Reader Forum

ITAR Lawsuit I am sure American Gunsmith readers are concerned about the new ITAR guidance and its effect on small gunsmiths. Last October, I sued the State Department over this very issue, seeking to have ITAR overturned, or at least have its application limited to actual exporters. Unfortunately, my lawsuit was tossed on a technicality.

The judge found that my company doesn’t have standing to sue, despite being a type 07 FFL with gun designs ready, as there isn’t a "real" case because the government isn’t actually prosecuting me. My intention is to register and pay their exorbitant fee, and then sue for a refund. Unfortunately, my basement startup can’t afford that (which is why I sued, as small business and startups are cash-strapped), but I did throw up a Go Fund Me page hoping that gun owners and gunsmiths might chip in to help me do it.

If successful, this could set a precedent that would benefit other gunsmiths. Read about the lawsuit and the critical documents at leocombat.com/ lawsuit. Contact me at 720/441-GUNS (4867) for additional information. The Go Fund Me page to fund this lawsuit is at gofund.me/2m9hx4hn Please consider contributing to my Go Fund Me to support this effort. I really want to take these regs down! Rob Lyman LEO Combat, LLC LEOCombat.com 720/441-GUNS (4867) Ballistic Soap I’m looking to buy or make ballistic soap.

How can I obtain this? Ballistic testing mediums are intended to simulate the effects bullets have on flesh. Ballistics gelatin tends to be more popular in the United States while ballistic soap is popular in Europe and China. For terminal ballistics testing, properly prepared and calibrated 10% ballistic gelatin has proven to be a reliable test medium based on years of comparisons with human shooting victims and wounds in live pig tissue.

Given the huge number of variables in a given real-world shooting, no test medium can be perfect, but properly-prepared ballistic gelatin and soap comes close. Brownells sells 10% Ballistic Gelatin as used by the FBI (#100- 015-077WB), a 16x6x6 block from Clear Ballistics (ClearBallistics.com, as well as a mold of this size to make them yourself. For ballistics gel, mix Knox gelatin with water in a 1:8 ratio until there are no lumps, then refrigerate.

Once chilled and dehydrated, melt down over a double boiler while stirring, then set into a mold coated with nonstick spray and refrigerate. For ballistics soap, melt clear glycerin soap for about one minute in a microwave-safe container. Slowly mix Knox gelatin with water (two packets with about 3/4 cup water) to avoid creating bubbles, then mix in melted soap. Mixing in ground cinnamon helps reduce bubbles while stirring. Refrigerate for two hours, then melt over a low heat.

Remove any bubbles, then refrigerate in a mold overnight. Refurbishing The H&R 422 I am trying to bring a Harrington & Richardson Model 422 .22LR pump action back to life. This rifle is nearly the same as the Nobel Model 235. I believe a previous owner took this one apart and lost some of the parts because there are some missing components needed for proper operation. Numrich’s catalog #22 has an exploded view of the Nobel M235 on page 495 but the parts displayed only show their general location in the rifle.

The catalog also lists the parts by name but doesn’t show how they fit with each other. Richard Tryon Afton, NY Have you published any articles on the H&R M422 or Nobel M235? Failing that, can you point me to an appropriate reference? The Model 422 was manufactured by Noble Firearms Company from 1956- 1958, calling it the M235. Therein lies but one of your restoration problems. A larger one is presented by the current entity of H&R.

Said entity has a rigid policy of not providing service for firearms that haven’t been produced by them. This policy includes any descendant of H&R, such as H&R 1871! Of no further help at all is the fact that we have never published an article on either the 422 or the 235. We can offer this advice: If there remains a living expert on the rifle, Brownells might be able to lead you to him. Outside of the BATF, the folks in Montezuma Iowa have the best and largest list of licensed gunsmiths in America.

