Brownells Gunsmith Kinks

ranch23

Active User
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
321
For those of you who are unaware, Brownells has 4 volumes of Gunsmith Kinks. These are years worth of ideas, kinks, techniques, repair procedures and what have you. Not only are they a great read but they are tailor made for the folks on this forum. If you get a chance I recommend them.
 
Yes they are very good. I also have a 1920 machinist blue book that is a very good read.
 
Kinda spendy but a real good read and source for basic fix-its. A compilation of things discovered by the gunsmithing staff at Brownells or sent into them by other gunsmiths, hobbyists, developers and hacks.

I have one of the four and wish for the other three!

The Machinist's Bedside Reader, by Guy Lautard, a Canuck from Vancouver, B.C., is another good series of three books for folks of our ilk. Guns, machining, shop tips, stories and just plain good stuff. I have all three of those and refer back to them often.
 
They are excellent books. And not pricey if you continue to look online. I put together a set catching a bargain when I could.

Thanks for the hint on the Bedside Reader by Lautard; I will start looking for that
 
Here is a picture of the inside of the machinist blue book. It has some good information, such as how to drill glass. The other is a picture of the best machine book I have.
It's called "The Complete Metalworking Handbook", by R.H.Cooley. It includes several very good projects, such as plans for a tool post grinder.


P1010347.JPGP1010349.JPG

P1010347.JPG P1010349.JPG
 
In one of the Kinks books there was a story about a man who brought his Japanese Type 38 rifle into the 'smith because it kicked too much.
Said it had been rechambered for the .30-06.

Well it had but since the .30 (.308") caliber pilot won't fit into the 6.5mm (.264") bore the guy doing the chambering had to grind the pilot down on the reamer.

Yes folks, the guy had been shooting full power .30-06 loads through his 6.5mm bore!!!:nuts:
Luckily for the shooter the Type 38 action is among the strongest ever built because the pressure required to swage a .308" projectile down to .264" would've been astronomical. I think I read that the pressures would've been around 200,000psi!!!!

Gotta love an action that doesn't put a bolt through your head when subject to 200kpsi!!!

- - - Updated - - -

JOC, thanks for the recommendation of the Cooley book. I just ordered a copy from Amazon for $5.70 shipped.
 
I love my Gunsmith Kinks Vol. 1-4! There is so much information in there, not just on how to's for repairing guns, but simple made "machinery" like a homemade bead blast cabinet (several different versions), how to's with shaping and grinding different tools and bits, and where to find blueprints, whether writing a gunsmith in Indiana or emailing Brownells' customer service. I did the later to get a blueprint for the bolt jeweling jig found in 2nd Volume page 177.View attachment Jewling Jig.pdf

The blueprint was written in 1977 and it is difficult to read because it didn't use the standards in which a blueprint would normally be made. I'm uploading the blueprint in this comment. I'm using featurecam and a wire burner/EDM to cut the side plates and the measurement is wrong with the 3" diameter on the sides, if looking at a front view. It needs to be 3.050" for the lines to connect. I'm working on getting the blueprints redrawn and I'll try to remember to upload them later.
 
Back
Top