Reader Forum

Bayard Ri le I am looking for bolt parts for a Bayard 1909 .22 Short rifle. My research so far has failed to find any information about the Bayard. Based on your description we are going to assume the rifle is not a semiautomatic and is a single shot. It was manufactured in Belgium and imported into the U. S. around 1909. If we are correct, and the only information we managed to uncover so far was via the Web, you probably should inquire of the National Firearms Museum, Fairfax, VA 22030, nramuseum.org.

Of course the museum isn’t in the parts business for resurrecting out-of-production guns. With a Bayard, you are now up to your neck in the practice of turning up rocks to either find what you’re looking for or to get hold of instructions on how to make it. Among the rocks you might consider turning up, start with ClassicOutdoorMagazines.com and conducting a Gun Search in that site’s Library.

As described there, you can hunt through the publications indexed on that site and any gun-specific articles such as on the Bayard. Material there is downloaded as PDF files. Further searching can be done on Simpson Ltd’s site (SimpsonLTD.com) which has nice photos of Bayard rifles.

Another resource is the The American Single Shot Rifle Association (assra. com) and worth the $40 annual membership if you regularly use and/or work on single shots as the organization maintains a renowned archive of shooting history covering not only modern single shots but 19th and early 20th century models as well. Fire Lapping Do you have an opinion on fire lapping using Tubb’s Final Finish? John Doe Author Joe Carlos responds.

When I went on as the match armorer for one of the major military shooting teams I found that I had inherited a lot of uppers that weren’t shooting well. This was not due to barrels being shot out. Many of the uppers were not assembled properly so I tore them down and rebuilt them. The biggest culprit was failure to properly stabilize the barrel extension in the upper receiver. My articles "Barrel Extension Diameter And Accuracy, Parts 1&2" in the March and April 2013 issues discusses how to do this.

Even a good barrel will fail to shoot optimally if the extension is not stabilized properly in the receiver. Jerry Spadorcio

I also found a lot of uppers that had gas tube to float tube contact resulting in gas tubes being improperly aligned with the bolt carrier key and detail this in "Gas Tube Alignment" in the March 2014 issue. Having fixed all of the "usual suspects" I retested the uppers in the machine rest and found that some were still not shooting properly. The Team did not have enough budget money to purchase a bunch of new barrels to replace barrels that weren’t worn out, so I resorted to fire lapping.

I’ve fire lapped about 100 barrels and every one of them improved! Note, these were barrels whose next step was going to be the trash can. I did not fire lap any barrels that were shooting well. Almost never did these barrels go from destined-for-the-dumpster to tack driver. They did become serviceable, which is what I was hoping for. My advice is to fix all other potential problems before resorting to fire lapping. Fire lapping will shorten barrel life and that will be quite variable.

Barrels made from cheaper soft steel will suffer the most. Almost every barrel maker will void any warranties if they find out that you have fire lapped their barrel. If you have a barrel that is not shooting well I would Submit a question or letter to the Reader Forum column by addressing an email to or posting a letter to American Gunsmith, Alexandria, VA 22310. Send subscription questions to contact the maker first and see if they will replace it before resorting to fire lapping.

I would also never substitute fire lapping for a proper barrel break in, as discussed in "Gas Gun Barrel Break-In" in the October 2014 issue. It is important to give any barrel about 200 rounds after a formal break in before making judgments about it. I haven’t had to resort to fire lapping barrels in about a decade. Buying from a reputable custom maker that hand laps at the factory avoids having to resort to workarounds to get it shooting right.

Barrels from companies such as Bartlein, Krieger, Brux, or Lilja should not require fire lapping. My article "Electropolishing & Fire Lapping" in the May 2015 issue on this fire lapping topic goes into further detail. If you have any further questions feel free to contact me directly at Lone Star Rolling Block A customer brought in his Lone Star Rifle Company rolling block chambered in .45-110, serial number 1XX. It has been well cared for and looks like new, however, it has a double set trigger that won’t reset.

I removed the trigger plate and found that the trigger return spring had broken off about 3/8" from the tip. Under a magnifier I found it was crystallized at the break. Since the demise of Lone Star’s owner, I have been unable to find any diagrams of the assembly and can’t determine how the spring even touched the trigger. I believe that the trigger was proprietary but not patented and was only used on these rifles. Do you know of any schematics or a picture of the complete assembly? Robert A.

Scott Scotts Gunsmithing Service Lone Star Rifle Company in Conroe, Texas was an active maker of fair to very pricey black powder reproductions. Dixie Gun Works carries Lone Star rifles and parts. Contact them at DixieGunWorks.com or call or for all else. Star Modelo Super I have a Star Model Super Bwith a missing firing pin. I have been told there are three different diameter firing pins available for this.

Without the original firing pin available to check the diameter, how do I determine which replacement is correct? Sean Matheny The Star pistol, outwardly a close clone of the M1911A1 but quite different inwardly, was found to be well made and very reliable by American troops serving in Europe during WWII. It was first brought back home by its admirers, was later imported, and has never lost its reputation. Numrich Gun Parts Corporation (gunpartscorp.com, lists parts.

Your missing firing pin may be caliber specific since the pistol was made to fire other cartridges beside .45 ACP so give specific details when ordering and they should be able to nail down which firing pin you’ll need. Another possibility on imported firearms is Bob’s Gun Shop in Arkansas (gun-parts.com, Fax: as they sells parts and are very knowledgeable on imported firearms. AG