POOR MAN'S JAMES BOND Vol, 4 175 MODERN GUNSMITHING . A Manual of Firearms Design, Construction and Remodeling, for Amateurs and Professionals MODERN GUNSMITHING by CLYDE BAKER SECOND EDITION, 1933 SMALL-ARMS TECHNICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY Plantersville, South Carolina THE AMERICAN RIFLEMAN USA. JUNE, NINETEEN FORTY-THREE tirely, he enlisted and soon was assigned to > . . : Clyde Baker One of the most popular contributors to Rirteman pages, Clyde Baker, author of many home gunsmithing articles, died April 8, 1943, In ill health for some time he entered Oak Noll Naval Hospital on March 22 and passed away following an operation. Mr. Baker was born at Cowgill, Missouri, March 26, 1894, but received most of his schooling at Kansas City, Missouri, where his family moved. ‘At the outbreak of World War I he en- listed in the Marine Corps and had nine months service in France. Upon returning to the United States and his home he went in for the hobby he always loved—guns, gunsmithing and repairing. In 1922 he married Edna N. Mengel and then, in his own home, established a gun shop where he remodeled, rebuilt, re- paired and restocked guns of all types in his spare time. His occupation was advertising. Tt was during this time he wrote his book, “Modern Gunsmithing,” which became one of the most enthusiastically received writings of that subject. He was a lover of the out- doors and bunting came to him naturally. ‘That and his gunsmithing hobby provided the material for the many articles he wrote for THE AxeRtcan RIFLEMAN, Sports Afeld, Mechanix IMlustrated, Outdoor Life and other: After Pearl Harbor Mr, Baker answered the Navy's call for men with specialized trades, Then being in the gun business en- instruction on the subject of “Guns and Gun- nery” at San Diego. In July, 1942, he was assigned to special duty at the U. S. Naval Base at Oakland, Calif, where he worked in a small arms repair unit. Everywhere his fine work and gunsmithing ability was recor- nized and he was made Gunners Mate Ist Class last February. Clyde Baker will live long in the memories of those who loved the outdoors, fine firearms and expert worksmanship.FOOR MAN*S JAMES BOND Vol. 4 18, 19, 2. a. 2 23. a. 25, 26. 2. 28. 2. 30. 3 32. 33. 3H s seen discussed in Whelen’s “Amateur Gunamit |. Fausiinc aN Pousuma Stocks . CONTENTS Inrrcoverion Hone Guusarrixa . Tne Gus-Cuanx's Womestior TOOLING UP ssesssssessssesteeesceaesesenee Sraciat ano Hows Mant Toots ano Eautraent « Martniats ano Marais Necussany .. Finsr Sears ror BRoiNwans ...... Gewanat. Suor Paacrice ano Use or Toots Woon ror GUNSTOCKS ...++.e++2 Gonsroce Desion .. a Srocxaaxiwo: Lavina Our ann IMLErTNo StocrMaxiwa: SHAPING AND Firmio Curcxixe Axo Caxvinia Rapamuno ap RamopeLino Stocks, Ruri Baraxt Dision ano Frrmixo .. Cuampanxe ano Baxnsy Work Canramos Dastow ano MaNuractURE oc. eescee {re rowmienD wae Sruncnc np Poustina Baran, Ewanavino avo Onwamunrarion or Marat. . Buuxe axp Browse Anweaune, Haxpewine axp Tariana Case Haanentna see eee Sonpaare, Beazina awp Watnine ‘Mawvractune ox Susstirumion o7 SMaLt, PAsrt Haro Freviva ov SMaLt Panza Ctxawnce Bonus ano Rumovino Onstaucnons Laprnvo Banazts axp Borg Pouistitna ... Apyusine Talocer Putts anp Actions . Frrring Stouts axp TetesooPRs os. 00se0e Renooeuinc Mrurany axp Onsorrra RIFLES SworeuN Raratns Np ALTERATIONS «5.05. Pisrois AND REVOLVERS ..eseseees eee , Resronation ano Rgratr of Ou FIREARMS ..... Ewrnoancy arp Freto Rurains INTRODUCTION 176 MODERN GUNSMITHING ur ait 302 37 325 a 37 382 389 397 42 47 465 4a 307 sa OMETFING over a year ago, in writing to Dr. Paul B. Jen- Kins, then shooting editor of Outdoor Recreation, 1 made’ the statement that there were a number of points T should like to have covered thercin, Apparently Dr. Jenkin was impressed. wi hing” which were not e of features which I thought would be of value to the gun ‘crank as well as the professional cunsmith, for he seat my Ict iF Galore! Whelen sritheut more alo, yee