Airgun Rendezvous

Thanks (1 reply)

barnespneumatic — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:31:33 -0500

I appreciate the nice well wishes posted by quite a few of you. Thank you for being pleased for us. This has been a huge decision for us. A very long search as well. It will be a lot of work, but we really hope it will set up the next chapter of our lives. The kids have long been grown. We've watched our family add 13 grandchildren (thanks to two sets of multiples - both twins and triplets). Our children have all moved away. We remain in a three story Victorian home I bought when I was 24. I'm now 57. Thru those 33 years, I've wired and plumbed. Restored and altered. Plastered and painted. Roofed and reroofed. Replastered. Repainted. Re...re...re...re...

The style of the house, it's architecture, geometry, size, height, and materials - have made it very difficult to acquire help. Most contractors can get all the work they want, of a type where they can send their "B Team" crews to do high margin jobs. They can replace all the rainspouting they want at eight feet of the ground. They don't have to pay insurance to have their men try to do the same work at 30 feet off the ground. Roofing at 45 feet? They don't need it. Jobs that require an experienced 50 year old to run a crew and problem solve? Don't need it. And so, I've been left to do the work myself. As you recall, I've had to just take a week here, or two there - and run a job that just could not wait another day. It's created a lifestyle of work in the shop, and work on the house, shop, or grounds. That's it. Work, then work, and on the weekends ... work. I was talking to a good friend tonight ... And the subject became the relaxing of maintenance - and the freeing up of time to do what we want. I said ... We don't even know what we'd want to do. All we do is work. Trying to finish one type ... So we can hurry to get to another kind. Never feeling like the particular brand of effort is the version of work that's most required. Getting burnt out on one work load to the point of going to work on another as a genuine break. Maddness.

Most of the house is rooms we walk thru to get somewhere else. And the steps never end. There are 33 steps from the patio to get to the third floor bedroom. Don't ask me how I know. Haha. The shop is the result of repairing the roof by adding a second story under the new shingles. The original building in the back of the house comprised a fine outhouse and storage shed. It got moved over to where the original garage sat under the weeping cherry tree. The buildings were grafted, and repaired into somewhat larger footprints. There were no zoning rulings to run afoul of back in those days here. And so, the shop today; is an eclectic compilation of right and left turns, steps and corners. I sometime catch a glimpse of myself turning a corner up in the distance ... down a hallway. I keep hearing "Hotel California" in the background .... Sortbof creeps me out .... (stunned) It's time to go.

But the question has been; how, where, when??? Mostly "where". We've looked all over. Made a few trips that were hard to afford, in order to check areas.

New Woodsman kit (5 replies)

Jerry — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:03:04 -0500

I had to replace the case I've used for years to hold the Woodsman. A while back I bought a Nightforce scope with the intention of using it on the Yukon for target shooting. Well, that didn't work out. The scope was great and the gun was accurate but the massive recoil turned my head into a bump stop for the scope...despite decent eye relief. A tight hold and technique to avoid bloodshed just hurt accuracy so I scraped the target scope idea and just left the EoTech sight on.

That left me with a very high quality scope not mounted on a gun. Coincidentally, I had a good scope on the Woodsman in a custom mount but that scope had no mildots or convenient way to shoot at long range. I could dial the scope in at 100 yards but going to 200 required estimating drop as a percentage of the way down the reticle post. It worked, I got the groundhog at 200 that way but it was difficult and hard to repeat. That was a shame because the gun is exceptionally accurate. So, I decided to change the Woodsman set-up. Not an easy decision! I probably had two beers just sitting and looking at the gun before I took a wrench to the custom mount!

Knowing that the Nightforce was not suitable for hunting, I also bought a Nikon P-22 scope to use for closer range shooting and when the gun is configured as a .62 smoothbore.

All this stuff would not fit in the case I'd been using. The gun with the Nightforce mounted was just too tall and there was not enough room to store the scope off the gun with the P-22 mounted.

Time to go internet shopping! This was the easy part: Down in the Gear Shack section you can find the case I bought for the Prairie 3. That's what I wanted because the quality of that case is excellent and it's big enough hold the whole Woodsman kit. I went back to the same store to order the case in a different color and discovered that Pelican has bought Storm. Fortunately, they have yet to make any changes and I could get the exact same case I wanted.

[attachment 4110 box.jpg]
2 days after ordering it was here.

[attachment 4111 newowner.jpg]
The case is the same but the lable has changed.

[attachment 4112 testfit.jpg]
I got the gun where I wanted and started thinking about the location of the other items to go in.

[attachment 4113 done.jpg]
And there you have it!

Because I have more room now, not only can I get both scopes in but I can get all the other bits in that I don't want in a general gear bag. The case at the lower left has a couple hundred .32 slugs in it and the one at the upper right will end up with maybe a few dozen .62 slugs. Naturally, I have the .62 bolt in there for when the .32 barrel comes out (stores below the first layer of foam), all the wrenches to make changes or adjust things and also a cartridge holder. That copper tube can hold 4 pre-made shot shells. This gun does great work as a shotgun so having some cartridges ready to go makes sense. The ram rod for muzzle loading cartridges longer than the breech opening stores easily between foam layers.

