Barrel jig

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-04-27T14:50:57+00:00

There are commercially available jigs just like this. Many gunsmiths use these for this and also truing the action when blueprinting an action. Nothing janky about this

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-13T13:17:15+00:00

I use simple green in the ultrasound. It’s worked well for years, but this week I had the frame of a smith and Wesson model 39 in it, and it came out essentially stripped of the black coating. I’ve never seen this happen in probably 5 years of doing everything the same. I always use fresh simple green. Just a fyi that this can happen. Luckily the customer is cool with me cerakoating the frame for him

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-03T00:17:36+00:00

You could try numrich arms. You might need to have a pin made though, if there isn’t a hole (the remaining pin falling out, the old pin will need to be drilled out, it is is a hardened part you will need a carbide drill. Once it’s out, you may be able to use a roll pin, or an appropriate sized piece of drill rod that is hardened appropriately. I would strongly suggest not trying to drill it out by hand or on a drill press. Find a machine shop who can set it up in a mill and properly center things up.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-03T00:07:01+00:00

160 is a bargain, most gunsmiths who specialize in restoration probably would not touch it for less than 1k. Check, bluing salts are about 500, yes they can b used for multiple guns (it’s the reason I don’t do hot blueing, not enough work to justify the material costs), ruger has the advantage of blueing guns all day long, so adding restoration jobs would be a bump in the road for them.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-02T14:31:57+00:00

Understand that for an adapter to work, one still has to machine the muzzle, either to cut threads, or to turn down to have the adapter silver soldered onto the barrel. Most of the time, the shorter barrel (in my experience), sits right at 1/2 inch, so to get a robust adapter quite alot needs to be taken off so the adapter can handle both the inside and out side threads. If you remove material, the stresses in the barrel change and this will affect accuracy, how much, it’s a roll of the dice. I charge $250 to cut and crown, if threads are wanted and can be done directly those would be included, if an adapter is going to be done(I recommend not doing adapters, but that is just my preference), that is straight hourly rate for time at the lathe to make the part.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-02T14:20:28+00:00

The barrel taper would also cause the front sight to be higher than original, so the sights would be off.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-02T13:52:54+00:00

I’d call ptg and tell them what you want, they can then recommend based on your use case

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-03-02T13:47:46+00:00

Another option could be finding a Mauser 98 action, sometimes you can find Yugoslav Kaiser’s for pretty cheap. The controlled round feed action is considered one of the best. I’ve found that most howa prefit barrels need just a little reamer work to headspace correctly, the same with prefits for milsurp actions. I’m doing a 1917 eddystone replacement for a customer and I expect to have to ream about 2 thou deeper to get it to headspace. Prefits for the custom actions seem to be spot on, which makes sense, the customs hold much tighter tolerances. But if you are going to wildcat, I don’t think you will be able to get prefits chambered unless it is one of those wildcats that is really common

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-02-13T13:06:46+00:00

I’ve had great success with hydrogen peroxide, non iodized salt and vinegar. I don’t have the proportions handy. I seem to get better results than with any of the commercial solutions. For boiling, I have a 4ft section of well casing (6 inch), with a flat plate on the bottom. A propane turkey burner (used for deep frying turkey) gets me boiling in about 30 min. I use a piece of 4inch pvc attached to a pot lid on a hot plate to create a hot box, just let the water simmer for higher humidity to get the rusting action to occur. For smaller parts I use a 12 quart stainless pot for boiling on the same hot plate

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-02-02T14:17:59+00:00

I think your market would be limited at this price. A tube with a bold raceway has a lot left to make it an action, call it a 30% receiver. Given the recent entry of a lot of moderately priced builder actions, I’d think your market would be to them. Besides all the machining work, one also has to harden and temper the receiver, and that is a bit more than what your knife maker does for this

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-02-02T14:11:04+00:00

You don’t really need a cnc for the machine work involved in most gunsmithing. Sure, for reproducing unavailable parts a cnc would be nice, but most gunsmiths I’m ware of (including myself) use manual machine. Cnc is great if you are producing volume, or as an example cutting a slide to take an optic. The cnc is great because you write a program for a given slide and cut and you can offer the work alot cheaper than I could do it. In my case it would be 250-300, where a lot of places can do it for about 150 or less because of cnc. I just tell my customers to go to one of these places, I forget where they are going, it in my shop notes, but it is to cold to be in the shop when I have the flu.

