doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Sidelever falling block build along

Building the first run of sidelever falling block actions, I've documented the process so far.

The first step obviously is to extract the action from the plate of 8620 steel in which it is contained. I am fortunate to have a wire EDM in house. While it is capable of far greater accuracy than is required for simply profiling the action, precision is never wasted.





Once the batch of action bodies are all profiled, holes are drilled to located the starting point for the wire path to cut the breech block cavity, and a fixture is made to hole the actions during the cut.



Breech blocks were wire cut before I started on the actions. The fit is extremely precise with .001" clearance for movement. Wire EDM is a very slow process and it's done under a powerful flush of water to cool the wire and clear eroded metal from the cut.�



The tang surfaces are machined with tapers in both horizontal and vertical axis. There are also flats left on the interior edges of the tangs to index onto the inletting of the stock to negate any movement of the action once it's seated. Actions are secured to the stock with a drawbolt.

From there the pockets for the trigger group, cocking lever and extractor are machined. Also the hole in the side of the action for the sidelever stem.



Actions are flipped over and the cartridge trough is machined in. A mock assembly of the sidelever, breech block and trigger group housing ( also made before the action bodies were started) is hard to resist.

The trigger group is removeable and tuneable for pull weight and sear engagement. The rim of a cartridge can be used to push back the locking plunger at the rear of the trigger group pocket in the bottom tang.

I don't know what these will look like in the end, but they sure look interesting now! I love the independent trigger group.

The tangs look unnecessarily thick and heavy. Will they be thinned down in final form?

What sorts of chamberings are appropriate for these?

Any completed rifles to look at?

WOW!
Great thread
You are talented
Thank you for sharing
Mike

Brent,

The top tang is left a little thicker towards the rear because it will house part of the safety mechanism, so it will be largely hollow. These actions are also made to be a bit smaller than most falling blocks. 2.25" tall. They have plenty of steel where it is needed though. They can be chambered up to 9.3x74R or .405 Win.

Set in another fixture dedicated to the machining of the face of the action and associated steps. A 2" deep hole is drilled at the center of the hole for the barrel. This establishes the center of the bore and the center of the pocket for the striker and that the two are perfectly aligned.



The face of the action is trued to ensure it is perfectly perpendicular to the bore. This is where the barrel seats and is a very important step to ensure accuracy. Not unlike facing the end of a bolt rifle action.



Now the hole for the barrel can be machined. The breech block is in the action during this setup, so the bottom of the barrel hole will form the face for the breech block in a very precise manner. Not only will it be perpendicular, it is also machined to a known depth allowing the machining of the barrel shank to be done to the exact length. The breech block is tilted forward 3 degrees, so accurately cutting the breech block face any other way would be far more time consuming and wouldn't yield the precision this setup offers.

Also, the picture below shows the location of the center of the bore is well below the top edge of the breech block pocket. This allows the full diameter of the chamber, and case thrust for firing, are fully supported in the action. Even though the breech block extends to the bottom of the action, this helps prevent the case thrust from torquing the breech block and further localizing the area of the action that would absorb the case thrust. Having the camber area fully supported keeps the distribution of the case thrust over a much more broad area.

With the barrel hole machined, the threads can be machined with a thread mill. Precision threads cut in perfect alignment with the hole, the action face and breech block face.



The finished barrel shank hole and threads

Great thread Baily. Is this an action you designed from scratch, or an adaptation of an existing design? I really enjoyed the thread you posted some years ago with your redesigned Farquharson action.
I can't wait to see how these actions and rifles turn out. Very interesting seeing details of the build. Thanks for sharing it with us.

I did design this action, but as form follows function, there are older designs that are similar. It's a striker fired action, so it has similar parts other striker fired designs.

My website has more pictures of the prototype and a thorough description of the action.

http://www.bradshawgunandrifle.com/sidelever-falling-block.html

trigger group housings. First profiled out of 1/2" plate, holes spotted for the pivot points of the trigger and sear, and a window that displays the trigger/ sear engagement.




