doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Un-#@!&%^*#!-ing a Holland clone

Here is a Dakin SLE that needed some help. It's a Spanish-made Holland & Holland clone of medium quality. Sadly, the criminal incompetence visited upon it was the work of an actual, in-business "gunsmith" who apparently did not know that the striker disc is retained by the vent screw in the fence. The aforementioned gunsmith proceeded to force the striker disc, in the process damaging the breechface, breaking the vent screw and damaging the frame at the radius where the standing breech meets the flats. What should have been a one hour job, including actually making the new firing pin, becomes an eight hour repair.

Behold the result of ignorance mixed liberally with hubris...


After removing the remains of the vent screw, the striker disc was extracted along with the broken firing pin and spring.


As is typical in gunsmithing, the screw threads and sizes are propriety. The bushing thread is .336" diameter with a thread pitch of 36 per inch while the vent screw is .145" by 36. These threads are easily cut on the lathe. Here is the striker disc before being cut from the raw stock.


After cutting it from the bar, the location of the drive-pin holes are marked...


...and drilled.


The new bushing is then installed and filed flush to the breechface.




The vent screw hole is then drilled in the new bushing.


Next, the new vent screw is turned.


These two photos illustrate the way in which the vent screw locks the striker disc in place when assembled.


[img]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i471/VicknairRestorations/IMG_2749_zpszydo61ty.jpg[/img]

The vent screw is cut from the stock, slotted to index correctly and filed to match the contours of the fence.
[img]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i471/VicknairRestorations/IMG_2752_zpskdxmdokf.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i471/VicknairRestorations/IMG_2754_zpsrfgei48x.jpg[/img]

Then the head of the screw is engraved to match the original before being case-hardened along with the bushing (disc).
[img]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i471/VicknairRestorations/IMG_2756_zpsdfhcsixw.jpg[/img]

After fabricating and heat-treating a new firing pin, the gun is reassembled and the job is finished.
The breechface and radius damage is cleaned up as much as possible and hopefully the amateur that did the damage in the first place finds his true calling.
[img]http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i471/VicknairRestorations/IMG_2757_zps5sucoiex.jpg[/img]

I don't know why the last half of the photos won't post, so here's "part 2".




The vent screw is cut from the stock, slotted to index correctly and filed to match the contours of the fence.




Then the head of the screw is engraved to match the original before being case-hardened along with the bushing (disc).


After fabricating and heat-treating a new firing pin, the gun is reassembled and the job is finished.
The breechface and radius damage is cleaned up as much as possible and hopefully the amateur that did the damage in the first place finds his true calling.

Criminal!

Great and wonderful
Thank you for posting this work
Mike

Reminds me of a line from an old movie "A mans got to know his own limitations"!
Jim

Dewey,

I just want to thank you for taking the time to post these pictures and narrative. I long for the time to work on guns more, and appreciate so much the work you do. Please continue to post work like this when you have the time.

All my best, SRH

It is heartwarming how you made that Union Armera better then new. I did not know that gas vent screw retains the disk striker. I always thought it was those small retaining screws which are lacking in this gun. Thank you for wonderful pics and education.

This shows how a simple repair can spin out of control when not done by someone who knows what they are doing. I guess we all give the benefit of doubt to others expertise too often. After all the professional must know what they are doing, they are the professional after all. So what was maybe was a few hundred dollar repair becomes a six or seven hundred dollar repair, if not much more and those capable and willing to do the job shrinks to just a very few people. And the pictures show in straight forth manner what is required to correct the first botched repair and then the needed gun repair. Thanks for the post and all the great pictures.

Great work. It's nice to see how it's really done.

Can you imagine the amount of force that was required to cause that degree of damage? It boggles the mind how it was even achievable. Some type of extension on a wrench-type bar for high leverage?

Clint Eastwood - From Dirty Harry

"A man has to know his limitations"

CB