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Thread: A custom martini rifle build
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4th Mar 2019, 05:35 PM #16Intermediate Member
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That turned out really nice. Pretty much redefined my concept of a Martini. I know exactly what you mean when you mentioned that done wrong, a Martini rifle is ordinary at best. I think of the Sportco Martinis with the over-wide sort of triangle cross section fore end as being high on the list of contraceptive devices. I have never hunted with one, but now you've got me interested.
I just spent ages (very long ages even) trying to sort out the skip line chequering on my Parker Hale 1200 Safari, and I didn't get anywhere near the result that you did. Congratulations on an extremely good job. If it was mine - you could always bring it over as I'm probably only down the road a bit - I would be very proud.
Great work. Looking forward to your next project.
Simon
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4th Mar 2019, 07:03 PM #17Senior Member
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custom build
beautifully done outstanding work
steve
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4th Mar 2019, 08:10 PM #18Most Valued Member
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Excellent work...that stock will cause some jealously...as will the metal....i assume it groups well?
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4th Mar 2019, 09:52 PM #19Senior Member
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Thanks mate.
Yeah shoots quite well. They aren't bad shooters within their limits. By design they kind of do everything wrong for accuracy in that they have a two piece stock and the barrel doesn't float. That said, while they aren't a bench gun they are more than capable for hunting accuracy. I've been getting groups off the bench hovering around the 1/2" which for my purposes is perfectly acceptable. I've got other rifles that fill that need that shoot better than I can.
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4th Mar 2019, 09:53 PM #20Senior Member
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- Jul 2011
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- Berowra Waters
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fine longarm
I grew up with one almost exactly like this, Dad built it in 1964, it was chambered in .219 Zipper, which was basically a necked down 30/30 with a .22 projectile, short barrel, and a massive triangular fore end. It was outrageously accurate and flat. won heaps of fox shoots with it and thousands of bunnies and foxes it took. Sadly, it was stolen along with all my arms 2 from the shed safe 2 weeks after he died.
Well done on the build, brought back some great memories.
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4th Mar 2019, 10:08 PM #21Senior Member
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- Tasmania
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Thanks for the comments.
Sorry to hear that. What a pity, and with a sentimental attachment too that you can't replace. Sounds like it was a nice rifle, I hate to think of what became of it. I'd like to do another in 310 Cadet and also 218 Mashburn bee. But the project ambition is a little too high at the moment. I have a few other things to complete before I go back and do another one of these.
Cheers.
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4th Mar 2019, 10:29 PM #22Most Valued Member
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WOW what a beautiful design in the timber. Thanks for the write up and memories.
I had 3 Martinis a 22, 310, and a 222, I could get 5 shot groups about 10mm with the 222. using home loads, can't remember what I used now. It was deadly on the bunnies 150 yard headshots, mind you it had Bipod mounts and a 7X20 scope I think it was.
KrynTo grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
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5th Mar 2019, 03:38 PM #23Golden Member
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What a great project and an outstanding finished result.
The colour hardening of the action has come out fantastic, thanks for sharing.
Is there any chance you might share the technique you used to time the slots in your screws so they align when tightened?
Cheers,
Greg.
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5th Mar 2019, 06:30 PM #24Pink 10EE owner
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Looks very good however I wonder about the case hardening whether it will do any damage to the action.
My understanding of the process is just using essentially carbon will not really do much as far as putting carbon into the iron other then a superficial depth. But could the process weaken the action at all? I once case hardened a toolmakers clamp I had made with a proper case hardening mix and it was tempered as well. The clamp broke in half at a later date. The steel grains were rather coarse in size where it broke.Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.
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5th Mar 2019, 10:47 PM #25Golden Member
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5th Mar 2019, 11:58 PM #26Senior Member
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Thanks guys, I appreciate the complements.
To time the screws I made the screw heads longer than necessary and cut a slot in the top with a slitting saw. I blued the sides of the screw head and screwed them into the location until as tight as I wanted to go, then marked both the depth of the screw head needed and the orientation of the slot. Unscrewed, cut the head to length and then orientated the screw using the marks to cut the slot in the right direction. Polish and shape before nitre bluing. Maybe not precise enough for a clock or something super critical but it worked ok for me in this instance.
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6th Mar 2019, 12:33 AM #27Senior Member
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Thanks RC, and very valid comments. Messing around heating unknown steels can have a big impact on strength, hardness and brittleness. There are definitely steels that you shouldn't case harden (a lot of modern firearm steels actually) as you can either soften them resulting in stretching or make them brittle and depending on what action and cartridge you can be dealing with upwards of 50,000 psi - 4 inches in front of your face. Not something to play about with.
In this instance its only a 22lr, and also many others have case hardened the martini's and its case hardenable steel. That said, I would be a little hesitant to chamber one to a large or powerful cartridge that's been case hardened because of the unknowns, as simple as that. Without dissecting a sacrificial action for proper testing you really are just guessing on just how much penetration there has been and the resulting metallurgy. Of particular concern with the martini design is the thickness of the walls of the action (which aren't overly thick) so there would be a risk of getting too much penetration in the thin sections and through hardening the walls which could make it brittle.
I wasn't really going for the hardening properties as much as I was going for colour formation, which are tempering colours with a few other factors thrown in. Impacting factors on the hardening are temperature, time and carburising environment. In my example I only held at temp for one hour, which is quite short in terms of carbon penetration, so any hardened skin would be quite shallow. That was deliberate. Lowering the temperature slightly prior to quenching apparently serves two purposes, one it improves the chances of gaining attractive colours over a bland grey, and secondly apparently it minimises the chances of cracking, which so far I haven't run into any problems. I've previously done a Marlin 1897 lever action and a Winchester Model 62 pump action, both with great outcomes. Again, they are 22lr only.
I got most of the info surrounding colour case hardening from a long post on the Marlin Collectors forum:
Color case hardening - Marlin Firearms Collectors Association
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6th Mar 2019, 11:40 AM #28Golden Member
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Thanks for the method of timing the screw slots Hornet, it's now noted in my tips and tricks book.
Cheers,
Greg.
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6th Mar 2019, 08:46 PM #29Most Valued Member
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Where does one get bone char?
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6th Mar 2019, 11:09 PM #30Senior Member
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- Jun 2013
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- Tasmania
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I made it.
I collected cow bones from everywhere I could scrounge. I found a few old cow carcasses on neighbouring farms and got my Dad to put aside any old dog bones. Once I had a good collection I packed them tightly into a sealed 20L drum along with some chunks of hardwood to take up space. I punched a small hole in the top of the drum to vent gas and pressure and then cooked the whole thing in a fire when we burnt off some firewood waste. It creates a low oxygen environment and burns off gases released from the contents but in turn creates charcoal. I then separated out the bone and the wood so i could work out the ratios when I mixed them back together and crushed them separately with a hammer into fine 5-10mm chunks.
When you pack the action/metalwork into the steel box you want to fill the whole container so there is no air space which prevents scale forming. You can see the frame work that I wired the action into. This was to control how it entered the quench water. It lands upside down to how you see it in the pictures. Just works to hold the charcoal in contact with the steel briefly which is what helps create the mottled colours. Apparently varying the ratio of bone to wood and adding other things like leather and some salts can help different colours form but that seems a bit debatable. Those that do it for money keep the mystique of the process going with all sort of claims but let out little in the way of secrets but that Marlins Collectors forum has some great information and experiments. Its just a pity that Photobucket ruined so many forum resources when they pulled their free image hosting.
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