Now the Colonel, being the most agreeable of men, frankly stated that "Arnatcur Gunsmithing” was not ax complete as he shoul like wo have male , being the first work on the subject, and requiring. crigiral investigation, ior which time was Ii ‘And in further jence of his devotion to a good cause, he cordially invited me 10 write the kind of gunsmithing bock T'was talking about, generously: offecing me any oF all of the original material in hit book, and his personal cooperation in the new enterprte as well, Te at fst I ele Nattered by the invitation, the feeling was quickly diopelled by the realization of what 2 big mouthful Thad bien off for myself I was prety much in the some situation of the tigger who clughe « wildcat by the taiH~"coulda't hang on, an’ daseent let Tose?” ut as all things must eventually have an ending, the last Tine was fnally writen, the last photograph made; and from the heart ‘of the continent there sounded one long drawn gh of relic. Tris evidene that t book of this character cannot in the natu ings be entirely the work of ene man. In the feld of gun ing, a clewhere, we uncoasclously lean toward specialisation, ding sore of won oe Tie er ew of he rte oe oat lersand so well, or for which we ate not ao well equipped. In “Modein Guosmithing,” thezelore, any work has been’ quite a3 amach ha: of come ar of an stor he meager oul fe sonal experience have been enlarged by adding the experience Knowledge of others, with a view to placing fo the hands of gun- smiths and gunowners the greatest amount of useful material and Information, regardless of its eure, “There seemed to be a definite desire on the pat of large num- ber of shooters for a textbook of gunemithing practice, and every effort has been made to iacorgorate in “Modern Gunemithing™ de- tad Ingracont covering thne Jobe owe often required by the suncerank. “There are some who will scoff at thia suggestion, pointing out that ths ch nes ‘of sacar by eer gunman mas ot a aqulred by reading a book, but through loug pprenticedip ‘0 trades and potnting out also the eabortte andlconly machine’y mecee sitated in the manutzcture of mdern firearms. All this is trves and it would benoe only futile, but silly to claim that this or any ether text bok would place the amateur workman or the guncrank on a pat ith the expert of long experience, or enable hist to perforan all the Jntsicate mechanical operations possible only inthe well equipped factory doe. It has been our purpose, therefore, to cover as thoroughly at sos: sible those Jo which cane comsidccd pracinble forthe aatcey workman, and for the gunsmith with «small shop and Timed cauinment, and to show not only the posits, bur also the Tn tions oF amateur guasnithing. And while tome of tie jobs de scribed may prove to be beyond the ability of some workinen, they will itis hoped, serve a useful purpose in bringing te the guncwner 4 greater appreciation of the guom he ovis ef the skill’ and.ma- feria which enter into their wakeup—at the ame vime shewing the fallacy, perhaps, of some of the things which shooters demand of the factories—things which ace clearly impossible or impracticable ‘once the subject's better understood. Tes hoped also that our work may serve another useful purpos, in the way of a warning sgaintt a type of punmaker who sneets at the work of our great arms factories and offers, in some mysterious ranner which he carefully concezls from the tresting customer, 7 do things which the factories, with all their expecience and costly equipment, do nor claim ro do. We arc tempted at times, of course, to take exception to the at- titude of our large factories, when they refuse to give us something which we think we wast—which fefusal is always necrstated by the fact that the factories are lined wp for regular production, and sannet, in the nature of things, fo into. custom work without in- volving more expense than the job would bring.” But before we start cusing them let us remember that the products of cur