AR-15 Drill and Tap I tried to drill and tap a bolt carrier for an AR-15 project. The steel is so hard I could not scratch it! I tried to spot heat but had no success. Do I need to put the carrier in a furnace to anneal it? Should I consider using carbide bits? What size button heads do you use? BSracer85 Author Joe Carlos responds. You’re right about carrier hardness. Yes, carbide bits area must. I use a 5-40 button head cap screws and countersink the heads a little, about 1/4" diameter on that hole.

Alkanet Oil I enjoyed reading "Herbal Root, London Guns, And Hue" by Shawn Mc- Williams in the August 2016 issue as I’m interested in stock finishing. Is his formula for Alkanet Oil going to remain a trade secret or would he let us amateurs know what is a good starting combination for us to experiment with? Robert Tingler Author Shawn Mc Williams responds. I have to keep it a trade secret since I worked hard to create it, but clearly was very generous in the info that was provided. Charles Lane Homewood, AL

Hi-Power Magazine Safety From "Easy Hi-Power Modifications" in the August 2016 issue concerning deactivating a magazine safety. I think it’s rather presumptuous to think that you know better than John Moses Browning. You should never remove or disable a safety on a gun. Jonathan Herring Author Ray Ordorica responds.

While I applaud your concern, I made it clear in my report that one needs to know how to handle firearms and needs to know something about personal defense training in order to understand what I did to the gun. I also made it clear this is a personal gun, never to be sold, and anyone who handles it must be told of its alteration. What you don’t know is I have over 50 years of working with all kinds of guns behind me, including training with the best in the world.

My old friend Jeff Cooper would applaud what I did to this gun, as would anyone who understands gunfighting. Rather than "defeating" the safety, I actually made it a better gun for the knowledgeable gunfighter. [Editor’s Note: American Gunsmith does not dictate policy or advise readers on what work or modifications are Submit a question or letter to the Reader Forum column by addressing an email or posting a letter to American Gunsmith, Alexandria, VA 22310. Send subscription questions to appropriate.

We publish the experiences, procedures, and opinions from a variety of gunsmiths. Sometimes these experiences, procedures, and opinions differ. It is up to individual gunsmiths, readers, and subscribers to choose what work and modifications are best for them, their clients, and their business.] Kalashnikov Modifications Does the ATF allow Kalashnikov-type rifles manufactured during the 1990s (those that used single stack magazines) to be converted to take double stack magazines?

I tried contacting the ATF but they require a written letter and have a two month delay. Not very practical for a gun shop to do business that way. Wallace We agree. And we’re flattered you believe us to have some influence over or on BATF regulations. However, we do not. If the response received was generated by a regional BATF office you might try relating your intent to the main office in Washington DC.

They’ll at least provide a non-answer but will direct you to an office better suited and staffed to provide one. We suspect any objection arising from your intention will be based on a need to modify the receiver to accept the double stack magazine. Such a modification, in their opinion, could be classified as remanufacture, which you would not be allowed to undertake unless you hold a manufacturer FFL. Springfield Model 67H A customer brought me a Savage Springfield model 67H.

I can’t find a serial number on the receiver and there’s no evidence of any tampering or removal of one. Was this possibly manufactured before it was required to have serial numbers? I thought most better manufacturers always stamped a serial number on their guns. Samuel Garrison Circle G From what we’ve been able to discover so far, registration of and stricter controls on the sale and/or transfer of certain firearms were mandated when Congress enacted The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) on June 6, 1933.

The NFA came down hardest on machine guns, short barrel rifles, sound suppressor (silencers), short barrel shotguns, and destructive devices. This was the response to Prohibition-era gang violence, which reached its apex with the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago in 1929. The NFA was superseded by the Gun Control Act of 1968, referred to presently as Title II of the Federal Firearm laws. The GCA is Title I.

We know of no other means of tracking a gun other than by assigning it a serial number it carries from manufacture or import through all its sales and transfers for its serviceable lifetime. Hence, the birth of serial numbers likely dates to 1933-34. The Model 67 was in production from 1958-1989. We can offer no explanation of why no such number appears on the receiver of the 67H in your shop but suggest you broaden the scope of your search. AG