Gun Tools

chongman · July 22, 2012, 10:31:21 PM

I came across this on evil bay....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/brass-muzzle-lapping-kit-rifle-pistol-barrel-lap-gunsmith-tool-/130659317663?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D794360692476722735%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26

Whatcha think

jdub · July 22, 2012, 10:38:33 PM

I think I'll give it a try on an older brass barreled Sheridan HB20 I have that's been dinged up in the crown a bit. It's worth a shot--thanks for the link!

Fronzdan · July 23, 2012, 05:46:58 AM

I may try one of those too! Thanks for the link.

RC1947 · July 24, 2012, 01:43:07 AM

There's a Youtube video of a gunsmith recrowning a barrel using a round headed brass bolt with compound on it. Might save you a few bucks. RC

woody67 · July 24, 2012, 02:22:34 AM

Why doesnt 1 person buy it for the group, then just send it around as people need it? That would be a great contribution tomthe forum.....

chongman · July 24, 2012, 02:47:01 AM

Quote from: woody67 on July 24, 2012, 02:22:34 AM
Why doesn't 1 person buy it for the group, then just send it around as people need it? That would be a great contribution to the forum.....

That's a good idea, I'd be more than willing to share my stuff... I was good with that kindergarten

Between friends a couple of bucks for postage means nothing. I have some good small boxes, we could re-use for quite some time.

I'm going to get one, clicking buy it now tonight.

If you use this tool it will take some bluing off. What would we use to fix that?

woody67 · July 24, 2012, 03:04:36 AM

I think arkmaker just bought something for blueing............. .??

Fronzdan · July 24, 2012, 04:13:30 AM

Charlie Mellon leaves his recrown natural polished. Looks really nice too. You don't HAVE to reblue it.

jdub · July 24, 2012, 04:33:34 AM

I ordered one as well. I'm only planning to use it on a couple of Sheridans and a Benjamin--all brass barreled--so I'll leave the brass showing.

I'll be happy to pass it around when I'm done.

I do have a question about using it on a steel barrel though. If you apply a polishing compound to a brass tool and then press that spinning brass tool into a steel barrel isn't it likely the the brass will be worn down before the steel barrel is? Just curious. I figured on the Sheridans I have an even chance of success.

chongman · July 24, 2012, 04:56:55 AM

True, steel is harder than brass so it would have to wear some.

I have some serious fine grades of cloth backed abrasives... 3200 all the way to 8000 grit that could be used with some oil. Maybe that would be the trick?

jdub · July 24, 2012, 05:01:12 AM

Quote from: chongman on July 24, 2012, 04:56:55 AM
True, steel is harder than brass so it would have to wear some.

I have some serious fine grades of cloth backed abrasives... 3200 all the way to 8000 grit that could be used with some oil. Maybe that would be the trick?

Maybe that's the answer. An abrasive cloth wrapped around the brass piece. Just go until you start to wear through the backing and then put fresh abrasive on before you actually hit the brass.

chongman · July 24, 2012, 03:09:56 PM

Quote from: jdub on July 24, 2012, 05:01:12 AM
Maybe that's the answer. An abrasive cloth wrapped around the brass piece. Just go until you start to wear through the backing and then put fresh abrasive on before you actually hit the brass.

Yea, I could cut a bunch of squares and keep them in the box with the tool. Speaking of the tool....

I got up with the seller via message last night. I had asked if you could get the lapping compound separate when I run out.
Answer is yes. He said that when you run out of compound you most likely need a new brass tool which he also sells separate.

So, between the two of us we will come up with some instructions for tool use, maybe even a video

Crosshairs · July 24, 2012, 07:06:24 PM

I should be able to make on on my lathe Humm.
Mike

jdub · July 24, 2012, 07:34:21 PM

Quote from: Crosshairs on July 24, 2012, 07:06:24 PM
I should be able to make on on my lathe Humm.
Mike

I've had a wood lathe for the past 20 years and love it but I tell you what--seeing what you guys are doing on metal lathes has me seriously wanting one!

jdub · July 26, 2012, 05:27:32 AM

Okay, the tool came today and the results were as I feared.... the brass tool is very soft.

I took a risk and tried it out on my favorite pumper. A Sheridan C9 from the transitional period. This is a fantastic rifle and shoots very well to start with but I noticed the crown area looked like it at taken a couple hits. The roughness doesn't show up too well in the pics but none of the pics are great. I didn't realize how hard it was to take a photo of the inside of a bore.

I mounted the the tool in a Jacobs chuck on my wood lathe and set the speed at about 2600 rpm. I pushed a pellet a little ways into the barrel and then applied the abrasive paste to the tool. Because the barrel is soldered to the chamber I just held the entire rifle parallel to the lathe bed and gently pressed the barrel up against the tool. I applied gentle pressure for 30 seconds or so and then checked the crown. I repeated this 4 times for a total of around 2 minutes. I would move the paste back into the correct position on the tool each time I checked the crown.

I did just enough to see that each of the lands of the rifling had been hit. Everything looked even. It's really hard to see that from the photos because the newly exposed ring of brass in the barrel is only about 1/16" to 3/32" wide.

The bad news is that in just 2 minutes on a brass barrel the tool already had a groove worn into it and this was with gentle pressure. I think it's just much too soft to do this. The ball bearing method is probably a better method. Unfortunately I can't mount a ball bearing in the chuck and hit the crown of this barrel without having the chuck hit the air chamber. It would work great for a barrel detached from the gun though.

Here are some photos:

Here's what it looked like before I started:

And here's what it looked like when I was done. Very hard to see--sorry:

Here's what the tool looked like when I was done:

The most important thing, of course, is how the rifle shoots *after* doing this. It has a Williams peep sight on it and the aperture has a large opening for low light, which also makes it a bit harder to be accurate. Anyway, I had no complaints with accuracy before I did this so I just wanted to make sure I didn't screw it up.

Here's a quick 5 shot group shooting from 5 meters. With my old eyes and open sights this is about as good as I can expect so I don't think I hurt anything. I'll probably never know if I helped accuracy but it was fun to try.