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Young Man Afraid Of His Horses
- Thread starter Sharps40
- Start date
Sat in the back yard last night and put old Ingwe on a Buck 4 times in an hour. Just wasn't comfortable with the shot in the thick, so he walked, for now.
But tonight, home late from work so played grip fitting instead.
Drilled the backstrap at the butt for a cross pin to keep the grips from rotating and moved the grip screw bushings slightly aft. I'll have some more clean up to do in the crescents where they used to sit but the grips are on and secure.
Still a bit large and here in the first photo, the flash washes out the slight yellow color these have. Not bad for first fitting. So far, I'm happy enough with them to keep going.
And on the off side, after a good scrubbing with hoppes 9 to clean them up I grunged up the panel with a very dirty soft plastic glock cleaning brush. Not a bad look as shown below....but then cleaned it off and went over the panel with wet coffee grounds. I like the effect with coffee a bit better. Perhaps after fitting and shaping I'll burry them in wet grounds for a day or so and see what happens.....photos of that when and if it happens. For now, without flash, the dirty glock brushed side....the carving shows a bit better with some dirt.
But tonight, home late from work so played grip fitting instead.
Drilled the backstrap at the butt for a cross pin to keep the grips from rotating and moved the grip screw bushings slightly aft. I'll have some more clean up to do in the crescents where they used to sit but the grips are on and secure.
Still a bit large and here in the first photo, the flash washes out the slight yellow color these have. Not bad for first fitting. So far, I'm happy enough with them to keep going.
And on the off side, after a good scrubbing with hoppes 9 to clean them up I grunged up the panel with a very dirty soft plastic glock cleaning brush. Not a bad look as shown below....but then cleaned it off and went over the panel with wet coffee grounds. I like the effect with coffee a bit better. Perhaps after fitting and shaping I'll burry them in wet grounds for a day or so and see what happens.....photos of that when and if it happens. For now, without flash, the dirty glock brushed side....the carving shows a bit better with some dirt.
This is why I don't get much of anything done this time of year. #8 on ice....(yep, dad helped, shot more than several and he's 77!!!!! His best shot this year was 220 yards on a 9 point. In the neck from the back end....dead right there. Its gettin mounted! He's still smiling bout that one, Somethin bout the ol boar showin the young boar how its done, or some such nonsense!)
15 December 16. Doe. Back Yard. Last minutes. 30 yards, High forward shoulder in high mid chest out. Dead Right There. 3006 Merkel K3. Handload 165 Hornady BTSP Interlock 2900 fps.
15 December 16. Doe. Back Yard. Last minutes. 30 yards, High forward shoulder in high mid chest out. Dead Right There. 3006 Merkel K3. Handload 165 Hornady BTSP Interlock 2900 fps.
Working the grip panels this morning. Reaching the 90% level with fitting. The urethane carves well with a sharp chisel removing the bulk of the excess in fine curls. Followed by shaping with files, 120g paper and then a buffing with 0000 steel wool and spit on 400g wet dry paper. I'll stop the shaping here for now as a 1/2" bar of brass is inbound for the extension work on the bottom of the back strap.
Here, the grip is left slightly proud of the back strap and trigger guard all the way around.
Note, with a hand on, the longer than ruger factory 1860 Colt Army grip provides just sufficient extra purchase for the little finger of the average size hand. Part of what makes this a much better grip for control in my opinion. All three fingers of the hand are in use on the grip and the little finger is not riding under the trigger guard in recoil. With an extension to fill the extra length provided by the VA Dragoon grip panels, the grip is about 1/4" to 3/8" longer than even the longish 1860 Colt Army grip frame. Even large hands will fit a three finger hold without the small finger sliding under the trigger guard. With the panels in place and semi fitted, the feeling of the grip is fuller than either the Ruger or Colt Army but since its all closer to the trigger, even my average size hand has a proper pad of the trigger finger bend/and contact with the trigger. As for alignment, the grip easily finds center in my palm with the barrel parallel to my arm bones. i.e. It points where I point. In any event, even a set of home made wood/stag/horn/other panel grips can be easily cut to extend beyond the base of the trigger guard for better purchase.
Here, the grip is left slightly proud of the back strap and trigger guard all the way around.
Note, with a hand on, the longer than ruger factory 1860 Colt Army grip provides just sufficient extra purchase for the little finger of the average size hand. Part of what makes this a much better grip for control in my opinion. All three fingers of the hand are in use on the grip and the little finger is not riding under the trigger guard in recoil. With an extension to fill the extra length provided by the VA Dragoon grip panels, the grip is about 1/4" to 3/8" longer than even the longish 1860 Colt Army grip frame. Even large hands will fit a three finger hold without the small finger sliding under the trigger guard. With the panels in place and semi fitted, the feeling of the grip is fuller than either the Ruger or Colt Army but since its all closer to the trigger, even my average size hand has a proper pad of the trigger finger bend/and contact with the trigger. As for alignment, the grip easily finds center in my palm with the barrel parallel to my arm bones. i.e. It points where I point. In any event, even a set of home made wood/stag/horn/other panel grips can be easily cut to extend beyond the base of the trigger guard for better purchase.
Tips for soldering. Approach soldering heat slow with the lowest flame that gets the entire part hot. Tin first with good flux, flux again, clamp and heat flowing extra solder into the joint if needed. Don't use high temp solder where low temp is perfectly strong. This part will use low temp solder....I'll defy anyone to break the brass bar off the base of the backstrap without heat that melts the solder joint, i.e. plenty strong. Finally, use the least solder that will coat the entire joint, less solder is stronger than more.
So....1/2" brass bar arrived. I cut it to length, drilled the counterbore for the backstrap screw, flattened the mating surfaces and tinned them both with solder. Clamped, aligned the counter bore with a spud that was removed as soon as the clamps were tight, heated it till the solder flowed and then let it cool.
Removed the clamps and ruff shaped the extension to fill the gap between the VA Dragoon grip panels. I'm pleased. The brass will be final fitted with the grips next and after final polishing, antiqued so it don't have a sportin house look to it.
So....1/2" brass bar arrived. I cut it to length, drilled the counterbore for the backstrap screw, flattened the mating surfaces and tinned them both with solder. Clamped, aligned the counter bore with a spud that was removed as soon as the clamps were tight, heated it till the solder flowed and then let it cool.
Removed the clamps and ruff shaped the extension to fill the gap between the VA Dragoon grip panels. I'm pleased. The brass will be final fitted with the grips next and after final polishing, antiqued so it don't have a sportin house look to it.
Fantastic gun and thread!!
Thanks. Still playin this one by ear. Course, that's mostly how I do it. I never know what is going to be the end result on these projects. I sort of have a theme or single item of reference to build from and go from there. This one it was the horse front sight....kinda working from its ass back!
Building up and nocking back several layers of Superglu gel on the ivory surfaces. It'll add a bit of texture (as gel does not flow out smooth, buffing later will smooth it up...for now I steel wool between coats and sand the excess glue off my fingers for each pass) and seal the surface a bit better against dirt.
