44 Special Project

[Lee Martin]

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[M'BOGO]

Thanks for sharing Lee.

 

[dougader]

Awesome thread, Lee. I love reading about your conversion.

 

[Sonnytoo]

EXTREMELY impressive. Very educational for us to see what is involved in the making of a custom build. Thank you, Lee. Looking forward to your next steps.
I agree that this should, in time, be a sticky as so many of us have no idea what must take place. A master with his tools is a joy to behold.
Sonnytoo

 

[Aeroscout9]

Lee,
I know this is your hobby and you have a real job, but I am having withdrawals from no recent posts on this thread!! Just kiddin... but seriously...LOL.

Joe

 

[Lee Martin]

More updates are on the way. I"ve been busy the past two weekends, but hope to finish the cylinder this week.

 

[Lee Martin]

I finally got down to my dad's shop and worked some more on my 44 cylinder. Sorry this project is going so slow, but I'm been pretty busy of late. Anyways, here are some more progress photos:

Bridgeport #2 with Hartford Super Spacer is used to bore the cylinder:

 

[Lee Martin]

Bore centerlines are indicated using a Baker gauge:

 

[Lee Martin]

Pilot holes are then drilled:

 

[Lee Martin]

Now my 44 reamer is set-up for rifle (pilot = 0.421"). As such, the throats are reamed to 0.421":

Next update will involve flipping the cylinder over and reaming the chambers. Final throats will be reamed to 0.428" then honed to 0.430". Stay tuned….more to come

 

[olyinaz]

THANKS for the great series of photos and explanations! Serously, this is just fantastic and it really made my day to come across it.

Best,
Oly

 

[Aeroscout9]

Ahhhh... Thanks for the fix Lee. Im good for another few weeks. What a blessing to have all those wonderful tools and to know how to use them.


Joe

 

[sargents1]

Now my 44 reamer is set-up for rifle (pilot = 0.421"). As such, the throats are reamed to 0.421":



Next update will involve flipping the cylinder over and reaming the chambers. Final throats will be reamed to 0.428" then honed to 0.430". Stay tuned….more to come

First off, thanks for the Excellent post. Second, Keep'em coming, We are all taking notes!

 

[targetshootr]

This is the kind of thing I'd like to see when I open a gun magazine.

 

[Easy Ed]

This is an amazing post Lee. It's really nice to see a master at work. Thanks for all the pictures too.

Ed

 

[DGW1949]

Sooo....Exactly how did you determine the offset distance of the ratchet-tooth from the bolt-stop cut?

Do you happen to remember the part number (or tooling spec) for that particular wheel cutter?

What hardness do you like to see after the heat-treat is done? And would that number apply to 4140 steel as well?

As you can probably guess, some of this is a bit over my head...but still, it has got me to thinking.

Thanks.
DGW

 

[Lee Martin]

I harden all of my cylinders to Rockwell 40 - 41 (4140, 416, and 17-4)

Trying to outline the indexing in a forum thread isn't something I want to attempt. This was intended to be a photo essay....not a complete "how to".

 

[DGW1949]

I harden all of my cylinders to Rockwell 40 - 41 (4140, 416, and 17-4)

Trying to outline the indexing in a forum thread is something I want to attempt. This was intended to be a photo essay....not a complete "how to".

Yeah, I guess that would be tuff to do.
Thanks for the thread though....and BTW, them's some very good photos!

DGW

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Absolutely fascinating!

:shock:

 

[Roper]

Lee, I just wanted to jump in here and say thanks for taking the time to share this process with us. To say it's been interesting is an understatement. I can't wait to see the rest of the process.