Estriado de caones Explicacion

navegandoe n al red me encontre este documento donde se explica el estriado de lso caones.
EL CAN
Es el mas controvertido de los elementos que componen un arma, y el que mas foros de discusin genera.
La fabricacin y especialmente el estriado, tienen connotaciones casi filosficas. He tenido la oportunidad
de seguir paso a paso la construccin de uno de estos, y me ha resultado fascinante, tanto el resultado,
como las explicaciones de Jess respecto de los tiles de estriar y las pruebas a que fueron sometidos,
procedimientos antiguos y experiencias adquiridas.
En la actualidad y a diferencia del pasado (siglo XIX) no es ningn problema la fabricacin de buenos
caones, pues se cuenta con buenos materiales (aceros de caractersticas especificas) y mejores
herramientas.
Para los caones de las armas de gama alta, se parte de barras de acero F-140 de 25 milmetros de
dimetro que son cortadas a la longitud del can. Posteriormente son barrenadas a un dimetro
ligeramente inferior al del calibre final, en este caso a 10,35 m/m. Este paso es necesario para poder
calibrar exactamente el nima del can con una herramienta similar a la que se emplea para tallar las
estras. Este proceso consigue igualar el interior a fin de obtener una medida exacta que nos permita tallar
las estras con el mximo de regularidad y con las tensiones repartidas, de forma que obtengamos un
estriado perfecto en cuanto a la profundidad de las estras y su equilibrio, es decir que no haya zonas con
mas profundidad que otras y que los campos queden pulidos y simtricos.
Este til denominado brochadora de calibrado consiste en una larga varilla de acero industrial para
herramientas de alto rendimiento, en la que se han torneado hasta 32 coronas de corte que van de menos
a mas, y en las que las ltimas corresponden a las de pulido. Las coronas ocupan el 50% de la varilla,
quedando el resto libre para insertarlo en la brochadora (maquina herramienta destinada al estriado de
caones). Esta realizada de manera que cada una de las coronas arrastra/corta una pequesima parte del
nima, repartiendo la presin entre todas ellas, de forma que ninguna parte de la herramienta sufre
tensiones importantes, hecho que permite una larga vida til en condiciones de exactitud. Para el
calibrado, se fija el can firmemente sobre el banco de la brochadora, y a continuacin se introduce la
herramienta por la parte que corresponder a la boca del can y se fija a la maquina, que de un solo
tirn dejar el nima del can perfectamente calibrada y pulida. Durante esta operacin, el can

siempre permanece inmvil, ser la brochadora quien realice el movimiento de adelante hacia atrs en
lnea recta cuando calibra o con el giro o paso de las estras cuando se trata de tallar estas.
En el caso de las armas de nima lisa, el can queda finalizado en lo que respecta al interior,
mecanizndose a continuacin la rosca de la recmara, el taladro del odo y el exterior segn la forma
deseada, generalmente en forma ochavada y ligeramente troncocnica. Se talla la cola de milano para el
punto de mira y se suelda la gua de la chaveta de fijacin. Finalmente se marca y realizan los grabados
que fueran necesarios y los insertos de oro, para finalizar puliendo a espejo toda su superficie, dejando
preparado el can para su tratamiento final, que en general ser un pavonado (qumico) protector en
negro brillante.
Con la simple observacin de las estras, podremos aventurar la calidad de una pistola de duelo original, y
no me refiero al estado en que se encuentren, pues resulta irrelevante, sino a la forma, tipo, paso y
simetra que presenten. Todo ello nos indicar la importancia que le dio el artesano, teniendo en cuenta
que eran piezas nicas.
Brocas para estriar caone sy calibrarlos.
ESTRIADOS.
El proceso de fabricacin de un can rayado es idntico al de uno de nima lisa (descrito en la primera
parte de este artculo), pero con una segunda fase posterior al calibrado en la que se tallan las estras que
guiaran el proyectil hacia el objetivo hacindole girar en su viaje, y cuyo fin es conseguir estabilizarlo, de
manera que la agrupacin de los impactos obtenida sea lo mas cerrada posible. Este proceso es muy
delicado y requiere de herramientas de la mxima exactitud y precisin. Este debe ser un trabajo
meticuloso, ya que de el depender en gran manera la calidad final del arma, pues una pistola imprecisa
por muy bonita que sea, carece de valor.
En el taller armero a que nos referimos, solo emplean el rayado denominado en almena cuyo nombre lo
dice todo en cuanto a su forma. La parte calibrada formar los campos mientras que los canales
tallados, sern los valles tambin llamado fondo de estra. Para ello se emplea una brocha mltiple
(herramienta de corte empleada para tallar las estras en los caones) sobre cuyo eje lleva montadas 32
coronas de corte. El procedimiento de rayado, como ya se ha mencionado, es similar al descrito para el
calibrado del nima, es decir se tallan las estras en direccin contraria a la salida del proyectil. Este tema
es muy controvertido y suele ser motivo de interminables debates, por lo que indagando sobre el motivo
de tallar en direccin contraria a la salida, Jess me coment que era un problema tpico y antiguo entre
los fabricantes, de cuando tallaban con brocha de presin en direccin de la salida, lo que provocaba en
algunos casos descalibrados en la boca del can, donde se poda apreciar a simple vista que las estras
estaban marcadas asimtricamente, es decir con diferente profundidad. Esto le caus algunos
quebraderos de cabeza en sus comienzos, hasta que aparecieron las nuevas brochas de cabeza mltiple,
dientes de corte en nmero y ngulo exactos al giro o paso, y corte ascendente de menos a mas, en
donde la ltima corona es negativo exacto del interior del can. Este tipo de herramienta esta
especialmente diseada para trabajar en cualquier direccin sin dejar ningn tipo de irregularidades en
forma de micro-escalones, por lo que si se ha realizado un buen calibrado, obtendremos un can de muy
altas prestaciones.
En el museo de Ejercito de Madrid se pueden admirar varios modelos de maquinas para el rayado de
caones. Me llam especialmente la atencin una de ellas para caones de pistola que empleaba una sola
herramienta de corte ajustable, de forma que serva para varios calibres aproximados, pudiendo modificar
la profundidad de los canales, as como el paso de giro. Es una maquina de madera bastante sencilla que
producira caones de regular calidad, al menos para las exigencias actuales, pero que en el contexto de
la poca, debi de ser muy innovadora y avanzada.
Respecto del giro o paso de estras para las pistolas a que nos referimos, se ha optado, despus de
numerosos ensayos por el de una vuelta completa en 45 centmetros para caones cuyo calibre este

comprendido entre los 10,5 y 11,5 m/m, coincidente con el que emplean la mayora de fabricantes
conocidos de cierto renombre.
Actualmente se tienen muchos conocimientos sobre la velocidad del proyectil, los efectos giroscpicos del
mismo y su estabilizacin. as mismo disponemos de gran cantidad de adelantos que nos permiten jugar
con ventaja respecto de nuestros antepasados que tuvieron que aprender casi todo a base del conocido
mtodo de prueba error. Como dato anecdtico, resear unos prrafos del libro El tirador de Pistola,
tratado para el conocimiento y manejo de este arma, cuyo autor es D. Alfonso de Angulo y fue editado en
Granada 1854.
Entre los caones ingleses, franceses y espaoles fabricados en Vizcaya Catalua, los mejores que se
conocen hasta el da y a los que se da la preferencia, tanto en las pistolas de chispas como en las de
pistn, son a los franceses, porque generalmente carecen de defectos as en su construccin como en la
de su caja y montadura ......
Es por ello que entre las armas originales que podemos admirar en la actualidad, nos encontramos con
verdaderas obras de arte junto a otras estticamente bellas pero con calibres excesivos, estriados
inadecuados, bien sea por el tipo de las mismas, paso o deficiente calidad.

7. Fusiles de Repeticin
Con la llegada del cartucho metlico, los diseadores ya no estaban restringidos al fusil monotiro, y muchos de estos tomaron nota de la facilidad de carga de este, pero deban
idear el sistema ideal para contener y alimentar el arma, para conseguir un efectivo fusil de repeticin, he aqu algunas de ellas.
7a. Los rifles Americanos:
7a1. Fusil de Repeticin Spencer
Diseado por Cristopher Spencer, fue patentado en marzo de 1860, este fue el primer desarrollo exitoso de un arma larga de repeticin. Su mecanismo estaba basado en un
cargador tubular en la culata del arma, y un mecanismo con cierre Sharps pero que incorporaba otro movimiento giratorio que se accionaba por medio de una palanca.

Diagrama del Fusil de repeticin Spencer, mostrando el bloque de cierre, al bajar este era expulsado el cartucho, y a la vez tomaba uno del deposito en la culata y lo introduca
en la recamara, el martillo aun deba armarse a mano

Al igual que este ltimo, tena tambin un martillo percutor externo que deba ser montado a mano antes del disparo. Se accionaba bajando la palanca. Un cierre en parte
descendente y en parte rotatorio bajaba desbloqueando la accin y luego giraba hacia atrs, paulatinamente expulsando el cartucho previamente disparado y recibiendo uno
nuevo del cargador. A lo largo de su movimiento, al accionarse la palanca hacia arriba, el cierre giraba empujando el cartucho dentro de la recamara. El ltimo movimiento de la
palanca haca que la parte superior del cierre subiese deslizndose en su encastre y bloqueando la accin. Luego haba que montar el martill a mano para efectuar el disparo.

