Hmm.. yeah, those action tangs are gonna make facing, boring, and threading on the lathe more than a little challenging...

I was thinking of setting it up in the mill, indicating the mortice surface, and facing the action face.. maybe use a boring head to true the barrel hole.  I was thinking about making a piloted tap of some sort...

I'll certainly be re-examining the process a few dozen times before I make any chips though!

Brayhaven;
Yup... $180 plus shipping. I think he mentioned that he only had a couple Cole's on the shelf and it might be a few months before another production run.  So if you're thinking along the DS Cole line, I'd try giving him a call.

Paul F.

I would suggest that before boring the hole for the threaded part of the barrel, you finish off the breech block slot first if it is a 'vertical' sliding breech block. In this way you can make a reference for barrel boring. I would suggest setting the action up in a milling machine so that the breech block mortice is exactly horizontal by using a dial test indicator. Then machine the front end surface of the action so that it is exactly parallell to the breech block. This  may only need a few thousandths of an inch removing. Once that is done, locate the precise centre for the barrel and bore out the hole for the barrel threads. 

At least then, you are assured that the breech block and the barrel are at 90 degrees to each other.

In making any action, I would suggest you obtain as many pictures or drawings as possible from any source, or better still, find someone who has that particular rifle and strip it down to have a 'good look see'.

You can't have enough information when building a copy of a rifle. If you can get your hands on an original that you want to copy all the better, you can take very accurate measurements, and the more you take the better your rifle will be.

I have, in my small workshop, several blocks of steel in various sizes along with a supply of metal rod in various diametres. There's a couple of Sharps Borchardt Rifles lurking within these metal blocks. All I need is the accurate dimensions to carve away the scrap material. 

I'm still pestering people for information.

Remember the 'Golden Rule' of Engineering. There are thousands of tools that will remove metal, but very few that will put metal on again, if you've goofed.

Regards,

Harry

MerwinBray wrote on Apr 24^th, 2006 at 8:06pm:


Hello Merwin, 

How you treat an action or breech block depends on what steel it was made from. A low carbon steel can be colour case hardened, other steels may require a different heat treatment process. 

I would contact your 'casting' supplier and ask him the steel specifications used in the castings and then go from there. Only a low carbon or mild steel can be colour case hardened. Unfortunately the steel specifications in the USA differ from those here in Britain so I cannot help you further.

Best find out what steel your castings are made of and then contact a good gunsmith and see what heat treatment he recommends.

Regards,

Harry