Ruger Single Seven 327 Octagon rebarrel---pics fixed!

[frankenfab]

Thanks! I love my new Motorola Z4 phone. The camera is incredible.

[frankenfab]

Sept 5, 2019 15:18:40 GMT -5 wheelguns said:

I like the looks of that forcing cone. One of my single sevens has a forcing cone like yours, and the forcing cone on the other is about a 1/2” long. I don’t understand how they can differ so much with the same brand new guns. Awesome work! I wish I had the tools and patience to do something like that.

I just took a skim cut a bit at a time, and used my pin gages to check the diameter. There's a chart in the Kuhnhausen manual:

[squawberryman]

Kunhausen may have illustrated why it's called the 327. Maybe the 430 44 too.

[frankenfab]

Got the bushing material and a brand new carbide 7/16" end mill in today. The material is pre-hardened 17-4 with a hardness of C35. That's a little softer than the cylinder, but the stuff that was C40 didn't come in 7/16" diameter. The plan here is to keep it simple. Plunge in to the cylinder with the end mill. Drill, ream, and part off a bushing, then press the bushing in to the cylinder. If the material ends up being too soft, I'll redo it with the harder stuff. The material is about .0005" larger than the end mill. If I don't get a press fit due to tool runout, I'll glue the bushing in with green loctite.

[frankenfab]

Indicated the basepin hole to within .0002" and let her rip. Came out with a nice even remnant of the old nose, so I'm happy. I measured the end play on the cylinder before cutting, and it was .005". I'm going to reduce that to .001". The cylinder fit on my .500 Linebaugh has always impressed me. When it's dry, a VERY slight amount of end play can be felt. Put a drop of oil on each end, and there's no detectable play.

[frankenfab]

Center drilled the 7/16" 17-4, drilled it with a letter "D" solid carbide drill (.246"), and reamed to .2495" Cut it off with about .040" extra.

[squawberryman]

"The plan here is to keep it simple"

Worked on me. You, Lee and others I envy knowing you turn math into mechanical elegance.

[frankenfab]

Thanks! Next project is making my first cylinder!

It's all about having the right tools, or at least having access to them. I got my training, worked in a shop for 3 years, then went on the road traveling 3 states doing CNC Field Service for 9 years. I made good money, bought a lot of single action tools, and parts, and read about all this custom sixgun stuff. Not to mention, I had ordered and waited 3 years, 2 months for a 7.5" .500 Linebaugh.

I took it apart!

Now that I'm off the road, I'm finally getting to realize so many dreams.

[frankenfab]

The fit on the bushing ended up being a slip fit with no play. But, I had to face it off in the lathe, so I glued it in with green retaining compound, and let it dry overnight.



I faced it off with the lathe tool until I could just start the cylinder in to the frame, then switched to EZ laps for the final fitting.



Before I started the final fitting, I noticed how rough the back face of the frame was where the ratchet rides. I stoned most of the tool marks out to make it smoother. I didn't take a before pic, but it looked like a beaver chewed it. Head space will be affected, tightening it very slightly.

[frankenfab]

I ordered grips, medallions for the grips, and a #5 base pin. Did the rough grinding on the bisley hammer.

Time to get back to work on the barrel!

[2 Dogs]

I am happy to say Frank let me in on this project. I am sending a special front sight cut for an octagon barrel. Be advised, the flat width can vary because some barrels are tapered and some are not. The length also impacts the flat.

Frank, Let me know if the sight going to work for you and realize I am happy to cut you one that will.

Thank you so much Frank!

[2 Dogs]

Frank, I have a couple questions. First, after you shortened the headspace did you have enough room for the case heads to spin freely?

I have often thought that the surface you stoned should be trued up and a bushing should be fitted to the rear of the cylinder as well so the thing turns dead true on both ends and like it is on ball bearings. I even have an imaginary tool in my head.

Guys, if you remember, I trued up the entire cylinder window on my custom 32-20/327 Lightweight. I took off quite a bit of material doing so but this modification was something I only got away with because I built custom cylinders for that gun.

[frankenfab]

Headspace is good! I can't wait for the sight to arrive.

I guess this would be a good time to point out that I decided against making an integral sight base for the FA sights. When I got one of mt Freedoms out and took the sight off, I realized the slot is only 1/16" wide, fairly deep, and tapered wider at the bottom. pretty much impossible to do without a seperate base, or a sinker EDM.


Thanks Fermin! Your sight will look better anyway.

[frankenfab]

With the cylinder fit, I screwed the barrel back on. I've read most of David Bradshaw's posts on the forum here, particularly taking note when he says a barrel should be 10 or so degrees past hand tight.

"My preference is the time threads (trim shoulder) for the barrel to hand-tighten to 10 or 12-degrees Before Top Dead Center (BTDC). Barrels which hand tighten to around 30-degrees BTDC create a compression ring."


So how much is that in inches? At the current barrel diameter of .750", it comes to .065".



I put a pencil mark across the barrel and action. Not really looking at it as I tighten the action up, I just go till it feels nice and snug. When I got done, I eyeballed it with my calipers, and I got .068". Barrel cylinder gap came out at .002",

[frankenfab]

Finally got the rough machining on the octagon done today. What to use as the reference point for that first flat? Well, I put the barreled action in the vice and did some indicating. The hammer slot is completely machined at the factory. The floor and roof of the cylinder window are only partially machined. The top of the action has been sanded.

So I started by indicating the hammer slot vertical to within .0002" over the 4-5" of precision ground stock. Checked the frame window floor and top of the action, and they both agreed with this within .002" mainly because neither are flat. They both read within half a thousandth on each side, but had over a thou dip/crown in the middle.