The IZH 61 SBR

A few of you will remember this second IZH 61 acquired some months ago from the illustrious FrankB. I'd set it up with a small scope rather than aperture sights.  Realized I needed a bigger difference between the two guns if I was going to use it much.  Given the IZH's size, weight and power, it's a natural candidate for turning it into a short barrel rifle.
















Front sight unscrewed and set aside.

6.5"from muzzle to front edge of the painter's tape.

Loosened the barrel band screw and the barrel was unscrewed from the breech block.

Shank is threaded M10 x 1.5mm

Aluminum packing shims in the chuck jaws to protect the bluing.  I did have some concerns at this point about shortening the barrel and losing the choke at the muzzle. 

Rolled the dice and plunged in with a parting tool.

Rather than just finish the muzzle and be done with it, I turned down a portion of the barrel to 0.495"

Used a Taig die holder in the tailstock and started threading the muzzle 1/2"-28.

Couldn't hold the barrel tight enough in the chuck to finish the thread, so it was transferred (die still engaged) to a vise with padded jaws.  Also swapped to a proper die holder for additional leverage.

Finished the thread.

The 1/2"-28 thread allows use of the myriad AR-type rifle muzzle devises.

Back to the lathe to cut a relief at the end of the thread.

And re-crown.

Threaded on a long AR-15 muzzle brake to add weight and stability.  Could've used a shorter brake, but I find the weight distribution now ideal.  Even with the added length of the brake,  it's still shorter than what we started with.  It comes to point instantly.  The synthetic stock and light weight components, coupled with the low muzzle velocity of the design, make the compact size ideal  Many, many targets were shot over the last few days and I can't discern any reportable difference in offhand accuracy.  It's far handier than it's full-sized brother.



The scope attachment is the only other glaring problem with the gun.  The plastic dovetail is designed for an aperture sight and makes scope mounting a challenge.  Adding a 5" or 6" length of picitinny rail to supplement the short, soft plastic dovetail would be a rather easy solution.   So, I guess that's in the project que. 

More in a few days.

Modifying a Vintage Hand Stop for the TF79

Bought this hand stop off the Yellow Classifieds last month.  It's exactly what I was after to add to the modified Tech Force 79 rifle.  Thanks again, Jeff!
















It's in nice shape, probably 25 years old or so.  It will fit the Anschutz-sized accessory rail I added to the forend. 

Unsure as to brand.  It's old enough to be an Uncle Mike's or it could be from Champion's Choice or even Freeland.

The 1-1/4" sling swivel comes off with the push of the button. 

Thought I'd clean it up then make a new aluminum locking nut with a handle so I don't need a separate tool to adjust position.

Started with a piece of scotchbrite to polish it up.

The green felt wasn't in bad shape, but I thought I'd change to a new piece.

To cut the felt, I first found a piece of thin brass tubing that just fit over the bolt.  Beveled one end to make a punch.

A local craft store sold various colors of adhesive backed felt.  Went nuts and bought black.  The piece was 12X12" for eighty-eight cents. 

Cut out a piece and figured out where to punch the hole.


 

One good smack with a mallet...

and the brass tube works like a cookie cutter.

Centered the hole and traced the outline of the stop.

Like a first grade project without the safety scissors.

For the new nut, I found a piece of 1" hex aluminum in the scrap box.  It's even pre-drilled with a 0.500" hole in the center from a previous project. 

The bolt was threaded 9/16"-18 (so I guess it's not an Anschutz hand stop or it would be a metric thread).  Used the lathe for thread alignment and turned the headstock by hand to start the thread.

Parted off the excess.

A small lip to seat in the counterbore of the hand stop.

Turned down a portion of the outside diameter.

Flipped and beveled the edge of the nut.


 

Going to supplement the felt's adhesive backing with a more aggressive glue.  This is designed to hold tubular tires to special high-end bicycle rims for racing.

Thin coat and let it tack.

The nut still needs a small tommy bar for a handle.

3/16"

Changed to a flat-bottomed bit to finish the hole.

Cut a piece of 3/16" drill rod and faced the ends.

Rounded one end with a file.

Heat blued the handle then some epoxy (J-B Weld) and pressure to fit.

Done.  A full-sized hand stop for the gun.

Check back in a few days.  Not sure what's up next.

Custom Crosman Breech--Part 10 Done

Final breech installment.  Need to color the breech and finish the barrel shroud.  
















Used Van's Instant Gun Blue.

Passed a bolt through the cocking handle so I could chuck it in the lathe for knurling.

Used an old Brown and Sharpe knurling tool adapted to fit the Taig's tailstock.

It's a pressure forming knurl.  The diamond pattern is forged into the metal.

The end point of the knurling was a bit vague, so I took a clean up cut to add definition.

This will be heat blued with a torch.

Wasn't quite finished with the barrel shroud.  Wanted to add some porting.  After some basic layout work (consisting mainly of making decisions as to hole spacing and size) the shroud went back into the 5/8" 5C collet and hex block.

It took some time to index the shroud and line up on the flutes. 

A jack screw to support to the free end and prevent downward deflection.

As a time saver, I centered, spotted and drilled with a short single-flute 1/4" bit.

Used a homemade vise stop to locate the collet block as I drilled each hole in 60 degree rotations.

Almost done drilling.

Trimmed the muzzle end down then deburred the holes and did some light polishing.

Much nicer than I expected.

More Van's bluing and it was assembly time.

Done--at least for now.  Mounted a reflex dot sight to the picatinny rail.  I'll probably swap the short 2240 gas tube to the longer 2250.  The rosewood grips are from a project earlier this year.

Click on any of the pics for a larger image.

Next project will probably be an easy modification to a hand stop for a target rifle.  Check back soon.