Reproduction Snail Drum - progress

[DonVoigt]

Here are some more pictures of the drum installed, being loaded using the support strut invented by
GT, and of the support strut itself.

The drum takes a tremendous pressure when loading against the approx. 10 lb main spring, and if used long enough would wear out the mag notch or crack at the junction of the straight magazine part where it transitions to the drum. The loading support strut is adjustable to accomodate variances in drum dimensions. I tried it on my one original Bing drum and had to move the support block about 1/8" and it fit perfectly. There is one modification to the loader, which comprises replacing the pivot bolt with a longer one with a rounded stop nut for a connecting point for the strut, it is visible in one of the pictures, sorry it is a little fuzzy, long exposure and hand held the piece.

It appears the Germans did not worry about this in WWI, as they had hundreds of thousands of drums! And - as I said before the original was more robust, using heaver gage steel and no doubt better welding technique.

So today, the support strut prevents a problem developing, rather than solving a ready problem.

Loaded the new drum for the third time tonight, with 124gr S&B ball; will test fire tomorrow, but the loading was smoother just in these 3 or four times. I expect it to continue to smooth up.

I'll take it apart after tomorrows session, clean and re-lube, while inspecting for any sharp edgest that might need smoothing up for even better performance.

Here are some selected pictures.