Single Shot Rifle Picures

[MSP Ret]

Thanks for the picture Fred, she's a real pretty boat....<><....

[IOWA DON]

Here is a long photo story about how to make a fiberglass stock for a single shot rifle (Thompson-Center TCR-87). This was about 80 hours work for me.

Above: First I had a beatup old wood stock with too much drop so I added a cheek-piece of body putty and added to its short pull with body putty. I then had a friend cut both the buttstock and forend in two, lengthwise. These pieces wood serve to make molds for the fiberglass stock.

Above: The pistol grip areas and the rear areas of the buttstock were formed separatley. Here is a rear portion of the wood buttstock still in the plaster-of-paris mold.

Above: Here is the mold with some fiberglass cloth and epoxy in it. More and more layers were added and sometimes I changed coloring to better keep track of thickness.

Above: Like with the rear parts of the buttstock, I started by making a one-piece mold. Here it is with the wood in it.

Above: Different from the rear part of the buttstock, the pistol grip areas required two-piece molds. This is the other half of the mold attached to the first part. I built up layers of glass in each part of the mold so the surfaces would be strong from the fiber. Then I put the two halves of the mold together and injected epoxy within. The "in" hole for the epoxy and the "out" hole to bleed out air don't show up here. I used a shringe to inject the epoxy.

Above: It was impossible to get fiberglass parts out of the molds without damaging the plaster-of-paris molds. I ended up just trying to save the molds and broke them to get the fiberglass parts.

Above: Here I made an initial attachment of the pistol grip and rear portions of the buttstock. This was not a final joint as it needed glass fiber added for strength.

Above: I had to add solid material into the inside of the stock for strength and provide a channel for the bolt used to attach the stock to the action. There were lots of small steps here to be sure the bolt hole would not fill up with epoxy.

Above: Once I got the other half of the pistol grip attached and both sides bedded to the action it seemed like progress was being made.

Above: I finally got the rear part of the buttstock attached to the rest of the butstock. Then I had to cut many channels into the parts so I could make lots of glass fiber and epoxy straps to join there with better joints. This photo shows where I added thickness in the pistol grip area compared to the factory stocks (green color). I wanted to be sure it would not break under recoil. With a .50-140 Sharps barrel it is possible to get about 90 foot-pounds of recoil energy. Between shooting with the .50-140 barrel and a 10-gauge magnum barrel one of the factory stocks had split in the pistol grip area.

Above: Here is a two-piece mold for half the forend. I added very little glass cloth in the forend parts as they did not need so much strength as the pistol grip and buttstock.

Above: It took a while to get the forend parts bedded to the barrel hanger hardware and front of the action. The trick was to take small steps to be sure everything did not end up getting glued together.

Above: After a lot of sanding and adding a recoil pad I decided to hire a professional stockmaker to do the final painting. This stock was built heavy-duty to stand the recoil of the .50-140 and 10-gauge barrels. It weighs about the same as a wood stock, but the balance is farther forward and higher up than a wood stock. If I make another stock it will be much lighter as a Thompson-Center TCR-87 action is very light. With a light stock, a factory light barrel, and a small scope it would make a very light rifle.

[BUTCHER45]

     Here's my single shot .454 air rifle.  Shoots roundball at 850-900fps, 180grainers at 780+fps, 200grainers around 740+fps, 265grainers at 635+fps.  Still have a lot of experimenting to do with the air fill pressures to get maximum power.  Accuracy is stellar within my self-imposed range of 50 yards.  Click bottom picture for slideshow.

[HEAD0001]

Here's a pair.  Tom.

[kombi1976]

I've become a little obsessed with Martinis.
Below are 2 Cadet based rifles I own.


The top one is a Sportco Martini Hornet .22 Hornet with a cheap old Japanese 4x32 Golden Eagle scope.
It's a factory built rifle re-barreled and re-stocked during the early '50s by Sportco in Australia who were founded by Jack Warne of Kimber Rifles fame.
I haven't had it very long and I'm yet to really push it.
It is shaping up well with the present test loads and I suspect it would shoot a sub-MOA 5-shot group if I do my job.
It nearly shot one last Saturday but I jerked the trigger on shot #3.
Some higher rings and a 4-12x scope would also probably improve it's accuracy.

