I'm processing a bunch of related pics. I'll drop them in shortly. Just wanted you to know it's in the works.

I went to the range with it today. It was one of those range sessions where you learn what "doesn't" work, what slug size is "not" correct, and you accumulate experience to sort thru while you prepare a fresh approach. The gun worked great. AND, I have the .308" insert all made, fitted, installed. In fact .... I changed the gun between 62 and 308 a few times while at the range.

I also became aware of another thing. All this work to load, transport, set up, tear down, reload, and move back to the shop is getting really old. Especially in Winter weather. I rushed all day to try to get this insert usable. Nearly took the gun as a 62 to the range yesterday ... but it's expensive to go thru all this work to test ... and it takes a bunch of time. So; I figured I should wait until the 308 insert was fitted to test that too.

Well, the shop was in a real twist today. Nothing wanted to co-operate. The tip of my threading tool broke TWO times and I had to regrind and sharpen. I ruined one part and had to make another. Just goes that way some times. It was about 3:45 before I was packed up and nearly 4 before I was on the road. Of course, by 5:30 it's nearly dark here now. But, it's supposed to snow tonight and turn into an ice storm . So; it was this afternoon or NOT tomorrow. That didn't help.

Now ... the gun worked great. But I'm not yet happy with the slugs. I'm working with several new variables so that is a complicated mess to sort. For me ... variables always stack up in one direction ... they never cancel each other out. So; I have the first stainless barrel I've made. But it's a smooth bore of 62 caliber - that's familiar ground. BUT it's slightly larger than the blue 62's. Therefore ... the slugs for the blue 62 do not work - not big enough. Now the blue rifle slugs are big enough, but they are intended to spin. So - they don't work in the smooth bore. I made all new tooling for a slug like the 62 smoothie slug ... but I have to get the size correct. And, it's possible that it just doesn't work - it's happened many times. I make an alteration and move on.

The 308 is new to me. I have one 308 rifle that's the HAWK for the reverse ledger. But for that, I've mainly tested my pellet designs. This Woodsman is more powerful. The HAWK is along the lines of the Appaloosa size. This Woodsman needs a medium to heavy slug. I tried some slugs from the Prairie Hawk testing that would size to .308" They made a pretty decent group at 50 yards ... and a locksmith would have loved the "keyholes" they made. So; they are either not the right size ... they are too long for this rifling ... or the velocity is wrong. Or some combination of nine possibilities ...

So, I have more work to do. Sometimes it just works out that one project will require about six new things to be conquered. This is one of those. Some of the issues just co-incide with the build of this gun. The 308 work was planned. The new tooling for a stainless bore was not. That's totally related to this pc. It will work ... always does.

I'll process some pics now. Some from the shop. We'll see ...

Here ya go:



There was a bunch of single point lathe threading required to be able to easily swap out this rifled insert. Here's the muzzle of the 308 being threaded and crowned.



There is a stainless hub that attaches the barrel to the hub and the hub then can thread onto the 62 muzzle. Of course, interior and exterior threads are cut to be a very close and smooth fit.



The gun again. Woodsman SS ... and I've finally gotten my names sorted out for these guns. These guns of both the Orion and Woodsman Class that can swap out barrels and take rifled inserts ... I'm calling "X-Caliber" guns. Therefore: the full classification for this gun would be Woodsman SS X-Caliber. For a time, I fiddled with the names and sorted my thoughts. I thought I liked "Eagle River" for this gun ... as Sean lived in Eagle River Alaska. "Lived" turned out to be correct. He's moved ... and refuses to move back just to make the name of the gun stick. I'd once decided to call "My" rifle "X-Caliber". I thought it fit the variety of barrels that were possible. And, I liked the sound and "Arthur" reference. But ... then "Orion" came along. Anyway ... all sorted now. That's the background for the thought process ... as if somebody will one day care. ;?)



Showing the outside threading tool. 60 degree triangle cutter. It peels out a sliver of steel which you see curled up there in a little wire globe. No - NOT in one pass. In about 10 passes to get a smooth and precise thread.