old cetablished fectorien, while they, may not always mut us in ceca ainor derail, are prety cermuit to be dependable, accurate, and to live up to the very modest claims of the makers. Which is a Samed dt more tha the produets of sme cum shone wil despite the gold dogs, the they are embellished. ‘A large portion of the credit for “Modery Gunsmithing” be- Tenge to Lt. Colonet Townsend Wrhelen, without whose untiring energy and splendid cooperation the work would not have. been posible, and would not have been attempted. In fact, though he modestly refuses to have his name attached as co-author, he wrote ‘the chapters on barrel work and cartridge design and construction. T wanted these chapters to be absslutely authoritative, and T Know of no man so well qualified as he lubdubs, an the furbelows wich sehichPOOR MAN'S JAMES BOND Vol. 4 L wish to acknowledge also the very valuable assistance rendered bby Major Julian 8, Hatcher, Mr, James V. Howe, Mr. Frank J. Mr. Lou Smith, Captain. Edward C. Crossman, the Lyman ation, the Marble Arms & Equipment Conpany, ton Azins Company, Hunter Anns Company, Parker Gun ‘Company, Fox Gun Company, Ithaca Gun Company, and other ai individuals who have been so generous in the matter af Wg needed data or illustrations; and T arm most grateful also several individual shooters, some of whom T have never met, ithe front with interesting illustrations of the ‘own handiwork, besides their many valuable suggestions ‘Last bat not Teast I ain indebted to the publishers for the mavy ‘coniteuctive erticiams, chapter by chapter, which have prevented the postible omission of much important data that might easily have been overlooked, and whose assistance. ia the matter of secur the cooperation ‘and sid of lealiag firearms manufacturers, has proven invaluable. “The preparation of this book has taught me that the best way 10 really learn someting about a given subject is w0 attempt to write a bock on it!—aad if the reader acquires half as snuch new informa tion from reading “Modern Gunsmithing” a8 the author acuiced i the ting of he wil Fd T hoe, thar is effort has oot been atively wasted. Kabrs, G Crvpe Maxen, 1 Crarrer 1 HOME GUNSMITHING se} ELLo, Bin” llth, Fraskt Cin “Belive the weathers coal’ aff a bi, ain it?—for what don’ thesia a gun An for ek ate, Aedes "Well cea. Just x aw ack fr one of my old once” "Ope uf ant How many yo gos, anyhow?* "Oh, not many, gee, Four sie my old Parker (2 shat 1 wwe for dicks and a 80° gauge Senth for birds, and. Tour or five Pakr-ace counting 8 capa vrget pals Tale out of ld “My Gawd! You figura’ on startin’ a revolution or someth Nepali shad fol with garm" Whac did wrth that other fle?"—and Hill rommages among the eds and ends tne bench ren watches hin a macenn, = sv “Say, st that some ick Shay, Lsare war glad to get do ‘Well this in’ an old army if, exactly, though iis & field barrel and acon. ‘This the ‘Sporter! mode sold by the ‘Foor of Cran Mavtsoarhip to embers ofthe Naval Bi inspects te gun with a knowing ar. “U-m baht Th Fe Bor hw far thing ot “ “Can't sas. Depends on how high you hold fe Tl sight it in fore hundrel yrds for huting en ae “Aw helt ‘bet that thing “ad carry clear over into the next county! "Whe'd'm want with a thing lite that around bere for fophow—can'e we icin thls country an you?™ By this time Bill is beeoming somewhet neitled. “You can it you're not crippled! I get out for a little thooting on che range most every Saturday ard Sunday. Don't have tmuch time through the week. ‘Now and then I get dowa along the river and throw a few athe drifewond, and such, as it Moats down. Great sport, that— food practice for game-shooting, too” “Game shooting—shucks—there ain't no game "round here.” “No, not right out fete in the yard. But I don't have to. go far to Gnd rabbits ahd squicels and usually get soy share of birds and ducks in teason. And last fall L got a prime eli and 2 nice bear ‘out in Wyoming—and this fall U'm going up in Idaho with & riend of mine whose