Use a file card (steel wire brush) to clean out the teeth regularly and add chalk frequently. Rubbing some chalk into the teeth of the file will prevent metal slivers from hanging up in the file teeth and galling or gauging the surface you are trying to keep smooth. The file is then drawn back and forth, shaving metal as you go. It sure beats the arm-tiring drudgery of draw filing.) Draw filing is done with a smooth cut file, holding the file teeth at 90 degrees to the face of the flat. (If you have a surface grinder, by all means employ it on this stage. The next step in the process is draw filing each barrel flat to remove the endmill tool marks. This was done to make sure all the barrelВ’s flats were the same size and distance from the bore centerline and that all the little manufacturing dings and dents were removed. After determining the lowest point of each octagonal flat, it took eight passes with the milling cutter, removing an average of 0.010-inch on each pass, to true up the outside of the barrel. The table was run back and forth, with the barrel held under a dial indicator to ensure that the milling would be on a flat and straight plane. One end of the barrel was placed in a tailstock center at one end of the millВ’s table and the other clamped tightly in a milling vise. Some of the edges along the octagonal flats were dinged a bit as well, so I decided to true up the barrel in the milling machine. The blank, approximately 24 inches long, measured just less than 0.75-inch across the flats although there were slight deviations at various points. When the new barrel blank arrived, I cleaned it with petroleum solvent to remove all grease and thoroughly inspected the barrelВ’s quality. Once this screw is backed off, the barrel can be separated from the receiver. A knurled-head takedown screw on the bottom front portion of the receiver secures the barrel to the receiver. The knurling, which resembles metal checkering, can then be turned down until the shank-to- receiver fit is tight. Set up the barrel in your lathe and use a knurling tool on the shank, which will raise the metal in the area about 0.010-inch. If you want to keep the original barrel on the Favorite rifle you are restoring, a sloppy fit can be fixed by knurling the barrel shank. for about $8 more than a barrel liner cost. 22 caliber octagon barrel blank from Gun Parts, Inc. I chose the second option because the shank of the barrel that went into this particular receiver did not fit as tightly as I thought it should and I could get a. 22 caliber octagon blank and replace it outright. My only apparent options were to sleeve or reline the barrel to. This combination of blackpowder and corrosive primers was harmful to the softer steel barrels of the day, especially if they werenВ’t cleaned shortly after shooting. Up until about 1927, rimfire primer mixes used mercury styphinate, which is very corrosive. The ammunition for this rifle used a charge of 12 to 13 grains of blackpowder to propel a 90 grain lead bullet. Obviously, something had to be done about the barrel and the. Then I had to figure out exactly what it would take in order to accomplish that objective. The loadВ’s effective range is about 50 yards and it has a rainbow-like trajectory.Дuring a temporary lull at the shop, it occurred to me that the old rifle just might be worth converting to.

32 Long rimfireВ’s ballistics have me convinced I would do better hunting with a club than the round. Among other things, I learned that ammunition was going to be difficult to obtain and not all that impressive if I could find it. Researching this rifle became almost an obsession to me. The problem was that the rifle was chambered for the old and obsolete. I wonВ’t tell you the price I paid because youВ’d probably get mad at me. That certainly was the case with a Model 1915 Stevens Favorite I acquired not long ago. Whether the subject of your project is completely restoring an obsolete revolver, shotgun or rifle, or merely refurbishing a semi-modern design, youВ’ll no doubt learn more about that particular firearm than you knew before you started. In my mind, spending the long winter months doing this is much better than channel surfing the television. Garage sales, estate auctions and newspaper ads can produce a gem of a project every now and then. There are countless special projects the experienced gunsmith can make a living on but there are probably as many that an enthusiastic gun owner can accomplish with time and patience. Collaborating on ideas with the customer, discussing what can be done and what is impractical, is sometimes as challenging as completing the project itself. Restoring what seems to be a hopeless case gives me the most gratification. You do gunsmithing for any length of time, you develop a preference for certain types of jobs.

Stevens favorite 22 rifle