The insert installed. It slips in the barrel. Brass foot - threaded on. O ring sealed. Fitted long trench for subcaliber slugs.



100% MADE IN AMERICA



Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2012 02:58AM by barnespneumatic.

Sweet looking gun there, that's gonna be one lucky fellow that ends up with it.

I was wondering how the subcaliber inserts worked at the breech, it looks like it's going to be simple to change and even simpler to operate.

So...between the crummy weather and the short days, is the "off the back porch" shooting range in hill-country Texas looking better yet?

I'd have a harder time than usual recommending a move up here at this point, seeing as the weather is sucking worse than usual. We've had winds out in the channel steady at over fifty, gusting to almost 90 miles per hour, seas at eleven feet with heavy freezing spray. Temps are in the single digits, and the wind-chill is in the "don't even think about it" range. The state ferry turned around halfway between here and Juneau, and they usually don't stop for anything. The airport in Juneau didn't launch any jets today, and the ice storm in Seattle has Alaska Airline jets scattered everywhere except where they're needed for connecting flights. My wife has been stuck in Juneau for two days, she's trying to get to Phoenix to help her dad after he goes in for surgery. We're hoping she gets out tomorrow.

Ironically, although the big jets were grounded, the little ten-seater made at least one flight into town today, I had a package waiting at the airport. It sure wouldn't have been ME on that little plane in this weather. Those air-taxi pilots will fly in just about anything, it seems.

Gary,

I know if you you put the different combinations together, it would be a number higher than trying to win the lottery. Even with all your old logs, it must be really frustrating, but really satisfying when you find the right combo.

Your probably glad he didn't ask for a silicon bronze gun.

Do you use same twist rate for the 2 different barrels? Dory



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2012 03:24PM by Dory.

Hello Mark,

It can be maddening. Yesterday's range trip wasn't full of chuckles. The smallest thing can make all the difference. You would think you could just "scale" most things per caliber. You can't.

I've been my own worst enemy, I know. When I started, I was all about pushing back the yardage, building up the power, and reaching out there with superior accuracy. I made everything I could get the time to make. Fact that I have so many ideas just made it intolerable for me to make the same thing over and over. Or, even to make the same "type" of thing over and over. So; as I made items, and sorted out various areas ... I offered those things. Interesting, and dumb at the same time. Of course, I have to make those. And, I've always brought along the benefits of what I've learned in each effort.

Still at it, this shouldn't have been so much trouble. Sean is probably wearing a paper bag over his head by now ... cause I've had issues with the project. Not his fault (but don't tell him). Thing is ... The stainless has just been a real pain. Now - when I look at the rifle, I love it. But i've spent waaaaaay too much time on it. And, I'm nowhere near done until it all functions as I expect.

Several of the last projects have been like this. I have to correct that. Now - you may recall that the last time I ever offered to accept some orders, years ago, they were all for the same gun. That was OK, and that should be an improvement. I wouldn't have wanted to delete the hundreds of unique pcs. for the sake of having that many or twice as many guns alike. But - the model hasn't been a perfect fit when combined with all the rest of the things I've knocked heads with during those years.

Back to it.

Gary

I think I've seen this before. I expect this time there will be the same outcome; the right combination is found and it all ends up working like it was easy.

Gary,

I really like the shop work photos.

No carbide inserts? I read they don't produce as nice a finish. Is that why you use HSS?

My job, house and family are devouring almost all my time right now but eventually I'll start machining.

Lon

Hi Lon,

I'm old school and old fashioned. Actually, I'm mostly cutting with carbide here. C-6 is quite hard ... but brittle. Won't take any side stress.

But then, I do use a bunch of my own cutters. I need special shapes - special access - or just need it now. On top of that ... I guess people would think there's tons of money in a $7k airgun. I'm here to tell you there isn't. And ordering up a bunch of $60, $90 cutters is a good way to bleed down the small portion that's left.

