Cap Guns Anyone?

As mentioned in my last post, I also do cap guns. I've always felt that your first rifle should be special and I've decided to do something about it.

Here's a few photo's of some of my cap gun projects.

 All handcrafted in steel, copper and a nicely figured stock. The lock works and clicks with authority.

Another one with not so bold a stock, but a good view of the steel butt plate.

One of the few guns I've done with walnut. They're quite pleasant and traditional but no pop.

This is one of my fav's. Sort of a muskatoon with a too skinny wrist,

Here it is full size.

That's all for today. Next post, Daisy Model 25 Rest-o-mod with new butt stock and highlighted engraving!

Some new Pix

Works in progress.

I've pictured this Model 25 before and was not happy with the stock I made to the factory pattern. It now has a glue up curly maple stock that is being roughed out for finger grooves. I think it'll finish up nice.

Same gun, different angle.

This is a salvaged Model 1938B Daisy Red Rider not more than 10 years old. I picked it up a at local yard sale for a buck because of it having a flattened muzzle due to a unspecified garage mishap. It's morphed over the years from a rude and  crude hacksaw Mare's Leg to it's current state. It's fireblued, in possession  of a classic cast aluminum lever and super jazzy curly maple grip and finger grooved forearm. Shoot's well too.

The shop rack. These are mostly done. I do cap guns too.

That's all for today.

Red Ryder 3 is done (ish)

Red Ryder #3 is Daisy Model 94 Red Ryder Carbine that got rode hard and put up wet. A number of times. This one survived a crushed receiver, a failed mainspring support that was replaced by a 16 penny nail that over time bent into a pleasant "U" shape and the worst pitting I've seen so far.

It's also missing the signature latigo loop and supporting hardware as well as the the flip over peep sight/v-notch rear sight. The existing rear sight bracket does have a notch filed into it for your convenience, not a factory solution but it does work. There are also two small holes drilled into the rear of the receiver to aid in butt retention or something. This photo gives some clues as to the abuse this Red Ryder has endured.

The stocks are glue-up curly (ish) maple. They are not as vibrant as I had hoped but that is the nature of wood. This side shows some more of the waffly nature of the receiver. Still and all, the little gun shoots and has enough power for range events but does not fare well in a "Cut to Can" match.

This is the bottle cap after filing and fire bluing. An excellent example of why you're supposed to wipe everything down before making photos.

Here's a group shot of the Red Ryder gang. From the top, a Model 94 Red Ryder Carbine missing a few bits, #2 is a #111 Model 40 Rest-o-mod Red Ryder and #3 a complete Model 94 Red Ryder Carbine.

I've got a Model 111 on the bench at the moment and rustled up yet another Model 94 receiver  with no internals as well. That'll top the Red Ryder Bottlecap gang out at 5.

Until I happen upon number 6.

Red Ryder #2 is done

Red Ryder #2 is off the bench and in the rack. Here are some pictures of the effort.

As you can see this is sporting my new Martini style cocking lever, it's also got a .250 thick all steel trigger that is finished bright but due to my deplorable 'Photo Stand' it looks blue. It's not, it's silvery shiny. The stock on #2 is a two piece glue up from roughly 1" thick curly maple. I like this style stock because it adds heft to these little guns and helps them really stand out.

I also hand file the bottlecaps to remove dents and dings and highlight the bronze ring around the bore. Not needed but much better appearance.

This is a view of the buttplate. All my Daisy rest-o-mods have buttplates. They're fire blued like all the other bits and do help keep the guns from getting damaged.

Here's the roll stamp lightly highlighted by some gold stick.

Red Ryder #3 is in process and should be finished by the weekend. I'll post when it's done.

Building better mousetraps or at least a old school Daisy lever

What do you do when you want an old school Daisy lever that's not curved? Make one.
 
I have a preference for straight grip musket style stocks on the the Daisy's I rest-o-mod and they are not common on the Red Ryder platform in any vintage. Nor are they readily available on any of the internet parts sites.

Since all the cast aluminum levers I've come across are a pretty uniform 1/4" thick I decided to head over to the local big box and pick up some 1/4" x 2" steel. It's plenty strong enough to fabricate a BB gun lever.

I've also had misgivings about the traditional lever shape on the Daisy's because during a speed shooting event like 'Cut the Can' you never get back to a full grip as you're blasting BB's as fast as humanly possible to reduce that aluminum soda can to two chunks. The top of the lever gets in the way. I've also wondered what increasing the lever length might do for improving the reload cycle.
So I found out.

Pretty damn jazzy. The lack of a traditional loop gets my hand back into firing position after reloading and cocking the beast. The Martini style loop gets kicked out by my firing hand thumb and then palmed as I rock the muzzle to cock the beast and then on to the next shot. Nice and fluid.

And unique.

Next post is all about triggers. Well not all about them, just the ones I make on occasion.

Red Ryder Done

My first Red Ryder restock is done. Due to the thinness of the receiver I opted to add some "Palm Swell" strips to the grip area to fill it out. The next one will be done with two pieces of fiddleback maple and then shaped. I'll also go with a slender forearm and see how my Martini lever project looks on it.

 

This gun is an older bottlecap Model 94 that had leather seals. Well, the remnants of them anyway. That and the missing plunger tube compelled me to modify the newer rubber/poly seals and new plunger tube to get it to shoot. Real fiddly-bits, but it'll knock cans and toy soldiers off the garage range so it's all good.

