.

The way I look at it is use summer to prepare for winter. Get all the outdoor projects done, road building and maintenance, mowing, pole sawing, brush cutting, keeping the range and range building looking tidy, car detailing, pressure washing. Then use winter to prepare for summer. Reload ammo, read, clean and organize stuff, clean & repair and maintain gear.

[bigrich]

It's a rainy weekend here with heat and humidity which has scuppered my plans to mow the property. With all the rain this year I have yet to finish a complete mow before part of it grows back. It takes about 12 hours to mow everything.

We did have a cool down last week for two days so I got out and did some kayaking.

When it rains or snows since I do so much video content these days, there is always something to film or edit or upload. I am always behind.

Generally in winter when the days are short, it's cold and possibly snowy, reloading projects are a great thing to do, along with gun cleaning. I have an insulated and heated barn/garage and have space now to do car projects in winter so might start doing that soon. It's also a good time to do little cleaning or repair projects that don't fit in summer.

The way I look at it is use summer to prepare for winter. Get all the outdoor projects done, road building and maintenance, mowing, pole sawing, brush cutting, keeping the range and range building looking tidy, car detailing, pressure washing. Then use winter to prepare for summer. Reload ammo, read, clean and organize stuff, clean & repair and maintain gear.

where abouts in the USA are you mate ?

[Wapiti]

I have been meaning to fit chokes to my new shotgun. It has chokes but I want it to take Carlsons as there is more choice and one can install without tools.
I did the C-More I had and as I have the reamer and tap already I may as well do the Bush Pig.
Thats only if its wet as I have a Black Powder shoot on if its not raining.

How is that done mate? Cut on a lathe or a special tool?

If the barrel is removable it is reamed in the lathe at slow speed. Tapping is done by hand with the barrel verticle in a vice and a T handle on the tap. Some have done the whole operation in a vice by hand if the barrel cant be put through the chuck.
Both the reamer and tap are a matched pair. Mine is for the Winchoke system as there are a lot of different ones.

That sounds like a really smart idea. Choke threads are really fine and doing them with a lathe (haven't done it) and a thread cutting tool would be scary first time I reckon.
There is an awesome tool to cut the outside of barrels and to tap both 1/2x28 and 5/8x24 if anyone is interested. The kit has everything you need and importantly, cuts the thread using the barrel as the centreline and as the guide to get it straight. Which is absolutely essential. Using just a good drill and a vice with some padding. Clever tools.

[flashman]

Same , when wet reload ,tumble repeat............

[Wapiti]

Nice job. Never done Knurling. I have a proper alloy barrel vice I used when fitting target barrels to my late wifes 6.5-284. It was a long range tack driver but ate barrels. Still got the reamer for it and her 6BR I must get rid of one day.

Got a few knurling tools, was trying this coarser one and playing with the speed and pressure. Bit of a try and see thing.

I used a pipe vice to clamp the barrel because I have a few (pipe fitter and welder days on the gas ). Not the normal way using tools specially made for gun smithing that you can buy, but they hold the barrel very securely and clamp it at the same time, at a good working height.
But you have to use some "clamshells" to protect the barrel finish from the chain biting into it. Two suitably sized split pipe pieces, or as in my pic here, wrapped in aluminium sheet left over from power transformer windings.

[Wapiti]

Using the pipe vice, and this home-made receiver tool to remove the action, it's an easy job.

I made this tool from a high tensile M18 bolt, an absolutely perfect wobble-free fit into a Rem 700 action. The bolt head is ground and files to run in the bolt lug raceway, basically mimic the bolt head. Weld a nut on the other end and this you use your breaker bar on. And torque wrench to tighten, I tighten to 100 foot pounds after coating threads in never-seize.


Good thing about these tools to remove an action is that you don't have to clamp the action with a commercial 2-piece tool right over where the barrel threads are underneath. Engineering-wise, that's just a bone of an idea I reckon, and I cannot believe people make tools that do that.

Anyway, for those who might ever want to make one, here's an unmolested bolt and nut, next to the made tool, with the nut welded in to fit the socket to remove-reinstall the barrel.

[Wapiti]

Markings on the rear of the removed TSE barrel. I assume that the 12 means 1:12.
I guess that all that info is left there and not machined off when threading/chambering etc as reference to that and other specs from the maker.