You make my head hurt ! And I have already been drinking ! LOL
Things You’d Like to See Made for the Precision Shooter?
- Thread starter JasonT
- Start date
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Did you ever make anything from the last time you thought about making some stuff? I cant remember what you decided on designingGlad I could help someone get some work
I went through a whole process designing an improved bullet-pointing die and got a complete design finished, even more developed than when you quoted it Dusty. Went through a patent process (though I didn’t end up pursuing it to completion due to cost) and sold a fair number of them.
Made a move to Texas a few years ago to take a new job as a senior engineer, and haven’t had a complete shop set up until recently.
Now I’m also teaching the engineering behind gunsmithing for SDI, getting my PhD in engineering, and just enjoying making cool things in my spare time.
Jason
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Glad youre in texas! Youll love it there
It’s been great. Just finished building a 300wsm on a BAT M and hit a 1MOA target at a mile on my first trip out.
Whereabouts are you these days?
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Still in central arkansas
Oh you’re only a 4-5 hours drive from me (unless I’m horribly wrong) - I’m in northeast Texas, near Greenville. Are there any fun places to shoot in between Dallas and you?
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Yes look at the clay matches at cumby. I try to attend all those and youre real close. Nice range there you can join- small groups rifle range
Jason -
Howdy !
Single shot feed ramps have proven usefull in some bolt actoin rifles, such as varmint rifles used to shoot groundhogs. In this application, the " one shot - one kill " mind set if pretty much common place, as follow up shots aren't often required. That is just one example.
" Score HIgh " is a brand of single shot " follower ", that has been at it for a long time. These are metal, to my knowledge.
I had a M-98 that a NW Ohio gunsmith had " put " a single-shot feed ramp in. It was actually some sort of hardened sealant or " plastic ", that looked more like it was spread and / or cured in-place..... than machined.
This was in a heavy-barrelled .22-250 varmint rifle, that dated from the immediate post-WWII years.
In the era of 3D printing, CNC machining and such; it seems to me that a polymer or otherwise " plastic " feed ramp could be made very accurately... to fit the lower opening in the rifle' action. It need not extend beyond the outer " mold line " of the action.
I'd imagine one would focus the feed ramp fit / configuration effort on those bolt rifles most popular.
M-700s, Savage's, Rugers; et al. Another consideration would be the angles, contours and such of the upper feed ramp surface, that interfaces w/ the cartridge / case. Here again.... the focus would be providing feed ramp solutions for the cartridges that are most popular.
The ramp could be glued in, or secured using some manner of satisfactory adhesive. It would be up to the shooter to choose how permanent thay wanted the ramp to be. I should think feed ramps made for use w/ .22-250 and .223 would be up there in demand, for example.
Another, perhaps left field idea.....would be to make a super strong / super-light " stock " for use on mountain rifles. LR sheep & goat guns. This would something fairly specialized, perhaps even leveraging carbon fiber ( nano tube ) technology. But, this might be a departure away from the machining processes you have eluded to ?
As regards a " barrel block " stock, there are various examples to be found on the web, especially those that discuss long range rifles, benchrest " rail guns "; and the like. Yes... things like Delrin bushings and such have been tried / used. There's a lot of creativity being exhibited by the rail gun guys, and the LR shooters / rifle integrators.
With regards,
357Mag
I absolutely will! I’ll do some googling and see what I can find.
I have so many ideas based on what you have here. I will have to get a better 3D printer, maybe even leverage some laser-cured printing methodology. Composites is something I actually have a fair amount of experience with, though, and I would be very curious to look into leveraging some aerospace composites technology with modern stock making.
Based on what I’ve seen and read, the biggest flaw with modern aluminum chassis is the terrible bedding from the factory. I wonder if a system could be designed with specific gullets machined in for an included packet of epoxy, with small ribs that could be snapped off once bedding was done. The ribs would support the action for bedding, but would be snapped off once the epoxy cures to leave only the skim-coated areas that match the stock.
Jason -
Howdy !
I put in 47yr in Aerospace & Defense, myself. Mostly, the MIL side.
From the A & D world, there's a lot of interest in room-temperature curing " thermosets ".
For other project ideas:
- How about making " bore guides " ?
- Special feet or skids for bi-pods ( F/TR ) ?
- Screw-on scope caps ?
- Snap-on over-size scope ( turret ) knobs, including those used for a 3rd side knob ( parralax in-example )?
- Portatable range " boxes ", that fit the profile of a ( example LEE ) hand press; and associated die(s).
- Cleaning cradles and rod holders ?
