Reader Forum

Lest you think me sexist or a dinosaur, my experience indicates I have a 95% win on thinking this way. If I was wrong we would all see more women customers, shooters and hunters, but we don’t. It is changing that way, and for the better, but the firearms world still seems to appeal mostly to males. So, in the interest of customer relations it is good marketing to be diplomat ic when Leroy’s significant other accompanies him to your shop.

Don’t talk too much about how his gun is coming or how much it is going to cost. In other words, use your head and don’t lose a customer. Remember, guys and guns don’t make for a truthful husband. Forget radio advertising. Most of your customers are working during the time of the day that your ads are on. Television is fine just prior to seasons, but this comes at high cost and must be very eye catching. Don’t do your own commercials. You might be a good gunsmith but you are no Stone Phillips.

If you use TV get a good institutional ad, such as one showing nice guns, you working in the shop or just a picture of the old cow barn that you work out of. Use animals with good background voices. "Want a trophy like this?," as a ten point buck walks across the screen, "Well, you can if your gun is working as good as your are. Have your favorite deer gun checked over before season by us and hunt with confidence." Flash a picture of the shop with name and address and phone number overlay.

Or if you have all kinds of money to spend hire Dolly Parton and she will write a special song for you. Everybody watches Dolly. Marketing is a constant thing. It is something that you do with the repair of each gun coming across your bench. It is not a separate function of your shop. The little extras that I mention here are only ideas that may help — and we all need help — your shop gets more people in. Whether it be book matches or calen dars, you have to keep getting your name out.

Some time ago, I really got my name in front of people. My local newspaper carried a picture and all. The headline read "Local Gunsmith Saves Woman From Being Raped — He Changed His Mind." Believe me, I hope your marketing efforts prove more positive than mine! AG

Browning High Power I need mechanical working drawings for the Browning High Power pistol. There are plenty of schematics, but no drawings from which parts can be made. Do you know if any mechanical drawings exist? Alex B. Hamilton, President Ten-Ring Precision, Inc.

Contrary to any and all rumors you may have heard, the mechanicals for the pistol haven’t been burned by Browning or anyone else, but the instant we’d read your query we were very confident the collective answer we’d receive from our multiple contacts in Morgan, Utah, would include no resolution.

To be exact: "It is against company policy to release the drawings to anyone who is not a vendor contracted to produce parts for Browning." Excepting the abundance of material extant on the Model 1911 we have found this to be true with all manufacturers. If you’d like to appeal the company position and know anyone in Belgium who knows someone highly placed at FN, present maintainer of the HP operation for Browning, we think you should drop the coins or send the email soonest.

Lathes, Mills, Drills Regarding the excellent Richard Mc Lean series on lathes and milling machines (Lathes, Mills, Drills, American Gunsmith August and September 2010) on the pitfalls of used machine tools, please note that there is another alternative for the shop that does not have three-phase power and has a Bridgeport or some other three-phase equipment to run.

There are inverters commonly available that take single-phase 110V AC (or 220V or three-phase for that matter) power, rectify it, and generate a variable frequency three-phase output to run your three-phase motor with. This is called a variable-frequency drive (VFD). Besides running off single-phase 110V or 220V, these have an important advantage: They area variable frequency device and therefore allow you to control the speed of your motor easily.

Trust me, once you’ve used a VFD you will never settle for primitive approaches like changing V-belts or rotary converters again. I run a Hitachi SJ200 VFD on my 2 hp Rong Fu mill and it’s a great addition. The VFD has been on line for two years with no problems whatsoever. Now, a VFD will generate a lot of RF interference in the AM band and you won’t be able to listen to Rush whilst the mill is running, but you need to concentrate on the machine tool anyway… Here’s my take.

The driver for individual VFD’s for each machine is mostly the variable speed feature. Once you use your equipment with flexible, stepless variable speed, you’ll never mess around with switching V-belts on step pulleys again. First, the time saved by simply twisting a speed control knob vs. spending the time swapping Vbelts is multiplied by the hundreds, even thousands, of speed changes you have to make during an average year’s operation times the number of variable machines you have in your shop.

Second, and this is a lot more subtle, if you’re faced with deploying a wrench and wasting time changing speed through V-belt changes, more likely than not you will simply not make the speed change at all and end up with a poor finish or worse. The bottom line, even in my hobby shop, ALL machines have variable speed drive. Even my drill press. The mill has a VFD and the drill press and both lathes have 1 hp DC motors with controllers.

The incremental cost is manageable and I derive great satisfaction from well-controlled tools. These are used mostly for 1/5 scale radial engine work. The dynamic may be different for gunsmithing work, but based on the work I do in that discipline I don’t think so. Author Richard Mac Lean did the leg work on this, getting a response from David Rehm at American Rotary on this inquiry. We have occasionally sold VFD’s.

