Trapdoor Rifles

Well, I've cut the barrel. As mentioned, no lathe, so, after band-sawing it a bit long, got to work with files, try-square, 3/4" countersink (used very lightly to just 'break' the interior edge) 80-grit emery cloth (shoe-shined on the outer perimeter, backed with my thumb on the inner) a foam abrasive pad, and lots of elbow grease. Good enough to leave for the present - may work it a bit more later, may not. Also, a current view of the assembled, but not yet fastened parts. It's coming along.

Wow!, Richard . . . .

Considering what you had to work with, that muzzle crown looks GREAT!

VERY well done Dick!!!

Thanks for the words of encouragement - I'm really having fun with this! Wish I'd started sooner when my eyes and fine motor skills were better, but I was pleased with the crown. I have spare barrels, if I'd f**ked it up somehow; glad I won't have to use them. The rib is good enough in some spots but there will be gaps at others. EVERY thing you do, working without gauges, affects everything else, and you'll go just a little too far and regret it later. There are enough things 'wrong' about it that it could never pass as the real thing, but hopefully it should look pretty good at three feet.

Great job on the crown Dick!! Looks good!!

Wow! Great work. Have really enjoyed seeing the progress through this thread.

Busy day today. Rib is now fastened to barrel with two 8-32 FHMS, which are covered when the bayonet is in place. I took extra care in laying them out, and in the drilling and tapping. Fortunately, they went true and the rib is on solid and square. Fit is perfect on the hammer side - tiny trace of a gap at the rear on the wall side. Now that the rib is on, wood has been profiled to the rear plate. Bayonet works fine (even if a little tight) when out of the wood, but is now (due the new stud) binding in the barrel channel - I'd expected this, and know where to relieve the wood a bit.

Needed to do something about the retaining stud since the hole in the M1882 bayonet is about 1/4" closer to the point than that of the M1880. Found a special screw at Ace with a lot of meat in the head and a 6-32 thread. Laid out the new stud location, drilled a tiny pilot hole, then ran my 3/4" countersink in the back side until the screw would just enter. Then, after filing/polishing the head into a half-moon shape, cut off nearly all the thread, end-drilled it to make it into a rivet, which I "set" with a center-punch, then beat the p*ss out of it to fill the countersunk hole, and filed it smooth. A little final shaping/polishing was needed on the "show" side, but - it works! Doesn't give that Swiss-watch snap of a high-grade M1880, but then I don't know that the 1882s do, because of the rounded profile?

Only mechanical item left, aside from a bit of mini-tweaking, is the front sight, then on to touching up the finish/patina.

Very nicely done Dick! You must have inherited some of your Springfield armory employee relative's genes.

arttodd3 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 3:58 pm Very nicely done Dick! You must have inherited some of your Springfield armory employee relative's genes.

Believe it or not, I thought about that while I was working - who knows, DID any of my relatives work on any of the actual parts that I am incorporating into this restoration? They certainly could have - right place, right shop even, right time period. Thanks, Art.

Today - with the addition of the front sight - pretty much marked the end of the mechanical work, other than drilling the holes in the butt, which should be a pretty straightforward operation. Not sure yet how to cut that slot down the left side connecting the two holes. Gonna take a little time off before addressing the finish(es). Since I'm restoring a gun that is far from 'minty' I have a lot more leeway.

Bayonet is still tight which perplexes me. It is loose in the stock when by itself, and, slides freely in the latch when out of the wood - put them all together and there is a cramp somewhere. No problem for display, but "demonstrating" it is going to be an issue until I work it out.

Next project will be fitting a new forend to the Long Range rifle that someone "sporterized" back in the day. simple mechanically, but finish match is going to be critical. The butt is rather light walnut, with some sort of high-gloss finish, while the two forend sections I have available are darker and have a conventional old finish. With only 200+ Hotchkiss stocks ever made, against MANY thousands of standard ones, WHY did Bozo have to cut the rare one?