I'm about ready to toss this in the back of the truck, head to Florida and go shooting at Gary's new range!

Machine for the new shop (1 reply)

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:55:45 -0500

Hi Gary:

You should have one of these built into The Studio down in FL:

[www.theatlantic.com]

Bet you could redefine "huge bore" yet again. (wink)

-- Jim

Bison 56 Stock Work ...ADDING PROGRESS PICS (11 replies)

barnespneumatic — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:02:37 -0500

Working on the stock set for the 56 Bison of Mr. Butler.

[attachment 4105 BisonStock001.JPG]

Lay out. Relieve for band saw blade at corners.

[attachment 4106 BisonStock002.JPG]

Profile both the rear stock and the forestock.

[attachment 4107 BisonStock005.JPG]

Planing the thickness. Careful attention to the grain run out. The planner can tear out the wood if you run it through backwards and the knives grab the grain.

[attachment 4108 BisonStock007.JPG]

Completed thickness adjustment

[attachment 4109 BisonStock008.JPG]

Starting milling in the grooves after the stock was carefully sawn for the clam shell design.

Gary

Other side ... (2 replies)

barnespneumatic — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:21:25 -0500

Yes, I've worked on other things too. Here is some of the additional engraving. ;)

Gary

To Infinity and Beyond .... NOW PICS! (34 replies)

barnespneumatic — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:43:42 -0500

Nothing horrible in here ... but you might want coffee ....

[attachment 4102 BrandyLane179.JPG]

[attachment 4104 BrandyLane212.JPG]

I've been in this intersection of quite a few star trails for all of 2012, so far. It proves to be a big year, for myself and my family. I have been working my way along a bunch of different roads, for the last five or six years. Looking for some point they all intersect that might allow me to move on to the rest of my life. Here are the high points quickly: 1) My health. You know the story, and know it's seemed somewhat improved this year. 2). The Estate. You know my parents left a horrible tangled mess that the courts decided "I" should sort out. 3). The Business. You know the current model - work like heck to get the ledger out - make an occasional "reverse ledger" sale. No orders. 4). The Infrastructure. Make it all work. Home, Shop, Needs. 5). The future. Be responsible. Be honest. Do not, under any circumstances leave a mess like my parents did. Act upon what you have learned.

Those are the high spots. Any one of those, at any given minute; could reach in and consume a week or three. And, there's no manual on how to do this, with this set of variables.

The known facts that stood out: 1). An improved current health status, is no guarantee of a long run of same. Cite for example; the last five years when it was far worse. 2). You cannot be responsible for untangling the legal results of other people's poor decisions, for five years, without feeling compelled to act upon the lessons learned. 3). My home was the result of the purchase of a 24 year old man, who had many skills, and endless energy. Things change. Nothing improves with age. 4). My shop is too small, difficult to maintain, and ineffecient. 5). Out off the four seasons; only a few months are less painful to chronic pain sufferers. That's half of Spring, Summer, and half of Fall. The rest hurt, far worse. 6). The home market is on the rocks. 7). I won't get much younger from here on out.

Those are the high spots.

I have tried to find an intersection of these various lines, where the best case senerio exists for the future of my wife and I, and my business. I think I've found it. Here's how it's been done.

I have diligently sought to bring this estate mess to a conclusion. The whole experience has been ... disappointing. Some months back, decisions I made seemed to be leading to a conclusion. My health management program has been refined to improve results. Part of this was just through a simple communication breakthrough, and follow-up alterations. My wife and I have prepared ourselves, for many years now ... to be able to make some difficult decisions, and stick to the program. For well over a year now, we have been researching other areas of the country - honing our research - disgarding - looking afresh. It's been no secret that we need to go South. I must have a more warm and regular climate. It's no secret that the Victorian Age did not produce maintenance free anythings. We must have vast reductions in maintenance requirements as we age. I have witnessed the tragic results of refusing to follow simple common sense knowledge ... by rather hanging onto lost visions of the past. The general collapse of the housing and property markets in the US, has devistated the existing value of homes and property ... yet ... provided an unequaled opportunity to purchase.

Intersection.

I've been able to bring the Estate matter, to about 98% conclusion. The rest is sweeping up. I am no longer tied to this area, in order to process this mess. While scrambling to work thru the insurance nightmare tossed into our laps by reorganizing Insurance companies ... I was forced to take the time to get my home into better condition then it's ever been in. I was only able to do all of this since my pain management was working better. I sure hope it lasts. I can't count on it, but it's been here for a time, and I've used it. After several trips to scout locations, we have been able to purchase a property that suits our needs. We'll be in the Panhandle of Florida. Take 95 South, and hang a right on Rt. 10 at Jacksonville. Property has a downsized ranch style home - maintenance free. It has a great studio/shop - maintenance free. It's a large building, even including kitchen, bath, and workareas. Property has enough land for my needs. No more packing off to test and shoot. Since the many segments of my work do not mix (woodworking shop and welding shop - for instance) ... I have contracted for the building of a second large shop building - maintenance free - and bisected into two seperate additional shops by a firewall. Studio handles various clean work segments of my crafts. Office, engraving, finishing, anodizing, assembly, photography, etc. Second shop is the machine/welding shop. Third: Woodworking.

