doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com FEGA/Beinfield Morris Melani work

If you are attending either the annual events for FEGA or Beinfield you might want to stop by Morris' FEGA table and check out four in-the-white barreled action projects ready for stocking and engraving. As usual, outstanding work. The Martini and the Rolling Block are our collaborations with a number of unique features.

Sorry, can't see the pictures.

Sorry, can't see the pictures. OOPS, now I got them. Thanks.

Be very careful Dennis or you may end up with a job nice looking work.
Steve

Wish I could see the pictures.

Here you go Vall.

Steve,
I'd love to stock and finish the Rolling Block. It is a 1902 Remington action chambered in .40-65 WCF and should make into a very nice Schuetzen, mid-range or short-range target rifle. Marcot's book is inspirational for Rolling Block design ideas.

The Martini would be another great project.

Be still my beating heart!

What is the single shot action between the Rolling Block and the M-70? It looks like some of the mechanism is missing? All the work looks very clean and creative~~I paticularly enjoy the Rigby flats on the RB barrel and the subtle detailing of the action.

While the black background gives the photos a rather dramatic visual effect, it also hides much of the detail in the necessary shadows created by the huge contrast between the bright, well polished metal and the stark blackness.

What caliber is the Martini?

Steven,
The action you asked about is a Hein (Alaska made) that is modeled in the Webley 1897 style. All of the parts are there.

The reason for the starkness of the images is that I did the photography for a tri-fold brochure. When the actions get back I'll do a more comprehensive set of images for each.

Paul,
The Martini is a switch barrel and the chamberings are .17 HMR and .22 RF Mag.

The action is a Model 12 BSA that Morris profiled like the Model 6 takedown versions. The barrels are 24" long and are full ovate profiled. I have an early Francotte .410 Martini that has a top tang and that was the inspiration for the tang. I'm working on a .25-35 Martini and I scalloped it and it was a nice touch that got incorporated in Morris' rifle.

Some years ago I tried to make a peep sight base for a Martini that used the cleaning rod hole as the attachment point. My base never got completed but during the development of this action Morris ran with the idea. I found windage adjustable Lyman peeps that use a lateral dovetail for adjustment and these got incorporated into Morris' base design saving a big effort in making the entire sight. They sights are readily removable with a few turns of the thumb screw and the only mounting vestige visible when the sight is removed is a small dimple where the thumb screw secures the sight.

What is "full ovate"? As in oval in cross section?

I was wondering if the grip on the Martini might be pretty tall since the lever seems to dive downwards very fast and the strong hand has to be set back a ways to be behind the "tang" sight. But a Model 12 Martini is pretty small so the scale is undoubtedly sufficiently small.

My old Martini .22 (Model 1215?) had a rear tang sight as factory made. I believe the sight was a "Model 8", but memory is not infallable of course, especially mine. Not sure why you didn't simply go that route, however.

Dennis:

Can you tell us more about the Hein action. I cannot find anything on the web. Is it a one off or are others available?

Thanks

Antonio

Sight like this

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/738710722

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/738715449

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/BSA_Model_12-15.htm

Brent,
Ovate (hint ovum) means egg shaped. The bottom half of the profile cross section is a hemisphere and the top half is like the small end of an egg with the top removed to form the rib.

The lever contour is the same as the four-barrel Martini project and nearly identical to the Hoffman.

I'm fairly sure that my Hoffman and G&H Martinis both had Model 8 BSA peeps as there are nicks in the top of the grip area from the aperture hitting the wood when folded down. The last Model 12 Martini that I got had one of the Parker Hales and they are clubby and not attractive. The BSA and the Parker Hales for Martinis are, I believe, inferior to the Lyman tang sights, the Parker Hale unsuitable for a high quality custom rifle.

Antonio,
It is my understanding that only 3 of these Hein actions were made. Fine workmanship in both fit and finish. Morris barreled this rifle with a Krieger blank, it is 26" long, full ovate and chambered for the .470 Nitro Express.

Morris probably can tell you more about the action if you contact him.