Just thinkin'.......
With regards,
357Mag
Love these ideas and would love to hear more about your work history. I’m currently working on a few composite projects at work, some autoclaved and some rtc.
Jason -
Howdy !
I enlisted w/ the 122nd Tactical Figher Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard in Apr 1972, 1 mo before HS graduation. Went right off to Basic, immediately thereafter.
Spent 1st 2 years as a " Traditional Guardsman " in the Aircraft Fuel Systems Shop, before hiring on full-time as a CIvil Service " technician " in the newly-formed " Environmental Systems " shop. We had F100D / F's at the time, and still had 7 F-84F's that we were dispersing to various local parks, after they were retired from service. My first on-aircraft job I was assigned after return from my 10wk Tech School @ Chanute AFB, was to strip incidental parts off of one of the F-84, before it was towed away. There was a T-33 sperated in 2 pieces in the hangar, and was being crated up for shipment out.
The 122nd converted over to F-4C's in 1978, and I was caught up in a modification to remove the trailing edge " BLC " ( boundary layer control ). The base @ Ft. Wayne, IN was located in postition & latitude that the ponds, lakes, rivers; and vegitation made it extremely humid..... especially in the summer time.
As the Environmental Shop Chief, I became embroiled in a large problem on the F-4 ECS. I found that when pilots selected cooler temps on the cockpit temp control knob, cabin pressure @ altitudes of around 10,000ft AGL and less.... would " surge " + / - 2,000 in cabin altitude; as shown on the cockpit gage.
This of course gave pilot's' a very unpleasant " WAH - WAH " effect on their ears, due to the felt pressure flux.
F-4s had a cockpit Environmental Control System outfitted w/ a water seperator, which was introduced to the ECS via an extensive system MOD done on all F-4s.... as a result of the Vietnam experience. What initial
SE Asia F-4 opertations showed was that when pilots selected cooler cockpits temps in those hot/humid conditions, thier fwd vision would be obstructed by dense fog eminating from the defog ducts located @ the base of the windscreen side panels. This was a major hazard to safe flight ops, and a mod to add a water seperator to the ECS was hustled through the aircraft modification process in near record tiem,even though testing showed the new ECS Mod had significant shortcomings.....
The cockpit ECS mod introduced a water seperator, anti-ice controller, anti-ice valve, misc lines and a lag chamber. The anti-ice valve had 2 ducts quipped with 2 bellows segments on the in-going engine' bleed air duct and outgoing de-icing ducts for water seperator anti-icing. When the water seperator' coalescer bag started to ice up... sensing lines sensed the pressure drop across the seperator; and the anti-ice controller would send a pressure signal to the anti- ice valve. The valve would then modulate open/closed to de-ice the water seperator. [ if the coalescer bag were to ice up and the H2O seperator become clogged w/ ice.... airflow woudl cease to the cockpit. The hot bleed air tap-off point and pressure sensing ports for the anti-ice ducting circuit were located AFTER the ECS pack's " Bleed Air Pressure Regulator ". When the anti-ice valve operated, the BAPR sensed a drop in the ECS pack pressure, and opened to let in more bleed air to compensate. This additional bleed air was introduced while the wter seperator anti-ice valve was open, hence.... the " WAH- WAH effect on the aircrew's ears.
The anti-ice lines would be forceably flexed outward @ the bellows during the ECS pack's pressure flux. After enough cycles of this flexing, the bellows would rupture; and razor sharp thin metal shards would FOD the entire ECS bay. To access the bay, one was required to remove 118 apex screws... using a #2 apex bit and holder... and a " speed handle ". The belows failures of course resulted in the aircraft aborting, and doing an RTB as an emergency; and thereafter grounded for repairs. When the 118 scew access panel was removed, it was common to see rounded grooves in the bottom inside structural rib on the door, when the bellows segments were forced outward so far that they rubbed on the rib, Normal clearance would have been around 3/8".
The FOD finding and removal was complicated by the fact that the ACS Heat exchanger sat atop a fixed fin exhaust casting, that was basically installed as the first itme on the aircraft's center line " Keel ". It was located in the bottom of a deep constantly narrowing downward chasm along the kell, so of course.... this is where the FOD migrated to.... and it all had to be found... and removed. The large/ sharp edged heat exchanger that first had to be removed, was attached to the center line keel behind it.. by an un-lubricated steel bolt... passing through an unlubricated steel bushing, bolted to analuminum tab on the keel.
Theres' 5 things F-4 Environmental Systems were absolutely forbidden to do...... and, the first 4 were....