Firearms History, Technology

& Development
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Stocks: Bedding

Now that we've studied how stocks are made, it is time to study an operation called bedding. This is an
operation that improves the accuracy and life of the weapon. So what is the need for proper bedding of
the rifle?
1. Eliminate stress to the barrel and action, for longer life
2. Prevent flexing of the action when the weapon is fired for greater accuracy
3. After the weapon is fired, the action and barrel should return back to the same position on the
bedding, to ensure repeatability of shots. This is called the rifle's ability to maintain zero.
Poor fitting of the stock to the action causes many problems with the rifle. This problem is further
compounded because of expansion of the metal parts, as well as warping of the stock (especially in the
case of wooden stocks). By removing wood from the areas of contact between the stock and the barrel
and providing a much more stable substance such as fiberglass composite instead, the fit between the
barrel and the stock can be much more precise and eliminate lots of problems.
There are many forms of bedding, but we will look at two major types: Glass bedding and pillar
bedding.
Generally speaking, injection molded stocks are not really suitable for glass bedding. It is mostly used
for composite hand laid fiberglass stocks, wooden stocks and laminated stocks. There are several ways
that people bed the rifles. Some only bed the barrel and leave the action (firing mechanism) floating in
the air, some only bed the action and the parts behind it and leave the rest of the barrel not touching
any part of the stock, some bed the action and the barrel completely. For a rifle to fire best, there must
be constant pressure dynamic between the stock and barrel throughout the length of the stock.
Glass bedding is done by using a slow drying epoxy. The epoxy should have the properties of hardening
when dry and should not shrink or expand with temperature differences. To make sure that the epoxy
does not dry inside the action and jam it, the trigger assembly is first disassembled. Then modelling clay
and masking tape or electrical tape are applied along the holes to make sure that the epoxy doesn't
enter there. Release agents are sprayed on or manually applied with a brush to key areas, such as the
action and underside of barrel, to make sure that the epoxy does not stick there. In the case of wooden
stocks, the surface of the wood in the barrel channel is lightly scraped away with a chisel to remove any
oils and greases before the epoxy is applied. This allows the epoxy to get a better grip on the stock. The
gun is assembled and epoxy is poured into the barrel channel and allowed to harden. After one or two
hours, the excess epoxy is scraped away and then the rest is allowed to harden for a few days. After the
epoxy is cured, the parts can be disassembled as the epoxy does not stick to the areas where the

release agent was previously applied. The masking tape is also removed and the rifle is now ready for
use. The two videos below show how the glass bedding process is done.

Pillar bedding was first invented by the Germans in the late 1800s for the Mauser rifles, but did not
really catch on in the United States until the 1980s or so. With pillar bedding, two precision metal
pillars are affixed to the barrel using screws, and holes are drilled in the stock to accommodate these
pillars. The pillars were originally made of steel, but these days aluminium is more often used. It can be
used with injection molded stocks as well as wooden stocks, laminated stocks and hand laid fiberglass
stocks, since the vibrations are absorbed by the metal pillars first. The screws and threads on the pillars
are precisely machined to allow micro-adjustments as needed. Holes are drilled in the existing stock to
allow the pillars to pass through them. The rest of the procedure is similar to glass epoxying in that
masking tape and release agent are applied and then epoxy is poured into the channel to harden around
the rest.

Posted by The Editor at 10:52 PM No comments:

Labels: Bedding, Stock

Stocks: Adjustable Stocks

In the last few posts of this series, we've been talking about how stocks are made. Now we will talk
about a class of stocks that are optimized for target shooters.

The above two stocks are made by a German

company called J.G. Anschutz, which is well known for making stocks for world-class shooting
competitions. The first stock is made of mostly walnut wood and the second one is a laminated wooden
stock. Notice though that there are a few metal parts here. For one, the butt pad and comb are
adjustable, so the user can adjust where their forearm is placed and where their cheek sits to peer
through the sights. There is also a large U-shaped hole behind the grip for the user to place their thumb
through. Actually, this particular shape of stock is so associated with the J.G. Anschutz company, that
they're sold by other companies as "Anschutz-style" stocks.

The above stock is a McMillan A5. As above, the butt plate and comb are adjustable. The McMillan
company is well known for its fiberglass stocks and its precision rifles. Canadian snipers used McMillan
Bolt Action Tac-50 rifles to make some of the longest kills in sniper history in Afghanistan.
Posted by The Editor at 10:03 PM No comments:
Labels: Adjustable Stock, Stock

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Stocks: Composite Stocks, Hand Laid Fiberglass Stocks etc.

In our last post, we studied one type of synthetic stocks. Now we will study some other types, made of
many different types of materials, but all involving fiberglass somewhere. The first use of fiberglass in
stocks was due to Chet Brown and Lee Six in the late 1960s. They later split up and Chet Brown later
went on to found Brown Precision Stocks, which is still in business. Lee Six also continued to
manufacture stocks and his company was later bought out by Kelbly Stocks.
At the low end, we have the poly-urethane foam stock. Predictably, these are made of polyurethane
foam material. Of course, a stock made of pure urethane foam is not strong or rigid enough. Hence,
many manufacturers add chopped fiberglass strands to the urethane foam. In addition, aluminium rods
are added in some areas, particularly around pistol grips and the recoil lugs. Solid urethane foam stocks
are generally lighter than other stocks, but adding aluminium and fiberglass adds extra weight back in,
which undoes most of the weight savings. These stocks are not sensitive to moisture like a wooden
stock. Unfortunately, they share the same problems of temperature as a wooden stock. They are also
the stocks that are most likely to break.
Then we have the hand laid fiberglass stock, as pioneered by Brown and Six from the 1960s. In this type,
a cloth made of fiberglass, kevlar or carbon fiber is first laid out on the inside of a mold cavity. Then a
polyurethane foam is poured into the mold cavity and allowed to cure. Alternatively, a polyester or
epoxy resin may be used instead. With an epoxy resin, the epoxy has a 3-D molecular structure and is
lightweight. It is extremely resistant to impact damage and once it is 100% cured, it has extremely long
life. Polyester resin is cheaper in cost. However, the molecules have a 2-D structure and it only cures
partway (upto 70%) in the manufacturing process and continues to cure for 7 years or so, after which is
starts to deteriorate. The outer cloth of fiberglass, kevlar or carbon fiber adds the necessary strength to
the stock, that make these stocks much stronger than a foam stock alone. After such stocks are
manufactured, a bedding process to seat the barrel properly on the stock is needed. This bedding
process may be done as part of the manufacturing process, or separately after the stock has cured.
These stocks are much more expensive to make, as it is a labor intensive process. The curing time can
take a while and much of the strength depends on the manufacturing process getting the amount of
cloth and resin just right. On the other hand, such stocks are very light, accurate and immune to the
effects of weather and temperature. Hence, these are the stocks of choice for many sniper rifle models
and hunting rifles.
Posted by The Editor at 11:34 PM No comments:

Labels: Composite Stock, Hand laid fiberglass stock, Stock

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Stocks: Injection Molded Plastic Stocks

We will now begin our study of the so-called synthetic stocks. One type of stock we will study today is
the Injection Molded Plastic Stock. These are manufactured using a typical injection molding process,
which is used in plastic industries.
Granules of a thermoplastic material are loaded into a hopper and fed into an injection molding
machine. A heater melts the plastic granules into a molten liquid state. The molten plastic is forced into
a mold of the desired shape using a screw-type feed or a ramming plunger. The mold is cooled by
passing a coolant fluid (usually water) through the mold via hose pipes connected to holes drilled in the
mold. The molten plastic is cooled in the die and solidifies, upon which the die is removed and opened
to extract the part. Any excess plastic is trimmed off using machining tools.

The initial setup costs are high because of the price of an injection molding machine and the price of
machining a high quality accurate mold. However, once the setup is done, the costs of the
thermoplastic materials and manufacturing cost of the stock are very low indeed, which drops the cost
of each piece manufactured. In fact, the price of an injection molded stock can be far less than the
price of a wood stock.

Two rifles with Injection Molded plastic stocks made by Weatherby

Injection molded plastics are usually "foamed", because the weight of a solid plastic stock would be
excessive. The finished stocks are typically lighter than comparable wooden or laminated stocks. Typical
time to manufacture an injection molded plastic stock, including molding and packaging takes about 30
minutes. The stocks can be manufactured to the same accurate dimensions every time, which makes
them suitable for mass production.
Virtually every major firearms manufacturer in the United States makes injection molded stocks and
there's a lot of advertising dollars spent on them. These stocks are usually marketed as weatherproof,
shock-resistant, accurate, durable etc. So how much of this is truth and how much is hype, the reader
asks.
It is certainly true that injection plastics are not affected by moisture, so fog and rain do not affect
them. However, they are no more waterproof than a properly constructed laminated wood stock. It is
also true that injection plastics are resistant to typical scratches and dings. However, it must be

remembered that the material of the stock is a thermoplastic. What this means is that it does get
affected by temperature. For instance, if a person were to leave his weapon locked in his car in the hot
sun, it could cause the plastic to melt and warp the stock. Conversely, if the person left his weapon
locked in the car during winter time, the cold could make the plastic extremely brittle and it could
fracture due to a slight impact.
As for accuracy, it is true that injection plastic stocks can be manufactured to very accurate tolerances
indeed. However, the flip side is that injection plastics are not as rigid as wooden or metal stocks. This
means that it does not really matter if the stock is manufactured to very accurate dimensions, since it
flexes when the weapon is fired, thereby affecting the accuracy of the weapon.
As far as durability claims go, it is certainly true that most thermoplastics degrade very slowly indeed,
when exposed to the sun and rain. However, most of them are also susceptible to severe deterioration
when in contact with liquids like ethanol, acetone, kerosene, ethyl ketone etc. As it happens, these are
the very same solvents that are used in practically every barrel cleaner available in the market today.
Despite all the hype, the strength of an injection molded stock is actually not much different than a
walnut wooden stock and is definitely easier to break than a laminated stock.
They are also ugly looking, compared to the beauty of a wooden or a laminated stock.
However, these stocks are among the cheapest types of stock to manufacture and hence, they bring
down the overall cost of the weapons (or increase the manufacturer's profit margin!!) This is why
practically every firearms manufacturer in the United States offers some firearms with injection molded
plastic stocks. They are also lighter than stocks made of other materials.
Posted by The Editor at 10:23 PM No comments:
Labels: Injection Molded Plastic Stock, Stock

Monday, July 26, 2010

Stocks: Metal Stocks

In our last post, we studied laminated wood stocks. In this post, we will study metal stocks. Metal
stocks are a relatively modern development as far as gun stocks are concerned. The metals of choice
are usually alloys of steel, magnesium or aluminium. Metal stocks are nearly always of the folding or
sliding type, so that the user can reduce the overall length of the weapon as needed. One more
advantage of metal stocks is that they lend themselves towards mass production.

The above weapon is an US-made M4A1. Notice

the steel telescoping sliding stock at the rear, that allows the user to adjust the length of the weapon as
needed.