brother owns a sanch there. ‘There's plenty cf shooting if you know where to find it—and besides there's no 177 MODERN GUNSMITHING closed season on targets, tin cans, chunks of driftwood. Yeah, 1 feekon Tl get myshare of shooting, as long as they make powder!” “Frank gages, open mouthed. “Dfy gotht dda’ know you. was saga Meter, "ates ethan lle, Wot The id tear right chrough an elephant an Keep on goin, woulda't iim ea jk wa ea Sm ill Eeeps right on fling, unimpressed. "No, I dou't reckon that would tear through many’ clephacta, Yeu set, Frank, that isnt “peel Jacket’ so You call ie, Tis jit a hard cast alloy buller for Senallgamethat caresidee in your hand-which you call ‘bul- Tet ita reduced lead fuse On sirrele, andthe like, Shoots cmly a litle harder than a twenty-two, Gives me a chance t2 get Sequainted swith my big game rife outside the bunting season.” “Heck, that'd be wo much gun for me—twenty-two's big enough igs anpingarynd ee Te am pach ofa tense i Sghtty-—“hnocks "ech cad fat a9 you ean ee ’eoe—hardest shootin’ tetmpct Lover sw. ‘Say, Bll, Gat reminds sm, they"s some rust fr aowethiog in thee barrel tld my Kid brother te clean fe up Inst summers but I''pose he forgoe it. f had i out on a fishin’ trip, but hada't dec fe more a dozen tines. Smokeles, too—T always Ase smotcles ceeidges. Til being "over an" you can clean it ur. “Thanks!” grunts Bill, “Move around just a litle, will you, Fogg Lo pr chow com sarnhea? “Sure! Sey what are You doing to that arock anyhow?" “Ten shaping ic up Fighy now.” “Wasnt the shape fright when you got ie?” “Dide'e gee fel made fe "Blade if Yo meen to re me yu made that stock youre” “Sure, why nat?” “"Whae'd ya make it out of "pleoe of walnut like thet blank over there in the core “You anean 1o tell me you carved that cut of a chunk of wood Tike thier” "Nothing diferent.” 3 “Well howd'ja get it that shape?—huh?. Howd'ja get that groovs cut in for the barrel?) Howd'ja get all cher other holes cut to Gt? Sty fF eo more sme ae han har ll Lays dows hs rsp ane turns from the bench. "Prank, you'se 1 prety good guy-in apots-emaybe. But you've a loc to lear Jere eing foe of tune Guess you're interested or you woulde't be aising so teany questions, Tl make you a. proposition. Our file and pistol club meets at the Armory tomorrow night. Come on Out ythoms—snect bunch of god sou leen to dont il ‘Poul ger just as much fun out of the game as 1 do—maybe mor ‘Nothin’ doin old timer-reot for me. Lessa to shoot bell! 1 hee Tear shoot better'n most of them now ian" be- Sides I gotta date. with a keep frail. ae the Pi nighe—boy, youghea see ber. Some it! Gos PIE SE jock fo do all that shootin don't it?” Wel ees few laters Say, Biliend one Sve, will youTMt pay you Sat Uday. ‘Thanks! Well, long!” , “A2a Bill earns back to the bench with a sigh of elie. ‘There's the picture—and it isn't exaggerated. In ety, rown, and country, there are legions of “Franks.” We find them every Where, Slowly, bt sutely, our qmale citizenry is becoming emes- ulated to the point of utter helplessness. Sliding slong, content Their weakness, glorying in their inability to do things. Proud of the face that iey've never been taught, fo use their hands—and blind ako, to the fact that they row mighty Hele abour using thie heads. Work—honest, decent labor, skill of fingers, accuracy of eye,— somehow it veers to be beneath the present generation. i Hes man in his office sticks out his chest, holds “conferences, Frowns and Looks wise, preening himself on that thing he calls “abil- “ten he sharpens hi pencil by sticking ft into alittle machine turning a erank—or more likely screws down the point of an {Iutomaffe gold one} hes hit finger nals clerned by the blonde in the Barber shop; calls a service man to chenge a tire on his car; wears a Tittle useless penienfe on ends dt.to a ie ing: shop to be wheteed'—yes, he does just chat. We've been ow to the point of helplessaess—and if we don’t watch Sar tep, well ind ourselves at the point of uscessnest.