" break that aluminum tab " . At the same time, the excessively heat cycled, rusted together bolt / bushing assy resisted attempts @ its removal. Beyond all that.... we ALL of the other ECS components andlines first had to be removed from the ECS bay, before the heat exchange could even be accessed.
We had 28 F-4s..... and Summer was a nominal 3mo long. The one year I kept records.... our shop worked 96 various Environmental systems gripes....a combination of ECS squawks and cabin pressure writeups.
But of course.... the cockpit pressure surging " CODE 4 " grounding write ups dominated our workload.
We flew F-4C's for 8yr, and then up-gunned to the -E model in 1986. It had the same cockpit ECS system.
We then flew the F-4E's until latter 1991, when the unit converted to F-16s right after they returned from the " Gulf War ". So.... 13yr of fighting that particular problem.
Why do I tell you all this ? I called out to the Aircraft Systems manager @ OGDEN Air Logistic Center, and the ECS Component's Manager @ Oklahoma City ALC, because by design and configuration.... there was NO way the cabin pressure surge problem could ever be fixed in the field. What HAD TO take place for an enduring " FIX "... was a modfication of the ECS water seperator de-ice system to one that did not cause the cabin pressure surging. IF the plane flew high enough above the humidity.... there was no surging. If flown in a dry/drier climate w/ low humidity... there was no surging.
Our record for the number or F-4s grounded in one day @ our base in Ft. Wayne was 4. Add to that 3 F-4s in Phase Maintenance and 2 out @ the Depot for " speed line " repair work + other F-4s grounded for various other reasons ( principally avionics ); and one see's the need to NOT have any more F-4s grounded than was avoidable. 4 grounded for surging in one day was a hit against our fleet's availability that was just to ridiculous to be allowed to conitinue ( and I felt that way in the Summer of 1978 ).
I became the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and was forced to reach out to every other F-4 Environemental Systems Shop on the Air Force, Air Force Reserve; and Air National Guard. At the time I identified the problem to the ALC System's Managers; the total F-4 fleet for the above users was 1,420.
SOME of these flew in humid climates... some did not. The problem was not important to all F-4 units, but
WAS a real _ _ _c h for those locations that had the humidity. I found 2 other ANG outfits that also had the surging problem on their F-4s. I authored and submitted discrepacny report on the F-4 ECS problem in 1978, and it was put under study by the " Systems Manager " @ the Ogden Air Logistics Center....
I had to submit a " Fraud , Waste; and Abuse " report to the Air Force IG, to get the AF to force Ogden ALC (aircraft side ) and Oklahoma City ALC ( systems components side ) reps to comeout and verify the problem existed as Ihad reported.. They finally came to our base (during a cold snap ) in Jan 1979, and we were still able to show the " engineers " and Systems Managers the surging phenominon during ground engine runs.
The cabin pressure surging problem was given a formal project investigation number, and I was ultimately able to force the ALCS to make prioritze the problem as one of the top 10 problems on the F-4, that were negatively impacting aircraft availability. THAT allowed them to obligate $$$ for a systems MOD.
To minimize FOD damage to F-4's and to avoid in-flight emergencies and aircraft grounding; I was able ( during a conference out @ Ogden ALC ) to get the Systems Manager to authorize requesting units the permission to " de-activate " the water seperator & its associated anti-ice system. Aircraft mods were introduced by what were called " Time Compliance Technical Orders " ( TCTO's ), and the de-activation was assigned TCO number -908. We de-activated the system on every F-4 we were assigned over the 13yr period.
13 yr after I reported the problem, they had finally engineered a mod that used an electric modulating valve for anit-icing, and it was going to take time to field as a TCTO.... and cost a lot fo $$$.
I submitted " de-activation " as a suggestion through the formal AF Suggestion Program channels, which offered cash awards to suggestor's if their idea was approved; with award amount based on how many $$$ the suggestion saved the Air Force... not to mention how much aircraft availability would be enhanced.
My suggestion simply removed the coalescer screen assy & bag, and capped the two anti-ice valve sensing lines. Since my idea ( to the engineers ) was NIH ( ' not invented here " ), I was viewed as being well outside any possibility of having my suggestion ever being seriously considered by them for final adoption.
Through over site by the AF's Inspector General's office, I was able to force OK City ALC to allow me to run my suggested -908 mod on their indoor-mounted F-4 ECS system, for in-lab instrumented test and analysis.
