Couple of guns in the making

[blaiz]

Aloha all

First thread on here in a while but I thought I would share my most recent gun build. Not quite finished yet but Ive gotten the hard parts out of the way.

Ordered all the gun parts from neptonics. Josh has a new BW trigger which is round on both sides. I like it, plus it saves a little work with cutting the trigger slot.

Both these guns are enclosed track (poured epoxy track), going to be forward handles, not quite mid handle, and around 60". Neither of the guns are for my self but thats ok since I get to practice more on my buddies guns first.:blackeye

A couple of things I would change about the build so far...

Would have flipped the grain on my virticle laminates so that the grain patterns apposed themselves. But the stocks have been hanging for about 3 months and I havnt had any bow or twisting with them.

Would add a bit more graphite and less milled fibre to my epoxy mix for the track.

I will keep you guys posted on the progress of the build.

The next steps will be locating the position of the handles, cutting in the remote trigger and bar and then some shaping and ballasting.

Hope you enjoy

The view as I cut the trigger slot and track

 

[foxfish]

Looking good - I see what you mean about not mixing up the lams!

 

[blaiz]

Did some more work on the gun the past week

Did some basic shaping, cut in the line release slot and remote trigger track. Mortised in the handle frame and line anchor... Didnt pilot the holes big enough for the ss screws for the handle and broke two of them... why I didnt stop after the first one?... no idea.

Im going to drill them out and either put a ss threaded insert for a machine screw or drill out and epoxy in a piece of wood so I can re drill it.

Im still waiting on the rest of my order from neptonics before I can finish the build (remote triggers) but once that comes in I should be able to finish up this gun really quickly.

 

[foxfish]

The track looks great, shame about the screws but follow up your idea with the wooden plugs & that will be fine. I think a lot of folk assume s/s will be unbreakable but it is not that durable at all!

 

[Don Paul]

I agree with Foxfish 100%, I would go forward with glued wooden plugs. if
you ever want to remove the handle, the SS machine screws may seize to
the inserts.A properly glued hardwood plug will have benefit of cross- linking with the surrounding wood fibers. If you hear a SS screw squealing and beginning to seize, stop and allow the fastener to cool before attempted
removal. Bar soap on threads can also help along with a properly sized pilot
hole.
Enjoy your build, ''It's not the destination... it's the journey''.
Cheers, Don Paul

 

[blaiz]

thanks for the tips guys. Definitely going to put the wood plugs in. Thanks for the advice about the threaded inserts too.

 

[blaiz]

Well... It just so happens that I found some old teak in one of my containers a few weeks ago and decided to build a new euro gun for myself. This is going to be a 115, Ill probably use a 9/32 or 5/16 shaft with 2 5/8s bands.

 

[blaiz]

and a little more progress on my buddies gun