The housings are then surface ground to final thickness, slotted to accept internal parts, holes drilled and reamed, and the parts are deburred.

.

Triggered.....

Triggers and sears installed in the housings. Next will be to install springs, adjustment and set screws. The triggers are adjustable for pull and seat engagement. The larger house in the housing is for viewing the sear/trigger engagement.

Also, the pivot point for the trigger is towards the rear. This reduces the amount of travel at the blade of the trigger, but amplifies the travel at the front. This reduces felt creep. The forces acting on the trigger from the mainspring to the sear are perpendicular to the pivot point of the trigger. Again, to reduce drag, creep and helps make the trigger more crisp

It's fascinating watching a master machinist at work.

There are many who could do the machine work from drawings.
Very few who can do the design, then build it.
Impressive work.
Chuck

Shot of few videos filing up one of the sidelevers. This just gets the lever to shape and ready to start polishing.

https://youtu.be/MA8YVJESIqE

https://youtu.be/wJ1drdP_5Kc

https://youtu.be/WgkgPIrKei8

https://youtu.be/h0hvQlxwR0E

https://youtu.be/t9VYpmslZc0

Do you use chalk on the files to prevent clogging and, if so, how often?

On the roughing files I used in the videos, no chalk. They don't tend to clog. In fine files I do chalk them. Not always, as some materials don't tend to load them, but as often as necessary when they do want to load. Sometimes every few strokes.

Making more progress on the sidelever actions. Safety is installed and operates smoothly and crisp. It blocks both the sear and trigger.

You are building 5 of these it seems. Do you have homes for all of them? I'm not angling to buy one, but I am curious if you are building to order or have specific plans for all 5.

They sure look good to me.

The 5 I am building are all sold. Two will have barrels installed before leaving.

I will start another run in three weeks. One of them is an order, the other 4 are not spoken for yet.

Filed up the trigger guard and trigger. Sure makes a difference to add some shape

This action is ready to harden the internal components and polish every surface. It cocks, fires, extractor is timed and stout, safety works and it opens and closes like butter. I'll polish it up and get on to the next action. One at a time at this point

Let the polishing begin. Start with files where needed, then stone from 220 to 400 and move to paper up to 400. A little wd-40 for lubricant.

This one is 99% finished. Amazing what a good polish will do. Fully functional and ready to barrel. It will wear a Brux barrel and be chambered for the 6.5x65R cartridge. Very comparable to the 6.5-06 but with a rim. It also has an incredibly beautiful stock blank of curly Turkish walnut selected.













I will make a video that goes through all of the features and operation in the next day or so.

The action is barreled with a Brux 6.5 chrome molly, chambered in 6.5X65R. It's fully funtional and ready for stocking.











https://youtu.be/6WbFkeThzLA

Here is the stock blank for the 6.5X65R barreled action. Well selected by the customer. Should turn a stunner of a stock. I won't be stocking it. That will be done by Aaron Little. Very talented and will do a fantastic job.

I have to say that there is no comparison between Bailey Bradshaw's promotion on this site and SKB's. Keith attacks SKB because he does not like him. Bradshaw gets a pass. I happen to appreciate both series of posts. The difference between them is that Bradshaw hasn't offered a political opinion. As self-appointed political policeman, Keith has decided that we ought to be rid of one and enjoy the other. I say, who asked you, Keith?

Thanks much Bailey for the great set of pictures. I've been following along since the beginning.

Gee Billy, it would appear that the only political opinions that are acceptable to you are those which are in support of Liberal Left anti-gun Democrats.

For you to stew over this matter for over a week since you started whining about it, and now come up with such a lame and ignorant post, shows us the depth of your intelligence. Of course I don't like SKB.... any more than I like you. He is a closet liberal who bashes our pro-gun President Donald Trump and our NRA... which certainly explains your attraction and affection for him. He is also a gutless coward who chose to endanger my family by engaging in internet doxxing.