They are cost effective only up to about 3 hp, beyond that they need to be doubled in size to handle the current of the larger motors. They do have problems with computers, radios and the like concerning harmonics and RF interference. One VFD is needed per motor. Therefore, machines with multiple motors, motors larger than 3 hp and machines with controls or other non-motor loads have problems with or simply won’t work this way.

We find most of our customers have more than one machine which automatically makes a rotary converter more economical. With a rotary you also don’t have to modify a machine and bypass the factory wiring. So for a Bridgeport and a simple lathe under 3 hp, a VFD may be a good solution, but as soon as you have two or more of them the rotary makes more sense.

Also, some of the older motors on the older machines are not wound with wire with insulation that can handle the PWM waveform of the VFD and will punch through the insulation shorting out the motor. This problem is aggravated with long wire runs. Detonics Parts and Contacts The hammer spring in my Detonics Pocket Nine purchased in 1985 has broken at the notches near the end that rides on the hammer and I’m at a loss for parts.

A recent annual published by a different company lists a phone number that is discon nected. A shooting friend reported that the company is out of business. Where should I look for parts? Stanley Gregory Inglewood, CA The company is still very much in business, having recently had their flagship pistol, Combat Master Evolution, recently reviewed by the Nick van Vonno Melbourne, FL

NRA. Post a letter to them at 609 South Breese, Millstadt IL 62260, phone or ping them at detonics.ws Due to the tumultuous nature of the company’s history, it’s easy to understand why your friend believed they were out of business having changed hands, company name and business locations around the country a number of times in the past three decades. Rust Removal Having just finished a project requiring the removal of rust from a Colt New Service, I found Brownells Rust Release to be the best approach.

This product removes rust quickly and safely and will not remove blue. I would not be without it in my shop. It has saved many a "rust bucket" and allowed me to restore firearms that otherwise would be worthless. Works better than any other product I have used for safe rust removal. Bob Schmuck Republic Gun Repair Thanks for the heads-up. We admit to missing the Rust Release product when working our way through the latest catalog. We’re pleased you spotted it and reckon Brownells will be twice as happy you did.

Going all the way back to Bob Brownell, Frank’s father and Pete’s grandfather, the folks from Montezuma make a steady habit of looking for and finding stuff and things to make a gunsmithing headache go away. The rust release is a typical example, but thanks for the heads-up on it. Seems like Montezuma has struck again. No surprise. Forehand Arms Revolver I just received my gunsmithing degree about a year ago.

A friend of mine gave me a pistol that he found to fix, a Forehand Arms double action revolver, serial number 493XX. The gun was totally rusted over. After soaking in a solution for a few days, I was able to get all of the parts loose and was able to tear it apart. The gun is actually nickel plated and, after removing all of the rust, turned out to be in fair shape. Most of the lettering is readable but it does not say what caliber it is. The serial number is on the butt. On top is written "FOREHAND ARMS CO.

Worcester, Mass. Double Action, Pat. 189. Barrel diameter is 0.310 inch, chamber diameter measures 0.332 and cylinder length is 1.190. I’m not sure if the cartridge is obsolete or hard to find. I can’t find a whole lot on this company and need replacement parts as the firing pin on the hammer has broken off. Would it be possible to weld it back on? Any other information you could give me on this pistol and Forehand Arms would be much appreciated.

Nevin Hostetter What was Forehand & Wadsworth closed down in 1890, became the Forehand Arms Company in 1898 and was acquired by Hopkins & Allen in 1902. The only revolver attributed to Forehand Arms listed in the Standard Catalog of Firearms, available from Krause Publishing, was available in .32 and .38 double action, had a hinged barrel and was made between 1898 and 1902. From your description the .32 sounds a match for the one given you by your friend.

Your chamber measurement may be accurate but our research turns up no .32 caliber diameter bullet to match it and .332 is too small for .38 caliber (.356 diameter). Refer to Cartridges of the World, also from Krause Publishing, on the subject of obsolescence. It’s doubtful you’ll be able to turn up a suitable replacement hammer from an old Hopkins & Allen and impossible to locate one from a Forehand so stick to TIG or MIG welding in reforming the firing pin.

Winchester Parts I have a customer’s 1967 Canadian Sentinel post ‘64 Model 94 Winchester. The right hand cartridge guide and screw are missing and I have not been successful in locating a parts suppler for these pieces. Any suggestions? Rex Grove Try Jack First and Buckinghams, a specialist in outof-production Winchester parts They are located in Trenton, TN. AG