My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family FINISHED

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Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Over the last couple weeks I have been working on the rifle to get it mechanically back up to working order. Since the Block and Lever screws were worn I knew those would have to be made as they are not available. I also found that the Pins for the Link between the Block and Lever were worn some too. I figured out that the Lever screw was a 10x24 and that is the original size. The Block screw was 1/4x 28 and that is larger than the original so it was modified somewhere in the past. I did find that Dixie advertised the screws but not if they really had any in stock, so I called them and verified with their gunsmith who looked up the sizes for me. I had already placed an order with Brownells for some 1/4" and #10 screw blanks. While waiting for them I started concentrating on how to correct the worn holes in the Block and lever. Since they are worn in an oblong shape they could not just be drilled out since the center of the hole is different due to the wear. I took a couple blocks of wood and made 2 jigs. The first one has pencil marks on it to represent the face of the barrel and the tang on the top and bottom of the action. Then used transfer punches to mark the holes where the screws would go. This just lets me see how the parts work and to help see where the wear was. The second just smaller to fit in my little table top drill press.

With the large jig I drilled the 2 holes and used 2 screws with the heads cut off to locate the parts. Once I had a good Idea of the wear, I then removed the Link, pushed the Block and lever around so that their "Screws" would be in the original positions. Once I thought I had those positions figured out, I used the Pin holes to screw the Block and Lever down. Then I filled the worn parts of the holes around the Screws (these had no threads) with JB Weld and let them sit overnight. I did this to "Test" the locations of the holes. This way I could just break out the JB Weld and try again if need be. Once it was set up good, I then installed them in the rifle with test screws that were the correct thread size. Then carefully (so as to not break the JB Weld out) checked to see if the action would now lock up tight. I got lucky the first try and it locked right up.

Now that I had "New" holes to work with, I locked the parts down on the drill jig and located them in the press with a Drill bit that just slid in the holes. I had picked up some Stainless Tubing that is pretty stout and have used as bushing material before. I was able to get some that had an ID that just fit the screws. I then started with smaller drill bits and worked up to one that was tight enough so I had to use a mallet to tap them in place. After installing them and filing them flush, the Rifle still locked up good. Next I found that a #23 drill bit was just right as an oversize pin, so I cut one up and made 2 pins from the shanks. A #30 drill bit was used as an oversize Pin for the Firing pin. After receiving the screw blanks I then had to cut and work those down to size as well as thread them with a die. Since I am not fortunate enough to have a lathe, I had to do a lot of the work in the drill press and use a file as my "cutting bit". Took quite a bit of time to "Cut Down" the large heads of the screws this way. My cousin and I used to call this "Hand Machining", though we often had to clamp a drill in a vice since we did not have a drill press. :roll: While working on the #10 for the Lever I found that the smaller diameter hole was also worn and let the screw move when locking up the lever, but the larger hole for the head to countersink into looked ok. So I tried cutting down the head so that it just fit into the larger hole smoothly and could also support the screw. Lots of measuring and some trial and error to get that done. Actually the #10 went fairly fast but that 1/4 was a lot more trouble since the head had to be reduced a bit over .100 in diameter. :shock:

Here is the jigs, with the Block and lever assembly, you might be able to see the rings of the stainless bushings. Then there are the 2 screw blanks and the finished screws next to them.


Just the Large jig.


One of just the screws.


This shows the heads of the 1/4" screw finished next to the Blank used.


I had to do some refitting of the extractor today since its position had now changed with the new screws. I also found that the firing pin was a bit too long for my liking. I had pulled the bullets and dumped the powder from a couple 22 LR cases. I used them to "Test Fire" the rifle by placing the muzzle in a box of rags. While looking it over I found that even at half cock the firing pin was resting on the rim of the case with the hammer still under tension. I did not like that so I work on trimming the firing pin so that I had a little daylight between the hammer and the firing pin when placed in the half cock position.

I heated up the parts and treated them with Birchwood Casey Super Blue, then liberally lubed them with BreakFree CLP. So far so good, Now just need a stock set to fit and finish. Spoke to Dad New Years Day and he was real tickled that I had it locking up good. I have no doubt that he called his brother with an update too. :lol:
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Nice!. I guess a gun that served a few generations of boys as a squirrel/U-name-it gun may show some signs of wear. Wonder how many of todays models will still be around in 100 years?. I have 50 year old circular saws that still work fine. But they are 40 lbs. so the only thing I use them for is demolition.(If that) My avg new saw today lasts about a year. pretty typical of most power tools. things today are built to be disposable.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Squeeze said:
Nice!. I guess a gun that served a few generations of boys as a squirrel/U-name-it gun may show some signs of wear. Wonder how many of todays models will still be around in 100 years?. I have 50 year old circular saws that still work fine. But they are 40 lbs. so the only thing I use them for is demolition.(If that) My avg new saw today lasts about a year. pretty typical of most power tools. things today are built to be disposable.