The bottom is a sporterised  BSA Martini Cadet in .25-20 with custom laminate stock and Weaver K6.
I had it fitted with a Weaver rail for the scope and the trigger has been lightened to under 3lbs.
It shot a sub-MOA 5-shot group @100m last month with really cheap 75 gr flat points!

I also have a Cadet action and a Martini Enfield action waiting for their own conversion to sporters.
The Cadet will receive a 32-20 octagonal bbl from an old Pieper Rook rifle and the ME will end up as some sort of 45 cal, like a 45-70, 45-90 or even a 450 Alaskan.

Aside of that I picked up this little 1910 Remington Model 6 .22lr "tilting block" and it actually shoots quite well despite it's short bbl, basic iron sights and horribly heavy trigger pull.



With some trigger work it will turn out as a great rifle for my boys to learn on.

[Drilling Man]

  This left hand T-bolt single shot (still in the white) is a "hand made" one of a kind action that myself and a friend came up with.  It's really patterned after the Browning T-bolt rimfire except this one is a "centerfire".

  It has a Shaw bbl and is chambered for 25/20WCF, we used a Rem. trigger...

  I have fired it, but it needs to be finished, as it needs blueing and sights and even though i have a stock for it, i'd like to bed it and refinish it yet...

  DM

[crkempton]

 I just got mine wednesday, a cva optima elite 30-06! : )





-Cody K

[PeterF.]

Here's some pic's of my Browning B-78. It's a .22-250, with a heavy round barrel.  Currently wearing a Simmons variable, but has had a Leupold V-II 3-9 (now on another gun).
I love this gun so much I bought it TWICE (but that's story for another time).  As you can see, the wood is beautiful.  I'm usually not crazy about shiny wood, preferring an oiled look, but folks have told me to just leave this one alone.

[Brithunter]

Well here is my long term project, I acquired this gun is a very sad abused state, the fore-stock is a piece of floor board or some such non descript wood:-


The action is a large framed military Martini whichw as adpated by Bonehills to .22 R/F then some idiot drilled out the liner filed off the proof marks and stamped it .410" when in fact it's more  like .45".

It's an early action with the Mk1 trigger and sear although I have acquired a better, unaltered, .303 breechblock and lever, trigger guard so it now has later internals as during the conversion Bonhills ground down the horns to drop the block in the action. The butt as you can see has been cut back but I have a P-H vented recoil pad which shall be fitted to make up the lost length. The fore-stock will be made from a Vickers Martini target rifle Walnut stock which is cracked through teh action inlett and wrist. Barrel is a take off 7.62mm target one which will be chambered for a rimmed wildcat cartridge based upon the .303 case. Am not sure whether to mill it octogon or not yet.

   Now here is an original sporting Martini  in .303 bore:-






  This is of course my re-styled baikal MH18 in .222 Rem, sonce this was taken I have fitted a Baikal butt plate and changed the scope to a Leupold M8 compact 4x one:-

.

[Hairtrigger]

I love single shots. Besides having my share of single shot rifles I enjoy handguns as well

[glwenzl]

TCR 223




#1 218 Bee shooting the 40 gr V-max at 3750fps.



Contender(s) with mis barrels





A variety of NEFs, this is a stock i just made from scrath for one. have syn, plain jane wood and laminated models as well

[sigbbred]

Here is one of mine single shot rifle. A Falling Block Works in .357 Maximum. I just love those single shots   










edit: new link for photo

[BUTCHER45]

     Nothing like a single shot .45 AIRGUN!  Can't beat the accuracy with a stick! 
     Took this Black Bellied Barbados Corsican Ram with a 250 grain pellet shot from my .45 caliber single shot airgun.  The effectiveness was quite dramatic.

[IOWA DON]

Wish I had a big bore air gun, but here's my old Fienwerkbau 124 (.177 cal) with 2.5X Leupold Compact scope.

