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Amatuer Gunsmiths: Post your projects

muttman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
109
Location
Guntersville
I have always owned and used firearms, but I only recently started really tinkering and applying my fab skills to various rifle/pistol/shotgun projects. There are tons of mods that can be done with minimal tools that enhance functionality, accuracy, ergonomics, and looks.

I would like to see what everyone has been working on and what all they did to it, from full custom competition rifles to spray painted truck guns, or an AR you pieced together.

Thanks.
 
Here is my 1938 Tula Mosin Nagant next to the original wood stock. Great rifle to start tinkering with, if you screw up, your only out about $150. Also seriously cheap ammo.




Here is my grandpas old Western Field 12ga (Mossberg 500 sold through Montgomery Ward in the 70's). Sorry no before picture, but it was pretty beat up and rusty. Its my home defense shotgun now.




This is by far the most involved project, my Tokarev M57. Literally not a single part I didn't modify somehow. And of course its not "finished"..... what project is?

Before:


During:


Now:
 
My dad did a lot of custom machineing and re-chamberig , custom wood stocks etc as I was growing up , I'm starting to dabble in it , I'm a machinist by trade so I've done a few small things
This darringer was a cheap black powder gun, I engraved my name in the barrel, bored it out and chambered it to .22

 



This is a .22 that belongs to my buddy, it was handed down through his family and was missing the trigger guard so I measured it up and machined him on outta brass and polished to add some old nastalgic look to it with his initials
 
This is an old mosin nagant I paid 100$ for it shitty condition , I cleaned it all up, put a boyds forest Cammo stock, a scope, glass bedded the stock , and a new Caldwell bipod , it's the shortest version they made and is extremely loud for what it is, I've been anxious to kill a deer with it and have been carrying it alittle this year , it's a cool old gun now, these boyds stocks are gorgous for the money , 100$ for one and they make em for tons of models and colors


I'm anxious to re-chamber or start building some real custom stuff, my ol man use to use mouser actions for a lot of custom things Cuz they were cheap and well built , I have one and may convert it to something else
 
I have to dig up the pics, but i have a saiga 12 that im cutting down th 11.5", converted to pistol grip, built a side folding stock to fold to the left, left side charging handle. etc.
 
Not really gun smithing but a restore kinda thing got these guns from my granddad that passed away about a year and a half ago. Remington 22lr 555I stripped the stock restained and polyurethaned slick as glass! Also polished a few parts so that it would feed very quick!!!
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A local fella shows me some of his stuff from time to time. He is more of a professional, but cool nonetheless. He builds, rebuilds and creates some pretty cool ****.


9 tons worth of cannon, from WWII was his last creation. 3 known to exist, his would be the 4th on record. Everything was cut by the military previous to him getting it. Bought, fixed, ****ing cool when done. Makes automatic grenade launchers, fixes and creates lotsa class 4 **** and he is local. I will post a few pictures of his stuff. Guy that works for me welds for him. Not .250 inch ****, but 2.5 inch **** on the small side. largest welds i have seen are on the 10th pass, heat treated, etc, etc.
 
Rockwells607 said:
This is an old mosin nagant I paid 100$ for it shitty condition , I cleaned it all up, put a boyds forest Cammo stock, a scope, glass bedded the stock , and a new Caldwell bipod , it's the shortest version they made and is extremely loud for what it is, I've been anxious to kill a deer with it and have been carrying it alittle this year , it's a cool old gun now, these boyds stocks are gorgous for the money , 100$ for one and they make em for tons of models and colors

I'm anxious to re-chamber or start building some real custom stuff, my ol man use to use mouser actions for a lot of custom things Cuz they were cheap and well built , I have one and may convert it to something else

I obviously have a soft spot for Mosins, but yours is especially badass. The camo laminate looks great. I love everything about mine except the length, 29" barrel + brake, which makes it pretty unwieldy. However, I have read that the russians made them that long for accuracy, which seems weird because the barrels are so thin, but they must have been onto something, cause I can get consistent hits on a 12" gong at 500yds even with cheap steel case ammo.
 
I didn't really give the details on the guns I posted before.

I gave $150 for the mosin and 150 rds of ammo. It was in great shape and shot good with iron sights, so I decided to build it. I notched the receiver for a new bolt handle further back so I could weld a bridge across the receiver for a sturdy scope mount. I heated an allen wrench and twisted it back and forth for a bolt handle. I honed/polished the chamber, polished the bore, and did a grinding stone crown job. The paint is od green Aluma hyde 2 from Brownells. Archangel stock with 5 and 10 rd detachable mags, Timney trigger, Sightmark 4-16 illuminated mildot scope. It is accurate, inexpensive to shoot, and a ton of fun.







 
I gave $265 for the Yugoslavian Tokarev M57. It was in like new condition, still full of cosomlene. It shoots the very fast 7.62x25 which can supposedly go through soft body armor. The M57 is based on the TT33, but has a much better thumb safety and a slightly longer grip that holds 9 in the mag instead of 8. Because of the feed ramp/magazine design and the bottleneck cartridge they are hammer reliable and all steel so very rugged (designed for Russian peasants to use/abuse). I actually bought it intending to build it as practice for a 1911. I welded a "palm swell" or "humpback" to the back of the grip to make it point more naturally. I ground about .5 in off the back of the slide and welded on a beavertail. Welded 2 finger grooves on the front of the grip and squared off the trigger guard. I rounded the safety, extended the slide release, and bobbed the hammer. I made 1/8 in aluminum grip panels and drilled/tapped the frame for them. I built up and fitted the trigger, skeletonized it, and lightened the takeup. Epoxy textured the front and rear of the slide, grip panels, safety, slide release, mag release, and hammer. Polished cocking surface, feed ramp, and hammer sear. Added a compensator, drilled/tapped for a rail, cheap light/laser, and got a nice drop leg holster.











 
muttman said:
I didn't really give the details on the guns I posted before.

I gave $150 for the mosin and 150 rds of ammo. It was in great shape and shot good with iron sights, so I decided to build it. I notched the receiver for a new bolt handle further back so I could weld a bridge across the receiver for a sturdy scope mount. I heated an allen wrench and twisted it back and forth for a bolt handle. I honed/polished the chamber, polished the bore, and did a grinding stone crown job. The paint is od green Aluma hyde 2 from Brownells. Archangel stock with 5 and 10 rd detachable mags, Timney trigger, Sightmark 4-16 illuminated mildot scope. It is accurate, inexpensive to shoot, and a ton of fun.







That's bad ass
 
I wanna do a new custom bolt handle for mine as well, there's a lot of history behind the mosin, the military used them as sniper guns for some time , I think mine is a 1942 if I remember correctly , the bore is slightly pitted but it's shooting fine, I wish these old guns could tell their life stories, I have a mouser that's pretty rough and I would love to know its pedigree ! The only thing I really dislike about the mosin is the safety, it's loud and awkword to use with gloves and hunting
 
Rockwells607 said:
I wanna do a new custom bolt handle for mine as well, there's a lot of history behind the mosin, the military used them as sniper guns for some time , I think mine is a 1942 if I remember correctly , the bore is slightly pitted but it's shooting fine, I wish these old guns could tell their life stories, I have a mouser that's pretty rough and I would love to know its pedigree ! The only thing I really dislike about the mosin is the safety, it's loud and awkword to use with gloves and hunting


The Mosin Nagant was adopted by the Russian military in 1891 and has been in continuous use until today. Yep, they still use them.

The Timney trigger was one of the best upgrades I made, it breaks like glass, fully adjustable, and it has a built in thumb safety...... and it was only $100.
 

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