GunLab

Thursday’s post Update on Japanese 99 magazines

This was going to be a library post but I felt that this was a little more up to date for the on going projects. We have finished the next phase of design of the Japanese 99 dies. If you might have forgotten we had a few problems with are original die design with it shearing the sheet steel as it went into the female die.

This being the old die design.

So then we re-design the die concept and made the next version of the die.

The problem that we dealt with at this point was the movement of the sheet metal and no way to align the stamping with the next pressing. This now brings us up to the current die design. This die is a spring loaded die that will pick up the sheet metal after it has been located with dowel pins an holds it between the two dies causing the sides to bend inward up until it reaches the base at which time it presses in the groves into the sides. Here are the solid model designs.

With this phase completed we will start machining the dies this week. Time will tell if this design works. As always your comments and opions are welcome.

Randon info Wednesday

I am sorry but this going to be a short post. I have not had the time to complete the other post that I wanted to do. I have a digital photography class on Tuesday night and it ran longer then expected. The good news is that one of the other students takes gun pictures professionally as is willing to help me upgrade my pictures. This is exciting as it improves the quality of the photographs for this site. Chuck

I hope to improve my pictures from this to something better.

Shop Tuesday September 9

More design work has been accomplish on the fluting press. Here are the latest updates on the project. This is the last major difficulty on the VG1-5 rifle. Most of the rest of the parts for the VG1-5 have been completed and have the fixtures for the bolt to upper receiver. I still have the control circuit and dro to design into the press, however the basic machine is finished.

This machine was design to have a great deal of flexibility. The bottom base is design to move up or down as the need exists and the tool holder can be removed and a different type of tool installed. This should allow the press to cut in the flutes into a chamber or press out a stop on a piece of sheet metal.

Once again if you have any comments or ideas I would like to read them.

Weekend update 9-8-14

This update has to do with some ammo that I just received. I had ordered a couple of cases of .410 shotgun musket ammo for the Enfield 410 shotgun from Dan’s Sporting Goods. These are some great people to deal with. It was a very pleasant experience to say the least and they will have my business again. Here are some pictures of the ammo as it was shipped and out of the package. The head stamp indicates that it has come from India. I have fired 10 rounds so with no problems indicated. I know that that is not much shooting to verify anything, however a complete shooting session will be in the future.

I found it interesting how much the case expanded after firing.

The ammo came wrapped in 10 round bundles and packaged inside of a wooden box.

The first picture comes for Dan’s sporting goods web page.

Dan’s site also has a real good picture of the components of the ammunition.

If you happen to have one of these fine Enfields I recommend that you contact Dan’s about some ammo before it’s all gone. Here is there web page:

http://www.dansammo.com/contact.asp

Now as for the rifle that I used and a few close up pictures of some interesting items on the weapon.

My rifle is in very good condition with a couple of repairs to the stock. It was made in 1949 and is marked RFI.The magazine has been removed and a wooden filler block installed in it’s place with a metal feed ramp to allow loading the cartridge.

The rear sight has been riveted so there is no adjustment for elevation, not that you would need any.

Here are a few more pictures of the rifle.

I have a quick video of me shooting it in the test fire tube. As you can see there not much recoil and the noise is minimal using the tube.

I am still trying to get the bugs worked out on the voice over.

If you are interested in more information on the Enfield rifle and the different variances I recommend the following books.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Any ideas or opinions are appreciated.

Sunday answer

This is the receiver block from a MP-44 (STG-44).

The first picture are from “Collector Grade Publications” book “Sturmgewehr”. I highly recommend this book. If you are a student of weapons or military history this book is a must in your collection.

Here is a picture of the bolt in the machined receiver.

And as it starts to being retracted.

This picture shows the locking area of the machined receiver.

As always comments and Ideas are appreciated.

What is it Saturday

Video Friday, 9-5-14

I am still trying to get back on schedule. Between work and now school I am a little behind. So today’s post is a series of videos put out my McMillan’s. Even though they are here in Phoenix I have never had the opportunity to get into the facility. I do like there products though. If any one knows someone over there I would really like to see a fiberglass stock made from start to finish.

So with out further adieu here are the videos.

Library Thursday

This will be a quick post today. I just received my October firearms catalog from the James D. Julia auction site. All I can say is WOW. What an auction this will be.

Here is the link for the first lots auction.

http://jamesdjulia.com/auction/369-october-2014-firearms-auction/?session=1&utm_source=emailsub&utm_medium=email&utm_content=catonline&utm_campaign=gun_14_fall

Some of the items that I would love to have but is way beyond my means are:

Lot 1241 The Walther Volkspistol http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1241-369/

Lot 1267 The Mauser 1906-08 flapper locked pistol http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1267-369/

And one that I that is actually the top of my list is: Lot 1268 the 1917 Mauser trench carbine http://jamesdjulia.com/item/1268-369/

So if anyone has any extra money that they don’t need I would really like the Mauser trench carbine.

Check out the catalog and look at the great stuff coming up.

Radom info Wednesday, 9-3

We finished the new knurling tool this last weekend and this is a post about the new tool. I have been using the Shars knurling tool for a while and was continuing to have problems with it so it was time for a change.

The pivot pins are very loose which causes the tool to move when you don’t want it to and not move when you need it to. It was also hard to apply pressure the knurling heads with out using a pair of pliers. So a total redesign was necessary. This process was not with out a few problems. The first being that the computer crashed just after we did the design and had written the cam program. This caused a problem as we noticed a few items that needed a small dimensional change, but with out the original program that was all but impossible to accomplish. It was also difficult to machine the vise jaws with out the original drawings to match correctly with the parts that we had made.

The was to make these parts would have been to machine the one side then put them in the new vise jaws and machine the other side to the proper shape and face cut the extra material off. Again with out the drawings I could not write a program to do this so we just face milled the other side off instead with out milling the actual shape in first. This lead to an interesting final pass.

By the time we got to the final pass it was like cutting sheet metal that was a good 3/4 of an inch away from the vise. It worked but not a recommended practice.

Now that the two halves were made.

This one is a close up of the ends.

And one more put together.

We needed to make the clamping screw. The first method was to silver braze and pin the screw to the pivoting block. That did not work so well.

Not enough solder and the side walls to thin. So the next attempt was to add a great deal more silver solder.

It also pulled out with the first attempt at using it. So the final method of attaching was tig welding.

It not works like a champ and makes a very nice knurled on the VG1-5 front barrel support. The video on that will be coming up soon. Hope you enjoyed this update. Looking to hear you comments and ideas.

Shop Tuesday, Late 9-3-14

Sorry for the late update. It has been a little busy and now with school starting again I found myself out of time. The major update for shop Tuesday is the design work that has been accomplished on the barrel fluting machine. I spent most of last Saturday morning and almost all of Monday working of the design. Some major changes have been incorporated. As a brief intro here are the solid models that posted a while back.

AS you can see the vise is bolted to a rotary flat plate. This flat plate then rides in an opening of another steel plate. The complete assembly was then bolted to a large plate and then assembled to the side of my forging press.

The changes that we are currently working on allow the lower assembly to move up and down. This change will allow for a greater range of work possibilities. We also changed the method for holding the chuck to the rotary table. This a basic look at the new design.

You will notice that we design the rotary table portion with 10 degree increments to allow accurate placement of the table in relation to the fluting tool. We also design a simple but effective tool holder. There is still more to do with the design, but I hope to have the design portion done this weekend and then start making it.

Hope you enjoyed the update. Comments and ideas are always welcome.

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