I bought it (new) over 26 years ago. It has accounted for many hundreds of pest birds during that time plus dozens of rabbits and squirrels, and one pheasant. The seal finally went bad and I recently had it replaced along with a higher velocity spring. It shoots H&N match pellets at 822 fps and groups in about 0.3-inch at 20 yards. During the past month it's got 9 squirrels off my bird feeder (at 11 yards) with 9 shots.

[jim huntington]

This is my spr18 in .308 cal. I recently got it scoped and sighted in.

[StrawHat]

Here are some of mine.

The bastard 1866/1841 Trapdoor,







My reworked Marlin Ballard .22 WCF





One of my Pedersoli rolling blocks, this one is a 45-70.  I plan to restock it this winter in the style of J.P.Gemmer




I have another Pedersoli rolling block but that is being rebarreled to 50-70.  I have not decided how to stock that one yet.

A couple other cartridge guns and a bunch of muzzle loading single shots are also around but were too shy to sit for the camera.

Happy New Year all.

[Freightman]

Here is my Shiloh Sharps

[Skeezix]

Here are my current No. 1's. The top one is a #1 AH in .25-06 with Circassian walnut. The next one down is a .375 H&H built in 1971 or '72. The next one is a .416 Rigby (Elmer Keith prairie dog gun). And the bottom one is a .45-70, which I believe also has a Circassian buttstock. The .375 & .416 aren't too bad to shoot, even with full-house loads, BUT that .45-70 is absolutely brutal and will screw you into the ground with about anything over 1900 fps.













I've also got a couple of old Stevens single shots stashed in the back of the safe that are upcoming restoration projects.

[marlinman93]

 My collection of Ballard #2, #3, and #4 rifles.


 A few of my other singleshots:

[Tom W.]

My Savage model 12 in .308......Single shot Bolt gun..

[marlinman93]

 Here's one of the latest additions to my single shot rifle collection. It's a #4 three barrel cased set, engraved by Dale Woody. One 26" matted top round barrel in .22 magnum, one 24" round in .22LR, and one 22" octagon in .22 short. A Malcolm style repro scope is set up to fit each barrel.







 And finally, after refinishing the scope and mounts:

[marlinman93]

 Here's two more that I acquired recently also.
 Top gun is a factory engraved  Francotte Martini takedown, with 28" full octagon .310 barrel. Bottom is a Rem Rolling Block #1 1/2 Sporting Rifle, with 28" full octagon barrel in .22LR.

[StrawHat]

Marlinman,

I also enjoy Ballard rifles, you have a nice collection.

In reply #48 in the third picture, is that a Stevens Tip Up rifle?

Thanks.

[sigbbred]

What a nice Martini, I just love the Martini`s
Here is one of mine that will end as a 218 Bee. It`s a HWZ from Germany.

[doctom54]

Here is my recent acqusition. A Browning 1885 Low Wall in .223 with an older Leupold 8x.

[marlinman93]

Marlinman,

I also enjoy Ballard rifles, you have a nice collection.

In reply #48 in the third picture, is that a Stevens Tip Up rifle?

Thanks.

 Yes. that's a Stevens Premier tip up rifle.

[dondford]

As you can below I like Martini Cadets.  The top rifle in the group pic is my wildcat I call the 20 Raven, sorta a rimmed & blown VarTarg.  The middle rifle is a 17 Ackley Bee and bottom is a 218 Bee.  The last pic is my 35/30-30 with octagon barrel w/tang sight and detachable scope mount

[kombi1976]

dondford, I only think it's fair to say.......I hate you   
Beautiful rifles, mate.
Wish they were mine.
I still have 2 Martini actions, a large frame Enfield and a Cadet, ready for projects but as usual the almighty dollar is the barrier.
One day......one day...... 

[Hank08]

Sure are some purdy Martinis on here, here's a couple of my small ones.

top one is .218 Mashburn Bee with birdseye maple stock.
Bottom is .17 Ackley Hornet with claro walnut stock and scope blocks for a Lyman junior targetspot 10X.

[Hank08]

Three large Martinis.

Top-.219 Improved Zipper-Claro Walnut Stock.
Middle-.225 Win.-Birdseye Maple stock.
Bottom- 30-40 Krag-Birdseye Maple.