Author Topic: How do YOU decide its time for a custom? (Read 2243 times)

PaulS · « **on:** March 24, 2003, 10:35:53 AM »

Hi everyone,
Do you get a hankerin' for a wierd caliber and build this idea into a custom rifle?
Do you have a weapon that just isn't right that you decide to modify?
What are your thought processes from beginning to end that results in a custom weapon?

PaulS

I am CAL......... · « **Reply #1 on:** March 24, 2003, 01:22:02 PM »

Hello PaulS, You decide it is time for a custom rifle when the notion hits you,you have a pocket full of money,and your wife is away from home.This response does not have to happen this way.Reversing the order will appeal to some,leaving it as written to some,and some might just delete the whole idea! Whatcha thank??? I am CAL.... :-D

PaulS · « **Reply #2 on:** March 24, 2003, 09:04:55 PM »

Cal,
I would be better off to tell my wife I was thinking of building a new rifle and she would just get all excited and tell me that I should do it - that I deserve it. I am blessed with a wife who thinks that I deserve the best when she is really all I need. She found out I was looking at a telescope and now she bugs me about when I am going to get it. I am very blessed.

Now back to the topic at hand. Here is part one of a multipart post (too long for one post) stay tuned for more....

My second custom rifle:

Well, in my case it began once with a desire for a weapon that was not available while the second time it was a desire to have a rifle to match a pistol caliber that I already owned. This is about that second rifle.
I ended up having to make the mods to the weapon myself because I couldn't find a smith that would touch the project.
You see, I had this SKS that wouldn't shoot and another one that was fine for it's purpose. So...... I decided to make it into a 357 Maximum to match the Seville that I had in the same caliber. I did a lot of thinking about it before I committed myself to the task and spent a year getting used to the lathe and mill that I had purchased. I had to true the lathe up to take out the small imperfections in the jaws and the alignment with the center. I also put together a tool post grinder because I would have to face the bolt and do some detail work that would best be done with that tooling.
Now remember, I am NOT a gunsmith - just a minister with some time and a lot of faith. I checked the diameter of the rim for both rounds and found the difference was only .007 inch. While the thickness of the rim for the 7.62x39 is .003 inch thinner the bolt is recessed .090 due to the Russian round chambered to headspace on its shoulder. I would have to take nearly .030 inch off of the shroud of that bolt. After having disassembled the action and separating the gas system and barrel from the frame I laid out the weapon in a kind of exploded view and decided exactly what this gun would be. I knew the caliber was to be 357 Maximum - I had to choose what kind of operation I wanted, needed and had the skills to build. I knew that timing a gas system was beyond my skill level without learning a great deal and some math work. I could easily (relative term) make it a pump action or I could make it completely manual as a straight pull bolt. I opted for the bolt - it made the most sense to me and would keep the weapon smaller and lighter over-all. I started looking for a 35 caliber barrel - knowing that I would have to use both JHP pistol bullets and 180 grain rifle bullets in the cartridge and the rifling would have to allow for accuracy from both bullets.

More to follow......
PaulS

Yukon Jack · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2003, 09:26:42 AM »

Paul,
First congratulations on your Moderator status. Well deserved and I hope this forum really takes off.

Now as far as deciding when a custom rifle's time has come... well, for me, it happens in a variety of different ways.

Probably most often is that you just aren't satisfied with what any of the manufacturer's are producing right now or you want to take something good and make it better or "perfect" for you. Maybe they just don't fit you right, or you wish you had iron sights on a model that doesn't have irons. Maybe it's not offered in the caliber you want. Maybe you just want something different. I've "customized" some of mine and am working on my second "true" custom rifle. The first was niche I felt needed to be filled. Nothing on the market had the attributes I felt necessary for this specialized task. That or I just plain didn't like the ones that did.

This second one is an effort to make a Ruger No.1 exactly what I think it should be. Most of it is cosmetic, since the rifle shoots amazingly well to begin with, but am changing a few of the handling properties to make it more efficient and effective for me. Other things being done to it are case-coloring the action, replacing the existing hollow quarter rib rear sight with a solid one, upgrading the stock, adding a skeleton pistol grip cap, nice inletted sling swivel studs, and an improved forend cap (for the mannlicher forearm). The stock will cut to fit me, not to shadow the original. I have no problem with the trigger, safety or barrel, so they will stay. The factory trigger breaks clean and crisp about 4 lbs. The rifle is as accurate as I need and groups very well. The action will require some tightening but overall is a fine factory rifle.

