arftist Posted November 22, 2010 Share Posted November 22, 2010 Thomas, wasn't it "So long and thanks for all the fish"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Do I look like a dolphin to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlreif Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 I have been monitoring this post. I have to agree with all the very good advice you have gotten. Now I am not a gun smith but my father was. I spent many an hour sitting on a stool right next to him as he worked. Dad was very talented and ventured into making his own black powder guns. Now you say you would like to make a gun out of a rr spike ? May i suggest a safer design? You see my father never made his own barrels just everything else. He purchased the barrel stock and machined it to his needs. so I was thinking if you want the novelty of a rr spike why not find the barrel stock and use the spike for the hand grip and breech? Here are some pics of a set of bootleg pistols my father made. I could see the spike fitting in a design like this. Please be aware everyone that I am not trying to undermine the great advice. But if the man is going to do it then this may be a safer alternative. And by the way, please find help from an experienced gunsmith before you press on with the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 tlreif, my dad was a gunsmith as well. I grew up reading the Foxfire books, Hatcher's Notebook, Small Arms of the World, etc. (I came up with a bolt action design when I was around 13. I showed it to Dad; he showed me a cutaway schematic of a Mosin-Nagant. It seems I reinvented the wheel, Russian style. ) And doing a lot of stupid things with black powder, acetylene, etc., which is probably why I'm so keenly aware that this fellow's plan has great potential to go badly wrong. Anyway, I really like the pistols. Thanks for sharing. That post put a smile on my face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Spring steel, especially if not handled right, is more prone to fracturing during powder ignition NOT LESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Increased carbon is coupled with increased brittleness---which is why modern guns are usually made from alloys at the lower end of medium carbon. Spring steel, carbon steel? While high carbon can be made brittle, so can nearly any heat-treatable steel. 1095 has been a standard spring steel for a hundred years. Hardly something you would use a brittle steel for, don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 Are you saying that 1095 is NOT inherently more brittle than say 1020? I think a simple Charpy test on equivalent samples of normalized steels would say differently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 I though we were comparing steels suitable for a gun barrel. At the same hardness 5160 and 1095 have very similar Charpy values. 5160 replaced 1095 for springs mostly because it's easier to heat treat and is deeper hardening.Doesn't seem fair to compare normalized 1020 to normalized 1095 as the 1020 comes out way under 20Rc and the 1095 comes out over 30 Rc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 24, 2010 Share Posted November 24, 2010 The Rc may be equivalent but the alloy content is not even similar between 5160 and 1095 and that can have a marked difference in Charpy results as well. (Off to help my parents move---they are finally downsizing in their retirement to a 2500 sq ft house and so I get to lift that barge and tote that bale and probably find myself loaded up with stuff I have no room for either---it's a 50% reduction on space for them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Well, the Rc is a choice. I'm just trying to compare like-for-like. At the same Rc they both have very similar charpy values. Where have you seen a large difference? Certainly not enough to call one brittle and the other not. I'm just saying that it's hard to call a steel that has worked so well for springs "brittle". While water-quenched 1095 is brittle, it doesn't take much of a draw to make it incredibly tough. I've seen knives made from it that stand bending at 90 degrees without failing, and that's at fairly high Rc. Not something I'd expect from a brittle material. To me glass is brittle, concrete is brittle, cast iron is brittle. I just can't see how you can call quenched and tempered 1095 brittle. Brittle just isn't how I would describe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fciron Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Oh, good. Now the troll doesn't even have to show up and you guys argue with each other. If pounditwhileitshot is really going to blow himself up with a gun barrel that he forge welds together from a railroad spike in a forge full of corn then nothing you guys say will dissuade him. DON'T FEED THE TROLLS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edge9001 Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Don't feed the trolls...hmm I thought I saw that on a sign the other day at the park...seems it was near a bridge, but I'm not entirely sure. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Michaels Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 i may be young and just a little bit stupid ok more then a little but me bein from mississippi myself i wouldnt recomend makeing a gun out of a rr spike mean i have poped a few of the holder ones with a hammer while the were cold and they broke in two. i wouldnt trust that with a giant slug comeing out one end and also the presure build up comein out the muzzle if it even makes it out the muzzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pip Posted November 25, 2010 Author Share Posted November 25, 2010 sorry i was gone hunting. i came here seeking advice, not permission. now i am going to tell i am going to do. i am going to make this gun out of a railroad spike. i will bring it to a gun smith. he will find what faults there are. and we will go from there. i will still comment on other posts and make new posts, but i hope this is the last comment on this post. i know i will not comment any further on this post i will not even look at it and i hope you do the same. by the way i am not a troll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 sorry i was gone hunting. i came here seeking advice, not permission. now i am going to tell i am going to do. i am going to make this gun out of a railroad spike. i will bring it to a gun smith. he will find what faults there are. and we will go from there. i will still comment on other posts and make new posts, but i hope this is the last comment on this post. i know i will not comment any further on this post i will not even look at it and i hope you do the same. by the way i am not a troll. We all try to be honest here: but your stating "looking for advice" then complain when we show you how its a bad idea is not being honest to us nor yourself. Now you tell us not to post anymore because you don't want to hear it? Ignoring simple safety issues is not taking advice. Sorry we didn't tell you how great your idea is, but you asked, and we got an honest answer. Don't bother the gun smith, he will just upset you more. This thread needs to stay posted to hopefully stop others from being so stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 i came here seeking advice, not permission. We provided you with our best advice, usually based on experience. You do not need our permission, as you will do as you want. We strongly suggest that you exercise safety in all things you do, so you, and those around you, are not harmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 please post pics as you work on this.... we all want to see your process - although I'd like to see a RR spike forged from a gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 "The stupid man sows discord by his insolence, but with those who take counsel is wisdom." (That's a particularly harsh translation, but it makes the point.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jevaccaro Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 I have been building muzzle loading rifles since 1960. Original barrels were forged from wrought iron. A barrel properly forged from a rr spike would work fine. The key being properly forged. Thousands of muzzle loading barrels have been made from 12L14. I have never made a barrel, but am familiar with the process. The video Gunsmith of Williamsburg is now available from the Williamsburg foundation in DVD format, it shows the process as well as lock making. Also take a look at this web site http://www.housebrothersproject.com/home.html click on Gallery and enjoy the work of masters. I enjoy learning new things, forging a barrel would be one, but I wouldn't try it on my own. Please find someone to help with this project. I once heard a saying " a gunsmiths barrel will hold the pressure of a shot, a blacksmiths barrel won't leak if you pour water down it". No inference intended. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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