We have engineered a move using the PODS system. Things will disappear from here, and reappear in Fla. at the appointed time. Building errection is set to conclude in time.

I would have been a complete fool to blow through this intersection ... get on down the road ... and find my health compromised, my home and shop beyond my maintenance ability, and my business in disarray because of this. This has been engineered to do the absolute best I can, with what I have had to work with. And to take very great advantage of the current state of real estate pricing. It's not been a simple task ... and it's far from complete. But I wanted to bring you to date. Let you know I have not been golfing. Let you know the future has been expected.

Gary

Muskrat (2 replies)

Scott — Fri, 11 May 2012 19:05:50 -0500

I have had to do some repair work on my pond dam this week. Fortunately, this guy decided to swim across the pond while I was getting started. Nothing that my AirArms S410 Xtra can't handle.

Hopefully I'll see the next one BEFORE it starts drilling through the dam.

I'll be back soon and bring ya up to date .... N/T (6 replies)

barnespneumatic — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:28:47 -0500

Gary

Well ... I tuned in for a few minutes of the Punt Gun ... (9 replies)

barnespneumatic — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:34:39 -0500

episode. Wow. Do you know how pathetic it was for that whole group of experts to be standing around sadly looking at their trigger/firing mechanism which arrived in the mail? And, the best they could do was to cut the stock off and put it on the back like a WW2 anti-aircraft gun? And - did you love the clamp which held the barrel/swivel? And, the customer was amazed and dumbfounded at the craftsmanship. (stunned)

Saw the expo of the Zombie gun firing range tests. Boy, the lady was really excited at the destruction of the peanut butter jar. I watched it alone, but I kept looking around the room, shaking my head, and saying ... do you BELIEVE this?

Honestly, I caught about five minutes of each episode as I flipped thru late in the evening. It's like a train wreck ... you can't look away! (excited)

WHO is producing this stuff? They are setting back gun owners hundreds of years in the minds of the public ...

(teach) One man's humble opinion ...

Police in different countries - funny (2 replies)

pedrog — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:50:38 -0500

Hello all,

I thought this was kind of funny, an email that went around work. Pretty much sums up what Canada has become. RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) have had a hard time lately and on the news a lot. If they shoot or taser someone, seems there is always someone sueing or reporting police brutality. One elderly man (in BC) died after suffering a heart attack from a taser. Meanwhile he had a knife in a hospital and threatened people with it. Stupid really! Police are suppose to protect and serve, but they have all their resources and tactics questioned.

Pedro

How do you tell the difference between a Canadian Police Officer, an Australian Police Officer and an American Police Officer?

QUESTION: You're on duty by yourself walking on a deserted street late at night.
Suddenly, an armed man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and lunges at you.
You are carrying a Glock 40 and you are an expert shot, however you have only a split second to react before he reaches you.
What do you do?

ANSWER:

CANADIAN POLICE OFFICER:

Firstly the officer must consider the man's Human Rights. (they forgot: Is this really a knife or a ceremonial dagger?)

1) Does the man look poor or oppressed?

2) Is he newly arrived in this country and does not yet understand the law?

3) Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?

4) Am I dressed provocatively?

5) Could I run away?

6) Could I possibly swing my gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?

7) Should I try and negotiate with him to discuss his wrong doings?

8) Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?

9) Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society?

10) Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?

11) If I were to grab his knees and hold on, would he still want to stab and kill me?

12) If I raise my gun and he turns and runs away, do I get blamed if he falls over, knocks his head and kills himself? .

13) If I shoot and wound him, and lose the subsequent court case, does he have the opportunity to sue me, cost me my job, my credibility and the loss of my family home?

AUSTRALIAN POLICE OFFICER:

BANG!

AMERICAN POLICE OFFICER:

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 'click'...Reload...BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
(Sergeant arrives at scene later and remarks: 'Nice grouping!').

Small time opportunity. NOW W/ PICS AND THE SKINNY! (34 replies)

barnespneumatic — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:08:30 -0500

Dig around in your couch cushions tonight. Check your coat pockets. Maybe the console in your ride. You'll just need some small folding money if this appeals to you. I thought of a small curiosity with some neat interest points. I'll show you and explain sometime tomorrow. You know ... I can't make a bunch of inexpensive guns. Can't sell the tools I make. Don't have a line of clothing. (nowthatIthink). Haha. But, I did thinknof something clever, I think. (idea2)

Now, I also have some heavy appts. tomorrow too ... Regarding the estate issue. So; while I don't expect they'll lock me up. (shelia) - ya never know .... Haha. I'll tell you my intention is to make the post tomorrow. ;)

Gary

Engraving progression ... (17 replies)

barnespneumatic — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:23:48 -0500

As you read in the previous post; I do so many different things in connection with making all the parts for my PCP rifles, it's usually quite some time between using a skill set ... and doing it the next time. It could be a year between, as I prepare other parts for a collection of work.