Mr. Bradshaw has a small link to his website, and a grand total of 40 posts.

Stevie has been running a continuous advertising campaign with a link to his website, and additional blatant free advertising of his gunsmithing and gun importing businesses. Knowing full well of Dave Weber's thoughts about the use of his forums for personal gain, Stevie chose to step up his advertising. Stevie also frequently offers his services for personal financial gain within his posts. While Stevie is very busy joining you in acting like a Liberal ass, Mr. Bradshaw is extremely busy designing innovative rifle actions and building beautiful and functional rifles from scratch. In addition, Mr. Bradshaw is intelligent enough to refrain from supporting the anti-gun politicians who would eventually make his profession as a gunsmith both obsolete and illegal. SKB Stevie has 4572 total posts. That's 4572 versus 40 Billy.

If you see equivalence between these two scenarios, then you are quite a bit more stupid than I ever imagined. Sad to think that people like you teach kids in public schools.

I always appreciated the knives Bailey made-both fixed blades and later his move into folders.

Just because someone makes their living as a gun maker doesn't mean they're advertising by showing us their work. And posts like yours that are some form of attack on his doing so simply end up depriving the rest of us from being able to see this work if the gentleman decides to stop sharing.
A huge difference from someone who uses the forum to promote his classes. As you mentioned, there is no comparison, so why turn this great thread into an extension of your feud?

Bailey;

Your work and design are excellent and it is most generous of you to share your work process and your techniques. Such generosity is not often encountered among the trade. I remember Jack Rowe telling me that even when he was a teen age apprentice in the late 1940's in the gun trade in Birmingham, that when he would be delivering or picking up parts from the various gunmakers shops that many of the gunmakers would place an apron over any work that they were doing when he walked into their shop so he could not see how they were performing their tasks. When I first visited some of the gun trade in Birmingham 20 years ago they were more open about their work, but there was still much protection of their knowledge--which is quite understandable especially with such skills learned in color case hardening and barrel blacking.

I think that it is poetic that you happen to live in the town named after the Greek goddess of hunting. I still miss living in Texas it was the best place I ever lived in my career. Even my wife loved it as well.

I was viewing your photo of milling the threads for the barrel insertion into the action; do you happen to use one of the German Decker style milling machines?

Kindest Regards
Stephen

With regard to people showing their work here, other people that aspire to improve can never do so if they never have a chance to see good work.
Mike

Mike, I fully agree, and I have no interest in their political affiliations. Featuring instruction here that makes such work possible is every bit as important as the work itself. We need to do all we can to preserve the skills that make good gun-making possible. The world coming up has little interest in making anything mechanical, and we're losing hundreds of years of hard earned knowledge and skill.

Someone needs to get a life. And it a'int Bailey or SKB.

Wait a minute Billy... it was you who brought up political opinions in this thread. That was in your childish, whiny, and ridiculous response where you saw equivalence in Bailey Bradshaw's small link, included in his excellent, but relatively few posts, and the constant stream of blatant free advertising done by your liberal pal Stevie.

And that B.S. line about doing all we can to preserve gun making skills was a real joke too. Your primary interest appears to be supporting and electing anti-gun Liberal Left Democrats... anti-gunners who wish to ban guns and impose restrictions on the manufacture of guns and ammunition. But for some reason, you post most all of your support for anti-gunners in the main Double Gun Forum where a lot of your rifle buddies won't likely see it.







...lots more where that came from... direct from a guy who claims to have no interest in political affiliations...right Billy?

People here can't read.I never objected to Bailey's posts. What I detest is Keith's selective outrage-- that and his very existence. I don't care about posters' politics IF their posts are interesting and informative. I can't say it any clearer than that. Keith, thanks again for amplifying my message. I appreciate your effort to get the word out. PS: Do all our veterans here approve the President's abandonment of our Kurdish allies? RWTF must find Trump's performance as CIC a bit uncomfortable. All Trump fans should read Gen James Mattis' interview in the current issue of Atlantic magazine. You won't find coverage like this on FOX National Enquirer NEWS.

