Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

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GeneT
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 9:36 am
Location: Albany, Oregon

Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by GeneT »

Having just corrected a gunsmithing problem that took me some time to diagnose, I'm curious what problems y'all have run into that gave you fits, and what the solutions were. I was looking at an Springfield M1A (M14) that had a problem with the hammer following. Further inspection revealed that this did not occur with the trigger mounted to the receiver outside the stock. The rear trigger tang to topside mating clearance was within the 0.173 +0,- .010" spec. I'll fill you in if you're interested....

GsT
AAA
Posts: 331
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 4:35 am
Location: Hillsboro OR

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by AAA »

Let me see here....

- Trying to get an AR pistol to run/Trying to get an AR 10 inch shorty to run 100%
- Making a replacment FNC firing pin.
- Getting a Sterling/SquiresBigham .22 Semi Auto to run with subsonic ammo.
- Getting an HK MP5 Pictogram lower with a burst pack back together without the manual, when brought to you as a bag of bits.
- Making H&R/Generic brand .22 relvolvers to work.
- Figuring out why a Garand kept spitting out the clip with rounds still in it.

Man, auto's and semi autos can be a real pain in the butt.

Mike [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif"%20alt="[/img]
MikeinMichigan
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 9:39 am
Location: Lower Michigan

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by MikeinMichigan »

Last September, a friend brings in an old Spanish 32 auto missing the barrel. Reverse engineered the barrel dimensions from slide and frame. Got barrel blank from GPC. Used lathe to establish all the round places. Used tool post grinder to carve out locking lugs and front barrel lug and to make chambering reamer from large drill. Same process for firing pin & spring, extractor & spring. Project was undertaken with understanding this was a training exercise with no promise date and my friend would only have to pay for parts and materials. I hope to fire first round in a month or two depending on shop work load. And, no, I don't even want to think about how many hours I have in it.
Mike in Michigan
GeneT
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 9:36 am
Location: Albany, Oregon

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by GeneT »

Wow! Glad I'm not the only one. The ol' "Gun in a bag" - that's always fun, 'cuz usually they managed to lose a piece and either don't know it, or won't confess to it. So, AAA, what causes a Garand to spit it's clip prematurely?

The sear engagement (following hammer) on the M1A turned out to be an increase in stock thickness caused by the previous owner trying to bed the action. (Not a bad job other than increasing the space.) There's quite a bit of play in the hooks that latch the trigger group to the receiver (50-60mils) and with full seperation forced by the bedding job, the sear couldn't reliably engage.
AAA
Posts: 331
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 4:35 am
Location: Hillsboro OR

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by AAA »

Gene please call me Mike. AAA is a handle I was given and have used on the net for about 10 years now.
Most common cause for a Garand that's spitting it's clip prematurely is a worn clip latch spring. The spring in this one seemed fine or so it seemed. Garand parts were pretty scares on the ground At this time in Australia. I didn't have another spring to compare it to.
Had a look through my "Spring Mart" (a large container full of springs I've collected from all over the place) until I found a suitable replacement with a high modulas, trimmed it to the right length and gave it a burl. Worked like a charm.

Most common cause of function problems is current and previous owners!

Here's some classic ones from when I used to work in a gun store.

1.
Customer: Ah, this magazine doesn't feed properly in my .22 rifle.

Me: Well your .22 is a Stirling M20 and the magazine if for an Anschutz semi auto .22.

Customer: Yeah I know, and it works fine in that rifle, why not in this one?

Me: Mate it's like trying to run your car on beer. It may fit in the petrol tank, but it ain't gonna work.


2.
Scene: Customer in store buying Rem 700 rifle in .308

Customer: Can I use the military surplus ammo I see advertised in shooting mags cheaply in this rifle?

Me: Yes, even though the rifle is chambered for .308 Win it will function fine with 7.62mm x 51.

Several weeks later....

Customer: You prick, you gave me bad advice, that 7.62 ammo don't work properly at all - it blew up my gun!

Customer hands me the gun and a handfull of empty cases.

Me: What the? these are 7.62x39 cases!

Turns out the guy had rung up somewhere interstate to order some ammo. When the guy asked him "if he wanted NATO or Russia?", he asked "Which one is cheaper?"
Laughed my ass off for weeks. Luckily it wasn't too badly damaged. Don't know how he did it, must have been held by the extractor or something.
Took a good 5-10 mins to explain to him where he'd gone wrong. Showing him the 2 different cases was the clencher.


3.
Customer: The slide wont move on this shotgun I puchased the other day?

Took weapon from cust (Mossberg 500), depressed slide release and opened action to make sure it was unloaded - a live round poped out.

Customer: How'd you do that?

4.
Customer: I wanna buy a .45!

Me: What type of firearm do you want?

Customer: You mean you don't even know what a .45 is?

