Made with a file

[gmww]

I was visiting John Taylor when he showed me this interesting piece. He said it was his understanding that it was made with files.

 

[Zonie]

Yup! Ah kan C tha fil marks is still on tha wood!
Ah betchie filin all em holes an pokkets an conterboored holes war tuff ta du but em thareds mussta takin some reel swaring. :grin:

Kourse, Ah woodn't want ta till that ta tha guy whoo filled all o that. Hee must hav fingars that kud bust a wallnut jus lik squezzen a grean pee!

Zonie :grin:

 

[F.G. Ford]

that thar warn't nuthin ....fillin de riflin an de coil spring were de tuff part.
That thar boy is some good with a file. Bet he can't see no use for amilling machine

Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I have seen some modern looking bolt action replicas turned out in those back yard shops along the Afghan Pakistan border, made with just a forge, files, hammers, chisels and such. I must say I was impressed, (not sure I would have the minerals to shoot one) and I am well traveled, having been to two dog fights and three county fairs. :grin:

 

[rabbit03]

yeah but have you ever been to a hog callin' and a goat ropin'! :rotf:

How's it going Tan

rabbit03

 

[faw3]

"replicas turned out in those back yard shops along the Afghan Pakistan border, made with just a forge, files, hammers, chisels and such" and no elc ! Working AKs, Stens, even 50 BMGs, shooting one is something else! :shocked2: The one I thought I'd like to have was a 45 cal 1896 "Broomhandle" with 20 shot clip and full auto switch. Talk about a hand full!! All "nit - picking aside a carefull look at it and it looks just ruff enough and uneven to have been made that way. I've got a flintlock that has hand made screws even and you have to look carefull to see it was (threads) cut or filled. Fred :hatsoff: ya never know. hows the 58 rabbit?

 

[Bountyhunter]

If my memory serves me right, Atlanta Cutlery fellers stumbled onto that old Indian Armory warehouse in Katmandu or some such remote corner of the world and removed thousands upon thousands of old guns that were stacked like three stories deep??? They mostly got Martini's and Brownbess knock offs, but there were a bunch of local hand made Sharps replicas there also. Is this one from that group? They woulda been hand made in a back alley shop with only a forge and a file and hand tools. The descendents of those peoples are still making guns in that area using the same techniques today. History channel had a show on it last winter.

 

I have heard of these and my reaction is I don't believe it. Maybe two hundred years ago, but anyone who can make a bolt action rifle with a file can make a lathe and a mill.

 

[faw3]

I saw a bunch of these when they came in from Nepal I took a trip to Atlanta Cutlery, and they looked a bit better than this. They had a sapper rifle I sure wanted but before I could even get to my wallet all 200 or so got gone. Most the rifles are part of the the 1816 treaty with the East India Company, Brown Bess, Enfield 1853s from our CW and others are all Brit made. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[gmww]

Not sure who made this. John Taylor will probably respond to your question when he gets back into town. It was my understanding that this came from an estate here in the US where the old fella did it himself. :thumbsup:

 

[davy]

yeah but have you ever been to a hog callin' and a goat ropin'! :rotf:

How's it going Tan

rabbit03

Snipe huntin :hmm: ... now thats the ticket! :grin:

Davy

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Hey Rabbit, In Wyoming, dem thar goats (antelope to pilgrims) are a bit swift, even for quarter pony work. Here in Arizona, I have whoooped, piggy, piggy until hoarse, but these pig headed javelina are uncooperative, one is reduced to fetching your BBQ in with ball & powder.

Otherwise, all goes fine in this neck of monsoon drenched (high humidity only) desert.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

So yeah, handmade weapons are cheap and easy to acquire in Pakistan...just beware ”” it's fairly common for visitors to lose fingers and eyes due to shoddy manufacturing techniques and dubious quality control.

Veritas Odium Parit

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:aTU-W-eGovQJ:www.plastic.com/article.html%3Bsid%3D06/03/20/05553854+handmade+pakistani+guns&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7

 

[Roy]

yeah but have you ever been to a hog callin' and a goat ropin'! :rotf:

How's it going Tan

rabbit03

Snipe huntin :hmm: ... now thats the ticket! :grin:

Davy

snipe!

:blah:

.

 

[paulvallandigham]

There have been TV shows on the gunmakers in Pakistan, showing their equipment. They do have lathes, but they are run with treadles, like old sewing machines were powered before electric motors were attached to them. You also see Spring board lathes being used to make guns. The guns that Atlantic cutlery bought came out of a warehouse in Nepal, where they had been in storage for more than 100 years. There is a little of everything there. AC is asking some fancy prices for the better stuff.

 

[faw3]

I think that was my point... even 50 BMGs, shooting one is something else! The one I thought I'd like to have was a 45 cal 1896 "Broomhandle" with 20 shot clip and full auto switch. Talk about a hand full!! OR NOT a hand :rotf: Fred :hatsoff: (ya know they ran the "Russkies" out of Afg with those too.) as far as blowing up ite also a case of "hot" ammo too. :shocked2: the kind we use to leave around for the "cong" to pick up..... There is a little of everything there. AC is asking some fancy prices for the better stuff.
And that isnt no joke, the first shipment and extra 50 to 75 for hand picked was well worth it,some of those looked as new as when built back around our C W.

 

[faw3]

Davy , got that from John H, you going to drive if I get the limo? :grin: Fred :hatsoff:

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Was also why I qualified my first post with:

(not sure I would have the minerals to shoot one)

 

[wszumera]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I read recently in a 1919 5th edition of Machinerys Handbook that a good file will remove 12 cubic inches of metal. The amount of strokes is way up there though.

My uncle built me a underhammer of his design recently and spent a lot of time filing parts. I'm sure he used a bandsaw and bench grinder to save some effort but it is still a slow way to go.

He built the ferules, lock, buttplate, sights by filework. I made the underib via a bridgeport.

I have no problems believing that action was made with files. Some very flat, level and square furnature has been built with handsaws and hand planes. No reason to think that file work can't be precise. IIRC learning to file was something an apprentice learned early and spent a fairly long time mastering it from accounts I have read.

Clutch

 

[John Taylor]

I think the builder must have had a drill and some taps to go along with the file. I got it from a friend that tried to fit the butt stock. When I got it there was a heavy 22 cal barrel stuck in the frame with nothing holding it in, the frame is not threaded for a barrel and the breach block is not finished. I think it came out of an astate sale. Most of the screws are missing, probably still laying on the bench where the action was before the sale.