M1924 Sporter - cracking at tang

Brass doesn't rust, and it looks good with wood.

I myself don't like using drill rod in guns. It is same sort of steel as in drill bits. Hard but tends to be brittle. It doesn't take shock loads well. It is just my choice. I prefer spring stock if I need to used steel.

I wouldn't worry about the rod pushing out all the epoxy. The glue does need to be a lot, but just enough to fill all the voids.

-TL
 
I'm more than likely going to bed this with MarineTex, or PC-7. Not that agraglas is expensive...it's just I have Marine Tex, Devcon, PC-7, PC-11, even Splash Zone on hand. No reason to go buy stuff when I have materials on hand that others have successfully used.

As far as a release agent, or parting agent, I was thinking either vaseline, or Kiwi shoe polish...I hope I don't have a problem. Unless anyone here has used any of these epoxies and can suggest a better parting agent.

Lastly...The angles on the trigger (sear) and cocking sleeve are sharp, clean...I polished them to mirror. The trigger is actually...surprisingly...better than I thought would be using military parts. There is absolutely no creep. I would estimate trigger break at 4.5 LBS. This is not going to be a hunting gun. It's going to be a target rifle. I would like to bring the pull down two 4LBS, 3.5 would be ideal, or if I guesstimate is off, and rather 5lbs, a 4lbs would suffice. Just a teenie bit lighter would really be the cherry on the pie after all this work.

Two questions: I'm not going to buy 8mm snap caps that I'll use this one time and never need them again. I'm not going to make 20+ deprimed cases and do a hot glue deal. Is there any method I'm not thinking of to dry fire this rifle to measure trigger pull? I will need to dry fire it at least 20 times.

Secondly...The trigger spring, or sear spring, or trigger return spring no matter what you call it...is over power. It's got plenty of power that even taking 2 coils off wouldn't even put it in a dangerous trigger no return/reset condition. But I would only consider clipping a 1/2 coil, 1 coil at most. I also know the firing pin spring adds to the trigger pull weight. I'm not inclined to clip coils on the firing pin spring, as some of them military rounds need that hard hitting pin strike to light off those thick cup primers. But I don't think 1 coil would put me into light primer strike territory. What really effects the trigger break more...the firing pin spring or the trigger/sear spring?

All my rifles are collector grade guns, unadulterated in military configuration. This is rather my first in depth work over on a custom sporter mauser. Give me a 1911 or a M1A or FAL or AR or heck even a Winchester 290....and I could work them over blindfolded.
 
Not familiar with the epoxy products that are in your "inventory". Bedding compounds should have minimum shrinkage as it cures. Even the famous agraglas is only marginal I read. The best compound I have used is devcon steel putty.

Shoe polish is fine as release agent. But watch out for mechanical locks. If you allow that happens, no release agent in the whole wide world would save you. Preparation is the king. You may just have one chance to do it right.

4.5lb 2-stage trigger is already excellent. It is the delta between the stages that is important, not really the absolute weight. The rifle is already shooting superb before bedding. I wonder why the pursuit of perfecter than perfect. If you must, a over-travel limiter is probably a better use of efforts.

Snap caps for a mouser is moot.

-TL
 
What I use for pins is all thread, or just cut the head off a small screw. The threads hold the epoxy. I keep all thread, because I can cut it to the length I want. You can make pins, as mentioned, or by stock repair pins, that are grooved.
 
A couple more possibilities,just to kick off some creative thinking.There are a LOT of approaches that are fine.

You could drill a small pilot hole through,and make a shallow countersink or counterbore,not much,on each side.Cut your all thread,or whatever you use,slightly short..Mix your epoxy with the black dye they supply in Accra-glas.
Fill above flush and dress it off.You will have a black dot on each side.

A slightly more "rustic" but acceptable(to me) approach,use something with a head,similar in geometry to a nail.Make or find a small washer that will just slip over the pin.Drill,and once again make shallow counterbores.
Install with epoxy,set the washer over the pin,and peen the end of the pin.
IMO,done well,and cold blued,it could look fine. And its the IMO that counts.
I'm not ruled by my critics.
I have heard of taking a very sharp chisel,and curling up a shaving,leaving it attached,at the site of the pin.After the pin is installed,the shaving is glued back down as a veneer.I lack confidence in pulling it off,myself.


Tangolima:Please do it your way!!With my respect.We are entitled tour preferences.

FWIW,(not an argument) Some would say if the rifle is Walnut and blue steel,the ends of such a pin might look better following suite as blue steel.
But that is pure preference/opinion.Your way is fine.

In my experience,drill rod is usually sold in both hardened and unhardened conditions.It may be W-1 or O-1 tool steel,and sometimes is available in other alloys.
The advantage to drill rod is it comes OD ground to size.
As it comes,I have not used the W-1 much..I have used the O-1 extensively.Frankly,its not my favorite steel.My attempts to eyeball torch harden and draw parts HAS disappointed me with brittleness on more than one occasion..
With pro heat treating,its a lot better,which says my heat treating is poor.
And,like any oil hardening,it warps in quench

But,as purchased,soft or hard,I think it would hold up to the task of being a pin.