It took 40 years for people to forget about us stabbing our South Vietnamese friends in the back, now this. Who will believe us now? Much of our trouble in the "Sand Box" comes from the Allies dividing it up after the "Great War" IAW their political desires instead of the historical divisions of the past. Leaving out a "Kurdistan" is only one example.
Mike

Very interesting, thanks.

Craig hyperventilating as usual. No one could possibly make sense of his word salad. Der Ami, no one will believe us, nor should they so long as our Liar-in Chief occupies his throne. Hopefully, that won't be much longer. There's a great deal to do to restore the United States in its position in the world. Trump's heroes live in Russia, The Phillipines, and North Korea. Could there possibly be a better working definition of treason?

Nice work!

Craig, I am interested in nice rifles and craftsmanship. My vitriol is not intended to divide. It is my attempt at a wake-up call. I very much desire to see our country reunited. That can only happen when Republicans accept the existence of an objective reality. There are no alternative facts. Once we accept a common reality, we can have a civil discussion in which we can respectfully disagree about how best to deal with it. We're not getting anywhere nowadays just beating one another up. This sounds a lot more self-righteous than I mean to be. I don't pretend to have the answers.

Bill,
The "Liar in chief" preceded President Trump. Obama was the one trying to please the Russians(" Tell Vlad. I will have more flexibility after the election").We can see how far Obama got with NOKO and the Phillipines. Treason? You must be out of your mind. I never went out of my way to start an argument with you, why did you start in on me?
Mike

Der Ami, I have no quarrel with you. My treason comment was directed at Craig. If it offends you, that was not my intent.

Wait a second. Keith hadn't even posted on this fine build thread when you brought up his name and compared this thread to SKB's open invitation to attend classes!
Now you're blaming others for your post that detoured a fine thread into political ramblings? Is there some reason you can't leave politics and personal feuds out of this thread?

I never objected to Bailey's posts.

I have never offered classes.

Vall:

I think you have confused Steve Bertram with Stephen Dodd Hughes. It's Mr. Hughes that offers the classes.

Rem

It was Billy's friend Steven Dodd Hughes that used this forum as a vehicle for his free advertising of his over-priced stock making classes. When I brought it up... after he started shit with me... he called me on the phone from (406) 222-9377 in an obviously drunken stupor. He threatened to engage in internet doxxing. But after our little talk, where I politely informed him that Livinston, Montana was not far enough away from me to be safe, he came to his senses. Instead, he got SKB Stevie, BrentD, and Bob Cash to do what he was afraid to do. These are the kind of spineless cowards that Billy prefers to have here.

Billy thinks I am doing him a favor by repeating his support for anti-gunners and his diatribes against our pro-gun President Donald Trump and our NRA. So he should be happy, right? But Billy isn't too bright. He refuses to acknowledge his Anti-gun hero Obama's ass-kissing of Vladimir Putin, and how Obama became the Father of ISIS by ignoring the advice of his Generals and pulling all troops out of Iraq. And we will never see Trump doing anything as foolish (or treasonous) as entering a deal which all but guaranteed that radical Islamist Iran would have nuclear weapons. None of that, or Obama's many other failures, matters to Billy because he also prefers anti-gun Liberal Left Democrats to be in power... in spite of the threat they pose to our gun rights.

It is sad to see how Billy derailed a very interesting thread. But it is great to see him bring his vitriol and hatred for our pro-2nd amendment President Donald Trump to the Custom Rifle forum. Everyone here needs to see it on full display. And it should be noted that none of his Libtard buddies like SKB or BrentD will complain about it. Not a bit.

