My Wood Rail Gun Project

[DShortt]

Alex, years ago, I tried that with an aluminum block, not wood. It was about 7 inches long too.

I glued the barrel into the 1/2 block with JB. At the range, after about 5 shots, it stated climbing vertical. A lot.

We figured that with just a little heat, the top part expanded at a different rate than the bottom that was held securely in the aluminum block.

That was one of my experiments that did not go as planned.

Wood might be different as it has flexibility that aluminum did not.

And this type of thing is exactly what I meant by the learning I mentioned in post #18.

 

[mark454]

Much less vibration, for sure . Beautiful work as always.

Very Interesting. It would be a real hoot if the wood top shoots better than the aluminum top!

 

[Fuj]

Very Interesting. It would be a real hoot if the wood top shoots better than the aluminum top!

Any little bit to help in the harmonics area......

Thinking out loud......Jackie could try a polymer type propeller shaft sleeve. He is
well versed in them......LOL Another thought would a pour in lead sleeve. Using a
low temp material.

Jackie.....Testing 30 cal on this rig ??

 

[LVLAaron]

I would run the grain 90 degrees from the barrel?

 

[Will Henry]

Jackie, I really like this project! If nothing else, it will be attractive. Do you intend to line the block with epoxy or just mount the barrel in the wood? Resin? The portion of the barrel in the block has to be slower to cool, but what effect that might have I can't say.
In the early seventies, many people were experimenting with the idea of gluing the barrel into the stock. Usually about 5 inches of it. Vertical was an issue. Especially when the rifle was shot enough to get warm, then cooled down halfway. The first shot would go high, then it would walk down to the original POI. About 3/4 inch in a worst case. My dad tried this for a while. I never did.
One shooter, Terry McCracken, epoxied all around the barrel to try and equalize heat retention. The rifle shot pretty good and won him the coveted ugly gun award at one match.
I like Tru-oil, but it isn't super durable. My heavy bag gun was finished in Tru-oil but is in the process of being refinished with some ceramic floor finish. I used this finish on my dining room floor and it's holding up very well. By the way, this gun will probably be my Tack Driver rifle this year. It's a sleeved 40x, glued into a laminated stock. WH

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have never been a big fan of barrel blocks. Just one more thing to tune. Id glue the action in and float the barrel like we usually do. Every HG 1kyd agg record fell last year to a free floated 1.450" straight 32" barrel.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I would run the grain 90 degrees from the barrel?

I did not think of that.

 

[J_Hensley]

What if you had an apparatus that held the barrel at one point from all 4 directions? Instead of a block, that could act as a heat sink?

kind of a rough idea would be this gas block.
As long as there was enough of an air gap that the barrel only contacted the set screws.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Any little bit to help in the harmonics area......

Thinking out loud......Jackie could try a polymer type propeller shaft sleeve. He is
well versed in them......LOL Another thought would a pour in lead sleeve. Using a
low temp material.

Jackie.....Testing 30 cal on this rig ??

I tried a 30BR barreled action at one time on my rail, too much recoil.

Some type of recoil buffer would have to be incorporated. That was more than I wanted to get involved with.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I pretty much have it finished.

I turned .003 off the barrel for a perfect fit. Most of these barrels run dead on 1.450 to about .002 over.

All I have to do now is time the rails and lock them.

 

[DaveTooley]

Not my idea but I built several rail guns where either the OD of the front of the receiver ring was trued and glued into a block. The other way I've done it is to epoxy a ring on the front of the action, true it up and then epoxy it into the block. The barrel floats in both cases. Both ways shot well. If I ever make another unlimited match I'll be shooting one. And with of all things, a Unertl scope.

 

[Skedaddle Shooter]

I pretty much have it finished.

I turned .003 off the barrel for a perfect fit. Most of these barrels run dead on 1.450 to about .002 over.

All I have to do now is time the rails and lock them.View attachment 1736743View attachment 1736744

That’s bad ass!

 

[jackieschmidt]

Not my idea but I built several rail guns where either the OD of the front of the receiver ring was trued and glued into a block. The other way I've done it is to epoxy a ring on the front of the action, true it up and then epoxy it into the block. The barrel floats in both cases. Both ways shot well. If I ever make another unlimited match I'll be shooting one. And with of all things, a Unertl scope.

Dave, a few year ago I tried this.
It really did not shoot that well. I never could figure out why, I thought it was a novel idea, at the time.

Thread 'Novel Way To Mount Barreled Action In Big Gun'

Aug 6, 2020

A while back, I was thinking about how we mount barrels actions on our Rail Guns. Laying in bed one night an idea just came to me. I literally got up, got a pencil and paper and sketched something so I would remember it the next morning.

What I came up with, in truth, is a humongous recoil lug that bolts to the top of the Rail Gun and allowed a stress free method of mounting the barreled action.

It worked great. My rail never shot better.

My good friend Ed Bernabeo suggested that I try the same thing on a big Bag Gun. He had a big stock, a new 1-71/2 twist Krieger 6mm blank, and a Bat...

• jackieschmidt
• Replies: 24
• Forum: Main Message Board

• 

 

[ELR LVR]

All I have to do now is time the rails and lock them.View attachment 1736743

For a second there I thought I was looking at my lathe lol
Very similar
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Cant wait to see hw this turns out, using wood is a resourceful idea

 

[Fuj]

Ya know......In a way, it looks like a boat ??

 

[J_Hensley]

Ya know......In a way, it looks like a boat ??

Sure does, looks like an old ironside battle ship.

 

[JPB3]

I wouldn't be surprised if the run of the grain in the block didn't cause it to split as Aaron eluded to.

But what a cool project !!! Keep on with the great ideas !!!!!

 

[jackieschmidt]

I wouldn't be surprised if the run of the grain in the block didn't cause it to split as Aaron eluded to.

But what a cool project !!! Keep on with the great ideas !!!!!

While it would look like crap, I have non metallic products from which we make various steering and rudder bushings for large boats.
One is CIP, the other DuraBlue. Both are a woven product and have both a high compression and tensil strength far superior to any wood.
For me, the barrel block was the easiest thing to build on this project. I am going to see how the wood does. That piece of walnut is pretty dense. If it do s not work out, I can easily machine a block out of DuraBlue.
Here is a picture of a a piece of DuraBlue we have.

Duramax Advanced Bearings: DuraBlue Greaseless Rudder Bushing

Engineered, dimensionally stable rudder bushing and thrust washer outperforms competitive products. Needs no lubrication and is exceptionally wear-resistant

www.duramaxmarine.com

 

[Will Henry]

Looking at that DuraBlue, it just looks like there is a place for it in the shooting world somewhere. It just looks like the kind of material a guy like me, with packrat tendencies, should have laying around the shop.
I agree with Aaron that the block might be better with the grain turned 90 degrees but it may be fine. It sure looks good. WH

 

[jackieschmidt]

I had some time today so I machined a barrel block out of the DuraBlue.

It is a lot stronger than the walnut, but ugly.