Now,if you need to make a gun part out of something "good"look up "Mold Core Pin" DME might be a supplier.
They are heat treated,od ground,and made of H-13.They come in two hardnesses.CS,and CX.I forget the Rockwells,but the CS will cut with high speed,and the CX willcut with carbide.
For really hard/tough,mold ejector pins are not only ground and polished,they are nitrided toover Rockwell 50C,maybe near 60.

Core pins and ejector pins come with heads,that are usually annealed.
A couple decades of moldmaking ....
 
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One more tip,on removing bedding compound.Its been discussed,that may not be epoxy.
I was handed the job of removing Accraglas from the forend of a nice Hi-wall custom rifle for a rebarrel.I really was not enthused about trying to clamp it in the vise of a Bridgeport,Or spending tedious time scraping.
My local "DoIt" hardware store had a paint stripper on the shelf that said it was for aircraft,and would remove aircraft epoxy paint.
I gave it a try,and it removes Accra Glas. FWIW.
 
Tango-Most people that have not been in the military won't understand, but eventhough some military actions have been made into pretty nice custom rifles, they are still military rifles.
Even FN Mausers are still M98 Mausers.
Military rifles are made to be used by soldiers while training.
One thing that soldiers do, is prove to an officer, non-com, or not, that their weapon is not loaded. To do so they are trained to open the action, check the chamber, and close the action. THEN they pull the trigger (dry fire) making a loud noise alerting not only the inspector, everyone within hearing that since there was no shot, the weapon is empty, therefor, safe.
The fact that the rifle is no longer a weapon (used to kill humans) does not alter the fact that it was built to be "abused" in this manner. This action would happen hundreds of thousands to millions of times during the life of the firearm.
If a person wants to baby their rifle it is their rifle.
In this case, a once-fired case with the fired primer, or even a new primer, though there would be a bit more noise, could be used to "protect" the firing pin.
We won't even mention the hundred or so times it would be done while setting a trigger-pull wouldn't bother anything, anyway.
I really don't think a 4.5# pull on a trigger is a target trigger, but that is pure opinion, on my part. My hunting rifles use EXACTLY 2# triggers, but I have quite a bit of trigger time. My target guns have lighter pulls, down to 2.5 oz!
They do take a bit of getting used to.
Have fun,
Gene
(OK, flame away. I've a strong back)
 
Well here is my the work I have performed so far.

I was wrong about the 2 stage trigger. Somebody, must have ground the hump on the trigger a while back. It is a single stage. Needless to say...I measure it at 5lbs and .07oz, consistent. Taken from the center of the trigger, midpoint of where the pad of your finger would be pulling it.

I have an assortment of springs...and everything else you could imagine. I found a spring same length and diameter as the stock spring, but slightly thinner coils. With this trigger/sear spring, I achieved a trigger break at 3 1/4 lbs. 3 Lbs and 5.6oz to be exact. Consistent. No problems with trigger reset. Trigger resets back into it's full position without issue. Any lighter however, trigger reset would be an issue.

I drilled crossbolts for both recoil lug and just forward of trigger. I used 1/8th brass rod, straight through, cut notches in the rod to hold epoxy. I filled the holes solid with epoxy, smeared the rods and tapped them in. They are curing as we speak. I will later cut/grind/sand the protruding ends flush to the wood.

My next step is to remove material at the tang and radius, as the action contacts the wood. I cannot even slip a .015" feeler gauge between the wood and rear of the action tang.

To finish this project up...I have but only two questions.

1.) The barrel is not free floated. Since I'm going through all these lengths...should I free float the barrel while I am at it? I cannot even slide a piece of printer paper between barrel and stock, let alone a dollar bill. Rifle shot good the way it was...should I leave it be, and free float in the future or go ahead and free float it? If so...guys have done this two ways, and I do not know which method is better or preferred. Obviously, remove the material and free float the barrel. Bed rifle as one normally would. But I have seen after the barrel is free floated, when bedding, using blue painter's tape (1 or 2 layers) wrapped around barrel (release agent applied to tape) and the entire length of the stock bedded. After the action removed and tape taken off, the tape created a clearance between the bedding and barrel. Which method would be best?

2.) The crack at the tang in the stock. The crack itself isn't bad, where major surgery and notching and replacement of wood is necessary. Should I drilled a hole at the end of the crack, at an angle, like a wrist pin, and epoxy it in like I did so with the cross bolts? As far as the crack itself...it is not deep, to very large. I'm trying to think of a method of repair to hid the crack, cosmetically, as well as fix it. I know some have repaired minor things like this by filling with shellac or glue, and lightly sanding...using the own sawdust of the sanding to fill in the area.
 
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