GunLab (KnownHost) » Book review

Italian Vetterli-Vitali M1870-87

Chuck — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 08:00:08 +0000

This rifle from the reference collection is a Italian Vetterli-Vitali M 1870-87. It was made in 1880 as stamped on the left side of the barrel. It is a magazine conversion of the M1870 single shot rifle. This conversion consisted of a metal shroud around the magazine housing, removing the dust cover and installing a knurled knob on the bolt to close of the magazine to allow single shot firing. There were a few other changes. For furtherinformation on this and other Vetterli rifles check out this very interesting book by Robert Wilsey.

You can find it here.

https://www.amazon.com/Italian-Vetterli-Rifle-Development-Variants/dp/1931464723

Now on to the pictures

A close up of the receiver.

The M90 rear sight .

The stock markings.

Bayonet lug on the side of the barrel.

A view of the rear locking lugs

A look at the magazine follower and the face of the bolt.

The Golden Age of Gun Information.

Chuck — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 08:00:11 +0000

This is truly the Golden Age of Gun Information. First there are all the great sites on the internet dealing with gun collecting.

Like Forgotten weapons, located here:

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/

also Historical Firearms,located here:

http://www.historicalfirearms.info/

As well as C&Rsenal,located here:

http://candrsenal.com/rifle-italian-carcano-m1891/

Then there are specialty sites like this one dealing with the Carcano rifle.

http://personal.stevens.edu/~gliberat/carcano/

And The Italian Carcano rifle site

http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Italian%20Rifles/The%20ITALIAN%20CARCANO%20RIFLE/The%20ITALIAN%20CARCANO%20RIFLE.htm

Carcano home page

http://the-puzzle-palace.com/files/carcano.html

And there are great new books that have just come out or coming out.

I remember when the only information was “small arms of the world” or “Janes infantry weapons” Then Collector grade came on to the seen and things really started to change for the better.

Still information was lacking on the weapons that people had little interest in. Even now that has changed. Take for instance the Carcano rifle. There was nothing written about it forever. Now look at the information available.

My first book that I found on the Carcano was the paper back book by Richard(Dick) Hobbs. I bought mine from Dick over 30 years ago. It was a gold mine of information that was not any where else. There are just a few black and white pictures. The majority of the pictorial references are line drawings.

Next while overseas I happen to come across an Italian book on this same weapon. The original engineering drawings in the book are hard to read,yet the information available is priceless.

I don’t read Italian but the pictures and information in this book is invaluable.

Then two separate books have come out in the last couple of years. This book not only covers the Carcano rifle but it is one of the few references to early semi auto rifles from Italy. There is also information of handguns and sub machine guns.https://www.amazon.com/Italian-Small-First-Second-World/dp/0764345834/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465625103&sr=1-1&keywords=italian+small+arms

This book has some really great original photos of the Carcano rifle in use as well interesting accessories.

http://ironlegions.weebly.com/book-on-carcano-rifles-italys-battle-rifle.html

Now a new book has come out that I just received. I am going to tell you right now that this book is GREAT!

The color pictures are really very good and some of the information in this book I have never seen anywhere else. Take for example the post I made a while back about the engraved and gold plated presentation rifle. This book has 5 pages dealing with this rifle only.

https://www.amazon.com/Model-1891-Carcano-Rifle-Developmental/dp/0764350811/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465624852&sr=8-3&keywords=The+Carcano

With a price tag of less then 40.00 on Amazon you will not find a better deal anywhere.

This is truly the Golden age of gun information.

The book “Fabricacion De Fusiles”

Chuck — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 08:00:14 +0000

A while back I was able to obtain a few books that I did not have in the reference library. I have a thing about not only gun books but also machining and manufacturing books. So what could be better then a book about manufacturing guns. This book was written in 1899 and is about the making of the Mauser rifle in Spain. It is not the complete set of books dealing with the manufacturing of the rifle just the pictorial reference of the tooling and machinery necessary to make it. Generally the rest of the set would be the step by step operation as well as a set of drawings.

In the book ” Argentine Mauser Rifles 1871-1959″ in chapter 24 you can see what the rest of the set would look like.

This is one of those books you should have in your library and can be gotten off of Amazon, here is the link, http://www.amazon.com/Argentine-Mauser-Rifles-1871-1959-Schiffer/dp/0764318683/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465095246&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Argenyine+mauser+rifles.

Another book that actually deals with the Springfield rifle is “Manufacture of the Model 1903 Springfield service rifle”.

Also available from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Manufacture-Model-Springfield-Service-Rifle/dp/0935632204/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465095608&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Manfacture+of+the+model+1903+springfield+service+rifle

This is the book that I just picked up.

Basically this book is the pictorial reference to the machines and tooling necessary to make the Mauser rifle.

The dimension on the drawings are for the fixture sizes.

Most of the pages deal with line drawings of what the tool, fixture or machine would look like.

Even down to the type of cutters you would use.

It is an interesting reference in the building of the Mauser rifle.

Austrian WW1 37mm

Chuck — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 08:00:31 +0000

I have a thing about 37mm, one pound, cannons. So over the years I have taken a number of pictures of different types of 37mm pieces. This post is a series of photos that I have taken on the Austrian WW1 37mm piece. The proper name for this weapon is the 3.7 cm infanteriegesch,TZ Skoda M.15 This weapon was design and produced by Feldmarsschalleutnant Pucherna. Originally not approved, he went ahead and design the gun. The test gun was made in late 1914 and put into production and put into the field in October 1915.This is a basic line drawing of the weapon.

