Artillery Barrel Specs???

[sheepherder]

Got some work done on the rear sight base today...Cut the reverse dovetails; made sure it would be a tight fit; and hogged out the sight cavity...

[sheepherder]

...and cut the slot for the C96 Mauser rear sight axle with a keyway cutter...Fits real good!

Need to locate the axle pivot holes and then mill the "slope" for the slider...I was thinking of shortening the C96 sight, but I think I'll leave it as is...If I have to, I'll mill a crescent in the bottom of the leaf to fit snug over the receiver (instead of notching the receiver)...

Heh...A 1000 meter Luger sight...

[sheepherder]

Got the rear sight base fit today; also fit the C96 rear sight to it...

Not too bad...I think I can guarantee some fistfights at the next ESACA gun show...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

I did not have anything to measure the overall length of this arty barrel, but my foot ruler said 8 7/8", ie the nominal 200mm that we hear about for most artillery barrels.

I hope that is just a typo...200mm is 7 7/8"...

Are you adding on an extra inch for the threaded portion + part that butts against the [barrel extension/slide/receiver - choose one, the name for that piece seems ambiguous)???...

[John Sabato]

The barrel length is normally measured as the distance from the end of the muzzle to the front of the breechblock face. Slip a cleaning rod into the assembled gun, mark where it stops and then measure the rod ...

From the photos you have provided (Great photos of the process, BTW)... it looks like your front sight is going to have to be pretty darn tall!

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

Sorry about the typo, 200mm is about 7 7/8" as you did you 25.4 trick. I bet I measured on my foot ruler from the "1" to try to be accurate...

Good. I wanted to make sure I wasn't an inch short.

I was measuring from the breech face as well. It'll be within a sixteenth.

It has been a while since someone read one of my posts for technical content...

I printed out your dimensions...It took me this long to realize the OAL was an inch off...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

From the photos you have provided...it looks like your front sight is going to have to be pretty darn tall!

By sticking my squib rod in the bore, I measure .635" from the top of the rod to the top of the sight leaf...I'll make my front sight the same height...

I don't know how tall the LP08 front sight is...but this will look sort of right...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

I am very interested in how you intend to cut the remainder of the front barrel band... and then then merge it with the small end of the barrel taper... take plenty of photos please including the actual cutting operation...

Kind of hard to do...while cutting...oily hands, concentration, paranoia...

But I shortened the front sight base a little; cut back the front of the rear sight base; turned the threaded portion back to specs & finish reamed the chamber; and finally cut the taper...The taper came out very good...

[Ingvarg]

Impressive !!

Great work and thanks for shering.
I,ve got a good old Meuser lathe but not a milling machine so all I can do for now are straight barrels without sight ramps etc.

[John Sabato]

Ingvar,

You should still be able to do barrel tapers by simply offsetting your tailstock on the lathe by half the difference between the large end and small end of the taper!

May I recommend two websites that you may find of great interest?

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/index.php

and

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/index.php

There are some really great tips and machining discussions on these two websites...

[John Sabato]

Hmmm... Rick, just curious...why did you delete your post?

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

You should still be able to do barrel tapers by simply offsetting your tailstock on the lathe by have the difference between the large end and small end of the taper!

I hate having to re-center my tailstock afterward...

I cut my tapers with the tool post (compound rest)...If you look in the top pic of post #34 above, you'll see the handle of the tool post feed sticking out the right side...

I set the tool post up and use a dial indicator against the part of the barrel to be tapered to show the amount of taper...in this case, it was ~.080"; so I swiveled the tool post until the dial indicated .040" of taper...Locked 'er down, and started cutting/feeding (manually)...

BTW: This is the machine I use for all this...


3-In-1 Multipurpose Machine with Micro Feed

[sheepherder]

...???...Did I miss something???...

Posts come and go...

Oh, well...If anyone has any constructive criticism, please post away!!!

I roughed out a front sight blank today...It's installed, but I need to get some new belts for the lathe...The 5 year old 3/8" belts are delaminating...(I was wondering what that strange thumping noise was)...

I'll see if I can find some today and then re-mount my rotary indexing head again and finish milling the barrel flange to size; the same with the front barrel band; and then start in on the front sight...

[Jack Lawman]

Originally Posted by postino

Oh, well...If anyone has any constructive criticism, please post away!!!