Since I learned, loooooong ago to heat treat tool steel, I just go head and make a lot of tooling. I can take a pc. of annealed tool steel, and make a cutter, heat treat it ... and then be able to CUT and MACHINE that same annealed tool steel with it. It will take some shock, and it will sharpen better and sharper than carbide.

Gary

Sean's right, someone is going to be very happy with this pc. This post will help them understand just how much work is involved and how many variables there are to contend with.
Cheers
Neil
[Edit] Doh, just realised it is Sean's gun..........guess he has a bit of an idea of what's involved!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2012 04:18PM by neilmcp.

Nah.., he's just lovin' life up there in his 90 mph 20 below zero wind with 11 foot waves and 18 feet of snow and he's changing planer blades in the high school shop. Let's see him rough it in my shop for a few hours!

Dory said : "Your probably glad he didn't ask for a silicon bronze gun." Perish the thought!

Actually, I did hint at the fact that I really liked the look of the bronze reciever on Julios rifle, but that was ALUMINUM bronze, not silicon. The idea was met with a resounding lack of enthusiasm on the part of Garys elves, and perhaps by their boss as well.

In any case, the basic reciever design is totally different for the new Woodsman, it's not turned from bar stock like the previous design. While Gary knows a bit about metal casting, it might just be expecting too much of him to cast his own billets from exotic metals prior to starting machine work.

I'm not sure that he's got enough shop space leftover for a mass spectrometer and an electron microscope anyway.

Hello Sean,

Julio's gun is a Yukon, ya know. The other two orig. Woodsman had aluminum oversleeves for the receiver. Chrome moly inside.

Your gun is an alum. tower with a stainless steel barrel hub mount in that billet.

The bloom is fading from the variety of choices. I do believe I'm going to start making only one gun and spraying the entire thing with bed liner. The list of choices for options will be if you want the gun facing right, or left ... when I photograph it.

;?)

Very Cool WIP pictures Gary....sorry for the frustrations !!!!

No Gary, like Kent said, what you need is a TV show of your own.

The guys in those shows always run into some kind of problem that seems intractible, but as soon as they cut back from the commercial it's suddenly all figured out! Heck, on "reality" TV there's no problem that can't be overcome by the end of a one-hour show. Apparently you just have to stomp around throwing things and cursing at your coworkers, and by the time the credits roll it's all worked itself out somehow. Must be something about the cameras...

Clearly it's the lack of co-workers to cuss. I'm sure you have laid your finger on the problem.

In all seriousness, I KNOW a couple of the problems. 1). Most of my demographic do not like groups of people. Therefore; anything I prepare for the Barnes community is sort of for those ... ah ... Subway people. You know ... All clinging to straps and bumping into each other. Private detailed correspondence is required. 2). Nobody sees me. Therefore; I cannot suffer from and valid illness. 3). Said illness is not dramatic enough to cause a ligitimate hardship. Chronic pain ... I mean ... That's sort of vague, isn't it? Where are the protruding steel rods and head halo? There, you see. So mails innumerate the personal challenges writers have overcome ... Toss in a single phrase like "I understand you hurt" and proceed to quote what I projected before these chronic issued changed everything forever.

I had a brief text conversation last night. I told my friend that Kelly had told me to close the shop because I was not fit to work. I usually make that call, but a few people have just been tag teaming me all week. It's really ground me down. Because no rational thought is accepted as valid. My friend told me I better not get hurt working out here when my nerves are shot. If I cut off a couple fingers, that will never be seen as cause for any valid delay. He's right. Before all this chronic pain dumped on me ... I used to offer 36 month terms/projection. NOTHING IN HEAVEN OR HE'LL will ever change that. I could have fallen into a wood chipper, and they'd quote that to the resulting pile of mulch. The fact that I can still type proves that I am fit for duty.

You got it Sean. I'm almost ready for those co-workers. But hanging in and working. It's yet another lovely Sunday in the shop!

"I could have fallen into a wood chipper, and they'd quote that to the resulting pile of mulch."

Yikes, I hope we never get a "smiley" for that one! You'd have to re-rate your weblog as a PG-13, at least...

...or host it in Fargo...

Aaahhh....yep...you betcha.