The next weapon we see is an AK-47 with a

folding aluminium stock. Notice that the stock attaches to the back of the rifle with a hinge that allows
it to fold sideways. Also note that the stock is a skeletal frame. This is to reduce the overall weight of
the weapon. Unlike the previous weapon, this one doesn't allow the shooter to adjust the length of the
stock to the user's needs though.
It must be noted though that a metal stock does not always imply that the weapon is lighter. A skeletal
steel stock is usually heavier than its wooden equivalent. Most metal stocks are also usually coated with
a rubber or plastic material on the outside.
Metal stocks can be easily produced in large quantities via mass production techniques. Due to advances
in machining technology, they can be produced to very accurate dimensional tolerances. They also have
the advantage of being very cheap in price, compared to stocks made of other materials. Metal stocks
generally provide superior rigidity than other types of stocks, but offer less in the way of dampening and
absorbing shock. Some metal stocks have a shock absorber built in to handle the shock. Metal stocks will
expand and contract with temperature variations, which affect accuracy. On the other hand, humidity
does not have any effect on them.
Posted by The Editor at 9:03 PM No comments:
Labels: Metal stock, Stock

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Stocks: Laminated stocks

In our last post, we talked about classic wooden stocks, which have been used through much of the
history of firearms. While wooden stocks are very beautiful to look at, they have the problem of
warping, distorting and cracking in changing weather conditions. This makes the accuracy of the weapon
suffer. Another problem with classic wooden stocks is that many stock blanks may have to be rejected
because of some minor defects (such as a crack) in the wood. This makes complete wooden stocks more
expensive because the manufacturer has to reject many pieces and find perfect stock blanks with no
defects at all.

One of the solutions to minimizing this problem is to make a laminated stock instead. A laminated stock
consists of separate layers of wood which are glued together. If the layers are properly arranged, then
they cancel out each others' distortion and minimize the warping caused by humidity, temperature etc.
The result is also free of internal defects. They are also less expensive to make, since cheaper wood can
be used. The same blanks that would normally be rejected for classic wooden stocks because of defects,
can be used to make laminated stocks, since the manufacturer can cut multiple layers of wood from the
blank by working around the defective areas.
The Germans were the first to start making laminated stocks during World War II, for Mauser K98 and
G43 rifles, when solid wooden stocks suitable for rifles became difficult to obtain. The Soviets were
quick to adapt this idea around 1950.
The process of making laminated stocks is the process of making very high-quality plywood. To make a
laminated stock, the maker first cuts thin layers of wood (1.5-1.6 mm. thickness or so). Each layer is
individually impregnated under pressure with a strong dye. Since each layer is only 1.6 mm. thick, the
dye permeates every bit of the wood, which provides a high degree of water resistance. Next, a
waterproof epoxy resin glue is applied to each layer's surface and they are arranged so that the
direction of the wood grain alternates between the layers. Alternate layers may also be dyed in
different colors to produce an attractive appearance. The layers are then put under pressure and
heated to set the glue. The curing process takes a few hours to complete and the glue makes the wood
cells close to the surface of each layer almost completely waterproof. The alternating directions of
wood grain between the various layers give the stock extra strength. The result is an attractive stock
that is stronger than a solid wooden stock and almost immune to the effects of heat and humidity.

One of the major suppliers of laminated stocks to many small arms manufacturers today is the Rutland
Plywood company, which sells their raw plywood material under the trademark "Stratabond". This
company manufactures stock blanks for many well known companies such as Ruger, Remington, Savage
Arms, Sako, Browning, Kimber, Boyd etc. The exact lamination process and the glues used are a trade
secret, but it is known that they generally use birch wood layers for their stocks and use around 35
layers of wood veneer per stock. They offer blanks in several colors and patterns per manufacturer
requirements and can make customized blanks as well. Some examples are shown below.

A laminated wood stock can be almost as strong as a fiberglass stock and look and feel the same as a
solid wood stock. It also absorbs vibration better than a fiberglass or an aluminum stock. A laminated
wood stock has more durability and strength than a comparable solid wood stock, has zero internal
defects and can be made of cheaper material as well. It is virtually immune to the effects of
temperature and humidity changes, thereby retaining its accuracy in a variety of weather conditions. It
also has a pleasing appearance that can rival the best quality wood stocks. The only downside is that a
laminated wood stock is heavier than the corresponding solid wood stock of the same size and material.
Posted by The Editor at 8:29 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Laminated Stock, Stock

Friday, July 23, 2010

Stocks: Wooden Stocks

Of the different types of materials used to make gun stocks, the most common one used over the ages
was wood. Since gun-making was always considered an art-form, it is no surprise to note that the work
of making gun-stocks was usually entrusted to master woodworkers. These master woodworkers would
generally use high-quality hard woods to make the stocks. The material most used was from walnut
trees.
The requirements for a wooden stock generally are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The material should be a hardwood which is reasonably dense, but not too heavy.
The material should be somewhat hard, but not brittle.
It should be relatively easy to machine.
It should preferably have naturally attractive patterns and grain (after all, guns were always wellcrafted products made by skilled craftsmen and it wouldn't do to use low quality wood)

As it happens, walnut wood happens to fit these requirements the best.

The most high-quality walnut wood is obtained from the Juglans Regia, the Persian Walnut (or Common
Walnut) tree. This tree is also known as the "English" walnut, because British sailors spread this tree
around the world. This name is common in North America, because there is already a native American
walnut tree of a different subspecies (Juglans Nigra) and so they call the Juglans Regia as an "English
walnut" to distinguish between the two. The tree actually grows from Xinjiang province in China, all the
way into Western Europe. It is commonly found in Northern India. This species has great genetic
variability and the trees found in Western Europe tend to have larger size, but only one fruiting period,
whereas trees in the Eastern range are smaller, but produce fruit for multiple years. English colonists
and sailors also took this tree to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa etc.,
where it still grows. It was also introduced to Mexico, Chile and Argentina, perhaps by Spaniards.
The wood from this tree is often used in high-quality furniture and firearm stocks. The finely-figured
walnut woods are called "English" walnut in the gun trade. Ironically, W.W. Greener mentions in his
book, The Gun and its Development, (printed in the early 1900s) that a majority of so-called "English"
walnut is not English at all. The walnut trees growing in England at that time were admirably suited for
gun-stocks, but many lacked the rich brown color and figured patterns for customized high-end weapons
and the second problem was that true English-grown walnut wood was not available in large quantities
anyway. Therefore, many manufacturers actually got their wood from the European continent. He goes
on to mention that English walnut wood is heavy, well marked, but not gaudy and says that French
walnut is lighter than English walnut, has richer color with black streaks and open grain. He says Swiss
and German walnut woods tend to be grey and pulpy, but if well chosen and naturally matured, they are
equal to the finest French woods. He says that Belgian walnut is not available for sale in adequate
quantities and Eastern European walnut wood is of very high quality and available in quantity, but is
often not prepared or sawed correctly for the purposes of a gun-maker.
These days, France, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, California and Chile are major
producers of English walnut woods, while Australia and New Zealand are also beginning to up their
exports of this wood as well.

Gun stock made of fine English walnut wood (J. Regia)

In the United States, the American walnut (J. Nigra, also called the "Black Walnut") that we mentioned
earlier, is often used due to widespread local availability, particularly in the East coast. This wood has
dark color and good density. Like the "English" walnut, it is also heavy and strong, but easily worked. It
is extremely valuable and forest rangers are often called in to stop walnut tree poachers. In 2004, there
was a poaching case involving one 16 meter long tree, which was worth $2500.

Gun stock made with American walnut (J. Nigra)

Another tree that was often used in North America for a few hundred years was the Curly Maple tree,
again due to widespread availability, beautiful pattern and heavy density. Most of the famed Kentucky
rifles used curly maple wood stocks. It has a characteristic flame or tiger striping pattern that makes it
look very beautiful.

Replica Kentucky rifle using curly maple stock.

Curly maple wood is still used today, notably by musical instrument makers. For instance, rock and roll
lovers may recognize many rock guitar players using the famous Gibson Les Paul guitar. Yes folks, that is
curly maple wood on the top of that guitar as well.

Beech wood, Birch, Ash, Myrtle and occasionally Mahogany wood are also used for making some gun
stocks. Beech wood is heavy, but does not have any pattern in the grain, like the woods seen above.
The grain of the wood contributes greatly to the strength of the wooden stock. It should ideally flow
towards the toe of the stock for greater strength. The wood should also be prepared suitably -- it should
be slowly and completely dried before working on it, otherwise it could split or lose color later. A highend stock-maker will typically use wood that has been slowly air-dried for several years (7-8 years is
common, but some are even as old as 20 years!), before attempting to machine it. Cheaper wood stocks
are often kiln-dried and therefore more prone to splitting and losing color much more quickly. Air drying
is what gives the wood the deep dark brown color. The best wood comes from the portion of the tree
where the trunk and the roots join.
Here's a video demonstrating some of the things that stock makers look for, when selecting wood blanks
to make a stock.

Wood stocks are the most beautiful to look at and have been used through much of firearms history, but
they have a tendency to warp under adverse weather conditions. Due to this failing, modern military,
hunting and sniper rifles usually use fiberglass stocks instead.

Posted by The Editor at 8:45 PM No comments:

Labels: Stock, walnut, wooden stock

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Stocks: Parts of a Stock

We will now study the parts of a gun stock.

The above image shows a typical English stock

and an American one. The English stock was built with dimensions suited for about 80% of the sportsmen
hunter population in England. Note that the English stock is built a bit more horizontal than the
American one (2 inches displacement at the heel, vs. around 2.5" for the American stock). This is
because American shooters generally tended to stand with their heads more erect and the same
shooting style was also used in some other English colonies such as Australia and South Africa.

Public domain image from wikipedia.org

In the above image, 1 is the butt plate of the weapon (i.e.) the part that rests on the shoulder, 2 is the
fore-end or fore-grip of the weapon. 3 is called the comb, which is the part that the user rests his/her
cheek upon. The comb is built to support the user's cheek so that he/she can aim through the gun sights
comfortably. Some combs also have a cheek-piece shaped on the side of the stock. 4 is the heel and 5 is
the toe of the butt. This particular gun-stock, unlike the other two stocks above, has a grip (6) and a
thumb-hole (7) for the user to put their hand through. Hence, this stock is called a thumbhole style
stock.
The two types of stock are (a) one-piece stock (i.e.) the stock is composed entirely of one piece of wood
and (b) the two-piece stock (i.e.) the butt is made of one piece of wood and the foregrip is made of
another piece. The one-piece stock is generally used for bolt-action rifles, whereas the two-piece stock

is used for assault-rifles, pump-action, lever action and break-open action weapons. Wooden one-piece
stocks are usually more expensive to manufacture than wooden two-piece stocks, because it is harder to
find a long piece of wood without blemishes, than it is to find two shorter pieces.
There are many factors important in shaping the stock.
1. Balance: This is the center of gravity of the firearm. If a thin thread is passed around the firearm
stock, this would be the point where it would balance upon.

