jgtiffany Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Hi all, another noob here I just started my Turk Mauser project that has been in the back of my mind since I bought the rifle for $40.00 at J&G Sales. I installed a new front sight and cut the barrel down to ~19". Using a square and a file, I have got the muzzle square-well, as square as I'm going to get it, anyway. My plan next is to crown the barrel using the mounted grinding stone technique from Steve Wagner's website. I'm also going to install a Williams FP rear sight. I would like to make the existing military stock into a Mannlicher-style stock. I know I can buy one, but I want to make one out of the stock I have. I do have a bit of woodworking experience, but this will be my first stock. If anyone has any experience at this sort of thing, designs, etc., I would be very grateful for any helpful tips you could give. This is the new front sight. I attached it using JB Weld, and aligned it using the existing front and rear sights. I need to D&T the barrel for the attachment screw. (That white stuff inside the screw hole is paper that I stuffed the hole with so it didn't fill with the epoxy). The mark forward of the sight was made with a pipe cutter, and is where I cut the barrel. I really don't think that the pipe cutter mark helped, though. I cobbled together a kind of Rube Goldberg setup to try to get a straight cut, but it still needed some file work to get it square. Here is the muzzle after cutting. And after filing it square. You can't see it, but there is a cleaning jag with an oil-soaked patch about 1/4" inside the barrel to keep those filings from getting in. I haven't removed the rear sight yet. I think if I align the new front and rear sight with the old rear sight, that should at least get me on the paper when I go to sight in. So far, I haven't touched the bolt handle. I'm not planning to scope this rifle, so I'm not sure if it will be worthwhile. Opinions? I hope these pictures work. I'll try to get some better pictures later. By the way, does anyone know of an easy way to get rid of the raised rim at the front of the action without removing the barrel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I've heard of people 'draw filing' the ring on turks but I wouldn't try it and believe me, I've done some dumb stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I knew someone that chucked the barrel in his woodworking lathe by a dowel inserted in each end and then removed it with a file. It worked good. I suppose you could do the same thing with a floor mounted drill press with some type of homemade pivot on the base to keep it from walking around. I've profiled barrels this way. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgtiffany Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 You're off to a good start. As for the lip at front of receiver, without a lathe the easiest way I can think of is to fill it with more JB weld dyed black with fiberglass dye available where most boat repair fiberglass is sold. My local Ace Hardward sells it. If you don't plan to scope it then the issue handle is real nice and fast to operate. If you want a bent one, there are plenty of stripped bolts with bent handles available cheap. I had thought about filling the gap with JB weld (I wouldn't need to dye it as I plan to use Brownell's black baking laquer over the barreled receiver), or using a Dremel tool (or even a hacksaw) with some sort of masking to protect the barrel-but I'll have to do better than paper tape (you can see on the photo of the muzzle, I still managed to nick the front sight a time or two with the file even though I tried to protect it). As to using a different bolt-who has them cheaply? If I use a different bolt, wouldn't I then need to headspace the rifle? I'm trying to avoid that; in fact, one of my goals is to see how inexpensively I can complete this project. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgtiffany Posted October 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 OK, I seem to have run into a problem. I tried chamfering the muzzle with a 1" mounted stone, but the stone was off-center. It jumped, and skittered, and vibrated, except at the lowest possible speed, so I decided to forget the stone and see what I could do with the carriage bolt and valve grinding compound. It seemed to go OK, and I tried to keep the drill rocking from side to side and up and down, BUT... As this photo shows, the chamfer is visibly uneven. I checked with my vernier caliper's depth gauge, and the depth of the chamfer appears to be equal (but, the caliper is only graduated to 1/128 of an inch). Any ideas what I did wrong? Can I still salvage it without recutting the barrel? I have 1/16" between the muzzle and the new front sight; if I have to cut more than that then I will also have to relocate the front sight. I guess if I have to, I can spring for the cost of Brownell's muzzle crowning kit. Alternatively, www.4-dproducts.com has them for rent for $20.00 each. I haven't seen any for sale used, but I'll check the gunsmithing boards. I may just take it out to the range and see how the accuracy is; I suppose there is a slight chance that it will be OK as it is. By the way, how do you get photos to post so you can actually see the darn things? Thanks for any help and advice you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgtiffany Posted October 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 After a rather minor brainstorm, I tried again, this time holding the