Keith, Read the interview in Atlantic with General James Mattis regarding your President's fitness as CIC. His recent disastrous decision in the Middle East is a gift to ISIS and a betrayal of an ally. Oh well; at least he'll let you have your assault rifle. First things first, right?

I can appreciate the time it takes to document and show some of the steps for this action build.

Craig, If you believe FOX News, you'll never believe real journalism. I harbor no hopes of convincing you of anything. Cling to your delusions if they help you sleep at night. You think that calling a point of view "talking points" proves them to be false. You need to ponder that. If a national party identifies a take on an issue, they have to have evidence that it matters, even if someone a dumb as you can't grasp it.Party hearty; all is well. Trump is in the saddle even though he got it on backwards. Tell General Mattis not to worry. After all, Trump's military experience will surely offer better guidance than Mattis tried to provide. BTW, where do you get your opinions, as if I can't tell.

Gen. Mattis forgot to mention that North Korea hasn't been firing missiles over Japan since Obama was replaced by Trump. And North Korea hasn't threatened to nuke our West Coast lately either. You probably don't wish to talk about Obama's foreign policy failures concerning Putin doing as he damn well pleased in Crimea and the Ukraine. Then there's that "Red Line" your brave CIC Obama drew when he warned Syrian President Assad about using chemical weapons. Assad laughed at him.

Suddenly, you Libtards are all worried about the ISIS that took over much over the Middle East after Obama's weakness and ineptitude created them, and he seemed powerless to stop them. Trump's leadership crushed them, and if they reemerge, he will undoubtedly crush them again, before they gain any strength.

I have no idea where you get your news Billy. I suppose any source that bashes our pro-2nd amendment President Donald Trump is fine with you. No matter, because you obviously don't have the intelligence to digest any of it. But it doesn't take much brains to be a Libtard DNC parrot, who thinks that supporting devout anti-gunners is a good way to preserve our gun rights.

Libtards are called libtards for a reason. It's not rocket science.

I think libtardmoron would be a better term.

Craigster, Your wisdom has overwhelmed me. I'll let this thread die a natural death. PS: Just as Dave dropped Misfires, maybe he'd consider banning politics and personal criticism too. It would be duller around here, but we'd hear a good deal less from Keith, and I wouldn't need to reply to him. One last thought: we all better hope Trump doesn't launch a war with Iran.

My apologies! I did get your initials and SDH initials confused.

But if Dave banned politics and personal criticism you'd have not been able to derail this fine thread!

Vall, You're right, and I apologize for doing so. I'll be more considerate in the future.

Thanks for the look inside of your action.

I keep hoping that at some point you guys will realize nobody here gives a [censored] about your issues with each other and make the banter private, or at least put it in dedicated threads labeled as such. The constant derailment of most of the threads on this forum has gotten intolerable.

If you were my kids you�d know down to the molecular level the makeup of a 90 degree crease in one of my walls.

Aaron;

I am concerned that we will never see another post from Bailey of the continuing processes of his falling block rifles.

It is disgraceful what has happened here.

I won�t be sharing anything until there are changes, and I�ve got some pretty cool stuff coming up. Can�t speak for Bailey.

It�s a shame this place is related to one of the best fine gun magazines.

Interesting thread.

The better question is why would he, or any professional post work here? If for the reason of wanting to share work for the sake of it, eventually swatting the flies away gets tiresome. If for creating an advertising campaign the mere thought of allowing some here the power to alter your marketing(free or paid) is an exercise in futility.

If any of the typical offenders think their banter is enjoyed by the larger community here they are delusional. Only further degradation and disappearance of interesting and worthwhile content will ensue.

Much appreciation for the sharing.

At one point it was easy to do, now it�s too prevalent.

Yes, the signal to noise ratio became ridiculous long ago. Dave could fix this in a New York Minute, if he so chose, but he does not. I can't imagine why, but he seems to approve of this sort of useless drivel from a small handful of drivelers.

