So, I made a hand cannon

[Nelokjer]

Finally got around to posting this. I made a hand cannon
The barrel is .38 diameter.




Havent proofed it yet, but the last one happily ran at 50 Grains of BP

[Blux]

Thats pretty fucking awesome

[Nelokjer]

Thanks, man; I made it from a piece of 3/4" plate; All bored with a drill press. Cutting it off the rest of the plate was the worst part. Ill post the other one I made, soon as I go up the hill and get it.

[Captain Falcon]

Holy shit! But, uh, what's the point?

[Nelokjer]

Theres supposed to be a point? Its just a toy.
Got the other one back, Ill post pictures tomorrow.

[sepht]

could maybe incorporate a snapper firecracker where you pull a string to ignite the firecracker

that way you dont have to light a match to ignite the gunpowder

[Haiti's Space Agency]

post a picture of the cannon balls

[Captain Falcon]

Still, dude, badass

[Nelokjer]

Originally Posted by sepht

could maybe incorporate a snapper firecracker where you pull a string to ignite the firecracker

that way you dont have to light a match to ignite the gunpowder

Actually, I use fireworks fuse; but Ive really been considering putting a nipple on it and building a hammer and trigger.

[Nelokjer]

Originally Posted by alexander224

post a picture of the cannon balls

Theyre just single 000 Buck pellets 35-36 caliber.

[Nelokjer]

heres the first one I made.

Yes, thats a fireplace poker...


Same caliber .38. I have proofed this one; and let me tell you, its got some power. Easily the same power as a 38 Spl. I got it up to a 50 grain BP charge. It started throwing fireballs at 60.
More than comfortable to hand fire.

[Vargus]

Cool matchlock. You do stuff a wad over the shot ball, right?

I am interested in making a bolt action rifle for cartridges using the .223 casing. I want three, so far, in .20 Tactical, .223, and .300 Fireball, but that can get expensive. I am not aware of any rifle ever manufactured on a mass scale that has had pushing the bolt into battery as the cocking method. It is always done either by manually cocking the striker or by lug cam when you close the bolt. This will mean I can make the receiver without the lug cam which is hard to make without special machinery. I don't know whether I want to learn how to run out wire EDMs or just use a modified broach to cut the bolt raceway.

[Nelokjer]

I bore the barrels to .38 or so and double patch a .35-.36 ball.

The Lee-Enfield operates in such as way.


The hammer rides in a slot in the bottom on the receiver. The peg on the bottom of the hammer (relative to pic) rides in the top notch when the hammer is up, preventing the firing pin from protruding from the bolt face.

When the bolt is locked into battery it turns to allow the peg to fall far enough for the firing pin to strike.
A little on the weak side as most have rear locking bolts (save the p14), but they have a much smoother bolt throw than a mauser or a nagant.

My speer load book says the .303 brit. is rated at 49000 PSI, so I think .223 would be a little over at 52000 psi. Dunno about the others.
All in all though, it's a nice, simple mechanism thats cheap to buy and not too complicated. (And was manufactured on a mass scale) You might study one. I really like them.

[Vargus]

Thanks, I didn't know that about the LE. I will have to do either some thinking or just plain over-engineering on the bolt head, like using 8620 instead of 4130. The receiver will definitely be strong enough for just about anything since it will be nothing but a bored out rod of 4130 like the Remington 700. I had also thought about not even worrying about lug raceways and just bore a hole slightly larger than the bolt, and use rear lugs that lock into a backbored slot in the receiver. Pretty unconventional, but it would definitely be easy to make with standard equipment. I'm not even quite sure why the lugs are always placed in the front of the bolt anyway. Maybe it has to do with typical accuracy when you have mass production tolerances?

And you just take a drill to make the barrel? You could have used a .375 reamer that would have made it a lot more uniform and smoother than just a drilll. Do you have plans of rigging u a rifling machine for any future ones?

[Nelokjer]

Seems feasible enough, but the front lugs are definitely best; Rear locking bolts have the tendency to compress over time, and ruin headspace;

Such is the problem of the LE. They were designed with 3 lengths of replaceable bolt head; Well, mine has the largest size available, and I have less than perfect headspace, so take that into account.

Im kinda working with no budget, though; just making toys.
Ive been toying with the idea of a hook rifler, just so I could legally play with cartridges instead of making muzzleloaders. Theres a lot more I'd like to get into doing, but I dont have many resources available.

What could I find off the shelf to rig a rifler guide?

[Nelokjer]

You might consider the design the military uses, they use a front locking bolt, and machine the locking grooves into the barrel breech; allowing the use of aluminum or plastic for the rest of the weapon. It wouldnt be very complicated, methinks. Sorry I dont recall the model...

[Vargus]

The simplest way I've seen:

YouTube - Hand Rifling

YouTube - Hand Rifling
Video: click to display

The cutter itself is a round piece, a couple thousandths smaller than your hole, with a slot cut in it at the same helix angle of your rifle. You will fit a hardened cutter into that slot such that there is very little play. The depth of cut is set using very thin shims. You will need some down to a couple tenths of thousandths to set the fine depth. The cutter itself must be very sharp, and resharpened with a very fine hone when it begins to get dull. It can only take a few tenths at a pass. I would suggest experimenting with a lard-based lube to make the cutting easier, smoother, and increasing tool life.

There are also more exotic cutter designs where the tool is raised using a ramp underneath it, and set using a very fine screw.

[Dr Porsche]

That's badass.

[Nelokjer]

Seems reasonable. After all, weve been doing it for a long time with simple tools.

[Vargus]

Originally Posted by Nelokjer

Seems reasonable. After all, weve been doing it for a long time with simple tools.

And as I said, this is the most basic. There is a more rigid setup using a big block of wood that was used a couple centuries ago. The same idea is also used on more modern machines. Of course, more compact and adjustable ones use a sine plate with a rack and pinion to rotate the cutter.

The really wild thing about it is that you can take your rifle tube, cut another rifle tube with it, lap that one, and keep going. After some number of iterations you will get a rifle tube that is virtually perfect. Toolmakers have been doing shit like that with lapping for a little over a century, and can make those forms on tools to under 50 millionths. So with a rigid enough setup, you can make match grade barrels.

[Vargus]

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/...?topic=12701.0
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb...achine-201777/

[Nelokjer]

New info. I took the little one out to play with, 30 grain charge, barrel full of rocks and crap. When I fired it, it make a loud metallic ping, and landed on the ground a few yards behind me. I think I may have to do some checkering Ive yet to test it with ball and patch, though.
/necro

[Mutant Funk Drink]

Hey man, you ought to make a video of it firing!

[is all mememememe with me]

thats pretty neat. i been thinking about how easy this would be for a while. if i was ever diagnosed with cancer or some horrid terminal disease i would definitely make one of these and then incorporate it into some kind of model or artwork. then when i was in hospital i would insist on having the ornament next to my bed. save having to rely on your nearest to put you out of your misery or having to go through all that undignified painful shit. so much easier.

[Vargus]

Originally Posted by is all mememememe with me

thats pretty neat. i been thinking about how easy this would be for a while. if i was ever diagnosed with cancer or some horrid terminal disease i would definitely make one of these and then incorporate it into some kind of model or artwork. then when i was in hospital i would insist on having the ornament next to my bed. save having to rely on your nearest to put you out of your misery or having to go through all that undignified painful shit. so much easier.

I learned recently that duelling pistols were made without rifling, to make them more sporting. You should definitely make a matched pair of flintlocks.