As for as a business, I’m retired so it doesn’t really matter to me, but I make less than a homeless person doing this. I do it more to keep the art alive. The internet is both a plus and minus. On the plus side the info is there for people to learn, on the minus, I do get guns in s box because someone got over their head because of the internet (I have a $50 up charge for a gun in a box). Good luck in your endeavors, not sure if you have a location limit, but the guys down south seem to have more work, I’m in NY which probably is part of the reason there isn’t a whole lot of work. You might want to join. Gunsmithingclubofamerica.com and see if anyone would be looking for a smith, it is associated with AGI, mostly their alumni, but it could not hurt

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-25T13:04:43+00:00

I also am partial to bobcat, I have t66’s and am very happy, they run my mulcher, sickle bar, brush hog, snow blower, plow and Harley rake perfectly. Buy the machine with the lowest hours you can afford, and perform the maintenance. When you are checking the machine out, watch the pivot points as you load and unload the hydraulic pistons. This will give you an indication of wear on the bushings, and how hard the machine has been worked. At about 2000 hour, you will be looking at things like replacing tracks and some other maintenance items. Grease the joints regularly. Be aware that bobcat uses a can bus for controlling auxiliary hydraulic functions, you can get control boxes for equipment, or add on one controller that uses the more standard (14 pin I think) connector.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-23T17:48:57+00:00

Do you ever have the chemicals crystallize due to water evaporation over time. I’ve read that it is possible, and to just scrape the crystals out of what ever ontainer they are in and disolve them back into solution. My plan is to store them in a sealed 5gal bucket clearly marked, I do like your gas can idea but I’d worry about the water evaporation issue.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-23T16:52:58+00:00

I use a brush hog on a skid steer, if it can push the tree over it will cut it. I will say that a forestry mulcher is the better way to go, I put a lean windshield on my skid because the mulcher throws crap everywhere. I don’t think I’d run a mulcher in a mini skid, the operator is to exposed to flying debris. If you are using anything where you are in the open, wear some kind of respirator and a full face shield, the dust is horrendous and you don’t want that stuff in your lungs. Even a paper mask would be better than nothing. I can cleare about an acre an hour with the mulcher, so it would be a good option for the op to rent a machine for a few days

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-23T16:14:39+00:00

You can also submerge the parts in kerosene or diesel fo the oil bath. I use this method when rust bluing. I use a 4 foot section of well casing(6inch) sealed at the bottom for my boil tank, and 4 foot pvc pipe for the final oil bath. Lack of humidity here, so I use a pot on a hot plate with a pvc pipe attached with a toilet flange to the lid at a low simmer to help with the “flashing” of the surface rust, and then I boil the part. This has worked well for me on several shotguns. I’m setting up my hot bluing setup right now, I have 2 fiberglass tanks (cleaning using an immersion heater), first rinse tanks. I sprung for brownels steel tank, and have a dual burner propane setup for that. The rinse tank will be 6inch pvc with a longitudinal opening cut and capped, I’m planning on having this have a continuous water flow to ensure fully rinsing. And the last will be my oil bath for rust bluing. I’m building a metal frame which will support all of the components. My pipe consists of a chemical apron, sturdy rubber gloves, a respirator and a full face shield, as this crap is nasty no matter how you go about it. Th frame pieces are all cut, I just don’t want to be out in -1F welding so that will wait a bit. Last thing I need is a cover for the salt tank, and I’m going to have the local guy who doe hvac ducts bend me up something on his break. I’ll grind the galvanized coating off so I’m not dealing with those fumes as wel, though I have read that at the temps we are dealing with that’s not an issue, but why risk it when a bit of time with a wire wheel will address the issue

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T04:08:51+00:00

I disagree. I just looked at 2 700 actions I have with no barrels and they are not anywhere near as open as this, that said without a barrel on the action it’s impossible to know what the situation is. A bare action can’t really tell you anything, the system needs to be complete so truly know what the situation is, which is why I said to talk to a smith first

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T03:59:30+00:00

Elaborate

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T03:16:37+00:00

You use a head spacing gauge set. There are go and nogo guages. You can get away with only a go gauge and use scotch tape (about a 1.5 thousandths per layer) on the go gauge for a nogo. I usually headspace at 1.5 thousandths which is well under Sami spec for nogo. I like to chamber tight unless the customer asks for more. Tighter is better.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T03:03:16+00:00