I don't have anything constructive to offer, but I will say that I very much enjoyed following your progress. I one day hope to acquire some machinist skills.

Looks like you did a professional job with what appears to be a hobbyist's machine. I'm good friends with an old school machinist. His lament is that it's a dying art. CNC is king these days.

Again, thanks for taking the time to share... I'll bet more people than you realize are enjoying this thread.

I do have one question... How do you index the barrel so when you screw it on the frame the sights are not canted?

Jack

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Jack Lawman

I do have one question... How do you index the barrel so when you screw it on the frame the sights are not canted?

Jack -

I left the flange a bit oversize. The most a Luger barrel can be off is .050"...(20 threads per inch = .050" x 20). I read in another thread here that 1/8 of a turn is about right for torqueing the barrel down. So the most the barrel can be off is 7/8 of a turn... or .044"...

My flange is at .170"...Rick W quoted me .135" for the flange on his artillery barrel...So I have .035" to play with...I'll screw the barrel on and torque it down three times, then figure out how much I need to thin the flange from there...(It's easier to do than describe)...

I'll take pics...Right now, I'm still milling the front sight to size...I've mounted my barrel in my rotary indexing head and milled the front sight band and flange down, 4�º at a time...and milled the front & sides of the front sight flat with the barrel base...

This barrel is easier than most I've done...It has a convenient flat (rear sight base) for spirit leveling...that's what I'll use to level the barrel in the receiver.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

Lots of setups and just flat work in this project, takes a lot of time and planning.

I've been on vacation this week...

I liked the comment on the spirit level; a little something for me to ponder..

I found a nice little [3"] aluminum one at Home Depot...

Got the front sight roughed out...more...It won't look exactly like a Luger front sight; no way I can do micro-machining like that...which is why I mounted my sight before machining...

So, I roughed it to shape, milled the sides at an angle, made a crude arc to the leading edge...I made the height the same as the rear sight leaf top...It's too tall, but I'll have to think a bit as to how high to make it...

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

...I do enjoy Luger barrels from scratch too. I have shot my own renditions from 5" to 14" lengths, all in 30 caliber; 30 Luger and wildcats thereof...

I like doing wildcats...I have a Colt Gov't Model in 38/45 Clerke and a S&W N-frame in .357/44 magnum...and this Broomhandle, in .256 Winchester Magnum/7.63mm Mauser...I cut down a .223 Remington case and run it through a shortened .256 Win Mag die to make the cartridges...barrel blank, like most all of mine, is from Numrich, many years ago...

[sheepherder]

Got a couple of little things finished...Cut a couple scallops in the rear sight base sides to mimic the LP08 base; re-cut the front sight ramp (I had used 60�º instead of the 40�º called for in the blueprints; I settled for 45�º); cut the muzzle back; re-cut the sight arc...

...It's getting there...

End of my vacation today; work will go slowly from here on...

[SIGP2101]

I enormously enjoyed every single picture posted here. Please do not forget to post finished product of your labor of love once completed.

Thanks !

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

I have a set of B&D dies, but not executed a 27 conversion yet, maybe someday.

Mine is not the Bain & Davis; it's the .44 Mag brass run through a .357 Automag die. I used to have an Automag with both .357 and .44 Automag barrels; ran a couple shells through the .357 Automag dies and then had Clymer (back when the family still ran the business) grind me a reamer. Did a couple N-frame cylinders; worked out real well.

Always wondered how the Clerke would feed, hear about them from time to time, guess ok.

Not so good...It takes a lot of experimentation to get the ramp and mag right...I still don't have it right...

In the Luger realm, I seem to be given a few 30 and 303Brit caliber rifle take off barrels now and then, so hence the 30 caliber Luger attempts here...I finally got tired of losing all of the real 30 Luger brass($$$) at the indoor range, and worked with the 9mmx19 necked up to 30 caliber that was posted here some years ago by a forum member across the pond....

That's the 9 x 19 brass run through a .30 Luger die??? I might try that...I've been making my .30 Luger cartridges from .223 Remington brass cut down & run through the .30 Luger dies...I did the same thing with the 7.63mm Broomhandle...

Pic attached...Stripper clip of Rube Goldberg 7.63mm Broomhandle (made from .223 Rem); one of the 7.63mm Broomhandle/Rube Goldberg cartridges; one 38/45 Clerke; a 357/44 bottleneck hull; and a loaded 357/44 bottleneck...