Reader Forum

Herter’s Model U9 Like Andrew Ciofani, I own a Herter’s U9 rifle with no manuals (Reader Forum, January 2014.) In the mid seventies for sure, Herter’s sold a barreled action designated as an "U-9". It was available in many calibers. For a few dollars more they would affix a "Douglas Premium Barrel" instead of the standard barrel. And for a few more dollars you could choose a stock blank from their catalog and they would make the stock to your specifications and mount the action in it.

At that time money was very important, if I happened to have any. As a result, I chose a less than premium grade of wood for the stock and that was my mistake. Twenty five years later, my Herter’s U9 with a 24" Douglas Premium barreled action in .338 Winchester Magnum split the stock. Total cost for this rifle at the time was just over $150. It has served me well and will be passed on. On aside note, scopes of that time were notorious for the crosshairs in them shooting loose if mounted on Magnum rifles.

Bausch & Lomb made a line of scopes with hairs etched in the glass and the old 2×7 still serves as well today as it did new, right where you point it. Robert O. We appreciate your adding in on the U9 query, Robert. We’ve always hoped all our members were willing to assist other members. Obviously, those hopes have not been in vain. Removing Flash Hiders I have a customer that brought in an AR-15 and wants the flash hider removed so he can put on a suppressor. The flash hider is on so tight that I can’t budge it.

Are flash hiders put on with Loctite? I thought if I put some heat on the hider it might loosen up. Is that a good idea or would you suggest another way? We suggest the maker or seller of the flash hider be contacted to determine how their product is usually attached. With greater urgency we recommend it is determined whether or not the customer is numbered among those permitted to have a suppressor hung on their firearm. Check ATF regulations.

Synthetic Stock Recoil Pads Is it possible for American Gunsmith to make a segment on installing recoil pads on synthetic rifle stocks? I have yet to find instructions on this and it seems if you want to shorten the stock there would be no place to attach the recoil pad. Author Norman Johnson responds. Regarding the installation of recoil pads on synthetic gunstocks, I can offer the following information, possibilities and caveats. First off, as you noticed, synthetics are not like wood to work with.

These stocks have a proprietary finish and utmost care is involved in cutting them down or even getting a recoil pad off. Some are glued on permanently. Brownells offers a fiber-filled, synthetic polymer stock with removable buttplate. Bell & Carlson stocks area layered fiber-filled synthetic polymer and have a glued-on buttplate to begin with. These stocks are solid for a couple of inches and would allow cutting off and re-installation of an after market butt plate.

H-S Precision has uses woven Kevlar/fiberglass and carbon fiber. They would withstand cutting down and new buttplate work by the very skilled craftsman. There are also totally hollow synthetic stocks. I recently removed the screw-on buttplate from a Remington 700 synthetic which revealed a thin shell construction. Were this to be cut down a plug would need to be bonded in to hold the replacement butt plate. This would require some innovative talent, to say the least.

Bill M1 Carbine and Index In fixing a feed problem or stovepipe issue with the MI Carbine is it usually an extractor issue? Originally a fellow shooting friend felt it is just the poor selection of available carbine magazines that is causing intermittent feed issues. Can you comment on that? Also, is there away to obtain an index of American Gunsmith going back some years to use them as a resource for repairs? It is tedious to look through five years of issues for a particular article.

Name Withheld Upon Request Briefly, the extractor is not the usual issue. Others, easily rectified, area pitted or fouled chamber and a worn magazine catch allowing the mag to ride too low or tipped in the receiver. Not easily rectified are the most frequent culprits, such as slide spring/ guide problems, op slide mechanism, short recoil, the gas system, the trigger mechanism and the receiver itself. All these issues demand corrective me a- Jerry

sures far too detailed to cover satisfactorily in this response. That being the case, we highly recommend The U. S. .30 Cal Gas Operated Carbines: A Shop Manual by Jerry Kuhnhausen. Like all his previous shop manuals it enters into tremendous detail on gunsmithing the subject firearm, or firearms in the case of his volume dedicated to US military gas-operated rifles. All his shop manuals are available from Heritage Gun Books (gunbooks.com, and Brownells.

We have an index available online goes back to 1993 and is updated monthly. Visit americangunsmith. wordpress.com/index Corroded .22 Ammo I’m almost embarrassed to ask this question but really need an answer. About eight years ago I was living in the San Diego area and bought several hundred rounds of .22 ammo with full intent of shooting it up at a local outdoor range. Unfortunately, the state shut down the range due to the extreme dry conditions (fire hazard) and I couldn’t go shoot.

The only indoor range was too far to make it convenient to go to so I thought I would wait until the ban was lifted. In the mean time I stored the ammo in my garage in a container I thought was suitable. None of the other ammo in it had any problems over the years. Life got in the way; I started working 60-70 hours a week; moved to Texas and never fired around until just a few weeks ago.

When I opened the boxes of PMC Zapper .22, a lead round nose cartridge, all of it had a light gray "crust" on it and it wouldn’t load in magazines or chamber in my pistol. I tried cleaning some of it by hand with steel wool to rub off the crust but it wasn’t very successful. First, is there a safe way to clean the ammo with an ultrasonic cleaner? I figured this was a good time to ask since you recently published an article about using them to clean firearms.

Second, is there any safe way to effectively clean this ammo? Finally, if I can’t clean it, how can I safely/legally dispose of it? From author Richard Mac Lean. There is no safe way to clean ammo with an ultrasonic cleaner. Scrubbing each round with very fine steel wool is a safe but labor intensive option. I have seen some old .32 rimfire cleaned in a vibratory cleaner that looked good, ammo that is no longer manufactured, hard to find and can cost up to $5 per round.

If you have a vibratory cleaner and want to risk setting off one or more rounds and potentially risk ruining the cleaning unit, not to mention life and limb, be forewarned and use a very high ratio of media to ammo. We certainly would not recommend it and it may not work all that well if the lead is extremely corroded. As to safely/legally disposing of it, if there is a hazardous waste day in your area, that might beaway to get rid of it at no cost, assuming that they would take it.

Most other disposal methods are illegal, expensive or create a hazard of others. With the high cost of .22 today, you could probably sell it at a very low price, provided the buyer understands the condition and is willing to assume the risk. The local police department might take it if one of the officers is interested in it. This latter option helps to minimizes any potential liability. Astra A-100 I have an Astra A-100 pistol in my shop showing some light rust.

I started to clean it up with a brass brush and a little pressure and it seemed to take the finish right off. Any idea what they used for a finish on these pistols? It is flat and rough. I just wanted to clean up the rust a little bit and touch up the areas that needed coloring and didn’t want to refinish the whole slide as that would fill in the lettering. Larry M. Mark We doubt it’s a finish. It sounds more like a coating of dubious quality that was never applied properly in an attempt to hide rust.

Scrub down the slide with Birchwood Casey Blue & Rust Remover, then degrease and cold blue it. This should not fill in any lettering. Applying another coating, even if done properly, could. AG