2. Cast-off or Cast-on: This is the amount that the

stock is offset from the center when viewed laterally. A thin man may require a lot less cast-off than a
fat man with stout shoulders, a right handed user may, due to a deformity, aim with his left eye etc.
Usually, mass produced firearms don't have cast-offs, but custom-stocks may have cast-offs since these
are produced for individual user needs. A cast-on is similar to a cast-off except it is done in the opposite
direction for a left handed shooter.

3. Grip: The shape of the grip varies from stock to stock. Some may
have the almost horizontal stock as shown in the English stock in the first picture of this article. Some
may have a vertical grip like the thumbhole stock or a pistol grip, similar to that seen most modern
assault rifles.
Stocks may be solid (i.e.) they do not change shape, or collapsible, such as a folding stock or a sliding
stock. Sliding or folding stocks are generally features of military firearms.

In the above picture, we have an US made M4A1.

Notice that the stock is two-piece, has a pistol grip and has an adjustable sliding stock at the back of
the weapon, which allows the user to adjust the distance between the butt plate and the trigger to
their own requirements.
Posted by The Editor at 11:45 PM No comments:
Labels: M4, one-piece stock, Stock, two-piece stock

Stocks

A stock is a part of the firearm to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached. From the very
first firearms, they have always been attached to some sort of stock, as the picture below shows:

In the illustration taken from an ancient manuscript, the reader can see that a firearm is attached to
the end of a stick. A second stick is used as a support as well as a ramrod for the firearm. In most early
weapons, the stick was made of wood. In fact, the word "stock" comes from the German word stoc
which means "tree trunk."
In the very first firearms, there was generally a hollow socket in one end of the firearm, through which,
the wooden stick was pushed into and secured. This is similar to the design of many spears of that era.
The next development was the bombarde by the French and Italians. This was a small hand-cannon
attached to a wooden stick. The stick was curved on the bottom side so that it could be placed on the
shoulder and aimed with both hands, as shown in the first illustration below:

In the earliest firearms, people would manually light their firearms with a slow match. It was soon
realized that a user could support their firearm better if they held it with two hands and lit the firearms
with a separate trigger mechanism. This was the design adopted by early matchlock weapons such as
the arquebus.

Soldier with an arquebus

Using both hands to aim the weapon, the user could then brace the weapon against his shoulder for
strong support. In the above picture, note the shape of the stock of the arquebus and notice that the
shape looks pretty similar to modern rifles as well. The arquebus stock design was so influential that the
shape and design has stayed with us, almost unchanged, since the 1500s!
Posted by The Editor at 10:59 PM No comments:
Labels: Stock

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Actions: Rolling Block action

The rolling block action was one of the more successful actions from the 19th century. It was first
patented by Leonard Geiger in 1863. The design was later improved by Joseph Rider, the plant
supervisor at Remington Firearms factory in Ilion, New York, in between 1863-1865. Rider even
convinced Geiger to join Remington Arms and together, they improved the design of this action. This
action is the reason for the Remington Company still being in existence today, since they were about to
go into financial ruin before they came out with this design. It was so successful that Remington alone
produced approximately 1.5 million firearms using this action by the beginning of the 20th century. This
action is so much associated with weapons made by the Remington company that it is sometimes also
called the "Remington action."

It consists of a specially shaped breech-block shaped like the arc of a circle. The breech-block can
rotate about a pin. The breech-block is locked into place by the hammer and therefore prevents the
cartridge from moving backwards when the weapon is fired.

To open the weapon, the hammer is cocked back fully, which frees up the rolling block to pivot about
the pin, as can be seen in the images above of a typical Remington rolling-block rifle. The user first
thumbs back the hammer into full cock position, then uses the finger spur to rotate the rolling block
piece, thereby exposing the barrel chamber. The gun is then reloaded and the breech block is rotated
back into its closed position. When the user pulls the trigger, the hammer not only strikes the firing pin,
but it also cams under the breech-block, locking it firmly into place at the moment that the cartridge

discharges. This prevents the cartridge from moving backwards as the gunpowder propels the bullet
forward.

The above two images show a rifle using a rolling block action. The top image shows the rifle with its
action closed and the bottom image shows the rifle with its action open and ready to be reloaded.
This action was first used in the Remington Model 1865 pistol which was purchased by the US Navy.
Remington then made the Model 1867 carbine for the Navy order. However, the US orders were
relatively small (only 5,000 weapons or so) and the real success of Remington started when their M1867
rolling block rifle design was shown in the 1867 Paris Arms Exposition. Soon after that, it was adopted by
several countries around the world.
Denmark and Sweden-Norway (Sweden and Norway were one country then) all adopted rifles with this
design between 1867 and 1868. Denmark bought 41,800 rifles and Sweden-Norway bought 10,000 rifles
and 20,000 actions. They also negotiated license agreements to manufacture these weapons in their
own countries: Sweden at the Husqvarna and Carl Gustav arsenals, Denmark at the Kobenhaven Tojhuis
arsenal and Norway at Hoverdarsenalet and Konigsberg. The companies, Husqvarna and Carl Gustav, are
still around today. Egypt was the next Remington customer with an order of 60,000 rifles in 1869. In the
same year, Spain ordered 85,000 rifles and 10,000 carbines and also signed a license agreement to
manufacture their own rolling block rifles. Order quickly flowed from Netherlands, Japan, France,
Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Columbia, Cuba etc. Licensed manufacture in Europe was done by Nagant
Brothers (later known for the Mosin-Nagant rifle), Francotte and Westley Richards, among others. In
total, 101 countries were quick to accept this rifle. It even features in the present day in the National
flag of Guatemala.

Design improvements were quick to follow. Research in the US military showed that people were
reluctant to reload the rifle with the hammer at full-cock position, in case the hammer could
accidentally discharge. The Remington model 1871 had an additional half-cock safety. In this, when the
breech is closed, the hammer automatically drops from full-cock to half-cock. The user must then recock the hammer to fire. The Remington Model 1871 rifle was one of the most accurate in the world for
its time and demonstrated this at the international rifle matches of 1874. This model was also
manufactured under license as the Springfield M1871 rifle.
The rolling block design was manufactured for approximately 70 years (not counting modern-made
replicas). Rolling block action weapons were manufactured, not only by Remington, but also license
manufactured by other countries. It is estimated that over 70 million firearms were produced using the
rolling-block action. It has been used from weapons ranging from .22 caliber rimfire cartridges to .58
caliber weapons and used for pistols, shotguns and rifles. It was reputedly made for every possible
caliber offered by any black powder cartridge and even the early 7 mm. Mauser smokeless powder
cartridge and the 8 mm. French Lebel cartridge. It was popular with military forces around the world
and also with big game hunters.
Why was this action so successful, one asks? The reason is that it is a very strong action, but it is also
very simple and reliable. It has only a few moving parts and is not prone to jamming by dirt and rough
handling, like some of the other actions we've studied previously. Any illiterate military conscript could
be taught how to maintain this action very quickly. There is very little that can go wrong with the rolling
block action, other than occasional breakage of springs and extractors. It also can be fired equally well
by left-handed or right-handed users, since the parts are equally accessible from either side. The other
main competitor was the tilting-block action used in the Martini-Henry rifle. The Martini-Henry action
has 37 moving parts, whereas the rolling block action has 22 moving parts and they seemed to do better
in dirt and sand.
Here's a video of the Remington Rolling Block rifle in action:

The Remington rolling block action had a long history of service due to its reliability and ease of
maintenance. The parts were precision made with quality steels and heat treatment, with close
machined surfaces, ensuring a long life and reliability.
One disadvantage of the rolling action is that the holding bolts are below the center line of a cartridge.
Rolling Block rifles began to be replaced by bolt-action rifles mainly because of their higher rate of fire
and also stronger actions. A bolt-action holds the cartridge both below and above the center-line of the
cartridge, which allows more powerful cartridges. A bolt-action can also be fitted with a multiple
cartridge magazine, allowing faster reloads.
The rolling block rifles did enjoy a long history and replicas are still being made today.
Posted by The Editor at 4:35 PM 1 comment:
Labels: Action, Remington M1867, Rolling Block, Sprngfield M1871

Actions: Side-motion Action

The side-motion action is one of the more unusual actions in the history of gun-making. It was
considered a pretty strong action and second only to the break-open action of the Lefaucheux gun.

The above image shows a Jeffries Side-motion

breech loading shotgun from 1862. In his design, the barrels are mounted on the edge of a circular disc.
A long lever under the trigger turns the circular disc. Since the barrels are mounted on the edge of the
disc, they move eccentrically to the side. Mr. Jeffries manufactured weapons of this type in his factory
for years, before finally abandoning this design. A manufacturer named Fox also made guns of this type,
but did not achieve much success in America. The break-open mechanism was considered superior by
most sportsmen worldwide and hence this mechanism was abandoned.
The same idea was also employed by a Prussian gunsmith named Dreyse, who we've already heard about
when studying the Dreyse Needle Gun, which was the first bolt-action weapon as well. Dreyse used the
side-motion action for a hammerless gun:

In the Dreyse Hammerless gun, operating the lever not only moved the barrels in an eccentric circle, but
also cocked the weapon in the same movement.
Posted by The Editor at 4:13 PM No comments:
Labels: Action, Side-motion action

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Actions: Tilting Block Action

We've recently seen the falling block action, where the breechblock slides up and down on grooves when
a lever is operated. Now we will study another similar action called the Tilting Block action
This is a mechanism that was used in several famous rifles. The original action was invented by one
Henry Peabody and was used in the Peabody rifle. In this type of action, the breechblock is attached to
a hinge on the rear of the block. When the lever is operated, the block tilts about this hinge and
exposes the chamber of the rifle.

The above picture shows a Peabody rifle with the action open. The reader may observe the breechblock
is tilted down towards the right, opening the chamber. Also note that the top of the breechblock is
hollowed out to aid in inserting a cartridge into the chamber easily.
The Peabody action was later improved by a Swiss officer named Friedrich von Martini. In the Martini
variation, the lever that operates the tilting block also simultaneously cocks an internal hammer.
Meanwhile, the British government started a competition to replace the Snider-Enfield rifle in their
service and one of the entries was submitted by Alexander Henry. While the British government liked
Henry's rifle barrel design, they did not like his action and preferred the Martini action instead. The
result was a rifle that used the Henry designed barrel with the Martini action which was called the
Martini-Henry rifle.