Thanks. I know what you mean. My dad has a 1/2" drill motor that was his dads. That thing will give you tennis elbow just picking it up. That is one powerful drill too, got to hang on or it would twist your arm off. Light weight tools now days just have too much plastic to be very durable. Like you said they are just disposable tools. :roll:
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family new update

I finished fitting the new butt stock. Last weekend I got the finish done. Came out pretty good. It has 6 hand rubbed coats of Tru Oil. The long sides of the upper and lower tangs were very close from the stock company and not touched. They fit tight but do have some small spots that they over cut a little not much I could do with that. The ends of the tangs and where It butts up to the action were fit by me one scrape at a time with files sand paper and Prussian blue. A new Reproduction Rubber "Stevens Favorite" logo butt plate was also fit and installed. The Metal was darkened with some cold blue. I know that don't help "resale value" but I don't care about that. This one will never be sold but handed down. :D
First 2 pics are the tangs top and bottom.

Bottom tang


Top tang


Right Side


Left Side


An one of the stock.


Hope to start the forend fitting this weekend.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Thanks Ron. So far it has been lots of fun. :D
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Thanks! In hind site I wish I had taken some pics of the Stock before I started the fitting to show how much wood had to be trimmed off. :roll: It was more than I expected and took me some time.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Wow as much as I hate to admit it... you did a great job bringing the beauty of that rifle to life. I know what gun smiths say about fixing them up, but with one looking like that, it would almost make me want to go hunting with it. Very nice job.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family

Thanks Cayuga. So far I am quite tickled with the way it is coming out. I emailed the side view Pic to my Mom to show Dad. He was very tickled at the way it looked, said it looked new to him. :D

Yea, I know smiths and some collectors say it would hurt the value, but this was part of my Uncles wishes when he gave me the rifle "Make it look good like the other 2 you did". So that is the plan. The Sentimental Value of this little rifle far exceeds the actual monetary value anyway. Oh and I do plan to shoot this little rifle some. :wink: :D

I did hit a snag on the forearm though. The first one that was sent to me was cut very poorly and the barrel channel was oversized. I took Pics and sent them to the dealer and they sent me a new replacement very quickly. It looked better at first, so I laid it aside till the butt stock was done. This last weekend I started to fit it to the barrel, Once I got it to slide up the vertical flats some I then found it was cut off a bit down below the vertical sides of the barrel channel (Octagon Barrel). These looked like they were cut with a table saw and below the first flats it was over cut. In the end I can't do much with it to make it look right but since I failed to notice it and had already started cutting/fitting it, it voids the warranty. Should have paid more attention when I looked it over. :roll: The replacements seemed to be cut for a straight octagon instead of a taper. This barrel is octagon but has a very slight taper in it, not sure that taper is normal since it is the only one of these rifles I have seen. It is not a lot of taper, but it is there and noticeable when I put calipers on it and the barrel channel in the replacement forend made it stand out. I did email them and ask about just getting two blocks of the same walnut that had been not inlet. They will ship those to me for $5 each so I ordered 2 and will inlet my own. Might take me a while to decide how I will do it with the tools I have on hand. I'll figure it out when they get here.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

Forend work was started several weekends ago. I think I mentioned above that the Stock company I used did a poor job on the forend and even sent a second that was better but to me still not good. I got them to send me 2 Blank Blocks of Walnut so I could just try carving my own. They sent them and I was again somewhat disappointed. I expected the blocks to be cut out on a table saw but instead they were done on a band saw. :evil: So I basically had no straight edges to start with. :wall: I tried contacting some friends but never did locate a jointer, most did not even know what that was. :roll: My dad has 2 but those are in Ohio about 650 miles away. :( Took a couple or 3 weekends with Straight edges, squares, Rasps and files to get 3 sides of one block pretty straight and square. I also had ordered a new replacement Dremel tool to replace the one I have been using for the last 10 or so years, that has been making some bearing noises, and added a new Plunger Router attachment for the new Dremel. Turns out that little plunge router attachment has an edge guide and as long as you take your time with small cuts it worked real well for me, I'm pretty happy with that little attachment. After the routing to the minimum center depth, it is a tapered octagon barrel, I then routed the minimum width and the tapering had to be done by hand with lots of filing and scraping. I also made one tool by purchasing a 1/4" x12" piece of Key stock that was straight and I then cut and glue 60 grit sand paper to it. Anyway today I pretty much finished up fitting the barrel channel and fitting it to the action. Tomorrow I plan to cut away some of the excess with a saw, drill the hole for the mounting screw, and maybe start the shaping. Taking quite a bit more time to get the forend done verses the butt stock since I started from scratch, but I figured it would be a great start to learn to carve my own full stocks as I am still planning to build a .32 and would like to do it with a wood stock, If I get lucky either Black Walnut or Cherry from our farm in Ohio if dad has some cut a dry that is thick enough. Lot of work but so far, but it is fun. As long as it takes me I would never make any money at it. :wink:

Here is the blank in a vice with the center routed to minimum depth. you can see the new Dremel and plunge router attachment in the back ground.



