Building derringers with a mill/drill/lathe?

[paulvallandigham]

Better, PHil knows all of them, and vice versa.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Better, PHil knows all of them, and vice versa.

So. Now what is your point?

 

[Tinker2]

I should say that I have made muzzle loading barrels
out of things besides 12L14, to include 4140 Annealed.
Tinker don’t mean to start to trouble.

I think that the question was little bp pistols and derringers.
Like “a boxlock pistol based on the .41 brass smoothebore
derringer from Dixie.”

Do you know that there is a 41L40 ? http://www.pmtsco.com/41L40CD.HTM

CDG
Another thing to look for in your barrel making plans
is varmint/target bull barrels that are wore out. When
a new barrel is installed the old ones can be had for
the asking around here. The price is right and it has
a hole in it to start with. Cut off’s same price.




Tinker2

 

[Zonie]

Tinker2 is correct about the 12L14.
IMO, its mechanical properties are quite sufficient for muzzleloading rifle barrels and breech plugs.
It is not a "soft" material when compared with other low carbon steels, and it is stronger than some of them.
The "L" refers to lead which is added in a very small quantity to improve the lubricity of the material. This lubricity keeps the cutting tools sharp which in turn allows higher speeds and feeds.

Paul is correct in saying 4140 is stronger and tougher than 12L14 but this is only true if it has been heat treated. It's use in a Black Powder Muzzleloader is, in my opinion a case of overkill.

"Do you know Phil Quaglino?( Havannah, Florida)"
Now THERE is the name I couldn't think of.
No, I don't know him however when I built my Pecatonica River .40 caliber Schuetzen I asked Dick Greensides who made the barrel? "Phil Quaglino down in Florida" was his answer.
Can anyone tell me about his barrels and work?

 

[cdg]

I'll keep the alloys in mind for steel. My intention though was mostly to make brass firearms. I've always been fascinated by brass guns, for reasons unknown even to myself.

If I recall properly, Jim didn't you post some good advice on which brass and bronze stocks to look for for BP guns? I know the topic of brass has been touched many times in this forum...

I figured my usage of steel would be limited to hammers, sears and other parts that may prove inconvenient or impossible to make from brass.

For now the jury is out on what I'm going to do for a machine. It'll be at least a month before I buy anything at all - I have to get my tax refund, pay off some debt, buy some motorcycle parts, and sell my (third) car, and get paid for some ebay auctions before I'm really going to think about a mill or lathe or 3 in 1.

 

[Zonie]

Brass for stocks, ramrods, etc is fine but there are many different kinds of brass out there and it is difficult to know what it is by just looking at it.

The tensile strength of Brass (a measure of how much load it can take before it breaks) can vary from 34,000 to 129,000 pounds per square inch and some of the stronger brasses with high tensile strengths have very little ductility (in other words they can shatter).

As 34,000 PSI Ultimate tensile strength is less than half of a typical low carbon steel I would suggest that they not be used for high pressure containers like gun barrels.

By the way, these Tensile Strengths ARE NOT a measure of how much breech pressure they can contain. The value deals with the strength of the square inches of material that is resisting the pressure or load. Do Not think that just because the tensile strength of a material is 120,000 PSI that it can contain 120,000 PSI of internal pressure. The amount of internal pressure that can be restrained is a function of the materials thickness and design as well as its tensile strength.

As for my opinion of a 3 in 1 machine, I tend to think that for little non critical projects it might be fun but like most things that are designed to do multiple things, they don't do any of those multiple things very well.