Reader Forum

Charles Daly Shotgun I need information about an operating handle for the Charles Daly gasoperated shotgun that KBI imported from Turkey. This is a pretty reliable shotgun when properly maintained, with one exception. The operating handle has a bad habit of snapping off! I have had about a half dozen of these shotguns all needing anew operating handle. To be fair, KBI usually sent me the new handles at no charge. Recently, I tried to order another one but was told that KBI is out of business.

Could you let me know who has the parts? I notice that the shotguns are still being offered for sale. Who is importing these guns? Ben Hubbard Hubbards Outdoor Products We’ve struck out on who, if anyone, has replaced KBI. But whomever is selling the Daly line now should be able to provide leads to new charging handles. There’s nothing on the Charles Daly web site except a letter from Michael Kassnar, former KBI boss, notifying all viewers that the KBI/Daly association has ended.

This doesn’t bode well for those needing parts, leaving them with a search of the after market. Check in with Numrich Gun Parts Corporation, Jack First and call Brownells for a free copy of their parts source list. In regard to your comment that the handles had a habit of breaking off, we suspect there may have been some lack in material quality involved. When you manage to locate replacements, you may want to harden them prior to installation.

Baker Jig For S&W Can you refer me to a source for a Baker Round Butt Fitting Guide for S&W Kor Lframe revolvers? Midway USA has had it listed as "temporarily unavailable" for about two years. (Product # 263-717). Brownells used to offer Baker jigs and fixtures. Check in with them to see if they still do. Please note that guide was aluminum. You had to be very careful when working down the steel grip frame to avoid getting into the softer metal.

Once upon a time we were told of a method to make square S&W grip frames round without the guide. Seemed like it would be quite satisfactory so we tried it. You might want to give it ago, too. Attach a pair of round butt grip panels to the square butt Kor Lframe. Scribe around the panels to mark the frame. Remove the panels. Grind down to just short of the scribed lines. How short? About the width of a 0.5mm pencil lead.

Re-attach the round butt panels and finish off the frame-to-grip fit by hand with a belt sander wearing afine grit belt. Polish, degrease and blue the metal or send the naked frame to S&W for a hot bath. Alternately, you could attach the round butt panels, skip the scribing and take the metal down to get a nice steel-to-wood, or plastic, interface. This method would require as much or more care as would be necessary with the aluminum guide in place.

Finally, call Pacific Tool and Gauge in White City, OR pacifictoolandgauge.com). When we entered Baker Round Butt Guide on our search engine, PTC popped up strong on our monitor. Schematic Availability I am a fan of Chick Blood’s articles and notice that he nearly always includes a schematic of whatever firearm he is writing about. It would be very helpful to me if I had access to schematics such as these for my work. Where are some sources to obtain them?

Wendell Deaner Anytime anyone says something nice to me about my articles, all too rare a happening these uncertain days, I am prompted to bend my injured Bill Donnelly spine and painful hip further than normal in attempting to assist. All my disassembly/reassembly articles are founded on factory engineer or service technician inputs. The selection of firearms to be covered is not based purely on sales but on the general public interest in a given item.

In most cases a schematic is included in the owner’s manual and a reproduction of it used in the publication. Owner’s manuals including schematics are becoming increasingly difficult with off-shore items of German or Russian manufacture due to their respective—and highly erroneous—belief that a copy of their gun could be made from a schematic! This is absurd, of course, as detailed technical drawings (blueprint) or, more likely today, CAD and CNC computer fi les are needed.

A call to any US manufacturer, or even importer such as European American Armory, can secure you a copy of an owner’s manual for a currently made or inventoried gun. Request that a schematic and parts list be included. It’s out of production guns that present the headache. Expectedly, the longer out of production the more intense the pain.

Often, the age of the firearm predates the use of schematics and a silhouette-style, fl at layout of individual parts, inadequate as it may be except to count the number of components, is all that is available. A sectional drawing as exhibited in Jack First’s Volume II, on the other hand, can be equally useful as a schematic. Do not overlook the Internet. A large majority of major US manufacturer sites frequently offer downloadable digital copies of their manuals. Many other sources exist outside of the web.

Gun Digest has published a large book of over 900 schematics. The NRA Firearm Assembly Guides for both handguns and shoulder arms contain schematics and Brownells offers a goodly number on their site as well. The NRA Museum does not provide schematics though I have had

occasion to wish they did. Another, less obvious source are various groups dedicating themselves to the products of a single maker, such as The Remington Society and The Winchester Collector’s Association. A list of these organizations along with contact information can be found in the rear pages of a Gun Digest Annual.

Usually, merely typing in the make and model of a gun on your web browser will turn up more information that you’d ever care to have, and all too much of it seems to concern the sale of a subject firearm by its present owner. Of course, I’ve written over 150 articles for American Gunsmith. I don’t recall any one of them ever lacking a schematic. So you can start your collection with those. FN 5.7×28mm I’m looking for a bolt action or falling block rifle chambered in FN 5.7×28mm.

Any news from current manufacturers about one being introduced? This new cartridge is a dandy varmint round for small animals but I don’t want a semi-automatic. Stu Grell Grell’s Gunsmithing We didn’t see anything at the SHOT Show but there are plenty of bolt action .17 HMR rifles and almost as many chambered in .17 MKII to choose from. Falling blocks are not as plentiful but you may want to consider the Savage Model 30, a clone of the old Stevens Favorite.

Of course if cost is no object, we’re reasonably comfortable with suggesting Shiloh Sharps in a 5.7×28mm chambering and the Remington Custom Shop might be approached on building you a Rolling Block as well. PTB 7762 Pistol The pistol in question is a Swedish Husqvarna-built, M1887 7.5 Brevet Nagant. This six cylinder revolver is marked "PTB 7762 L No, A4852". What does the PTB stand for? I would also like to know chamberings these were made in and what ever you might have on this pistol.

Husqvarna was a Swedish manufacturer no longer in business with a US importer. The 7.5 stamping it carries is a caliber, like .32 ACP. On the "PTB" our guess is a partial "Pistol T. Brevet." The Nagant is a revolver originally designed and chambered for the 7.62 Nagant cartridge by Belgians. A different cylinder made the use of caliber .32 possible. You can find considerable information about the design by typing in "Nagant Revolver" into Google.

To pin down exactly what you have in hand, photograph the gun and send pictures and a query to the NRA Museum, Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030. To secure a straight-from the-horse’s-mouth answer, email the same info to what is left of Husqvarna Don’t worry about their reading English. The last time we were in Sweden everyone spoke it as well, or better, than we did. Remington Rolling Block I am working on a Remington Model 1 Rolling Block Serial #BBI 266XX.

I understand that the cartridge info is stamped on the bottom of the barrel forward of the forearm. This one is stamped "44 ctg’e S" and I need help with what this means. The forearm is missing and it has a cleaning rod loop near the end of the barrel. I cannot figure out how forearm is retained. There is a very wide dove tail and a small (approximately 1/16 inch) hole under the forearm area. The cleaning rod must have gone between the barrel and forearm.

Donald Phillips As far as the caliber markings, and due to an article on the Buntline Special Revolver we recently published, we suspect the "S" indicates a smokeless powder cartridge rather than a black powder one. Lupe Vargas The attachment of the forearm is another matter. An article on the Rolling Block appeared in the September 2007 issue. You may find your answer there. If not, call Remington and ask for the Custom Shop.

At last report they were building Rolling Blocks and are likely to provide a definitive response. Meanwhile, hopefully a member of the Remington Society among our readers might send you a note. AG