The picture above shows a Martini-Henry rifle. In

the top picture, you can see the lever behind the trigger guard is opened, which opens the action and
cocks the rifle. The breechblock is tilted forward, exposing the chamber. When the user pushes the
lever back, as seen in picture B, the breechblock moves upwards and closes the breech.

In the picture above, the breech block is B and K is the firing pin mechanism. The top of the breech
block I is hollowed out to assist inserting a new cartridge when the mechanism is opened. When the user
pulls lever E, it moves the tumbler G, which makes B and K pivot about the pin C. The front end of B
and K drop and expose the chamber J, where the user can remove the old cartridge and insert a new
one. When E is pulled back, G moves and makes B and K rotate back up so that K is in line with J. When
the user pulls the trigger, the hammer strikes the back of K, which moves the firing pin to strike the
primer of the centerfire cartridge and discharges the weapon.
The Martini-Henry first entered British service in 1871 and was involved in several British colonial wars,
most notably in the Anglo-Zulu wars in South Africa. The Martini-Henry was partly blamed for the British
defeat in Isandlwana (along with being caught by surprise, with overwhelming numeric inferiority), but
also did extremely well in the battle of Rorke's Drift where 139 British soldiers successfully held off
thousands of Zulu troops. A study by the British Army determined that the African climate made the
action overheat and foul and the poor quality of the brass in the metallic cartridges and its black
powder content were the direct causes of the jamming issue. Later versions (such as Mark II, Mark III and
Mark IV) used a slightly longer lever to apply more torque to the action to prevent jamming and they
also changed the brass of the cartridge cases with a stronger brass, which made the new Martini-Henry
rifles very reliable in battle.
Martini-Henry rifles were later scheduled to be replaced in 1889 by the bolt-action Lee Metford rifle
(which had a higher rate of fire), but somehow, they still managed to remained in service with the
British Army until the end of WW-I. Martini Henry rifles were also used in many of the British colonies,
including Australia, New Zealand and India. They were notably copied by gunsmiths of the Afridi tribe in
the Khyber pass region of India (now part of North-west Pakistan) and are still manufactured by them to
the present day. It must be noted that these Khyber pass copies are made of inferior quality materials
and manufacturing techniques. Hence, the present day Khyber pass weapons are actually of lower
quality than original weapons made by the Enfield Royal Small Arms factory in the 1880s!

The above picture shows the action of a fake Martini-Henry rifle made in the Khyber pass factories. Note
the poorly struck VR (supposed to stand for Victoria Regina after Queen Victoria). Also note the N in
ENFIELD is reversed and the D is tilted a bit compared to the other letters indicating the letters were
stamped individually. The 1901 indicates the supposed year of manufacture of this rifle (which may
actually be true) and the II indicates that this is supposed to be a Martini-Henry Mark II rifle, but
unfortunately, this is too late for the Mark II rifle, considering that the Mark IV version was already out
in 1888! Also Queen Victoria passed away on January 22nd, 1901, and was succeeded by Edward VII. So
unless the rifle was made before she passed away in January, an original rifle should have been marked
as ER (for Edward Rex) instead of VR (for Victoria Regina).
Tilting block rifles were also manufactured by Marlin firearms in the 1880s and many are collector
items. Since this action is very strong, rifles made using this type of action could fire heavy loads and
were good for long range shooting. This action is also suitable for both left-handed as well as righthanded users, as it is easily accessible from either side. The only downside was the manual extraction
and reloading of a cartridge. The tilting block weapons started to be replaced when bolt-action was
invented, since bolt-actions can also extract the old cartridge and load a new one from a magazine
automatically as the action is operated. However, older weapons were not phased out and people still
encounter tilting block action weapons today in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Posted by The Editor at 9:30 PM 3 comments:
Labels: Action, Khyber pass rifle, Martini-Henry, Peabody, Tilting Block Action

Actions: Falling Block Action

In our last two posts, we studied the pump-action and the lever-action, both of which are used in
repeating weapons (i.e.) they allow the user to fire multiple shots one after another without reloading
the weapon. In this post, we will study an action from the 19th century that is normally used in singleshot weapons. We're talking about the falling block action.

We've already seen an action where the back of the breech is closed by a pretty solid block. We're
talking about the Ferguson rifle which we looked at around a couple of months ago. In a Ferguson rifle,
the seal is provided by a screw plug. A falling block action uses a similar idea, except that instead of
using a screw plug, it uses a solid block of metal that slides vertically on two grooves.

Click on image to enlarge

The above picture shows a rifle with a falling block action. The lever to activate this action also doubles
as a trigger guard, similar to many lever actions. Now we will take a look at the action itself.

The above figure shows a Sharps rifle, one of the earliest weapons using a falling block action. The
picture on the left shows the action with the breech closed by the raised block. The picture on the right
shows the breech open. Notice that the block has slid straight down and you can only see the top of the
breech block in the picture on the right.
When the breech block is open, the user can pull out the old cartridge and insert a new one into the
chamber. Then the user manipulates the lever to close the breech. When the breech is closed, the solid
breech block forms a very tight and rigid seal indeed. This is such a strong action that is it not only used
in small-arms, but also in heavy artillery pieces as well.
One of the early rifles that used this type of actions was the Sharps military rifle that was used by a unit
in the American civil war called the Berdan's Sharpshooters. They were led by Hiram Berdan, who we've
already heard of before: He's the same gentleman who later invented the Berdan type of primer for
centerfire metallic cartridges, which is still used to this present day. The Sharps military rifle was much

more efficient than the old muzzle-loaders and was reknown for its accuracy and speed of fire. It
became very popular as a sniper weapon during the US civil war, due to its shooting qualities. The
Sharps company also released a smaller carbine version which became very popular among both the
Union and Confederate armies and was also later used in wars with the Native American tribes. The
Sharps rifles of the civil war era used percussion cap technology, but by 1874, they began to use
centerfire cartridges. The Sharps Borchardt model 1878 rifle was a strong and accurate buffalo hunting
weapon with arguably the strongest action known until the latter half of the 20th century.

Original author Arthurh. Used by permission from wikipedia.com under the GNU Free Documentation License.

The above picture shows a Ruger No. 1 rifle that uses a falling block action. The picture shows the rifle
with the action open. This action is so strong that the designer, Lenard Brownell once said, "There was
never any question about the strength of the action. I remember, in testing it, how much trouble I had
trying to tear it up. In fact, I never did manage to blow one apart."
Falling block rifles were famous for their accuracy and strength of actions and they were used by several
military forces in the end of the 19th century. It was the invention of the Mauser 1898 bolt-action rifle
that made it lose popularity in the 20th century, because the bolt-action could be loaded by a magazine
and could therefore shoot a bit faster. There are still some falling block action weapons such as the
Ruger above, that are manufactured as hunting weapons.
Posted by The Editor at 12:01 AM No comments:
Labels: Action, Falling Block, Ruger, Sharps Rifle

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Actions: Pump Action

In our last posts, we studied the lever action and the bolt action. In this post, we will study another
action that works on similar principles, called the pump action or the slide action. Most people have
probably seen pump-action weapons used in several movies, such as Terminator II. They are very
popular in repeating shotguns, but there have been some pump action rifles as well.

The above picture shows a Winchester 1912 model pump-action shotgun. Like a lever-action rifle, this
weapon too has a tubular magazine that stores cartridges under the barrel. However, the weapon is
operated similar to a bolt action, except that the cocking lever is under the barrel. Notice the brown
handgrip under the barrel. That grip can slide back and forth horizontally and is called the fore-stock or
fore-end

The user initially loads the magazine with cartridges, usually from a port in the side, as is the case with
a lever action weapon. Then when the user pulls the fore-end lever back, it unlocks the bolt and moves
it backwards, ejecting the old cartridge. As part of the same motion, it also cocks the weapon and a
new cartridge from the tubular magazine is pushed onto the lifter spring (also called the elevator
spring), which lifts the cartridge from the level of the magazine to the level of the barrel. On the
forward movement of the fore-end, it picks up the new cartridge and slides it into the chamber. The
final part of the movement of the fore-end locks the bolt in place and ready to fire.
As always, let us watch a video of one of these in action.
Notice how the users pump back the weapon after every shot to reload the next cartridge. Also note
how the cartridges are loaded into the tubular magazine before starting to shoot.
From the video, we may note several advantages and disadvantages of this type of action. Unlike the
bolt-action and lever-action, it is not necessary to take your finger off the trigger, as the loading action
is performed by the other hand. This means it is faster to reload than a typical lever-action or boltaction weapon. It is also possible to keep the weapon pointed on target while performing the pumping
action. Since the action is manual, it can be used with low-power cartridges as well. This allows the
user to mix and match different types of cartridges as the situation demands. The user can also reload
the magazine at any time and keep shooting. Like the lever-action, a pump-action also lacks "handness"
i.e. it can be fired equally well by right-handed or left-handed users, as the pump action is easily
accessible by either hand. In fact, in the video above, note that the first shooter fires the shotgun right
handed and the second user fires the same weapon left-handed.
The disadvantages of the weapon are also fairly obvious. Like most lever-actions, there is often no
separate detachable magazine. Hence, the user cannot pre-load a bunch of magazines with cartridges in
advance. Some newer weapons feature detachable magazines, but it is not common. Also, as you may
have noted in the video above, at least two shooters did not realize that they'd fired all their bullets, as
there is no visible way to tell how full or empty the magazine is.

These days, most pump-action weapons are usually shotguns. These weapons have found favor with
hunters as well as many police and military forces around the world.
Posted by The Editor at 10:47 PM No comments:
Labels: Action, Pump Action, Slide Action Shotgun, Winchester shotgun

Friday, July 9, 2010

Actions: Lever Action

In the last post, we studied a popular mechanism called the bolt-action. Now we will study another
mechanism that is also still being used today, the lever-action.
A lever-action weapon uses a lever that is located near the trigger, to load new cartridges into the
weapon. Often, the lever is formed in such a shape that it also does double duty as a trigger guard as
well.

Image courtesy of http://www.adamsguns.com/. Click image to enlarge.