drill in my LEFT hand. It looks more even now, but I don't know how to measure it accurately. I think taking it to the range is still the only way to tell if it will need more work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerfive Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Jim Can you do me a favor? I'm wondering if my eyes are deceiving me. In your last photo it looks to me as if the bore is off center towards the top of the photo, bottom of the barrel. Can you measure say each groove to the exterior of the barrel? I had a barrel that was noticeably off center, I'm not sure if yours is or if it is how I'm seeing the photo. When you are crowning it would be more important to crown to the the bore. Let us know how it shoots. Best of luck with your project! Tinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgtiffany Posted October 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Jim Can you do me a favor? I'm wondering if my eyes are deceiving me. In your last photo it looks to me as if the bore is off center towards the top of the photo, bottom of the barrel. Can you measure say each groove to the exterior of the barrel? I had a barrel that was noticeably off center, I'm not sure if yours is or if it is how I'm seeing the photo. When you are crowning it would be more important to crown to the the bore. Let us know how it shoots. Best of luck with your project! Tinker Tinker, You're right, the bore is off center. 3/16" on one side, 19/128" on the other using my cheap vernier scale calipers. OK, since this is a metric (8mm) barrel, it's 4.7mm and 4mm, respectively (as near as I can tell; my eyes aren't what they used to be). This is measured from the groove, right up against the land, to the outside of the barrel on each side. (In the photo above, that would be almost directly left-to-right.) I had thought that using the stone and carriage bolt would center the crown on the bore, but it looks more like it is centered on the outside of the barrel. I'll report on how it shoots as soon as I get a chance to take it to the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgtiffany Posted October 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 OK, I went to the range today. It looks like I don't really need to worry about the muzzle crown. This three-shot group is about 3/4", fired from a rest at 50 yards. This is uber-cheap Turk surplus ammo, so I think good ammo would probably do better. It's about 4" to the right of the point of aim, and about 1 1/2" high, but I'm not too worried about that since I'm going to be replacing the rear sight with a Williams FP adjustable peep sight. There's quite a bit of side-to-side play in the military rear sight. Here's what the rifle looks like so far: I just used a mitre box and back saw to cut the stock at the muzzle, so I could take it to the range today. The elastic butt cuff from Wally World will hold 2 five-round stripper clips as long as I only put the first and last round in the elastic. It looks a little weird, but it works. I'm also planning to shape and refinish the stock, and replace the slip-on recoil pad with a permanent recoil pad. The bolt is still a bit hard to open, especially after firing; I oiled the recoil lugs and that helped, but I think a lot of it is just that darn cock-on-opening. Now come on, is there really a good reason for the bolt to cock on opening rather than on closing? I have a Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk 1, my brother has a '93 Mauser in 7X57, and both cock-on-closing. They both work fine and the bolt handles come up fast, smooth, and easy. Maybe it's just because I got used to cock-on-closing first, but I have to wonder what people are thinking when they lay out good money for a cock-on-opening kit for a '93 Mauser. Does anyone sell a cock-on-closing kit??? Actually, wouldn't the bolt just become cock-on-closing if the cocking cam were removed? Perhaps an experiment to try with a cheap stripped bolt...as long as the cocking piece stayed aligned it seems that it would just catch on the sear and cock as the bolt was closed...oh drat. This home gunsmithing thing really IS addictive. I'm doomed. Well, actually, I'm mostly kidding about the bolt. I think the problem is that surplus ammo. It kicks like a mule. A really angry mule with a score to settle. I'll see how it does with factory loads, if I can find any around here. Other than that, would a bent bolt handle help? I was thinking about trying one of the methods on Steve Wagner's website or just buying a bolt with a bent handle (military-style), if I can find one cheap as Rem721 suggested. Hey! It looks like I figured out that photo posting thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tackleberry Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 I've heard of people 'draw filing' the ring on turks but I wouldn't try it and believe me, I've done some dumb stuff! I actually did draw file mine down. Of course the barrel had been removed which made it a lot easier. The forward ring is not that tough, as it is somewhat thin. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted November 7, 2007 Report Share Posted November 7, 2007 I actually did draw file mine down. Of course the barrel had been removed which made it a lot easier. The forward ring is not that tough, as it is somewhat thin. Dave I've not been very lucky when it comes to getting things straight when doing it by hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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