Re-Purposing Butchered Guns

Sometimes a butchered gun crosses the desk that is worth saving. Other times there is no economical avenue to get the firearm into a usable condition. If the piece has personal value then price may be no object, however, not once in my life have I heard anyone say that but I may yet be amazed. I have dealt with car lot owners when doing mechanical work many years ago and today Ideal with his fraternal twin, the pawn shop broker. While some are honest, others are in business primarily to keep the poor man poor.

A few are gentlemen I enjoy dealing with. None like to spend money to get a product up to snuff. But sometimes a misadventure may turn into a learning experience. One of the latest involved a Colt Army Special manufactured in 1911. Truth be known I would have loved to have had the revolver myself, save for one drawback. The original blue was over 90% and, like many Colt revolvers of the era, the action was butter smooth in the truest sense of the word.

The revolver booked at around seven hundred dollars and the pawn shop employee paid the maximum that would have allowed a decent 20% profit. There was, however, a huge problem with the revolver: The barrel had been shortened to three inches. I have to admit the barrel crown was excellent, well done, with nothing to criticize there. This indicated the blue was not original, yet it had every appearance of Colt blue. There is no way of knowing if the work was done in 1920 or 1998.

The barrel shortening job removed the front sight and it had not been replaced. I was called in for a consultation. What we had was a curiosity at best, perhaps worth $200. There were several options, none of them inexpensive. Gun Parts had on hand original barrels for the finish would match the Colt I had on hand and this wasn’t a preservation operation but rather an attempt to salvage a bad purchase as the outlay had been over the top even for an original revolver in good condition.

So, they would have to pay for the barrel and shipping, then my fee for changing the barrel, and probably re-bluing the piece. I joked the gun looked like a "Half Fitz" in reference to John Henry Fitzgerald’s cut down Colt snubnosed revolvers. While we could cut the trigger guard and make it a Fitz Special copy, this would have been a serious route.

We could obtain some type of front sight and sliver solder it on but I suspected I would have to obtain something and then cut, file, and polish the contour to the barrel, but then the barrel finish might not survive the silver solder operation. I would have to calculate front sight height and of course it would have to be higher than the original sight on the longer barrel due to barrel taper. It would look cheap and tinny if superior selection and care were not undertaken.

Then the thought came from my older son, a superior machinist and gunsmith. Why not drill and tap it for a shotgun bead? There would be some utility for shotshell use against snakes and at least provide an aiming point available for ball loads. The fix would be cheaper and better looking than the alternatives. The first step is to decide on the particular bead wanted. Once the type of front bead is picked, Brownells offers a chart cross referencing the size bit and what tap is needed to mount it. The specific

drill bit is followed in procedure by a tap for the size of bead used. As an example, 5-40 is the common Mossberg thread size. There are several high visibility beads. As for bead selection it seems that white beads are pretty common and they offer a bit of visibility in dim light. Brownells offers high profile beads with a fiber optic center. Fiber optic beads are good for shotguns but in this case I ruled them out.

And frankly this was something of an experiment and even a one-off deal, so I used what I had on hand. Also, since a likely target was a snake’s head a few feet you do not wish to have a large bead that subtends the target. For this project, I chose a stainless steel bead because I had it in the parts drawer. Drilling and tapping isn’t difficult provided that a drill is used to very carefully start a perfectly straight hole. It pays to practice and have thirty or forty perfect cuts practicing on scrap steel.

A drill press keeps everything true when drilling the initial hole. However, tapping is sometimes a hand powdered job. So, perfectly straight and top dead center are the rules. The first step is to get the piece in a vise and be certain that you have an absolutely rigid contact. When drilling, the barrel cannot move at all. I used wooden block between each side of the revolver and the vise. Revolvers are more difficult to secure than automatics but it isn’t that difficult after a few tries.

It’s important to keep the tap square as the tap wrench is used. The tap is turned into the hole clockwise for right hand threads—the most common. Take care that the tap is perfectly straight in line with the hole you have already drilled. The tap cuts into the barrel and makes a lead in the hole. Metal is removed and will accumulate into the threads and flutes. Just reverse the cut and back up and recut every half turn or so and you will not have to deal with this problem.

The difference between drilling a handgun barrel and a shotgun barrel is the depth. You often drill the hole and tap all of the way through a shotgun barrel. With the thicker walls of the handgun barrel, simply drill and tap to a certain depth. A hole that doesn’t pass all of the way through the barrel is termed a blind hole. Be certain the original hole has been drilled deep enough to allow a scant section at the bottom to allow for a few metal chips. The chamfer section of the tap will also reach into this area.

Drilling and tapping will be helped with lubrication for the tapping component. Different steels like different types of lubrication. For steel, a simple cutting oil is fine. Old timers sometimes recommend Crisco. While I have used it, I prefer standard cutting oil. Cast iron, as would be common with black powder firearms of the previous century or before, may be cut dry. Aluminum is more tricky and I have found kerosene works well.

For brass (and I have used this technique in turning an old blow torch into a table lamp!) I also use kerosene-type lubrication when tapping. I was apprehensive concerning stainless steel but I have mixed a combination of kerosene and lard oil with good re-

sults. I have had no special problem when drilling and tapping stainless receivers and the like, however, I have heard stainless is more difficult. For my work, it has not been a problem but then I approached it carefully. As I mentioned, this was anew trick to minimize lost profits for the shop owner so I did not go into a great deal of detail on this job. The main thrust was simply to see if the front bead worked. The stainless steel bead that was installed was a good all around choice.

Get the barrel centered in the vise. Use a punch to mark the spot to be drilled. I began about a quarter inch behind the muzzle with a starter hole in the center of the punch mark. Doing so helps maintain a steady pressure and a straight hole with the drill bit. Once the hole was drilled properly, it was tapped for the bead. That leaves the bead ready for installation. A small amount of Loctite on the threads to ensure it stays in for the long term and screw the bead into the barrel.