I have not done single point hand engraving for some time. I felt I should practice some, to brush up on the skills before cutting customer parts.

I did some sketching ...

Then I drew the pattern on the part. A billet tower for a Yukon Orion.

I started cutting the backbone lines with a single point graver.

I finished these main lines. Then erased the ink.

I worked on the background.

Then added detail, shading, and refined the engraving to it's current state. It's not complete, but close.

Then, there's the other side! ;)

Gary

Loosening up ... (4 replies)

barnespneumatic — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:50:30 -0500

I do a lot of different things. Therefore; I'm seldom all warmed up for the next step (which I may not have done for months or a year). I have a bunch of engraving to do. I thought I better get in some loosening up exercises.

Gary

New video of full-auto SMG (4 replies)

brandon43 — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:10:45 -0500

New & small attempt at a video reveal of BB SMG.

Click YouTube link: [youtu.be]

Cheers!

Brandon M.

Last Saturday video stream (8 replies)

Jerry — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:05:01 -0500

Man, it's been a busy week! I finally got a chance to edit down the videos we shot last Saturday. I tried a new format for rendering this time to see how it would do. I'm trying flash 8 700 and so far I've been able to download a player so I can view it on my computer without going through a browser and I've been able to load it into PhotoBucket.

Let's see if this works.

Looks OK in preview...

I can barely remember but I'll get help with the narration... The first shots are at 60 yards and then the target reset target was moved to 100 for it's protection from the Yukon. Final shots are Timmy's first couple picking away a string of targets at about 75.

Working on .... (3 replies)

barnespneumatic — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:31:01 -0500

The trigger group and billet for a ledger Appaloosa. As well as co-ordinating with the electrician taking care of some odds and ends.

Checked in here. Lots of "lookie and not much talkie" on the range trip and associated post. I was pretty pleased with the 308 stuff, the Woodsman/insert proof yet again, the power of the Yukon and Yukon Orion, the accuracy of their bullet/barrel combinations, their durability, the switchblade target, Timmy's shooting, etc.

When we can take four 100% handmade rifles, with handmade barrels, handmade valves, bullets cast from handmade molds, and go hit any target ... all day ... with not so much as needing to tighten a screw .... it's notable. Fact it's expected makes it ordinary, I guess.

That's the state of the shop. I'm working. Thanks for reading. (bow)

Gary

Finished making parts... (6 replies)

Bigbore — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:11:50 -0500

I made a lot of progress on my project. I'm linking to the post on the air gun machining forum so that I don't have to rewrite the text and upload all the photos again.

[www.network54.com]

I'm almost ready to hang out my shingle and start making custom bigbore air guns. I'll probably start by advertising here until I get my own website up and running. I'll also offer misc. services such as roof repair, electrical work, heater repair(seasonal) and custom trailer interiors.

Please do not interpret this to mean I am competing with Gary, I absolutely REFUSE to sand anything!(angry no sign)

Lon

Tack Driver, What does it mean? (5 replies)

Tofazfou — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:07:14 -0500

We hear the term "My Gun is a Tack Driver" quite often. And some wonder what that actually means. Here's my answer to that question:

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU MIX THESE ITEMS?:

You get this product:

Then you mix that product with these items:

And you get this:
[www.youtube.com]

Couple of range pics. (4 replies)

barnespneumatic — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:46:05 -0500

[attachment 4073 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion305.JPG]

We put some great hits on the new "switchblade" target at approx.100 yards.

[attachment 4074 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion300.JPG]

We shot a lot of video clips of us shooting. Jerry's son Timmy came along for the shoot. He did a fine job.

[attachment 4075 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion314.JPG]

The 32 calibers would not trip the Switchblade target's mass. But Timmy put a fine group on this paddle of the target @ 100 yards with Dad's Woodsman 62/32. That gun really barks! And, it loves Bishops. In fact - SOMEONE seemed to feed ALL of the Barnes 32 Bishops thru the gun so that when Dad sat down to do some target shooting later .. he found the cupboard bare. hahah. Had to use another slug. As I recall - the Pepper Grinders did a find job too.

[attachment 4076 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion303.JPG]

This is why we moved the target back to 100 yards. Jerry's Yukon was putting the hurt on the plate steel. I'd burned up band saw blades, my plasma cutter didn't like it, and my torch sputtered along to finish the rough cut on this Krpytonite based salvage steel plate. And then, Jerry's lead slug bent the stuff like clay. He was using his gutter slug which upped the FPE to about 850 or something. Pretty sure he unwound the rifling and definitely voided the warrenty .... (whistle) .... (bomb)

[attachment 4077 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion307.JPG]

My Orion was shooting it's 625 grain default slug very, very accurately. It does a real number on a coke can at 100 yards too! hahah. Poof. Gone. Well, when shooting the heavy paddles on the switchblade target, this is all the lead that remains. Maybe 50 grains. I'll weigh one of these. These things hit hard.

