Nice job:congrats:
Obviously you put the extension under the fore end , whatda use as a coupling ?
Didja swage out a piece to join em together?

 

This is confusing me! What would he have coupled? The new mag tube runs the entire distance and mounts at the factory locations and at the muzzel end with the new tennon.

 

Looks great, I did mine several years ago but didnt have the balls to cut the barrel, got a close buddy gunsmith and he helped me out. I also put a pound of birdshot in the buttstock, aftermarket trigger and lyman front sights with Williams rear sights and I do love it. In a house fire it wouuld be her then the rifle. I used all my original internals and also added a brass follower and a saddle ring. I can post pictures if you want.

 

yeah post away! Always love shots of peoples work, especially when it involves an 1895 mag extension... Why the brass follower BTW? Do you hunt on horseback?

As long as you move slow its not a big deal, and food for thought if you are going to cut it down anyway use the area that you are cutting as a test/practice area.

No that's true, but you also have to not dwell too much on what happens if it goes wrong but at the same time be able to accept the worst

 

Very nice job! Hats off to you. I have a project rifle I want to cut down, but I am completely put off by the prospect of cutting dovetails. I don't think I have the stones.

 

Very nice job! Hats off to you. I have a project rifle I want to cut down, but I am completely put off by the prospect of cutting dovetails. I don't think I have the stones.

As long as you move slow its not a big deal, and food for thought if you are going to cut it down anyway use the area that you are cutting as a test/practice area.

 

WTG :congrats:

 

Nice work! That's the way they should have come from Marlin.

 

Hey there 1640 -- Nice job! I've always been on the fence about short magazine tubes and pistol grip rifles too. So far I've been letting the rifle itself settle the issue. Here is my LTD II. I like everything about it!!

View attachment 42235

It seems everything is backwards downunder! You guys drive on the wrong side of the road and even your wiper motor housing is on the wrong side of the truck! Gotta love a good FJ40!

View attachment 42236

Best regards. Wind

 

Excellent work -- I want to do that, but can't quite bring myself to start hacksawing

I am gonna try and find a machine shop to cut my dovetail then do it I think.

 

Thanks a lot guys. Yep it sure took some balls making the first cut! But I practiced on some scrap first so had confidence it would turn out ok... And yes it's one tube from a 26" cowboy cut down.

practice piece of rod with a rear sight

Wind - well spotted on the 40 series, your fine taste in firearms matches that of vehicles. Nice FJ40! I'd like a short wheelbase to hunt with. Mine's an HJ47 troop carrier (6 cal diesel) but I mostly use it without the roof. The one in the previous picture is a work ute (pick-up to you) I took out as my sister had mine at the time. It's funny about the wiper motor, I would have thought it would have been cheaper to keep it on the same side, guess it has to be the passenger side to give the driver side a clear wipe.

 

Nice work!

 

Looks great this mod is on my to do list for my guide gun but like many others an nervous about hacking into a perfectly good barrel :congrats:

 

the key is firstly having confidence in your ability to do a neat job that holds the dovetail without stressing the barrel. To gain this confidence you need to practice as many times as is necessary on a piece of scrap steel roughly the same dimensions as the barrel - in my case some 5/8 steel bar. The fit the new mag tube with dovetail in its hole and mark it with a scribe or ball point pen (yes this works). Remove the tube, then do it again, three times... The you can be confident the marks are in the right place. Then clamp the barrel square in the a padded vice (lay a small steel rule in the old dovetail to check it's horizontal and eyeball the front sight is facing vertically straight down). Then don't think about what happens if it goes wrong and before you get the wobblies go to it with a 24T hacksaw!

Just remember, the worst that could happen is that you screw it totally and end up needing to take 3/4" off the barrel and start again. If you do that you will have practiced more anyway! Also, if you cut it a little wide you can always gently peen the edges down to grip the tenon.

so, can I ask some really stupid questions?

how deep to make the cut?

does a 3 sided file cut the correct angle for the dovetail filler barrel band attachment?


??

Not stupid questions, ones I wondered at first. I made the cut the same depth as the old one. Not at first, but I ended up cleaning it out with the three sided file to that depth. I was thinking I could have gone shallower because at this depth it puts a very slight strain on the tube (and therefore the barrel) but it would have looked weird with a big gap at the front working its way to no gap at the back... It actually doesn't matter how deep you go functionally - obviously you don't want to go so deep as to compromise the barrel strength (but this is basically the muzzle...), and deep enough to hold the tenon firmly. But because you cut the angles afterwards, the depth is your decision. The deeper you want it the narrower you make the outer cuts.

Yes the three sided file cuts the correct angle (grinding one of the three sides smooth is absolutely essential). Place the smooth side against the bottom of the dovetail and undercut the sides to form the angle. It's all by eye and feel really thats why at least one practice run is highly recommended

 

so, can I ask some really stupid questions?

how deep to make the cut?

does a 3 sided file cut the correct angle for the dovetail filler barrel band attachment?


??

 

option for cutting dovetail

Jedediah Starr Trading Co. On Line Store

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/720537/wheeler-engineering-dovetail-cutting-fixture

-Zip

 

option for cutting dovetail

Jedediah Starr Trading Co. On Line Store

-Zip

^^^^^ this one looks like it might work on 45-70 barrels ????

option for cutting dovetail

Wheeler Engineering Dovetail Cutting Fixture

-Zip

^^^^^ this one the remarks say it only works on SMALL dia barrels -- not sure what size that is but guess smaller than the 45-70 Guide gun barrels

anyone used these successfully ??

Was there someone on here passing around one of these "Jigs" they has used successfully?

 

I think Brownells sells a triangle file with one side blanked out. It might not be as cheap as grinding of one side but it makes a nice clean cut.

 

Yeah I'm sure buying a nice purpose made file will leave you with the perfect tool for the job and nice and sharp too. I just had a few triangular files lying around and didn't mind sacrificing one surface of the smaller one.

 

1640 hunter,
I got the brass follower cuz in my brain, its kinda self lubricating and its one less "plastic thing" in my favorite rifle.