My hope for the next project is another single shot rifle project, based either on a Farquharson, Hagn or Martini. The rifle will, in all likelihood, start with just the action. Hoping to chamber for some old obsolete cartridge that performs as well as today's "new and improved" offerings. I'm thinking of a Krieger or Lilja barrel, custom sights and other metal work, with a custom stock. Not fancy engraving or exhibition grade walnut, but something nice and made to fit me. I suppose another Ruger No.1 could be made to do what this project will accomplish (as indeed other brands and models could too), but I really have a fancy for those three action types. It's an itch that really needs scratching.

PaulS · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2003, 01:46:25 PM »

Yukon Jack,
Thanks for the vote of confidence and wishes for prosperity of the forum.

You bring up a few interesting points. Modifying a rifle's appearance and fit are part of the custom rifle. I have always thought of it as major mechanical modifications but just getting your weapon to fit you is a big part.
I liked the trigger recommendation - for me a four pound pull is as light as I can stand in a hunting weapon.
Do you do your own case coloring or are you having someone do it for you?
I wonder how many others feel the "itch" that needs scratching. Maybe they will join us and share.

PaulS

PaulS · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2003, 01:48:43 PM »

Part two of the 357 Maximum SKS

Since I already owned a 358 Winchester that fired both these bullets well, I decided on the same Douglas barrel that was used on it. A 1:12 twist and a straight bull profile would make my lathe work easy and keep finish work to a minimum. I had to measure, as closely as I could, the distance from the face of the bolt to the end of the frame. I cut the profile diameter for the threads and relieved a small area (.080 inch) for the contact area with the frame of the action. I then turned down the breech to get it to the diameter I needed for mating with the bolt - leaving a bit long for later fitting. I set the bolt up in the mill and adjusted the angle for the facing operation. I didn't get the clamps tight enough the first time and thought I had ruined everything when it moved during the first cut process. Luckily everything was ok as it had moved back away from the grinding wheel instead of pulling into it. After resetting the angle and tightening the clamps I made smaller cuts and was able to take off the .029 that I wanted. This would give me a .001 clearance (headspace) on the rim. I set to work cutting the threads on the barrel and carefully fit them to the action. When I got the fit just right I took the time to true the frame. It was slightly twisted for whatever reason - so I carefully built a vice and wrench to straighten the frame. After much trial and error I got the frame to with in .001 inch in parallel on the long sides. I then set it up and faced the mating surface for the barrel. I put the barrel in and began to fit the rest of the action. The barrel was protruding too far back, just as I had hoped. I put the barrel back into the lathe and trimmed the breech. Without removing the barrel from the lathe I continued to fit the parts until I had an action that would go together with the smallest amount of extra space between the bolt and barrel. The extractor had to be milled (ground) to thin it down and re-profiled to better fit the new cartridge.

I did some rough finish work on the barrel in the lathe to smooth the surface and crowned the muzzle. Out of the lathe and together went the action and barrel. Now I turned my attention to the magazine. It was designed to feed rimless ammo and had an edge on the follower that stopped the last round from feeding. I built a follower to hold the last round and angle the cartridge to feed into the chamber smoothly. I had to fabricate a way to hold the magazine and action together because The sleeve that supported the front of the magazine wasnt there anymore rather than build a sleeve to fit the barrel and hold the magazine I built the latch into the stock. Again careful measurements and some trial and error fitting put it all together. I now had a weapon that looked like it would work.

Testing to follow.....

PaulS

Yukon Jack · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2003, 02:07:30 PM »

I'm sending it out, to Turnbull's probably. I do hate the thought of my nice Alaska Ruger No.1's getting anywhere near New York City, though (due to their gun restrictions, nothing against the fine folks of New York).

4 lbs is about the upper limit for me in a prefered pull. But there is no discernable creep or overtravel, the trigger is just really crisp. If the guts of the rifle are satisfying, yet the rifle doesn't fit you, or the handling characteristics can be improved, I don't know if it qualifies as custom or customized. Doesn't really matter, when I get finished with it, it'll be one of a kind. I do realize that installing a aftermarket hammer, maybe an aftermarket trigger would customize it even further, but it shoots just about as good as I can shoot it now, so I see no reason to complicate matters.

I haven't decided exactly what the best approach is for the new quarter rib, and will likely send that out to a metalsmith of the Guild to have done. The forearm will likely be a little slimmer and more streamlined, without the bulge that the Ruger has now. I have a set of custom rings that have been installed and will try to make so that I can continue to use them.

The checkering pattern is something I haven't decided on yet, but will have to in the next couple of weeks. All I know for sure is it will have ribbons in the pattern. There are quite a few good patterns on rifles in Jim Carmichel's Book of the Rifle.