[attachment 4078 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion325.JPG]

We hung up some "reactive targets" from the scrub trees along the hedge row along the field edge. Here, an old container got filled with water and sprayed white, as the light was fading. It was no trouble to pound it with slugs from both 30/32 Woodsman inserts. I then said I'd shoot the cap/rope interface off with the goal to drop it. These were hung around 80 yards IIRC. The new 308 slug flies very true. Effortless to hit what you want.

Jerry has all the videos. I have some more pics on my iphone. But I have to load a huge number of pics. I haven't loaded any since the computer season from hell started. I have about 1,800 pics on the phone now. hummmm. Will take a while. (hourglass)

Gary

Would have loved to show .... (4 replies)

barnespneumatic — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:59:54 -0500

you pics from the outing yesterday.

Instead, I've been beating my head on my laptop trying to load the pics from the camera. Don't ask ...

Did you know that you evidently cannot use a card reader now? Hey - if it's simple and funny ... don't tell me. I have several card readers - including a nice 72 - in -1 high speed readers. Nope. You can load the driver for them ... but you can't get them to be recognized in the drives or have the card prompt to load pics.

I'm burnt out. Ever since this thing fried a couple of months ago ... it's been like breaking rocks to do anything ...

Here's one pic for now. I think I might be able to drag it across the line .... ah ...... NOW you have to go to "Libraries" .... to find Pictures. It was far too easy to go to P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S to find pictures. (why me)

[attachment 4072 RangeWoodsmanSSOrion323.JPG]

The Woodsman SS 308 with the new slug sure opens up a soda can at 75-80 yards with the new slug.

More later after I lay down with a cold rag on my head .... you know ... 16 years ago ... I had a 500 dollar iMac and a dial up modem. It NEVER refreshed (like this did in the middle of a post the other day for two minutes). It's programs never nagged me. It just sat there and I used it - did anything I wanted to do. Scanned pics. Built websites. Processed pics. eMail was a snap. Now ... EVERYTHING is a nagging pain in the buttstock which ..... but I digress. It is Sunday, after all. :D

Saturday test plans (2 replies)

barnespneumatic — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:26:30 -0500

I'll be testing the new 308 slugs I've prototyped. Two different types.

I've also "nearly" replaced my switchblade target. That's a real help when the hay field is tall. We can't put the steel groundhogs on the ground. Can't see them, but worst ... Should we loose one and the farmer run it thru his machinery, I fear he'd be less than pleased.

I comped the previous switchblade target with Kent for all his hospitality on previous Cajun Cup shoots. I've intended to replace it ever since. Finally have most ... Well see if it gets finished to use tomorrow.

Gary

Apprentice - lesson from history (7 replies)

barnespneumatic — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:02:55 -0500

While traveling, I bought a magazine: GUNS of the Old West. Winter 2012. On page 32, they are into an article by Denis Prisbrey about the 1874 Sharps reproduction by Pedersoli. Guess this repro. is modeled after the work of Henry Slotterbek.

Mr. Slotterbek immigrated to the U.S. at the approx. age of 10 years. Settled with family in Philadelphia. The article says, "In 1855 his skills landed a job working in Henry Deringer's establishment, apprenticed under his older brother, Charles Slotterbek, who ran Deringer's shop and paid Henry on a per piece basis". I'll paraphrase now. Shortly thereafter; Henry graduated to working directly for Mr. Deringer himself, on the famous pocket pistols Mr. Deringer was known for. In 1859, Henry left to set up his own shop. Evidently Mr. Deringer had taught him well in approx. 4 years. Henry was so grateful, that he started making pistols which he marked "Deringer" (instead of his own name). Because they sold better I suspect. It required Mr. Deringer to sue Henry to get him to stop the fraud of using Deringer's name. After that, Henry marked guns Slotter & Co. .... INCLUDING guns ... marked .... are you ready .... ? .... "J. Deringer". You see ... Henry had hired a man named John Deringer (who was a tailor in Philly) so that he could legally use the Deringer name. Seems like a real Prince.

People ask me, all the time, why I seem secretive about my work, and why I don't hire an apprentice.

(bow)

I'm........uh.......back in the saddle too. (7 replies)

Bigbore — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:40:32 -0500

My latest project:
[attachment 4068 ShroudParts.JPG]
[attachment 4069 Shrd2a.jpg]
[attachment 4070 Shrd2b.jpg]
[attachment 4071 Shrd2c.jpg]

In progress of course.

Lon

Back in the saddle (14 replies)

barnespneumatic — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:05:55 -0500

Completing the 308 ballistic tooling. Making the molds ...

From the completed cherry mill cutters of the bullet slug designs.

I'll have some field results once I've cast some copies.

Gary

Happy Easter, and conversation .... (7 replies)

barnespneumatic — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:40:00 -0500

Happy Easter to all our readers.

Kelly and I are very grateful for a Risen Savior and God's Blessings.

We've been away on business. Things to take care of.