I am as well, and yes it's disgraceful, and to put it simply, chickenshit. I've seen it happen on other forums. All it takes is one shit disturber. Pretty sad, but I think the damage (probably intentional) has been done.

I see but one solution, and that's to ban and delete all off topic discussion here. If it's got nothing to do with the original thread, then delete it and maybe warn the offender the first time, then give him a time out the 2nd time.
If people want to create havoc and call each other names, let them do so in a thread they started just for the purpose, not in somebody else's thread.

Or, reinstate the the "Misfire" board so all the assholes will have a place to call their own.

This is very sad when a very very few persons have completely destroyed a website with their childish behavior. The culprits clearly can not control themselves so I hope the Admin will modify their usual rules and take the necessary steps to restore this website to one of the best, IT was, but not now.

That Admin (Dave) does nothing. There are simple solutions. Vall spells one out very easily. But Dave isn't interested. And so the same individuals continue to provoke the same BS and the site participation continues to shrink.

Yes, I would describe it as chickenshit. But that is on Dave.

Interesting build with great pictures, thanks Bailey.

If no one complains, is there a problem? What would YOU suggest?

Call it what you want, but tell us your solution.

How about a little bit. I'll give it some time, in case you feel the need to save a comment of mine, then I'll edit them out of this thread.

My suggestion is that it's a gesture to the starter of the thread....

Yeah, I know just how you feel Aaron. A while back, I posted some information about a sight I developed that makes quick and precise sighting easier for guys who become more farsighted with age... which is almost all of us. Almost immediately, I decided to delete it, because I didn't want to help guys like rocky mtn bill.

The late Doug Woodin (PA24) was one of the best barrel blackers outside of Great Britain, and few there could equal his work. For an amateur gunsmith (he was an ex-military fighter pilot who became a commercial airlines pilot), he was very meticulous and highly skilled in everything he did. He once shared a lot of his gun work with us, but he got sick and tired of Libtards like Billy, and hopeless hypocrites like BrentD. Doug finally quit posting here altogether before he passed away. He shared his slow rust bluing formula and techniques with me, but made me promise to never share it with anyone, so that guys like Billy, SKB, and BrentD could never have it.

BrentD is one of those "special" guys who likes to dish it out, but cries like a baby when he gets some of his vitriol returned. He whines about the rules, but thinks the rules do not apply to him. He thought it was just fine to join SKB Stevie in his cowardly internet doxxing campaign using Dave's forum. He felt the rules didn't apply to him again. I wonder where you and some of the other bitchers and complainers were then???

When I first began posting on this forum, BrentD was already quite active hurling insults at guys like Lowell Glenthorne and others. Anyone who confronts his anti-lead ammunition junk science is going to get insulted royally.

Aaron, it's always educational to see guys like you, Billy, BrentD, and LRF complaining about the demise of this forum... but only when you see posts from people you dislike... personally or politically. But just let someone like SKB Stevie go on disrupting this forum, or other sub-forums, for days on end, and you all say nothing at all.

By the way folks, we've seen this sort of vow from Billy before...



You can wipe your ass with that. With this being a Presidential election year, Billy won't be able to contain his hatred for our pro-2nd Amendment President, or those who support him.

What's that supposed to mean ?

A little bit of what? I don't save your comments as they are rarely worth bothering to read the first time.

I'm afraid you don't see the forest for the trees.

No big deal, I was thinking there might be a bit more to your version of the forrest.

I'm deleting this link in my "favorites" for my computer. This has gotten beyond ridiculous. No reason for me to even return here and hope to find any interesting info or thread.

Yep, I'm with you Vall. I got sick of the degraded discourse some time ago and have pretty much quit visiting the forum.

Why do you people read this stuff and complain????
Either dont read or dont complain ????
And don't add to it, maybe?

I can get bored reading about somebody's dog or jacket.
And some posters I ignore, it works.

Bailey,

At what stage in production are you required to serialize the actions?

Is your production limited enough to avoid having an 07FFL?

If you are still reading this thread......