The Gunsmith Thread

THParent

Founder - Service Academy Bacon Forums (SABF)
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I have a "regular job" in an office which I enjoy, which also pays the bills. That's a good thing on all counts. However, my "fun job" is as a Gunsmith. Sometimes I work one day a week, and sometimes I work all weekend. It affords me the chance to shoot my EDC gun every week in a modern, clean indoor range for free (which is pretty great) and gives me a multitude of stories about really neat (and rare) guns that I get to work on, plus many stories about less-than-intelligent gun owners.

Here is one of them:

I removed eight (8) squib rounds (that's a bullet that has lodged in the barrel, causing an obstruction) from a single-action (SA) centerfire revolver last Saturday.
It's a personal record for me, after 30 years of Gunsmithing. My old "record" was six (6) rimfire rounds.

Just let that sink in.

This guy shot his revolver at a paper target, and made no hole in the target. I guess he surmised that he missed the target - because he fired again and again - still not making any holes in the target. With each subsequent cartridge fired, each bullet just mashed into the one in front of it.

So this is a six-shooter, right?
After he fires an entire cylinder of six rounds, he RELOADS and continues to fire until the gun just won't function anymore.
Eight (8) rounds, total. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
This is how you get a revolver barrel full of nothing but copper-jacketed lead bullets from muzzle to forcing cone.

Had this revolver not been "built like a tank" (which it was), it could have turned into a SCLID.
That's a Sudden Catastrophic Load-Induced Disassembly, which is a very scientific way to say that the gun would have exploded like a pipe bomb.

Had he not stopped when he did, I am sure that the cylinder would have exploded and blown the top strap off the frame.

To illustrate what I'm talking about, here's an example of a Smith & Wesson revolver:
1576171928408.png

Here's what used to be a nice Colt revolver. Four (4) .45LC bullets opened up the barrel like a peeled banana:
1576172124257.png
 
Be careful posting pictures. Red flag laws and all that. My weapons are only known to me, my sons, the good lord, and my hunting partners. Some are long, some are short, all are deadly.

@THParent that picture of the .45 is frightening!
 
I have a half dozen rifles and shotguns that I'll never use again and am simply hanging onto them for my son. The pride of my "collection" is a Winchester model 1896 lever action rifle. It was manufactured in 1898 according to the serial number. It was owned by my grandad and has seven notches in the stock, one for each deer he got with it. It also has a screw which holds down a part of the stock that was peeling away. I think it might be worth something if it weren't for the screw. In any case it's worth more to me to pass on to DS. ... and that's my gun story.
 
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Had he not stopped when he did, I am sure that the cylinder would have exploded and blown the top strap off the frame.
> Darwin had a point !

My firearms were lost in a terrible boating accident.
> Seems to be an epidemic going on. I visit gun forums from time to time, and there are two types of people --those who brag and post pictures of their "family" or "collection," and others that have suffered horrendous boating accidents. I hate it when that happens.
 
I have heard some real winners lately in the shop.

"Glizzy" = Glock
"4/5" (pronounced "Foh-Fifs") = The .45ACP cartridge.
"Peanut Buttah" = The Flat Dark Earth (sand color) popular in pistols and rifles.
"Lemon Squeeze" = The grip safety on a 1911.
"Mini-Choppa" = The 5.7x 28mm cartridge ("Choppa" being the 7.62x39 cartridge)
"Band" = $1,000.00 - A stack of (50) $20 bills having a paper bank band around it. "I'll bet that gun cost more than a band!"
"Beemz"
= Laser sight device.
"Stendo" = An extended capacity magazine for a pistol. Usually a 25-round 9mm stick magazine for a Glizzy.
"Clap" = An NFA Class III firearm capable of automatic fire (a "machine gun"). "Yo, do you sell guns dat clap?"
 
Only "issue" I've ever "had" at a range was a guy that bragged he was an IPSC master going for his international grand master rating. He was practicing quick draw/rapid fire. Quick draw, clear, fire two rounds, holster...in only a couple of seconds. I was next to him.

Oh, did I mention his weapon of choice was a tricked out Glock?

Sure enough...after one series, he pulled, "double tapped" and holstered. I heard the discharge, saw him fall, and heard the shriek.

Long story short: I plugged the two holes with some cleaning cloths and applied a constriction band around his thigh...when the paramedics arrived they commented "nice field dressing, which of you is in the military?"

Yep, he shot himself. I guess that trigger safety isn't so safe when holstering the weapon.

Steve
 
I am a member at a private outdoor range. It's a police-yourselves kind of deal, where you can come and go with proximity card access at the gate and a lot of times there is no one there (especially during the week). Once, I saw a blood trail going from the pistol firing line to the parking lot. No report was made by anyone, so I never knew who it was. It wasn't a lot of blood, but it was a trail. I wondered if the shooter got a little woozy on the drive home (or to the hospital). Like Dan Aykroyd, playing Julia Child on Saturday Night Live.
 
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I am a member at a private outdoor range. It's a police-yourselves kind of deal,

There is a state owned "range" near my home. There is no control of any kind, except on occasional weekends when a retired guy comes out and acts as Range Safety Officer and provides some semblance of order. I haven't seen anyone hurt (carefully avoiding the word "accident", as none of the issues described above are "accidents"), but have seen enough stupidity to believe there should be some minimum standard to hold a gun. I haven't been there since a nice indoor range was opened nearby.,
 
Reloading after a cylinder of squibs... that's... special!

Dumbest thing I've seen was a guy transition to a loaded pistol during a "dry" drill.
...got told to unload and sit in the truck for the rest of the day.
 
You should probably repeat the “I do not need another pistol part”...😁😁😁
 
And the Glock 44 will be available soon as well. It's the size of a Glock 19, but chambered in .22LR.
My guess is that they will sell oodles of them.
 
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