doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com What project do you have in the works?

Made an error on the original caliber barrel; it's .38-55, not .32-40 cal. Not sure if I want to let it go yet, but will let you know if I do.

I was guessing it would have come with stocks similar to a #8, #, 9, or #10 style. Only real difference would probably have been the grade of wood, as an engraved gun always got better wood, even if you didn't order it. The wood pictured is very highly figured, and a set Dave had inletted for his gun, but felt mine was a better candidate for it, since it is a high grade Ballard.
The .22 proved to be quite the challenge, as after getting the barrel off, and soaking it, the extractor still wouldn't come out. I tried driving it out with a punch through the ejector cut, but the end broke off. Then I tried putting a notch in the remainder to get another purchase with the punch, and the middle broke off. I finally decided to drill out the last 1/3 of the ejector, but it simply spun in the blind hole. I figured if it was spinning, I'd just let it spin until it was loose. After a few minutes, I stopped and turned the barrel over, and it dropped out on the floor. Whew!
Not sure if I'll keep the #3 once it's done, as I've got 4 of them, and all nicer. Just wanted to get it working, and maybe turn it around for a small profit.

Well it sure seems like I am not the only one that stacks up plenty to do!! I'll say we could be up to worse. Very interesting and some talented, knowledgeable, and passionate folks here. Let's keep this up.

The wood came from one of the teachers at the Trinidad Gun School, late eighties? and John Pell (KOGOT) (Kindly old gunsmith of Trinidad) as he trades under, his wife told me her idea as he never charges enough, did the octagon barrel and organized the rest of the rifle for me.

I've gotten a bit closer on my "winter" project. Got 90% inletted wood from Dave Crossno, and it is fitted to the Ballard now. Still need to find someone to properly checker it.


Barrel is polished, and ready for rust bluing. Found some bubba gunsmith had soldered the target bases to the barrel, after attaching them with screws. Unsure why the solder, as the screws were holding just fine, and no stripped threads. Got the bases off with some heat, and a dental pick to reveal the slots covered in solder. Should be much improved without the solder stains on the bluing.
Still need to finish buffing out the small repro Farrow buttplate I found for it. I'll probably leave it in the white once polished, as I like them better that way, vs. most new nickel finishes I've seen.

Some fine work & sophisticated tastes here! Great guns don't all have 2 barrels.

restocking and rebluing my 1918 .318 WR AE takedown Mauser.

I have lost track of all the irons I have in the fire. At last check, 3 Swede Mausers, 2 Turks, 2 VZ24, a German (restoration, rest are sporters), at least 3 1903 Springfield's, 1 03a3, a Remington Model 12 Octagon Barrel restoration, a Remington Model 14 restoration, and, as of yesterday, a Krag sporter with a Lyman 34 rear sight and similar era Lyman banded front sight.

One piece at a time. But the photos posted around here make me feel like a day one gunsmith student again. Practice, practice, practice...

I have 2 shotgun engraving projects in the works (by Robert Strosin) and half dozen bolt rifle stock projects consisting of reshaping factory stocks, recheckering, adding steel grip caps and ebony forends and glass bedding. Those I do myself, fairly easy.

Only project now is checkering a 20 ga SXS stock, with crazy fiddleback. Sure does pull the lines off when you get to the ends! I hate checkering, but 15 below windchills, and a naked stock has me by the neck--which is killing me about now, BTW. Crossed eyeballs should go away by May.