This is a close up of the "palm swells" I opted for to improve the grip and you can see some of the color play on the receiver from the fire blue process I use. I go with a satin look because  these old Daisy's all have rust and pits and dents and dings.

Found an old stick of Birchwood Casey Gold Stick in a cupboard and had at it. I like it.

That's all or now, by the end of the week I should have Red Ryder #2 done with a Martini style lever and billet trigger. It'll also be sporting a full glue up stock and maybe a cheek rest. Then it's on to Red Ryder #3,

Custom Daisy's

As far as I can tell, these custom Daisy model 99's, 98, 96 and 95's are unique on planet earth.

It's amazing the kind of transformation you can achieve with a propane torch and some wittlin' time on salvaged Fiddleback Maple. These old daisy wide frames are an absolute pleasure to shoot now that they fit like custom guns ought to and have enough weight to make the firing cycle pretty effortless. There's nothing like dumping 500+ bb's down the loading hatch and shooting these guns dry. Takes a while.

They're all yard sale survivors and I wish I'd taken more before and after shots but here's the few I have.

And here's one before fire bluing the receiver on a Model 25 parts gun that came with a shoe box but no stocks.

I started my first Red Ryder this week and should have some photo's after the week end.

Later!

Fun with Guns that aren't Guns!

Wowser! A muzzle loading full auto flechette firing battery powered hand held mini-gun sling shot!

I'd love to see the build sheet on this and then mod it for a stately copper and brass steampunk look.

Check out the guys site and enter the contest and subscribe to his YouTube channel, great fun for all!

Libertarians and the 2nd Amendment

1968, 1986, 1994 and by extension, today's discussions on Gun Control rage on.

I have yet to meet an non-Second Amendment  compliant Libertarian and most of the guys and gals I hang with have skill sets to match their personal inventories. They are the epitome of responsible gun owners and a major bonus is their grasp of the history of the Republic and the importance of the natural right to defense of self and others.

Libertarian Chuck Donovan lays it out in this video from three years ago. It was shot River Bend Gun Club during the course of an afternoon's entertainment on the range. Please note that this is the only take we made that day and Chuck wrote the script on the fly as he was speaking.

His thoughts and words were valid in 2010 and are valid today.

A Blast from the Past, Bludgeon & Skewer Circa 2009

Begging for Money.. er,ummh.... Fund Raising! 14 JUL 09

Hey Kids,

Well, the old cash register is ringing here at Bludgeon & Skewer! Our nascent little website is actually making money due to the Adsense ads we have running on the site below the navigation bar. It ain't time to conduct a leveraged buy-out of CBS, but the fact that there is currently enough in the account to pick up a 12 Pack of Bud Ice blows us away. It's more raw cash than any of our other activities has raised, as opposed to the millions of dollars we have helped cost our republican and democrat friends in last year's run-off for the US Senate seat here in Georgia.  Who says the Libertarians can't effect change?

Which brings us the central theme of this particular screed. Fund raising. Beggin' for money. moochin' for moolah, simpering for samolians and all around caterwauling for cash. Your cash. If we don't get it from you, where are we supposed to get it? We sure as hell don't have any of our own. No rich Uncles here, or trust fund cougars charmed by our peculiar brand of political adventurism. In fact, our little organization is completely cash free. As for that little bit of change under the counter,  well, the cats got it.

But there seems to be a way that the ol' B&S campaign fund can grow. Not by using the money of our somewhat quirky readership, but by harnessing the power of the internet and the terrible thirst that traditional political campaigns have for email lists, Facebook hits and all sorts of other contrived indicators of shifting public opiniion and political currents. The really cool part of this idea is that not only can you, the reader, generate money so some good ol' Tin Hat polishin',  Heinlein readin',  Star Trek watchin' Libertarians can take a brick bat to the entrenched political parties, you can make it happen with somebody else's freakin' money! 

How can I do this you ask in astonishment? I don't have any money either! Haven't you heard there's a freakin' Man-cession going on? 

Brother,  we have heard and we are part of it as well. If business was good do you think we'd have time to think about politics? Hell no, we'd be out there working  to make some bucks, buy some kool stuff and spend more time honing our shooting skills. Like you we ain't got a spare cent. But there are evidently some folks out there awash with cash. The republicans and democrats. Political campaigns that is.

Times are so hard that some of them are payin' good ol' adsense up to $2 to $3 for a single hit. How do we know this at Bludgeon & Skewer? We read our adsense account info and see that at least one political ad on our site generated $1.13 hit on our site two days ago. A $1.13 for one stinking hit on a free website that gets about 450 visits a month. Can you believe that? We almost can't, but Google says its so. 

So here's the plan. If any of you like what you read on this site, scroll down to the bottom and click on one of the adsense ads under the navigation bar. Google calls this alternative content and it's supposed to complement the stuff you see here. And it does, my favorite is the ad for Al Franken, you know the democratic that successfully stole that senate seat up north. Click on his ad but be aware that McAffee does have a site advisory on it. Click just one ad please, don't go overboard and get all crazy and stuff. 

Here's the hard part of it, come back tomorrow and do it all over again. Just think about being part of a slow fuse money bomb with someone else's money. That's a hell of a joke!

More to follow from you friendly neighborhood Libertarian  Community Organizers!