That would depend on the cartridge you choose. Big difference between .22 and a .357. Additionally no one is going to be able to answer that question with any degree of certainty. I'd start with a .22 just to prove that the concept will work and worst case scenario is that you have to build a 2nd cylinder with a stronger steel when the first one gives out.
Calamity of caliber choices
- Thread starter xandi
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That would depend on the cartridge you choose. Big difference between .22 and a .357. Additionally no one is going to be able to answer that question with any degree of certainty. I'd start with a .22 just to prove that the concept will work and worst case scenario is that you have to build a 2nd cylinder with a stronger steel when the first one gives out.
I am far from knowledgeable about metallurgy. I would think you are wasting time, energy and effort not to mention wearing out tools by working with unknown steel/metal that are not proper for the purpose. Why not spend a little money on a known material(s). As another poster has already stated, you will need different types of steel for the different parts.
As we have all read various manufacturers had a dickens of a time with early attempts at manufacturing stainless steel firearms. Their tooling was not adequate for the hardness of stainless. I think one would want to have the appropriate cutting, grinding and drilling tool heads, cutters, bits, or whatever for the application. It has to be time consuming even for auto cad applications in the setting and adjustments of tools for the various patterns for each part. I am sure my ignorance is showing.
One would suspect the material cost might be minor compared to the overall cost especially when you are talking in terms of a single handgun.
As we have all read various manufacturers had a dickens of a time with early attempts at manufacturing stainless steel firearms. Their tooling was not adequate for the hardness of stainless. I think one would want to have the appropriate cutting, grinding and drilling tool heads, cutters, bits, or whatever for the application. It has to be time consuming even for auto cad applications in the setting and adjustments of tools for the various patterns for each part. I am sure my ignorance is showing.
One would suspect the material cost might be minor compared to the overall cost especially when you are talking in terms of a single handgun.
This guy built a Lamborghini in his basement, from scratch. Sooo. Yeah, you can build a pistol if you decide to.
https://jalopnik.com/5954486/the-ma...hini-replica-in-his-basement-wants-to-sell-it
https://jalopnik.com/5954486/the-ma...hini-replica-in-his-basement-wants-to-sell-it
Driftwood Johnson
New member
You know, I could grab one of my Colts and measure the cylinder wall thickness, but I am not going to. This is such a bad idea, that I am not going to encourage it by writing down any technical information beyond buying a particular book.
Not 100% sure what you are trying to say, but if you are trying to compare Ruger, Colt, and, Browning with a guy who wants to try building a complicated firearm as his first effort, you are all wet. John Browning apprenticed for years with his father, who was also a gunsmith, before he started designing firearms on his own. And with all due respect, Browning was a genius, with dozens of patents to his name. He had forgotten more than most of us will ever know about designing guns. Bill Ruger was a talented mechanical engineer who knew how to use new concepts, such as Investment Castings, to produce firearms more economically than his competitors. Sam Colt was not a gun maker, he was an entrepreneur. He relied on others to iron out the details of how to put his ideas into production. Colt's most enduring contribution to firearms manufacturing was using ideas created by the industrial revolution to mass produce firearms.
Bill, Sam, and John all started somewhere with design and building, and by the way I'm not "all wet" I am completely dry. Do we know this guy? Do we know his background? He may be a genius. He may be the next JM Browning. He is being criticized because he is stepping out and trying something out of the norm. Just because some here thinks he can't do it doesn't mean he can't. Most geniuses were thought to be crazy when starting out with a new idea. He may be one of those.
Bill DeShivs
New member
"Any flaws in my thoughts"
I don't know where to start......
I don't know where to start......
Driftwood Johnson
New member
Me too.
Basing your project on what dies you have on hand is not practical. By the time you finish this project, you will have spent far more money than a set of reloading dies. Buying a new set of dies should not be a deciding factor.
Machining a 9mm hole? You do realize that a rifled barrel will have a land diameter (the bore) less than the rifling groove diameter? Just curious how you plan to rifle the barrel. If you bore the barrel at .357 (pretty close to 9mm) you will have machined away the metal that would form the lands of the rifling.
Again, I think this project is far more complicated than you think.
I can't even tell what you're last post is supposed to say, but .355 is the minimum groove diameter for a .357 Magnum. Using a groove diameter of .357 would be the more acceptable standard unless you plan on firing a bunch of 9mm bullets through the gun.
.346 is the bore diameter for .357 Magnum.
.346 is the bore diameter for .357 Magnum.
Driftwood Johnson
New member
OK, let's look at John M Browning. He apprenticed to his father, a gunsmith, when he was around 15 years old. At this time he was mostly repairing muzzle loaders, so that is what he cut his teeth on. When he was 23 he was repairing a single shot cartridge rifle and he became so exasperated with it that he told his father, "I could make a better gun than this myself". His father replied, "I know you could John Mose. And I wish you'd get at it. I'd like to live to see you do it"*
So at the age of 23 he designed and patented his first gun, a single shot cartridge rifle that later became the Winchester Model 1885.
My point is he did not start designing guns with revolvers, semi-auto rifles, pistols or shotguns, lever action rifles, or machine guns. He started simply with a single shot cartridge rifle, then moved on from there to become the most prolific gun designer in American history.
He started small.
The original poster of this thread would do well to follow Browning's example and start simple, with something like a single shot pistol, then move on to something more complicated like the SAA after he had some experience with something simpler.
*John M Browning, American Gunmaker, by John Browning and Curt Gentry.
I wouldn't want to be a child to some of you. God forbit you not understand the granular structure of pine and how it effects strength or the bearing force of a roller skate wheel on your soap box derby car, you'd obviously kill yourself.
There is such a thing as learning as you go, making mistakes and fixing them etc. And god forbid his gun not be the height of perfection in your eyes when he is done.
Maybe if you dont have something constructive to say you should just leave it alone rather than being sticks in the mud.
There is such a thing as learning as you go, making mistakes and fixing them etc. And god forbid his gun not be the height of perfection in your eyes when he is done.
Maybe if you dont have something constructive to say you should just leave it alone rather than being sticks in the mud.