Me: Do you mean a 1911A1 pistol?

Customer: No, I mean a .45 pistol!

After showing him our stock, he fingered the ".45".

Me: That's a Luger, in 9mm?

Haaaa... man those were some funny times!

Mike







[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]
kurt
Posts: 193
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 5:18 pm
Location: Montrose Iowa

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by kurt »

Mike, those are some good one. " The hardest part" is dealing with customers. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif"%20alt="[/img]
John
Posts: 98
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 10:13 am
Location: Spangle, WA USA
Contact:

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by John »

I had a customer say I left metal in the barrel after fluting and reblue, Had to show him how the barrel is mounted between centers and clamped which keeps anything from getting into the bore. Found out he was using very hot hand loads and a bullet came apart in the barrel. A cleaning rod took out jacket metal. He was trying to get a 30 cal. over 4000 fps
squirrel whisperer
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2014 5:10 am

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by squirrel whisperer »

Thought building a break open revolver would be easy and it was. But getting that bolt locking mechanism to do what I wanted it to do was a chore. A customers Remington 760 in 30/06 was snatching chunks out of the rims of cartridges stuck in the chamber. I completely rebuilt the whole gas system. The gun still did it. I cleaned the gun and it worked fine. I could only charge the man for cleaning it, but I learned a valuable lesson. CLEAN EVERY GUN BEFORE YOU DO ANY TROUBLESHOOTING. Yes you have my permission to laugh. The hardest job I ever had was my own mistake.
rrdstarr
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2014 11:11 am

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by rrdstarr »

AAA wrote:Gene please call me Mike. AAA is a handle I was given and have used on the net for about 10 years now.
Most common cause for a Garand that's spitting it's clip prematurely is a worn clip latch spring. The spring in this one seemed fine or so it seemed. Garand parts were pretty scares on the ground At this time in Australia. I didn't have another spring to compare it to.
Had a look through my "Spring Mart" (a large container full of springs I've collected from all over the place) until I found a suitable replacement with a high modulas, trimmed it to the right length and gave it a burl. Worked like a charm.

Most common cause of function problems is current and previous owners!

Here's some classic ones from when I used to work in a gun store.

1.
Customer: Ah, this magazine doesn't feed properly in my .22 rifle.

Me: Well your .22 is a Stirling M20 and the magazine if for an Anschutz semi auto .22.

Customer: Yeah I know, and it works fine in that rifle, why not in this one?

Me: Mate it's like trying to run your car on beer. It may fit in the petrol tank, but it ain't gonna work.


2.
Scene: Customer in store buying Rem 700 rifle in .308

Customer: Can I use the military surplus ammo I see advertised in shooting mags cheaply in this rifle?

Me: Yes, even though the rifle is chambered for .308 Win it will function fine with 7.62mm x 51.

Several weeks later....

Customer: You prick, you gave me bad advice, that 7.62 ammo don't work properly at all - it blew up my gun!

Customer hands me the gun and a handfull of empty cases.

Me: What the? these are 7.62x39 cases!

Turns out the guy had rung up somewhere interstate to order some ammo. When the guy asked him "if he wanted NATO or Russia?", he asked "Which one is cheaper?"
Laughed my ass off for weeks. Luckily it wasn't too badly damaged. Don't know how he did it, must have been held by the extractor or something.
Took a good 5-10 mins to explain to him where he'd gone wrong. Showing him the 2 different cases was the clencher.


3.
Customer: The slide wont move on this shotgun I puchased the other day?

Took weapon from cust (Mossberg 500), depressed slide release and opened action to make sure it was unloaded - a live round poped out.

Customer: How'd you do that?

4.
Customer: I wanna buy a .45!

Me: What type of firearm do you want?

Customer: You mean you don't even know what a .45 is?

Me: Do you mean a 1911A1 pistol?

Customer: No, I mean a .45 pistol!

After showing him our stock, he fingered the ".45".

Me: That's a Luger, in 9mm?

Haaaa... man those were some funny times!

Mike

[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img]

Mike, my experiences were similar! Was a gunsmith in Tacoma, WA area for a bout five years.

Just starting back up in Victoria, BC.
epanzella
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2013 9:07 pm
Location: Higganum, Ct

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by epanzella »

My father brought home a Walther model 4 in 7.65 mm (32acp) pistol from WW2. The hammer is broken and I'd like to make another one. The problem is that 80% of the hammer is missing so I don't know what it looked like.
Ed P
SAVE A COW, EAT A DEER
hammermill
Posts: 2938
Joined: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:43 pm
Location: pendleton or

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by hammermill »

Go to numrich firearms and get a exploded diagram the cAtalogue is worth buying
Arlointact
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2015 3:50 pm

Re: Most difficult Gunsmithing problem?

Post by Arlointact »

Carving Gunstocks!
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