In the picture above, we see a Winchester model 1873. This was one of the most popular lever-action
guns and was known as "The Gun that won the west", though the Colt Peacemaker may also have a claim
to that title. Notice the large loop next to the trigger guard. The user can put his hand in the loop and
rotate the lever around the trigger. This cocks the hammer and opens the chamber to unload the
previous cartridge. A new cartridge is forced into place via spring pressure. The user then pulls the lever
back to its initial position and this closes the chamber and the weapon is ready to fire.
Also note the little depression to the north east of the trigger. That is the loading port of this weapon.
The magazine of this weapon is a long tube inside the stock. The user can push the cartridges in to the
magazine one at a time via the port. Typically, most weapons of this type can hold about 6 or 7
cartridges in the magazine.
The best way to illustrate how the mechanism works is to show one in use. Note how the gentleman in
the video loads and fires this weapon.
The first weapon to use this type of action was the Spencer Repeating Rifle in 1860. Unlike the later
Winchester 1873, using the lever on a Spencer rifle only removed the old cartridge and fed in the new
one. The user still had to cock the hammer as a separate action. The weapon used rimfire cartridges
and could hold 7 of them at a time in a tubular magazine. It was shown to Abraham Lincoln and he was
impressed enough to orderthat it be adopted by the United States army and navy. A normal user could
fire approximately 20 cartridges every minute using a Spencer rifle. Unusually, the Spencer rifle had the
magazine tube in the butt of the weapon.

The first rifle that also cocked the weapon upon operating the lever action was by one Oliver Henry, an
employee of Winchester. This rifle was called the Henry rifle in his honor. Unlike the Spencer rifle, this
one had the magazine located under the barrel, which is where most lever actions have it located
today. During the American civil war, while the rifle was never issued officially to the Union army, many
soldiers saved their pay so that they could purchase one with their personal funds. The Henry rifle could
hold up to 16 cartridges in its magazine and fire at the rate of 28 cartridges per minute. In fact, the
confederate forces, who were still armed with muzzle-loaders often derided the weapon as "the damned
yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!"
Winchester also continued to make more rifles, under the Winchester name, such as the Winchester
model 1873 and Winchester model 1894 named after their respective years.

In the above image of a Winchester model 1873 rifle, you can clearly see that the cartridges are stored
in a magazine under the barrel, as was the case in the Henry rifle as well. Contrast this with the earlier
Spencer rifle that stored extra cartridges in the butt of the rifle stock. The lever action mechanism can
also be clearly seen. As with the Henry rifle, manipulating the lever ejects the old cartridge, loads a
new one and also cocks the weapon simultaneously.
A significant competitor of Winchester was Marlin. The Marlin model 1894 which was first built in 1894 is
still being manufactured today. In fact, if you look at the video above, you'll notice the gentleman is
firing a Marlin 1894 as well.
Lever action rifles have a few good things going for them: They lack "handness", i.e. they can be fired
equally well by a right-handed or a left-handed shooter, as the lever is accessible from either side. They

also offer a higher rate of fire than a bolt-action weapon, since all that is required to fire is to pull and
push the lever back. They are also shorter than bolt-action rifles, which makes them easier to
manipulate by people riding on horseback. This is why Winchester lever-action rifles were so popular
with frontiersmen in the Wild West. During the American civil war, many groups of scouts, raiding
parties and skirmishers used Henry lever-action rifles for the same reason.
On the other hand, they also have some disadvantages. Since most of them use tubular magazines which
are inside the stock, the balance of the weapon is altered. Pointed spitzer type bullets can occasionally
detonate inside a tubular magazine, as the sharp pointed tip of each bullet rests on the primer cap of
the next cartridge. It is also harder to operate the lever when one is lying prone on the ground. This is
why they didn't catch on much with military forces around the world. Most lever action weapons also
don't have detachable magazines, hence it is not possible for a user to pre-load a bunch of magazines
ahead of time.
Lever actions are also not as strong as bolt-action weapons, so they cannot be used for longer-range
rifles. This is why the cartridges used by lever-action rifles are not as powerful as those used by boltaction weapons. Since hunting usually needs shorter range weapons and also since the weapons are
shorter overall and have higher firing rate, this type of action is popular with hunters and they are still
used by them to this day.
Posted by The Editor at 1:23 AM 3 comments:
Labels: Action, Henry rifle, Lever Action, Spencer Rifle, Winchester rifle

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Actions: Bolt Action

In the last couple of posts, we studied the break-open action and the sliding barrel action. Now we will
study another type of action that is known for its sturdiness and is still with us. This action is the bolt
action.
We actually studied the first weapon to use a bolt action a while earlier. It happens to be the Dreyse
Needle Gun. This gun had a number of firsts to its name:
1. It was the first mass-produced military weapon using breech-loading technology.
2. The ammunition it used burned almost completely, so it didn't need to eject the paper casing
after firing the weapon. This was a precursor to caseless ammunition.
3. It was the first bolt-action breechloading weapon.
The action was a significantly new invention in 1841, when the Dreyse needle gun was first introduced.
It allowed the user to reload significantly faster than the opposition who were still using muzzle-loading
weapons (almost 5 times the shooting speed). It also had the advantage that the user didn't need to
stand up to reload the weapon and therefore could hide behind cover.

The basic idea of a bolt-action weapon is a manually operated bolt, which is manipulated by a handle,
typically on the right side of the weapon. The handle is used to unlock the bolt and open the breech
cover. The old cartridge case is then ejected from the breech chamber. The opening of the bolt may
also cock the weapon in some models. Then a new cartridge is put in the chamber and the handle is
then moved forward to close the bolt. In some models, the action of closing the bolt cocks the weapon.
The weapon is then ready to fire.
In some models, opening the bolt causes an extractor lever to automatically pull the old cartridge case
out of the chamber to eject it. The magazine has a spring that pushes a new cartridge into the chamber,
when the old cartridge case is pulled out by the extraction lever. Such a mechanism is used in many
bolt-action rifles, such as the Springfield M1903 rifle which carries a 5-shot magazine under it. This
speeds up shooting because the user doesn't need to waste time pulling out the old cartridge or feeding
a new one by hand.
Compared to other actions, the bolt-action has a few advantages. It is extremely simple to make, yet
has very high accuracy. It is very cheap to manufacture and very light-weight. Best of all, it is a very
strong action and can handle powerful cartridges. The only downside to it is that it doesn't support a
very high rate of fire compared to some other alternatives. Since most modern military rifles are semiautomatic or selective fire weapons, they don't use this mechanism. However, the simplicity combined

with the accuracy and the ability to handle high powered cartridges make it ideal to be used in sniper
rifles. In fact, the bolt-action is overwhelmingly the action of choice in most of the sniper rifles used
throughout the world. This mechanism is also used in many hunting rifles, where rate of fire is not as
important as accuracy and power.
There are three major variants of bolt-action rifles which we will study below.
The Mauser M-98 system was first introduced in 1898 (hence M-98) with the Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle,
which was used by the Germans between 1898 and 1935. This highly successful bolt-action design was
later used in a lot of other rifles and is the dominant form of bolt-actions used today. In this type, the
rifle is cocked when the bolt-action is opened. The Gewehr 98 has a 5-round magazine.

Click image to enlarge

The image above shows an original Mauser model from 1898. The weapon was designed with a lot of
thought. The bolt handle is securely attached to the bolt and there are a couple of gas vent holes built
into the bolt, so that if there is a rupture in the cartridge case or primer, the hot gases will vent out of
the magazine hole instead of near the user's face. The "controlled feed" extractor claw holds on to the
cartridge the moment it has fed from the magazine and holds on to it until the cartridge case is ejected.
The weapon is cocked as the bolt is opened (actually, it specifically cocks as the bolt handle is rotated
upwards, before pulling back to open the bolt) and the rear part of the striker protrudes from the back
of the bolt, which allows one to quickly check if the rifle is cocked or not visually. The original mauser
design was not given to cheap mass-production.

The cock-on-bolt-opening design was later adopted by other rifles as well, notably the Springfield M1903
(like the one shown in the picture above). The M1903 was used in the US military from 1903 all the way
into the Vietnam war. The cock-on-bolt-opening design rifles are slightly slower to load than the other
variant which we will study below. However, it is the more common of the two variants of bolt action
and is used in nearly all modern hunting rifles today. It was also the dominant form of action used
between the 1890s and the mid 1900s.
Another variant of bolt action is the cock-on-bolt-closing design. This is famously called the "Lee Enfield
design" as it was first used in the Lee-Enfield rifle of 1895, otherwise known as the SMLE (Short Magazine
Lee-Enfield) rifle. This rifle was heavily used in the British Commonwealth and its descendant is still
used by Indian police, which makes it the longest serving bolt-action rifle model in existence.

The above is an example of a Lee-Enfield Mark I rifle. In this rifle, pushing the bolt closed cocks the
rifle. This makes opening the bolt a lot faster and smoother, compared to the cock-on-opening design of
the Mauser. This feature, coupled with its larger capacity 10-round magazine meant that a user could
shoot 20-30 times in 60 seconds, making it the fastest bolt-action rifle of its day. The Lee Enfield rifles
fire a 0.303 bullet. Note that the 0.303 bullet actually measures 0.311 inches in diameter, as we have
noted previously.
The Indian Ordinance board later made a variant of this rifle called the Ishapore 2A1, which was based
on the Lee Enfield Mark III rifle model.

The main difference is that the Ishapore 2A1 rifle is chambered to fire a standard NATO 7.62 x 51 mm.
round. As a result of this, the steel used in this weapon is also improved to handle the higher pressures
of the NATO cartridge. This rifle has the distinction of being the last bolt-action rifle designed to be
used by a regular military force (other than sniper rifles, which are for special forces only). It is still
used by police in various states in India. It is also popular with civilian shooters in the UK and USA.
The Lee-Enfield cock-on-closing-bolt system was also used on a number of other rifles, mostly made in
the UK and other commonwealth countries.
A third variant is the Mosin-Nagant system, which was first used by the Mosin-Nagant rifle in 1895.
Unlike the Mauser system, the bolt head rotates with the bolt and lugs, whereas the Mauser has the bolt
head is an integral (non-removable) part of the bolt. It is also unlike the Lee-Enfield where the bolt
head remains stationary and the bolt alone rotates. It is a rugged design, but is complicated. This type
of bolt-action was mostly used in Russia, but one version called the M28 was manufactured by the Finns.
The M28 is widely regarded as one of the finest and most accurate military rifles ever produced and was
used by the most successful sniper of all time, a Finn named Simo Hayha.
There are other bolt-action systems, but never caught on as much as the above three systems.
Bolt actions are more accurate than semi-automatic rifles, which is why hunters and military snipers still
use them. The reason is because when the cartridge is fired, the entire energy is devoted to propelling
the bullet out of the rifle, unlike a semi-automatic or automatic weapon, where part of the energy is
diverted to eject the old cartridge, auto-cock the weapon and load a new cartridge. It also has less
moving parts than most other action types. The only parts that really move in a bolt-action when it is
being fired are the spring and the firing pin. This simple and strong design means it can fire magnum
cartridges as well. One more advantage for snipers is that it does not eject the spent round

automatically, which is beneficial to the sniper because it does not give away his position and he can
decide to eject the round himself when it is safe to do so. The only disadvantage is that it is slower to
use than some other actions. So, while it may not be as useful to an ordinary infantryman, this action is
more valuable to snipers and hunters and has thrived for these reasons even to the present day.
Posted by The Editor at 11:20 PM No comments:
Labels: Action, Bolt Action, gewehr 98, Lee Enfield, M1903, mauser, SMLE, sniper rifles

Actions: Sliding Barrel Breech Action

In the last post, we discussed the break-open or top-break action. In this post, we will study the sliding
barrel action.