As you know, I was tasked, by the courts, to untangle the mess left by my parent's estates. My father passed first, and left my Mother with the mess. At the time, she was progressing thru the steps of Altzheimers. (Undiagnosed at the time). Some of her poor decisions were able to be partially corrected (with five years of letigation). Some left permanent scars that cannot be corrected. It's been my task to fix it.

As you also know, if you've read ... my insurance coompany of 32 years ... left me in a real mess when they decided to offload all their older homes. My health issues ( of the last five years especially) had made certain maintenance issues beyond my scope. Inability to secure contractor from the area was another amazing, and frustrating component to the equation.

Since the maintenance program for my chronic pain issues has produced a season where I've felt improved ... I've accomplished some of the required tasks. I've finally been able to secure another insurer (still subject to future inspection). An, I've finally secured an electrical contractor to do some work for us. I took the test, many years ago, to be able to wire my home. However; I needed the upgrade from 100 to 200 amp service. That required a liscensed contractor with permits, and inspections. This fellow accomplished much of the work while we vacated the house. Planning and timing. And, he had the work inspected and approved as well. It just lacks for the power company to come change out the meter socket and hook up the permanent new lines.

All of this stuff takes time. If you don't work for yourself, at home ... then you've missed many of these wonderful moments. Buy your boss a new coffee mug and shake his hand for arranging all of these details so that your office is lit, warm/cool, insured, inspected, approved, etc., etc., so that you may concentrate on your work.

We're home. The lights are on. I'm quite anxious to get into the shop. I have loose ends I must attend to while starting up the shop work again. I'll process the all at once, as I always do.

Thanks for your patience.

Warning ... weak stomach alert follows ......

Oh ... once again, I've decided I'd rather walk then fly. The 500 pound gentleman across the isle had purchased his two seats, and used them. I only mention that fact as he sat, enraptured look on his face, eyes closed ... as he downed pastry. Followed by a box lunch. He then proceeded to barf into various bags for the remainder of the flight. It was delightful.

On the way home ... a late teen boy, who has ignored the nearly endless TV ads for the product ... Proactive .... picked scab, examined the results, and flicked the results onto the carpet.

Gosh ... our fellow man is an amazing creature. Makes me marvel, once again, at the very meaning of Easter. To make such a sacrafice for such as we are.

Gary

Slowly completing air rifles... magazine article.. Great Forum (6 replies)

pedrog — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:24:11 -0500

Hello Everyone,

I have been visiting the forum on and off but hardly seem to have time. Trying to do more now that I have an iphone. Neat cell phone.

One thing I must say... I appreciate that this forum is family friendly!!!!! I visited another one recently and really dismayed at the langauge and images used as avatars. I would hate to have my nephews visit those sites to learn more about airguns and discover the indecency. My thanks to you all!

Posted a short video on youtube the other day.
Concept 4 - Wood Grips

More work has to been done on the wood and will post sometime. It has been nearly 2 years if not more since I started this project. The rifles need some finishing, polish the aluminum (thinking of trying Cerakote to paint) and stain the wood, etc. Recently reworked the trigger and sear as I wasn't happy with how they engaged. One valve isn't sealing on one of them so hopefully can rework it and get it all completed.

Reason I am trying to get the rifles completed...

1) I have so many ideas I want to try, but first need to wrap up existing projects.
2) A magazine from the UK has asked me to write an article on "homemade, amateur" airgun building.

Will see how that will go... english class was never my favorite subject in school, and by no means am I a good writer.

Wishing you all a good Easter...

Pedro G

P.S. I finally added more pictures from my Bolivia Trip in December - In the "I'm Just Saying" section, sorry that I took so long.

My ShoeBox gets an UPGRADE (video) (9 replies)

Tofazfou — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:29:07 -0500

After hearing of a few people getting the Shoebox upgrade and being pleasantly surprised at how much quieter it was, I reviewed Tom Kaye's website (www.shoeboxcompressor.com) and read up on the "UPGRADE" parts. Harder steel pistons and a belt drive system (quiet and low maintenance) sounds pretty good to me as BETTER is always a good thing especially when it comes to things such as high usage compressors. So I ordered the belt drive system and the hardened steel pistons.

After my parts came in, I logged onto my computer and started reviewing Tom's DIY videos on the Shoebox website. I had easily memorized the whole process and decided to go down in the garage with new parts in hand and do the installation. I also decided to video the process as, well, IT'S JUST WHAT I DO...lol. It's also just to show how easy the upgrade is and its something I really had fun doing. I love taking things apart and putting them back together especially if I'm making it BETTER....lol.

BEFORE INSTALLING PARTS ON THE SHOEBOX:
I can't stress enough (from all that I've learned of the shoebox unit) to watch Tom's DIY videos before any tear down (rebuild) or upgrade is done to your personal Shoebox. The MAIN reason being is that the unit (shoebox) must go back together PRECISELY as to not cause leaks or brand new parts to be ruined or accelerated wear on parts or, the unit to not compress properly if at all into your SCBA/SCUBA tanks. Upgrading/Rebuilding the Shoebox is not hard at all and it's fun, but, care must be given when tearing down and installing new parts.