Skeettx,
No these are Lyman 29 1/2 and Lyman 30 1/2 sights. See earlier narrative on the sights you reference.

Actually, having used both the Lymans (old vintage) and the Martini, I would say their qualities are quite comparable - though neither quite in keeping with the rifle that you are creating. The Martini I had was a club competition rifle and actually far more repeatable than a Lyman as well (a critical feature in my mind). But either way, what I was really getting at was the means of anchoring the sight to the action, not the sight itself. What you have will certainly work though. It's a great rifle.

Wow Dennis! Morris did an incredible job with all those actions but my favorite is the pistol grip Rolling Block with Rigby Flats. I was fortunate to see Morris' barrel work first hand and am glad you (he) are sharing these with the forum.

Very nicely done!
... Joe

Thank you Dennis. Impressive stuff!

Antonio

Brent,
Here is the sight I'd like to use on the miniature Martini but have never been able to find one. It's a Parker Hale Sportarget, I believe it is the model 10B. It appears that this sight was also made for a number of American rifles.

I found a PH 16 with a cobbled base and had planned to make a base like the one in the photo but then moved on to using the cleaning rod hole with the Lyman parts.

You are right about the BSA Model 8 and the PH target sights. They are hell bent for stout, tight fitted and precise. I wish the Model 8 was made smaller as the amount of elevation adjustment is excessive. It is a better choice than the Lymans for target applications.

Thanks Dennis! My adblocker wont work with photobucket, as it wants me to turn it off to view.
Absolutely gorgeous workmanship, and style on all of the guns! I especially like the Rigby flats on the Rolling Block barrel! Were these milled inserts added to the barrel, or a Rigby collar added as Marlin used on Ballard Rigby rifles?
Not sure I'd make a .40-65 in a schuetzen style, as it might not be comfortable with a Swiss buttplate shooting off your arm in that caliber. My Ballard Rigby is in .40-63 Ballard Everlasting, and with reduced charges it's OK, but I'd rather it was a .32-40 or .38-55 instead.

That is one cool sight and one very cool Martini. Thanks for posting that.

Vall,
The flats are integral to the barrel and Morris created them on a 1.300" barrel blank using the HAAS CNC.

The Model 70 is a .375 H&H Mag and that barrel started from a large diameter Marquart blank. The barrel is a full ovate incorporated into a octagon that transitions to a round. It too was created on the HAAS and has an integral front ramp. sling stud, recoil lug and quarter rib.

All of the other barrels were also profiled from large round blanks on the HAAS.

Brent,
I don't own that Martini but totally agree with your assessment.

Absolutely amazing thee HAAS machine can build those flats integral and get the round contour so perfect between the Rigby flats also! I have always been amazed how Marlin turned out the flats on a short tube and internally threaded it and the barrel to put them together. But this is even more amazing that machines today can do this in one piece and be so perfect!

I imagine it still require more than a bit of finish work~~

It all comes down to how well you program and machine the item. Morris has been at it some time. My guess is he gets a very good finish coming right off the machine. I spent a fortune on my CAD/CAM software and am still learning how to use it. Great stuff with huge potential but almost everyone underestimates the amount of work that goes into the programming and R&D portion. I bought an integrated program which is a big help. If you make a change to the model you do not have to re-write the whole CAM portion, usually just the surface that was changed.

Imagine the condition of a blank coming off a stock duplicator where the pattern was an existing stock just taken off the rifle. I've only seen this once and the work was done on a Hoenig duplicator by an experienced operator. The barreled action did not simply drop into the new stock. Corners in the inletting and final scrape in was needed and removing tool marks on the exterior and redefining the fine detail was going to be needed. And unlike wood where chisels, scrapers and paper are used to remove tool marks rather easily and quickly, removing tool marks from metal is a different problem.

The clean simplicity of the barrel profiles that you are seeing in the photos belies the complexity of the various tools and tool paths that are required to get to a point that file and stone artistry can finish the job.

"I imagine it still require more than a bit of finish work~~", yes indeed, Steven, it does.