The incoming super hot " bleed air " was ducted out the bottom ot the heat exchanger mounted in a fixture. so the test lab got very hot as the ECS was run indoors. The Engineer's suggested electric anti-ice valve system would not allow cockpit air from the pack's cooling turbine to ever go below 36*F . Since the simplified ECS mock up system let the cooling turbine exhaust to ambient... it had potential to cool the test compartment.... some. As the engineer's system ran, the room continued to get hotter & hotter.
I was the allowed to set-up the test ECS per my desired -908 configuration, which took minimal time and effort. With the cooling turbine again exhausting to ambient in the test room.... I was able to cool the entire room down to 42*F... despite the input of hot bleed air being made by the heat exchange exhaust. My mod cost $ .98 for 2 stainless steel caps, a few minutes needed to de-panel an affected aircraft; and around 20 minutes to gut the EC water seperator, and install the anti-ice valve pressure sensing lines. Easy.
During the 13 yr episode.... the number of F-4s being flown by Air Force components was steadily on the decrease. Therefore, the need for the ECS mod began to become less & less important. But, the engineers had a mod they invented, and they already had the money for fielding their mod ready @ hand.
In the end. I was awarded $500 for my suggestion..... to " throw me a bone ". The engineers put their mod on the F-4's remaining in service, albiet ...a lot smaller number of aircraft than were in service back in 1978... when I exposed the whole F-4 ECS debacle.
As it turned out, the 122nd's had most of its F-4E fleet's ECS modified in 1991, when the Gulf War started.
The engineers took 13 yr and oodles of money to maintain a water seperator on the F-4 cabin ECS, just in time for some of the F-4E's, -G " Wild Weasel "; and RF-4C's to be sent to the harshest, driest desert conditions on the planet !
Karma's a funny thing. I had already transfered over to the F-4 Electric shop, when Maintenance Control called in the summer of 1991. Both Environmental Systems Technicians were not present for whatever reason, and THE last F-4 the unit was scheduled to fly out ( converting to F-16c ) had a cabin pressure surging writeup, and was grounded. Since they knew I knew how to fix the problem, they assigned me the duty. Despite having a kit for the new Engineer-develpoed mod available for install, senior management was keen to see that last F-4 depart on time ( we were THE last AF / AF Reserve / Air Nationa Guard unit to fly the F-4, before they headed off to be modified to become drones / arial targets. ). President Reagan was going to on the air, to announce the United States transfer of F-4's to Greece, and it was the planes leaving 122FW service that he would be eluding to. WIth all that as a back ground to the excitement, I told everyone in my chain of command and Maintenance Control... that I could have the plane fixed in 45min.
So..... the last F-4 to leave service and leave Ft. Wayne was one with the water seperator anti-ice system
de-activated.
Well... that's how I remember it, anyway.
You asked.
With regards,
357Mag
I guess I don't need anything that's not readily available... Don't always like the not unavailable or out of stock, items,..But if I want if now or if its not available, I can machine it myself...forming dies, improvement to shooting accessories, making old cases out of existing cases, even made 308 Win into 6mm ARC, to see how plausible it was, machining the solid head ,and blend out, cut a new extractor groove, make a form die, ...alter actions, bolt knobs, action truing, magazines, chamber, make muzzle breaks, throat for longer COAL. Just machined some 300 gr 338 grooved copper HP BT subsonic bullets ..cause they have been out of stock...for ever.
And your only limited by your imagination... A 9mm Luger will go 2498 fps ave! ...with a 50 gr copper HP, in an AR 15, and Autocomp powder...useful? Probably not ..but "you" can without machine tools...and that's good to know.
And your only limited by your imagination... A 9mm Luger will go 2498 fps ave! ...with a 50 gr copper HP, in an AR 15, and Autocomp powder...useful? Probably not ..but "you" can without machine tools...and that's good to know.
Action truing bar is already available... or you can make your own. 700 Remington actions are usually not tbe same size diameter throughout the bore...unless its bored true with carbide cutters...and sleeves installed on a trued bolt.
Not gonna sleeve the bolt the area under the front and rear bridge will be different dia never found an action the same under both front and rear bridge.
Example rear .7025" front .7035" or even .704"
Usually .7015" to .704" max diffetence in diameters are encountered in my experience, and I accommodate those differences....and that's all I know about that..and if we're on the same page....mine are around 14.5" long...my action truing bars that is...
Variable power Laser range finder Binoculars with a measuring reticule.
At a reasonable cost.
At a reasonable cost.
A bench block that clamps to serve as a third hand to drive the ejector pin out of 700 type bolts.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
I have the bushing kind
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