The video:
[www.youtube.com]

My take:
I am very impressed with the upgrade parts AND the Shoebox. I 1st must thank Tom Kaye for making the Shoebox. It works, it's affordable, it's rebuildable, and it's compact and light. It also gives the owner the freedom of NOT having to rely on a dive shop which can be far away and expensive (in more ways than one) and possibly not fill your tank full which I have experienced quite a few times. The new belt drive system is waaaaayyyyyy more quiet than the chain drive and it's cleaner. You don't have to worry about lubing a chain anymore and getting lube all over the units interior. And the hardened pistons should provide a lot more life to the pistons which is a super PLUS. Since the upgrade, the one thing I noticed is that when your shop compressor is ON and running, you CAN NOT HEAR the Shoebox running until the shop compressor turns off..........lol! Wasn't that way with the chain drive unit installed.

FYI: Just a little heads up. If you decide to do the upgrade, while you have unit apart, NOW would be the time to do a rebuild on the cylinders (white o-rings and piston sleeves) if you've had some previous run time (a lot) on the unit.

Thanx for watching and STAY TUNED!
Tofazfou
[www.tofazfou.blogspot.com]

Hello....testing, testing...is this thing on? (10 replies)

rotorhead — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:00:13 -0500

Mighty quiet on the forum lately. Was there a zombie apocolypse down south that I missed somehow?(??)

New scope set-ups for the Woodsman! (Update 2) (5 replies)

Jerry — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:50:28 -0500

Finally, my Nikon P-22 scope with the BDC reticle came in.

I can't say I'm impressed with the way Optics Planet packaged it.

A box full of styrofoam peanuts is not the best way to protect a scope. PA does a much better job packaging pellets!

This project involves the 2-7x P-22 scope for hunting/close range and also being able to swap that out for the NightForce scope for long range work. To do this, I had to take off the custom made scope mount and put on a BKL Weaver rail, That will let me use quick disconnect rings to change configurations. For mounting the NightForce scope, I decided to use Barrett rings that allow for 15-30 MOA drop compensation. The Barrett rings came packaged better than the Nikon scope! To be fair, these rings cost more than the little Nikon but still..

The recent deliveries.

The BKL base.

Nice instruction card with the Barrett rings. Easy to read and complete.

Taking the custom scope mount off the Woodsman was almost emotional! It's such a fine bit of machining and engineering but I had to do it...

That's the gun with the P-22 mounted on the BKL rail with Weaver quick release rings. I think I lost about a pound going to this scope. The back end of the NightForce scope is visible in this picture. For the long range set-up I'll get that pound back and a bit more.

Per my normal procedure, I drew a plumb line and a horizontal on the target wall and got the scope nice a square to the gun. Then it was time for sighting in. The first shot was pretty close and that made things easy.

After the first couple adjustments, these targets were shot starting from the bottom right and going clock-wise in order. The first target had me still having to walk in the adjustment from left to right. The next one was five shots and I thought I had it nailed. There was a good bit of wind out but I don't know how much that messed with me at 40 yards, probably a bit but not much. The bottom left target was next and 5 shots without adjustment told me I needed some left clicks. The top left target is a dozen shots. the first 4 show I went too far left on the scope and the last 8 were pretty good.

Afet figuring I had the gun sighted, I took a shot at a little dot target (still at 40 yards), guess I might need to work a bit more... :)

Maybe tomorrow I can mount the NightForce scope. Too bad I don't have a vineyard here for long range work. I'd really like to get both set-ups done.

The Woodsman with the P-22 mounted.

Close up..

Close up of the weaver quick disconnect rings.

This is the gun with the NightForce scope mounted.

I set this target up at 18 yards to "get on paper" as the first shot at 40 yards was impossible to find. At the very top is the first shot. I dialed in a full turn down and the second shot was about 3" lower than the first. Then I dialed in 2 more full turns and I was still high. Another 3/4 turn put me in the bull.

Moving back out to 40 yards I had to shoot a couple tick marks low on the reticle but results were good. The top right target is shot with my own boat tail SWC design and the bottom is with Barnes Bishops. After I thought I was sighted in, I aimed for a different target that happened to be stuck to the target wall. Looks like I'm sighted in! That was with a boat tail...

BTW, the group under the dime measures .182" CTC...

OK, update 1:

I took the Nightforce off the gun and re-installed the P-22.

You can see that the forward mount lever does not clear the windage turret. Fortunately, pulling out the lever on it's post and repositioning allows the ring to be tightened without too much bother. This is not a problem with the scope or rings, just a matter of geometry for this application.

A picture of the elevation turret for reference. The P-22 with the Nikoplex reticle may have a different design. This is the BDC 150 model.

This is a view through the scope. This picture is accurate for the reticle but unfair to the scope's picture. The camera can only focus on one thing and I can't hold it all that steady to boot. I can tell you that the picture to my old eyes is absolutely clear as a bell at 40 yards. The scope is parallax free at 50 yards according to Nikon, it is not a AO scope. That said, note that all the groups I've shot are at 40 yards and not the set point of 50.