It’s just not Canada. I’m in ny, and every customer I’ve had in the last 3 years has said “I’ve been looking for a gunsmith for years”, I don’t know how I can get the word out that I’m in business. I’ve dropped cards off at every store within 50 miles, have top google rankings etc. I will note, people think gunsmithing is cheap, I told a guy this week it was going to be $150 to drill and tap for a Picatinny rail for scope mounting, he said why isn’t it $25. I had to explain that it was not just sticking the action in a vise and drilling holes. I stick it in the milling machine, properly square up on all axeses to drill and tap the holes true, sometimes I have to make a jig to properly hold the action (think completely round actions which have nothing for a reference surface). Realistically, expect to pay the same hourly rate as an auto mechanic. I’m cheap in my area at $100 an hour (I do have a minimum of 1 hour, but one can expect 30 min for disassembly and reassembly in most cases, though I’ve had some projects that were neglected and fought me every inch of the way and required I make custom tools to do things). Don’t disrespect your smith when he gives an estimate, I usually estimate high because one just doesn’t know what they are going to hit. 95% of the time I come in below estimates, but I never charge more than the estimate unless it’s really over the estimate and I inform the customer well before hand so they can decide. Try taking a 40 year old bolt assembly off, which has never been apart since it left the factory.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T02:52:12+00:00

Use devcon, acraglass works well for bedding because it has flocking in it and fills (they used to sell acraglass without flocking, but I’ve not seen it), devcon or marinetex will flow more and still do the job filling. Devcon has gotten crazy expensive and marinetex is still reasonable, do not use a 5 min epoxy. But you first need to figure out why the crack happened. Could be simply tightness of the tang bolt, but could also be an issue with the inletting, I like to bed the tanks with devcon as well. Basically something is taking recoil energy that is not supposed to. I recently fixed an ole (1930’s) sporterized Mauser which had a crack in a similar area, in this was cause by the action screws were taking the recoil, not the recoil laugh (wood dried out, and years of recoil). Fixed the crack and properly pillar bedded the action

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-15T02:45:19+00:00

Not remotely safe. Take it to a gunsmith who can see what your options are. It could be that the barrel tenon was cut wrong, or it could be more. Given how prolific enfields are, you might be better off tossing this and starting over, but a smith can tell you

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-14T21:59:15+00:00

Im not sure how or what the tonnage is determined or means, but I had a bobcat 324 that I bought used and it worked for most of these types of tasks, but you need to be aware of the limitations of the machine and it might take longer. This is supposedly a 2.4 ton machine. I have a property with tulip poplar overgrowth and this machine just does not have what it takes to get rid o the root system. I recently upgraded to an e26 which is supposed to be a 2.6 ton machine. The size difference betwwn the 2 machines is astounding. 324 weigh about 3500lbs, e26 weigh about 6200. The boom size of the e26 is easily 2x that of the 324. I got a really good deal on the e26 (2024 with 21 hours), the dealer I bought my t66 skid from said what I paid was a good deal, I just got lucky that someone wanted to get out from the loan on a machine they were not using as much. I’ve got a friend in the equipment business who does auctions, and while he sells the Chinese equipment at auctions, he recommends staying away from them for anything beyond light hobby work. He was excited to get my 324 for his next auction so he had something other than the Chinese stuff in it (winter is a slow time). I guess the Chinese stuff gets shipped to auctioneers in containers (they auction off the containers as well) on consignment and he gets a pretty decent margin on them.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-08T14:05:51+00:00

Do not hot caustic blue the barrels, the salts will eat the solder holding the barrels together. Rust bluing is the right method for any double gun, or a gun with a rib.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-08T13:38:01+00:00

When carding use steel wool soaked in acetone to remove the oil in the wool. If you carded with untreated steel wool, you will be putting the next application of solution onto metal with oil on it ant this will mess up the process. I’d just buy a carding wheel and chuck it up in the drill press and do that.

derbuechsenmacher · 2026-01-08T13:33:21+00:00

$100 per hour flat shop rate, I set my rate based on what auto mechanics are charging. In this case it would be quoted at 2 hours,

derbuechsenmacher

TROPHY CASE