Results I wanted to deliver something that would not simply sell but would be something useful. I test fired the revolver with several loads. With the CCI Pistol Shotshell factory loading the shot charge was centered Far at about four yards, useful for taking on reptiles. Next, I fired Black Hills .38 Special 158 grain flat points. This is a standard load that breaks about 800 feet per second in a three-inch barrel.

At seven yards the revolver showed good accuracy with a five-shot, two-inch group, however, the group was centered four and one half inches above the point of aim with the bead lined up in the rear notch. The proper point of aim would be to aim the bead at a belt buckle in a self defense situation. Despite the point of impact issue, this is far more useful than a revolver with no sight at all.

In the end, the revolver was re-purposed into a handgun more capable of dusting off reptiles with a quick and easy point than if it had been a fixed sight revolver. It was useful if not perfect for close range personal defense—truth be told quite a few early revolvers fire high, if not quite this high. The revolver sold for less than what was paid but more than it would have otherwise, so the piece was not a total loss. AG

Marlin 60 Tips In the February 2019 issue RK Campbell did a good job covering regular maintenance in his "Marlin 60" article. I think this is a good .22 rifle but there are some quirks. After unloading, working the bolt twice, and looking into the action to confirm empty, I once found a cartridge still in the action. Marlin did have some problems with the feed throat (block) on these rifles. You’ll likely need to reference the serial number to replace as there is more than one style.

I have had to file off about 0.015 on a spot on the bottom of a cartridge lift to get the cartridge location correct for reliable feeding. Comparing to another Model 60, I found that a newer lift would have alleviated the issue. It’s common to find a light firing pin hit. Sometimes the rifle will shoot okay and the next rifle will misfire. Anew firing pin may not fix the problem.

If the firing pin rests upon the cartridge rim on the bolt closing, the hammer doesn’t have enough inertia to more the firing pin into the rim to fire. The firing pin needs more (longer) movement. Marlin designed the rifle so that upon dry firing the pin does not hit the barrel. The bolt block is about 0.002 too long and gives a light firing pin hit on the case rim. The hammer drop just doesn’t move the pin with enough force to get the job done on some rifles. The hammer spring is not the problem here, usually.

The bolt needs to have the firing pin removed and is too hard to file. I use 320 grit wet or dry sandpaper wrapped around a file to polish the rear of the hammer recess where the hammer hits the firing pin. You want this recess on the bolt level and even across the bolt face here and the needed 0.002 or so does not come off easy. Another tip is to polish the firing pin groove in the bolt and the firing pin. Some bolts polish easier than others but the main point is to achieve full and smooth firing pin movement.

Clean the bolt before assembly. I have seen reports of burrs, nicks, and the like on either the bolt or hammer giving misfires and light strikes but haven’t encountered it personally. The ejector-lifter spring does two jobs and often the ejector part of the spring gets bent. Often, merely re-straightening it out works. Be careful, though, as this spring can easily break. If replacing with anew spring, it may need to be bent to function properly.

The ejector-lifter spring when correctly installed on the top front of the spring is straight and at an angle. It should be about 3/4" or less on the front tip and to the right at about 2-3 o’clock. On final assembly the front tip of the spring should almost touch the bolt. When fired the rifle should throw the case out of the rifle at about a right angle of 90 degrees and 8-10 feet away when shot offhand.

Taking apart what I call the twin rails part group, I recommend having a second Model 60 available to see just how to reassemble. The "C" clips are the same as used on automobiles and available at an auto parts store. The trigger and sear operation is an odd design but can be smoothed up the same as other trigger-sears. Carefully done, factory parts can yield a three pound pull, though I recommend this be done only by gunsmiths with trigger work experience.

The trigger works a lever over to the sear and trigger movement needs to be smooth. The rear usually needs the most attention as smoothing it correctly is more critical, especially concerning safe functioning. Take the trigger out of the plastic trigger guard and remove any rough places on the guard itself. A sharp drill bit held in your fingers is usually enough to clean up the inside of the hole for the trigger pin. A sharp knife may be needed to smooth out the area for the trigger.

The goal is for the trigger in the guard to move smooth, free, and clear. Mr. Campbell is about 110 percent correct about the recoil spring for the bolt. It is easy to kink or bend upon assembly. For accuracy improvement, I suggest installing anew one. The guide pin inside the recoil spring should be checked for being straight and polished smooth. Finish with at least 400 grit on the recoil spring guide pin. You can glass bed the barrel and receiver into the stock for another accuracy improvement.

I suggest Brownells Acraglas Gel. Remove the magazine from the barrel and use a hardwood dowel wrapped in sandpaper to sand out the barrel channel for the space. I use black electrical tap on the barrel from the receiver forward on both sides about seven inches long. The idea is to free float the barrel with a pressure tip on the barrel from the stock. Get this right and point of impact should raise about 3/8" at 30 yards. You’ll want to do this in two steps.

Start with the barrel and don’t forget release agent on the barrel and receiver parts. When bedding the barrel, tighten the receiver down snug but not King Kong tight. Upon removal after allowing the Acraglas Gel to fully set up, remove extra Acraglas from the magazine space. Then Acraglas the receiver into the stock. Make sure to get barrel pressure on the forward tip of the stock when done. Daniel P.

Horn Wolsey, SD Ray Ordorica Books Contributing American Gunsmith author Ray Ordorica has some books worth checking out. His new novel Border Caper is available on Amazon, headlined as, "Pregnant Mexican girls murdered at the New Mexican border, their babies cut out of their wombs! Hired by Immigration to find out why, exclusive investigator Rico Morgan and