That's the first 3 shots after remounting the P-22. I didn't have a dot for an aimpoint and you really can't see the circle I was centering in but the aimpoint was pretty much a third of the way in from the left side of the second shot. The scope remounted with lethal accuracy on anything the size of a quarter or more.

Here's the second 3 shots taken. No adjustments were made. I'm a little right and since the gun is clearly shooting well, I need some left clicks.

I dialed in 3 clicks and got one on center and 2 in one hole a touch left. Now, the wind is gusting (not too bad for a BB though) and I'm shooting off a deck table, not a bench. I'm satisfied the scope responded to the small adjustment and I need to keep up with the gun.

So, how about we take the gun way off zero and then try to bring it back? Kind of like a real scope tester would do, just not a full box pattern because I have work to do and I'm feeling ill and shooting between relief trips...

Here I shot the first shot and I was off a bit to the right. I chaulked that up to my mistake or the wind but what's a quarter inch between friends? Then I dialed the scope up 8 clicks and right 8 clicks and fired a shot at the original aimpoint. Then I dialed the scope back 8 down and 8 left and shot again. Shot three landed just above the aimpoint you see.

There's more to look at but I'm very happy with this scope so far. It is clear as a bell and so easy to get a picture with. BTW, all the shots and the reticle pictures above have been on 7x, the highest magnification.

One last thing, all the Bishops used for this test have been unsized and unsorted bullets. Something always has to give and sizing and sorting were what gave this time. If I had not been able to print a cloverleaf or two, I would have sorted or sized but it was clear I had consistent enough ammo for this test.

I had a chance to get on the Nikon "Spot On" website and try it out. It seems pretty handy and the more you navigate around, the more there is. It's very intuitive for the basic functions and it looks pretty bare bones at first but if you check out the menus, you'll find functionality for the advanced geeky guys too...

I found some old BC data I had gathered for the Bishop slugs years ago that happened to match pretty close what I was shooting them at for the above testing. I plugged that data into an old ballistic calculator, the newest version of Chairgun and the Nikon software. I got very similar ballistic tables for POI at range (Nikon calls it "path") so that made me a little more confident in what the Spot On S/W was producing.

As an aside, only the 3 year old ballistic software allowed for more than one BC as a funtion of velocity. That is significant because I have already tested and verified with a few slugs significant BC changes between the 900 ish and 650-750ish speed range. It's hard to tell if the BC going from .072 to .122 between 880 fps and 650 fps really matters much but I wonder. On the other hand, at least with pellets, Chairgun has produced some extremely accurate scope tapes (see Neils awesome shots)

Anyhow, after digging around the Spot On site and printing out some reports, I think it might be pretty useful for guys that can't get all there starting data on the range. The smart shooter will verify anything some program gives him but having a decent starting point will save time and bullets for even the guy with a range out the window...

I printed up a few of the available outputs. Most of these are also available as .pdf files or Excell spreadsheets.

The top right item is off the main page. If you put in your customized bullet weight, muzzle velocity, zero ronge and BC (after selecting your scope/reticle) this comes up and can be printed. You can drag a slider to any magnification the scope has and get a basic picture like this for that magnification, you can choose to have wingage displayed or not as well.

The bottom 4 items are exploded views of the reticle that show on target ranges not just for the center but the top and bottom of each ring as well as the bottom post. Windage at any speed and angle remains an option here too. I chose a 90 degree West wind at 5 mph.

The center Item on the left is pretty neat and taping it to your gun stock for a hunt might help. It's a quick reference for the on target range for all the reticle rings and the post at each whole magnification level (2x, 3x, 4x etc.).

The top left item is a ballistic table I printed after selecting what items I wanted displayed. I selected range, velocity, energy, Path (poi drop from zero) and Zero Adj in clicks. I figure if I end up shooting at a fixed range, I might just want to dial the scope instead of using a hold off ring...

I'll have to see how close the values are in the real world but the correlation to other software that has got me on paper quick in the past is encouraging.

BTW, ignore the bogus time stamp on the picture. Freaking camera re-sets with every damn battery change...

War on magpies (smallbore again, sorry...) (4 replies)

neilmcp — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:00:34 -0500

It's been war on the maggies at my place, though they are getting more wary. This morning I heard one calling and eventually saw a glimpse of it in the trees up the valley. So I pulled out the Falcon .22 (it was early morning so I had to be quiet, and the Falcon is mousefart quiet) and my rangefinder and sneaked to the corner of my deck. This was the position, rested on the pool fence

Maggie was in those kanukas, partially obscured. I lasered the kanuka it was in at 75 yards then added 2 more yards on the elevation turret for the depth the maggie was within the kanuka. I shot and for a few seconds nothing happened. Then it did the vertical plummet associated with being very dead. Here it is where it fell

and turned over, you can see it took a shot through the very top of the chest/lower neck

The best bit was that by late morning a hawk had cleaned it up and left a smear of feathers across the hillside. Sweet revenge for all those mid-air attacks that the hawks put up with from the damn maggies.

Cheers

Neil