My goal is that one day I could make a model of this interesting weapon. So here are the pictures.

If you have an interest in 3.7cm artillery pieces you should check out this book.

Book review of the new AK book

Chuck — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 08:00:01 +0000

I just received the three volume set of books dealing with the AK weapons system. Here at Gun Lab we are no stranger to the AK series of rifles.

But there is so much information that is packed into the three volumes it will take some time to go over it.

Where have you seen information on the Ukraine bull pup rifle

A complete section on all the variations of the Chinese weapons.

The Israeli 30 carbine rifle.

Serbian weapons.

The SIG series of riles.

There is not a country that is missing.

If you are interested in this set of books then go here.

http://www.kalashnikov-encyclopaedia.com/how-to-order.php

If you are into the AK series of weapons this is the set of books that you need to get. I think you will be very happy with them.

Gun Show report

Chuck — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 13:26:19 +0000

Today was set up day for the dealers so about 1/2 of the show is still not there. Yet their was still a lot of interesting stuff to see and buy. I happen to find a book that I have been looking for.

It is a very interesting book written in both English and German. At 45.00 it is worth the price. If you are interested in a copy you can get it here in country from:

John Baum. Here is a link to his site.

http://www.germanmanuals.com/

Look under the militaria section. While you are there check out all the great stuff John has.

Single shot rifles, Book Review

Chuck — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 14:54:37 +0000

I am a big fan of single shot rifles. I enjoy there design from the simplest boys rifle to the most expensive British falling block design. I also have a number of single shot rifles in the Gun Lab reference collection. I feel that the pinnacle of the gun making craft is single shot rifles and double guns. For the most part the rifles are well design and beautifully manufactured. Some of my favorite rifles are the rook and rabbit rifles made in England and the small bore rifles made here. With this intro I just received my new book “British Single Shot Rifles Volume 8″ from Amazon. Once again Wal Winfer and Tom Rowe have out done themselves.

The pictures are superb, I am a little jealous as I wish my photographs looked that good. The detail is excellent.

There line drawings are detailed and informative.

Volume 8 is an excellent reference book on the subject of small bore single shot rifle and a great addition to the library at Gun Lab.

Interesting site AR180s.com

Chuck — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 14:53:21 +0000

If you have not been to AR180s.com site you should drop in and check it out. He just finished a comparison on AR-180 bolts that is quite interesting and well worth the read.

http://ar180s.com/?p=250

I hope to be adding to his article as I will be sending him pictures of the SA-80, Leader and Bushmaster rifle bolts and bolt carriers.

I will also not be in the shop this weekend as I have to make a Arizona cross country trip. Not everything is work, just most things. I hope to be back early tomorrow afternoon.

One last note. A friend of mine in Germany was able to track down a book on the 7.92 kurtz cartridge that I have been looking for.

The last page so you can try and find it.

I tried to contact the author and publisher for a copy but never received a response.

Interesting picture on page 221

That would be me shooting the 05.

While the book is written in German it still has a great deal of useful information and pictures. Maybe one day it will be in English.

Pedersen Device manual

Ian — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 08:00:40 +0000

The illusive Pedersen device.

Here are a few pictures of the rifle and device.

As promised here is the manual for the Pedersen device.

Pedersen Device manual

The most interesting part of the manual are the pictures showing the components. This is actually a complex part.

Changes to Gun Lab

Chuck — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 17:51:20 +0000

I have decided to make a few changes to the way gun lab works. I personally can watch machining videos and look at solid models and guns all day. I guess that is because it is what I enjoy. I mean I take my vacations to go to factories to watch things being made Plastic factories, pottery factories, machine shops, museums to look at weapons and my wife goes along with me. However, I understand that most people want to see other things as well. So here are a list of the changes that I would like to make to the site.

Weekend followup Monday

Monday will be for an update of what went on during the weekend. A basic run down of everything that happen in or around the shop. This is to give an idea of everything that has to go on to keep things running.

Shop Tuesday

Tuesday will be for showing the part that has been made. The solid model that was worked on or the program that was written. Anything that went into making the parts that we make.

Random info Wednesday

Wednesday will be for information that we have come across that would help. Where we buy material, people and companies who have helped us, new products, videos that we find dealing with gun or parts making. I want to do a segment on people that are in the industry. Anything that I feel like taking about. Classes that we are taking, talking about the shop equipment that we have and use. Talking about firearms that we are interested in making in the future, general discussions on manufacturing or weapons, interviews when possible.

Book review Thursday.

There a large number of books in the reference library here at gun lab. Machining books, gun books, manufacturing books, information that is helpful in every aspect of what we do. I want to do a basic run down of the book and where to obtain it. In some cases a sales commission is give if you buy the book through our link. All money from this will be donated to the wounded warrior project. Having served in the military and coming from a family of military people I feel strongly toward this cause. I hope that you do too.

Video Friday

This will be the day that I post videos of the parts or equipment that we have made.

Guess this part Saturday

I have a 40′ container of misc parts. Saturday will be for taking pictures of parts so you can test your knowledge of small arms.

Answer Sunday

This will be the follow up day that answers Saturday’s question.

I want to add a library to the site dealing with information pertaining to gun lab.

Please feel free to comment about the changes and any recommendations that you have. We are looking to involve our viewers to improve gun lab to become the best site possible.