The image above shows a French-made Bastin Lepage double-barreled shotgun using pinfire cartridges.
This mechanism is fairly straightforward and easy to understand. The stock has a central groove cut
along its length and the barrels slide along this groove. The movement of the barrels is actuated by the
long lever on the underside of the gun. The barrels move sufficiently forward, so that the user can
easily insert cartridges into the barrel. The user then pulls the lever back, which moves the barrels back
into position. There is a catch on the stock that holds the long lever in place so that the barrels don't
move when the weapon is fired. In practice, the catch never held very well, which is why this action is
rarely used these days.

The above example is another double barreled sliding barrel shotgun made by another French
manufacturer called Darne. Notice the top of the barrel has a cylindrical projection that fits in a hole on
the other side when the breech is closed. Darne started making sliding breech guns around 1897, but the
above example was made in the 1950s. Darne still makes shotguns like this to the present day.

El Winchester es un arma creada en 1866 que, producto de su amplia difusin y

pese a no ser el primero en su tipo, ha llegado a ser sinnimo del fusil de
repeticin de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX; es decir, de aquellos primeros
fusiles y carabinas que permitan disparar varias veces sin necesidad de efectuar
una recarga, desalojando el casquillo o cartucho usado y reemplazndolo por uno
nuevo
mediante
un
movimiento
de
palanca.

Este modelo fue fabricado por iniciativa de Oliver Winchester, presidente de

Winchester Repeating Arms Company, en base a la copia y mejora del anterior
fusil Henry, patentado en octubre de 1860 y que era fabricado en otra de las
compaas
de
propiedad
del
mismo
empresario.
Al Winchester se le conoce en los Estados Unidos como "el arma que conquist el
Oeste",
sobre
todo
por
su
recurrente
aparici

n
en las pelculas del gnero western, como las protagonizadas por John Wayne en
los aos 1930s y 1940s. Esta fama no es del todo exacta, pues la primera
conquista del Oeste se realiz con otros modelos de fusiles de tiro rpido, aunque
la popularizacin del Winchester s masific la brecha tecnolgica entre los

conquistadores estadounidenses y los guerreros nativos que lucharon por su

independencia durante la ltima fase de las Guerras Indias. En este sentido, es
significativo que el conflicto que sell el triunfo de los rifles de repeticin, la Guerra
de Secesin Americana (1861-1865), es anterior a la comercializacin del
Winchester.

Precedentes
El fusil de repeticin se remonta a 1848 y 1849, cuando aparecieron sendos
prototipos creados por los estadounidenses Walter Hunt y Lewis Jenings. El arma
de Jenings, basada en la de Hunt, lleg a ser fabricada por la empresa Robbins y
Lawrence, de Vermont, a partir de 1850. Algunas de las complicaciones de
funcionamiento propias de estos primeros modelos fueron superadas por una
pareja de inventores, Horace Smith y Daniel B. Wesson, quienes hacia 1855
produjeron el fusil Volcanic. Pero fue en definitiva el fusil Spencer, creado por
Christopher
Spence

ry
ampliamente propagado en 1861 con el apoyo del presidente Abraham Lincoln, el
que resolvi los principales problemas de este nuevo tipo de armas al introducir el
cartucho metlico. Esta solucin, ms las aportadas por el fusil Henry de 1860,
fueron el modelo sobre el que se desarroll en 1866 el rifle Winchester.

Trayectoria
En su primera presentacin, el depsito tubular bajo el can contena 15
cartuchos y el mecanismo se fabricaba en bronce. Debido al color caracterstico
de este metal, el arma era conocida como Yellow Boy, el "chico amarillo".
Adems, una ventanilla lateral facilitaba todo el proceso de recarga y dificultaba la
entrada de suciedad. Tena la capacidad de efectuar 12 disparos por minuto y se
le consideraba un arma sumamente fiable. Al modelo de 1866 siguieron las
siguientes versiones:
* 1873 que alcanz una produccin de 720.600 unidades.
* 1876 creado especficamente para la caza del bisonte.
* 1886 considerada la mejor versin; su sistema de alimentacin fue optimizado
por el diseador John Browning.
* 1892, 1894, y 1895, que superaron el milln de unidades vendidas.
El Winchester, al igual que el resto de los fusiles de repeticin, se convirti en un
arm

a
principalmente utilizada por la caballera, aunque tambin fue ampliamente
comercializado en el mercado civil. Los fusiles y carabinas Winchester fueron
emplea El Winchester como smbolo dos en todo tipo de conflictos
a lo largo del mundo: la Guerra del Pacfico, la Revolucin Mexicana y la Primera
Guerra Mundial, por citar algunos de ellos. Pero durante la Primera Guerra
Mundial, el gran desarrollo de los fusiles de repeticin accionados mediante
cerrojo y alimentados con peines, como el Mauser 98, el Mosin-Nagant y el
Springfield 1903, releg a u

Winchester 1873

Tipo:
Pas

Rifle
de

de
origen:

Historia

palanca
Estados

de

Unidos

servicio

Guerras: Guerra del Pacfico, Primera Guerra Mundial, Revolucin Mexicana

Historia

de

produccin

Diseada:
Fabricante:

1873
Winchester

Repeating

Arms

Company

Especificaciones
Peso:

4,3

Longitud:
Longitud

Kilogramos
1,25

del

can:

metros
76,2

cm

Calibre:
Sistema

44-40
de

disparo:

Alcance

Palanca

efectivo:

accionada
~

manualmente

200

Cargador: depsito tubular bajo el can, con capacidad de 15 cartuchos

Winchester Modelo 1892

Tipo:
Pas

Rifle
de

de
origen:

Historia

palanca
Estados

de

produccin

Producido:
Fabricante:

Especificaciones

Unidos

1892-1938
Winchester

Repeating

Arms

Company

Calibre:

44-40

Cargador: Depsito tubular bajo el can, con capacidad de 15 cartuchos

n segundo plano a la carabina Winchester accionada por palanca o lever action y

alimentados manualmente. De hecho, los fusiles Winchester de las series
originales
se
produjeron
hasta
1932.

El Winchester es identificado como un elemento de identidad del vaquero o

cowboy, tal como el Thompson con cargador en forma de tambor redondo es
asociado a los gangsters de la Gran Depresin. Esta identificacin ha sido
reforzada principalmente por el cine de Hollywood, que incluso produjo una
pelcula llamada Winchester '73, protagonizada por James Stewart, o por el
spaghetti western, como es el caso de Winchester, uno entre mil. Tambin fue
usado en el genocidio ona en Tierra del Fuego eEn su forma moderna, con
materiales actualizados y con las modernas tcnicas de produccin, el modelo
1892 es lo suficientemente fuerte para utilizar cartuchos de alta presin, tales
como el .357 Magnum, el .44 Magnum, y el muy potente .454 Casull.

PORJAVIERAPARICIOGARCA(PILLINJAG)
MANUAL DE DESPIEZE Y LIMPIEZADE UNWINCHESTER 94" CAL. 30-30WIN
PORTADAYRESEABIBLIOGRFICA HCTOR NIO (HEC1209)
AGOSTO 2010
Caractersticas
Tipo:Rifle accionado por palancaLugar de origen: Estados UnidosDiseador:John Browning (1894)Fecha de produccin: 18942006Cantidad construida:Ms de 7.500.000Peso:3,1 kgLongitud:960 mmLongitud can:508 mmCalibre:30-30 Winchester
(disponible otros calibres)Accin:Por palancaVelocidad inicial 2,490 ft/s (759 m/s ) )Alimentacin:6 7 cartuchos en cargador tuvular
bajo el canEl
Winchester modelo 1894
fue diseado por Browning (Winchester 94 Win 94),y se fabric principalmente en calibres .30-30 Winchester (o simplemente
30-30),.32-40 Winchester, .38-55 Winchester, .25-35 Winchester y .32 Winchester Special.El calibre ms comn de este modelo era el .30-30
Winchester, que utilizaba la plvora sin humo (smokeless powder) en lugar de plvora negra.Fue el primer rifle deportivo a
vender ms de 7.000.000 unidades. Como ancdotadecir que el n un milln se le regal al presidente Calvin Coolidge en 1927,
el nmilln y medio al presidente Harry S Truman el 8 de mayo de 1948 y el n dosmillones al presidente Dwight Eisenhower en
1953.Para 1927 se haban vendido un milln de piezas de este modelo. A partir de 1964 semodific su proceso de fabricacin
para abaratar el rifle y se comenz a producir encalibres como el .38 Especial/.357 Magnum, .44 Special/.44 Magnum, .41
Magnum,.45-70, .32-20 Winchester, .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt .45 Cowboy), .44-40Winchester y hasta en calibre .22 Long
Rifle. De ah la denominacin "pre-64" dealgunos rifles. Su produccin dur hasta el 2006 y se fabricaron en total sietemillones
de unidades.
1.- el paciente en cuestin.2.- herramienta para el desarme y limpieza: solo necesitamos un desarmador plano,un aflojatodo,
removedor de polvora, un lubricante para armas y un trapo de algodn.
Figura 2Figura 1
3.- primer pieza a quitar (tornillo para liberar la culata)4.- despus de retirar el tornillo delizar hacia atras la culatapara liberarla.
Tornillo que sujeta la culata
Figura 4Figura 3
5.- quitar el tonillo # 1 para liberar y extraer el martillo y el llamador.6.- acto seguido deslizar hacia arriba el martillo.
Figura 6Figura 5

