I stumbled upon a site that shows how to make a very nice bullet mold. Thought some readers might enjoy reading it.
http://www.usi.edu/science/engineering/moldfixture/MakingBulletMolds.doc
I will post more in next two weeks as I work on 50 Cal barrels.
Pedro
Concept 4 – Reservoir Airgun
I have three German, .22 cal. barrels waiting for use. I have had the “concept 4″ reworked since the job shop that lathed the bore originally was out almost 0.025″ on the center bores. Would have made it impossible to close the breech area around the barrel. They fixed it at no cost by remachining for an aluminum bushing and then boring the 5/8” hole again to line up with the barrel. I am thinking of outsourcing the remaining build of these two air rifles as my time is so limited and not having access to equipment delays it even further. Might be the way to go, but will cost a lot of money to do so.
Rifling
I have ordered a reamer to try to replicate Clark Arms canted rifling. Clark has had much success with this process so should be trying it as well. Toughest thing for myself is to locate the pipe material. I bought some local pipe and when I picked it up it was black pipe, but on the phone the sales person said is was very smooth. Live and learn!
I hope to make a few 50 cal barrels and order some 50 cal bullets. A lot more commercial ammo to choose from using this size then going to a pipe that you cannot get ammo for and try to make your own. I will try to post more when I have made a few barrels. Please feel free to send an email at anytime. I answer most emails promptly when I can.
~ Pedro ~
You may have come across this surfing through the airgun forums, Clark sent me some pictures of groups that were shot using one of his rifles.
I must say using the reamer rifling process that he experimented with has landed him some credibility and will assist him in selling his well made rifles to others.
I have updated the page I have on Clark’s experiments to show the accuracy. There is also a link toAirgun Rendezvous where the owner of the rifle posted his results and setup to see for yourself.
Go to Clark’s page:
http://airgundevelopment.com/custombuild/clark.html
More updates to come soon. I am looking at having someone else possibly machine the Concept 4 components as my time is very limited and I have not access to equipment presently.
Again, if you are building an air rifle and would like others to see, please email me and I will make a page all your own!
Thanks,
Pedro
Books – I have had a few inquiries regarding the books by H.M. Buckley in the past few weeks. The best way to get the books is to email or send him a letter. Mr. Buckley is busy and it may take some time before you hear back from him so keep trying.
Valves – A few other people have recently emailed having questions about valves. I do not know how much detail to provide but will say that Delrin plastic seems to work best. I could be wrong, but that is what I have been using. A softer plastic might work better? Experimentation is the key.
Here is a picture of a valve I found in a Russian Forum.
Above pictures shows how the valve could be used. There are many ways a valve could be designed using this simple stem and plastic poppet.
Other – I was going through my collection of airgun related data and found this airgun built by someone in Russia. I do not know much about it. Looks like it is chromed, but could be stainless? I think it looks sharp, but would prefer a blue stock myself.
The air rifle does look sharp. Not sure if it is custom made or manufactured by a company.
This past week was very busy. Started my new job and spent two evenings working for a customer from my previous venture. Makes for a long tiresome week. Not sure when I will be able to continue building the airguns I started in March of this year. I am going to see if I can possibly finish the air rifles after hours at my dad’s shop.
I would like to do so much more but right now limited time (once again) to dedicate to airguns. Was thinking earlier while planning on adding to this blog that a page with airgun tips would be usefull?. Readers could supply tips that they find usefull related to airguns, whether improvements to existing air rifles or hunting gear, and any other thing related to airguns and I would post the tips either on a web page or a new blog type page with categories. Mind you there are enough forums one can visit, just a thought.
If anyone reading is building or has built an air rifle would enjoy seeing it. Send an email to airgundevelopment@hotmail.com.
Thanks for reading ~ Pedro
Due to my hernia surgery I am still on very light duty. Cannot go shooting so I used my camera to “shoot” a rabbit. I was in pain today but that was due to having over done it yesterday. Sometimes when you feel better you forget that your not to lift over 10 pounds. I have been killing weeds in the yard injecting them with Roundup, nothing to aggressive. Last few days I have gone out, I keep running into this rabbit.
When I took another picture its buddy jumped out beside him, two wabbits!! A hunting we will go! If only I could do the Elmer Fudd laugh! If only I didn’t live in town I could use my airguns!!! Picture above is the first time I caught the rabbit on the yard. Today I went out a few times and saw him chewing something on the lawn in the backyard. I was about 20 feet away hidden in the garage, the minute he sensed or saw I was there it hopped away.
I don’t know about some of you but when I see critters I see them through crosshairs. I don’t know why I do this, just happens. I guess deep down I would really like to do some varmint extermination!
Well for now the two rabbits will live. If they start eating up garden plants then will see what I am allowed to do to get rid of them.
I have been sorting through my collection of articles and photos from 2005 when I first got into building airguns. I found more files today after spending a few hours looking for a disk I thought I had burned them to. Turns out everything was on a backup drive. I hope to categorize the files and hopefully start sharing some of the items that aren’t copyrighted.
Starting my new job next week. I have looked into a small mill to do things at home, but for now it is to much of an investment. Will have to wait a little longer and see what develops. One option I am looking at is making my own CNC mill. Nothing fancy but enought to cut out small parts. Seen some kits online for the CNC control and motors and program to run the CNC code. Kits sell for under $500 USD. Not sure what ball screws and precision track sell for but will investigate.
Feel free to post any comments! Enjoy hearing from other enthusiasts.
Thanks for reading. ~ Pedro
Spent the last week recovering from surgery. I had the staples removed today that held the incision together as it healed. Doctor said everything looks fine. I hope to go through some of my collection of airgun pictures and information that I have collected over the last 3 years. Then I want to post some of it and will have to sieve through the material to ensure something isn’t copyrighted.
Looking forward to getting back into building airguns. Unfortuntely been delayed due to surgery and not having a shop to work in anymore. I changed the blog to white background as it matches more with the rest of the site. Still want to finish the “Concept 4” airgun I started. Then I can finalize the plans and offer them to interested airgun builders. Thanks for reading, feel free to email me. ~ Pedro
As metioned earlier in the updates pages – a customer of mine lost their entire business. I have been assisting in getting quotes together for insurance company to pay out. They have finally settled. Here are a few pictures of the what was left of the business after the fie.
Here is a picture of the production press area. The steel building had foam insolation that burst into flames. An employee had decided to cut open a 45 gallon drum ignoring previous instruction that is was dangerous to do so and therefore not allowed. The barrel exploded when the worker started cutting and the entire structure was ablaze in seconds. Fortunately no one was injured.
I made a lot of this companies punch die tooling and with the recent family issues that we have had – decided to no longer work with that family member and rather for someone else.
Here is what is left of a milling machine and it digial readout.
A lathe after the fire.
As this company rebuilds I will be helping setup new equipment as well as setup presses and tooling to get them back into production of their grain drying floors.
As the next few weeks go by I hope to get back into airguns. I miss building greatly. Thanks for reading.
Hello airgun enthusiasts. I have taken the time to add a blog to my site. This will allow me to update the site more often and be less time consuming then previously.
Currently, this is where I am at. I have not done any airgun related building in last 3 weeks. May 5 I had my hernia surgery. Everything went well and I am recovering at home. I cannot walk well as the pain is to much at times so relaxing and working on the website. After much thought I will be starting a new job June 1st. A company that I do work for wanted me fulltime so I am going to give it a try. This will hopefully allow more time for hobbies as I will only be working 8 hours a day. Now planning on how I can do all the machining I need to do. Maybe look at buying a small mill/lathe combo for at home or if I can use their shop after hours. Will see what develops.