This is with the Minimum width and depth routed and then I knocked the steps down some with a tapered router bit.



After that it was files, sanding with the tool I made, and a sharp 1/4" chisel. Then I started the fitting using Prussian Blue on the metal and scraping it away slowly till it fits pretty well. The Metal is not perfect since it is close to 100 years old but it looks a heck of a lot better than it did so far. The Dark spots on the wood are from the Prussian blue.





Took several weekends to get to this point, but It should go better now. Slowly but surely I'm getting there.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

Nice! Thats the hardest thing about working with expensive hardwoods. Just to have the patience to go slow and steady. The wood is just too expensive to mess up and start again. especially when you mail order it. Years ago, I tried my hand at restocking a marlin 336 with some red oak. It could have been a lot nicer If I would have just slowed down. I never liked the finished product and later just bought a set of factory stocks. I think they may still be shoved up in the basement beams somewhere :lol:
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

Thanks! Very True Squeeze. Slow is best, and sometimes I have to Make Myself walk away for a while. I love the look of Red Oak and the Redder the better, never thought about it for a gun stock though. But it is quite hard, of course Walnut is not soft either but works good with sharp tools. My Dad has had a WoodMizer sawmill for several years, Actually the one he has now is his 3rd. The Old Log Barn on the farm is loaded with lumber that has been there for several years. Some from our farm and some for the neighboring farms. Sometimes when they had nicer stuff like Walnut, Cherry, Osage Orange, Sassafras etc. he would saw it on "Halves" for them (He took half the wood to cover the saw bill). I asked him a week or so ago if he had any Walnut or Cherry that was close to 2" thick to make a gunstock out of and he is not sure yet. I will have to work on him when I get home for Memorial day to see. He also has joiners, table saws and band saws to get me all started if he has the wood. :wink: :D

It has taken me a while to get the forend going as I sort of had to get in the mood to start but also to decide "How" I wanted to start.. This is my first go at actually carving one from scratch. The Butt stock was not bad only a tad wide in a couple little spots along the tangs but overall I was happy with it. Their forend was poor though. The first one had the barrel channel over cut in the diagonal flats and flared out on the vertical side flats so it was just not even useable. I sent them pictures of it and they agreed it was no good so sent another. It looked better and did not notice other problems till I started fitting and then it was obvious. :evil: I decided then to get anything to look good I would have to try doing it myself. The Octagon Barrel channel looked like it had been roughed in with a table saw. Not that that is bad but it would be easy to over cut places Like I was seeing. I spoke to them about getting blocks to carve my own. I figured that getting the wood from them would be best since it would probably come closer to matching the butt stock better.

Well got to go start whittling some more. :D
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

Looking good.
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

Yea. That was the first place I checked. There is another guy on the web that makes some small parts but nothing I could use. I did get a Rear site adjustment blade, but it was a bit disappointing as it is too thin and just a small bump and it moves sideways or sort of flops over. :roll: Another part I guess I will be making, but it is fun and I am enjoying this referb especially as much as this one means to the family. :lol: Definitely kept me occupied this past winter. Now I need to get it finished so I can get out and shoot. :D
 
Re: My Latest Project is a Favorite of the family UPDATES

The Forearm is in the "Finish" stage. Lots of Rasping and filing then sanding to get here. Sorry but can't find the pictures of the forearm before I started finishing it. Not sure what I did with them. :oops: Here is a pic of it drying with the 3rd coat of Tru Oil.



Found another item though I was not happy with so had to "Make My Own". The rear site adjustment blade was missing so I got one a while back from Numrich. Well I decided I did not like it at all. It was too thin and while handling the rifle found it was always getting cocked and almost lays over. Drove me nuts looking at it. So Sunday I located a small "L" bracket and started cutting and filing. Heated it up and blued it with some Birchwood Casey Super Blue. it did not blue all that great but looks better that the one I bought and don't cock. It also fits the slot in the rear site better. Should be all finished by Sunday if all goes as planned.


Numrich blade.


My Blade.


Both Bades
 
Got the Forearm Finished and put back on the rifle this morning. I am pretty tickled with the way it turned out and am sure my Dad and Uncle will be quite pleased. I am hoping to go out to the range in the morning and see how it functions and shoots and adjust the sites. This one was the longest winter project I have had but it was fun.



 

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