Tornillo # 1
7.- se abre hacia abajo la palanca para liberar el llamadorcon su muelle deslizandola hacia atrs, ya que a pesar de estar sueltose
encuentra sobre un riel que impide que salga hacia abajo.Nota: para liberar esta pieza se debe sujetar con fuerza y presionar la
muellehacia su base cerrando su ngulo y deslizandola hacia atrs ya que la muelle se atora enla parte superior donde estaba el
martillo, esto en el paso 7 como muestra la fig. 7 y 8
Figura 8Figura 7
9.- quitar el tonillo # 2 para quitar la pieza inferior delmecanismo de la palanca (fig. 9).
Figura 9igura 9Figura 10
10.- en este punto hemos liberado una pieza intermediaentre el martillo y el percutor, la cual no estaatornillada (Fig. 10).
Tornilo # 2pieza intermedialiberada (no seencuentra atornillada)
Figura 11Figura 12
11.- esta pieza ubicada entre el martillo y el percutor, solose desliza hacia abajo para sacarla de la bascula.12.- pieza extraida.
11.- esta pieza ubicada entre el martillo y el percutor, solose desliza hacia abajo para sacarla de la bascula.
Tornilo#3
13.- quitar el tornillo # 3 el cual es solo la tapa proteccin paraocultar el perno que libera la palanca de accin y el
cerrojo(ambas piezas).
Figura 13Figura 14
14.- despus volteamos a la otra cara del rifle donde encontramos en la partesuperior un orificio pequeo en el cual
introducimos un birlo delgado y hacemos presinen el perno interior, al mismo tiempo hacemos presin entre la palanca de
accin y la parte trasera de la bscula como si fueran unas pinzas, como se muestra en la fig. 14( esto es para centrar el perno del
cerrojo en el orificio y poder liberarlo)
estos dos pasos deben realizarsede manera simultanea
Figura 15Figura 16
15.- una vez expulsado el perno, tendremos suelta la palancade accin y el cerrojo, ahora deslizamos la palanca haciaabajo y
saldr sin mayor problema.
perno que sujeta lapalanca de accin yel cerrojo.deslizar la palancade accin haciaabajo.
16.- quitar el tornillo # 4 para liberar el elevador de loscartuchos.
Tornilo # 4
Figura 18Figura 17
18.- acto seguido retiramos el cerrojo que ya estabasuelto deslizandolo hacia atrs, debemos tener cuidadoya que el percutor del
cerrojo tambin esta suelto.
Tornilo # 4cerrojoelevador decartuchos
17.- despus de retirar el tornillo # 4, deslizamos hacia abajoel elevador el cual saldr sin mayor problema.
Figura 19Figura 20
19.- volver a la cara derecha de la bscula del rifle pararetirar el tornillo # 5 y liberar as la muelle que protege elacceso a la
recamara del cargador tubular.
Tornilo # 5muelle
20.- Muy bien amigos, ahora toda la bascula del rifle esta vaca, ya no tenemos piezas que quitar, bueno, a decir verdadan
quedan un par de tornillos pequeos que sujetan unas bases que sirven de riel para el cerrojo pero les aseguro queno hay
necesidad de quitarlas.
Figura 21Figura 22
21.- es muy bueno ir acomodando las piezas extradas en ordende como se sacaron y tratando de colocarlas segn suubicacin
en la bscula para facilitar su armado.22.- es momento de empezar con la limpieza de nuestra reliquia,para ello necesitamos un
aflojatodo (en mi caso usare el WD-40)el cual les recomiendo para remover todo tipo de impurezasde las piezas del rifle, un
solvente de plvora para el interior delcaon y un lubricante para las piezas mviles.
Limpieza del rifle
23.- ahora voy a limpiar pieza por pieza mi arma, primero a lavarlascon WD-40, limpiarlas con el trapo de algodn y por ltimo
a lubricarlascon un aceite para armas (les sirve cualquier 3 en 1, no hay problema).
Figura 23Figura 24
24.- para limpiar la bascula por dentro, utilizar un cepillo dental, depreferencia nuevo para que las cerdas del cepillo puedan
removerla grasa con polvo y residuos de plvora, pueden ayudarse con un pincel y la aguja de una jeringa para llegar a esos

lugares donde no puede entrarel cepillo, no escatimen en recursos, usen lo que tengan a la mano.
25.- una hora y media despus y tras una exhaustiva limpieza a concienciatenemos todas las piezas limpias y listas para su
ensamble.
Figura 25
NOTA: se preguntarn.... y la varilla como se limpia y desarma? Jejejejjeje ! ! ! ! !, pues no coman ancias, esta es solo la
primera parte delproceso de limpieza, posteriormente le daremos mantenimiento al cargador y al can.
26.- primero tomamos el cerrojo y el percutor, los ensamblamos,recordemos que el percutor entra por la parte trasera del
cerrojoCUIDANDO SU COLOCACIN para que pueda entrar el perno quelo une a la palanca de accin..
Armado del rifle
Figura 26Figura 27
27.- insertamos el cerrojo en el riel que lo sostiene.
Figura 29Figura 28
pieza intermedia
28.- despus colocamos la pieza que va entre el martillo y el cerrojocolocandola en un riel interno de abajo hacia arriba,
simplementedeslizandola, no requiere fuerza.29.- as es como queda la pieza que acabamos de colocar.
30.- muy bien amigos, ahora colocamos el elevador de cartuchosde abajo hacia arriba colocando el tornillo # 4.
Figura 30Figura 31
Tornilo # 4Tornilo # 4elevador de cartuchos
30.- colocamos el tornillo # 4.
32.- volvemos a la cara derecha del rifle y colocamos antes de que senos olvide la pestaa que cubre la entrada a la recamara de
loscartuchos.
Figura 32Figura 33
se coloca de afuera hacia adentro colocando el tornillo # 5
Tornilo # 5Tornilo#5
34.- en este punto estamos listos para colocar la palanca de accin,la cual se coloca en diagonal como se ve en la foto.
Figura 34Figura 35
35.- para lograr esto necesitamos empujar el cerrojo hasta que sellecon EL CAON y se alinee junto con la palanca en el
orificio parainsertar el perno que las sujeta, no tengo foto de eso ya que estabasolo en su casa y tenia en este paso las dos manos
ocupadaspero es fcil de hacer, y despus solo colocamos el tornillo # 3.NOTA: recuerden tener alineado tambin el percutor,
de lo contrariono va a entrar el perno en su lugar.
Tornilo # 3
36.- ahora colocaremos el tornillo # 2, para ello debemos colocar la piezaintermedia en el riel que trae la palanca de accin (fig.
36.1) y deslizarla a tope hacia adentro (fig. 36.2), si no hacen este paso, la pieza no va a entrar.
Figura 36.1Figura 36.2
37.- ahora colocaremos el tornillo # 2.
Tornilo # 2
Figura 37
38 y 39.- ya tenemos casi armado de nuevo el rifle.
Figura 39Figura 38
Figura 40
40.- Caballeros, es hora de colocar el llamador y el martillo paracompletar su ensamble..41.- primero colocamos el llamador
(gatillo), para esto abrimos un pocola palanca de accin, el llamador entra en un riel interno ubicadoen la parte trasera de la
bscula, lo deslizaremos a tope.
Figura 41
42.- enseguida por la parte superior colocamos el martillo uniendolosen el punto donde entra el tornillo # 1.NOTA: les hago
mencin, antes de iniciar este paso que se requieremucha sincrona y tal vez ayuda de otra persona ya que para colocar el
pernoes necesario centrar el martillo con el llamador, para esto hay que presionarel martillo contra la muelle del llamador y es
algo duro de hacer porla tensin de la muelle (puede variar segn el desgaste del arma),en mi caso esta muy dura de contraer.por
eso recomiendo ayuda para no batallar.
Tornilo#1
Figura 42

43.- ahora hemos completado el armado de la bscula.

Figura 43Figura 44
44.- por ltimo atornillamos la culata y habremos terminado el trabajo seores,en Hora Buena, Muchas Felicidades ! ! ! ! ! ! !!
45.- ahora probamos que nuestro rifle funcione cargando y expulsandoun par de cartuchos, al lograrlo nos dar una tremenda
satisfaccinsaber que cumplimos la tarea propuesta.
Figura 45
Desarme del cargador tubular del rifle
46.- ahora continuamos con el desarme del cargador tubular del rifleel cual es ms rpido y sencillo.
Figura 46
1o.- retiramos el alza mira.2o.- quitar los tornillos que sujetan las abrazaderas del caon y cargador.3o.- quitar el tornillo que
sujeta el tapn y el resorte del cargador.NOTA: en este punto tener cuidado, antes de quitar el tornillo # 3 deben sujetarcon los
dedos el tapn del cargador tubular ya que al retirar el tornillo, la fuerzadel resorte puede lanzarlo un par de metros.4o.- retirar el
tapn del cargador.5o.- extraer el resorte del cargador tubular.
2o1o3o4o5o
47.- ahora estamos en posibilidad de retirar las dems piezas..
Figura 47
6o.- retiramos el cargador tubular deslizandolo hacia adelante.7o.- retiramos la abrazadera delantera (para ello debemos girarla
180para evadir el punto delantero del can).8o.- deslizamos la abrazadera trasera hacia el frente la cual saldr
sinproblemas.9o.- retiramos el guardamanos de igual manera (deslizandolo hacia adelante).10o.- junto a la bscula queda un
tapn que a travs del resorte empujalos cartuchos.
6o7o10o8o9o
Como pueden ver, pues ya es todo ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !, jajajajajala bscula si es todo un relajo, pero esta parte del arma es
relativamentefcil ! ! ! ! ! ! !ahora podemos limpiar por dentro y por fuera el caon y el cargador tubular,as como las dems
piezas para su posterior armado.
Figura 48
48.- una vez realizada la limpieza de las piezas, procedemos a su armado.1.- primero colocamos el guardamanos.2.- despus la
abrazadera trasera (es la mas ancha).3.- continuamos con la abrazadera delantera.4.-despus el cargador tubular con la pieza que
recibe los cartuchosNOTA: al insertar la abrazaderas haganlo tomando en cuenta que el costado queremarca la cabeza del
tornillo, en ambas debe estar hacia la cara derecha delarma como en la foto, de lo contrario los tornillos no van a entrar.
3.- al colocar la abrazadera delantera hacerlo de esta manerarecordemos que la giraremos 180, de lo contrario no les va a
ajustar.3.23.141.- guarda manos2

49.- atornillamos las abrazaderas, como les comente en el punto anterior,las dos abrazaderas se atornillan por el costado derecho
del riflecomo se muestra en la imagen.50.- por ltimo colocamos el resorte dentro del cargador, sujetandolo con su tapn y acto
seguido los sujetamos con su respectivo tornillo.
Figura 50Figura 49

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