Anybody know of a small-scale hand-builder?

[kahuna]

I'm new here ( as of a couple minutes ago ) and the first question I always like to ask is, how many members know of builders, as opposed to 'dealers' ( because this is what I do, and it's always interesting to have discussions with other builders ) and are any builders members here?

 

[Hynzie]

welcome we would love to see some pictures ,hand made stuff can be beautiful ,i wish i had the patience skills and tools to do it ..the closest thing i have is my RAW HM1000x 30 cal ..definitely wanna see some of your projects ,,pat

 

[kahuna]

Not sure if I'm allowed to post pics as new member, so many rules here I'm unfamiliar with, but I'll give it a shot, my apologies to admin if I stub my toe.

photo of my last build, .357 side-lever action with huge reservoir and LW barrel, 700+ fps with 112 grain load and very accurate, only parts I didn't machine are barrel, scope and press. gauge.
Also shoots air-bolts at 400+ fps

 

[Guest]

If you are truly interested in getting to know home/small scale builders go to the GTA forum. There's lot's of prototyping and small scale builds going on there.

 

[kahuna]

Thanks John, I just registered there a couple hours ago, but it's a little intimidating navigation-wise for an old geezer like me who isn't that web-savvy....But I'm looking

 

[Guest]

No worries you will enjoy this forum regardless. Sweet looking rig too.

 

[Glem.Chally]

"kahuna"Not sure if I'm allowed to post pics as new member, so many rules here I'm unfamiliar with, but I'll give it a shot, my apologies to admin if I stub my toe.
photo of my last build, .357 side-lever action with huge reservoir and LW barrel, 700+ fps with 112 grain load and very accurate, only parts I didn't machine are barrel, scope and press. gauge.
Also shoots air-bolts at 400+ fps

I can't see how you'd be breaking any rules, this place isn't ruled by tyrants or anything. Beautiful looking rifle Kahuna, what kind of wood is that?

 

[kahuna]

Thanks; the woods are local island hardwoods, Koa and Milo ( the dark wood ) in a composite lamination bonded with urea-adhesive, solid as a rock. 
Here's a closeup of the grip/butt

.

 

[Glem.Chally]

"kahuna"Thanks; the woods are local island hardwoods, Koa and Milo ( the dark wood ) in a composite lamination bonded with urea-adhesive, solid as a rock. 
Here's a closeup of the grip/butt
.

Absolutely gorgeous!

Not to take anything away from that machine work, welcome to the forum.

 

[Dairyboy]

Wow you do amazing work!! Welcome to the forum!

 

[kahuna]

HaHa!! Thanks Glem; I'm a woodworker by trade for the past 45 years, but I'm a bit of a closet machinist too. I've got a 1951 South Bend lathe and a weenie-assed Grizzly mini-mill ( it actually uses plastic gears in the drive head, can you believe it!!! ) so it takes a lot of patience to get the metal bits done right. Sometimes I have to do them twice.

 

[kahuna]

Thanks Dairyboy., they are fun to shoot too!

I joined at Gateway to airguns this afternoon, man those guys are brutal control freaks, I have to make 20 posts there before I'm allowed to post ANY pics, can you believe it?

 

[n2stuff]

Are going to make more on these AG's?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCP-big-bore-hand-built-Air-Rifle/323120197838?hash=item4b3b76f0ce:g:-eoAAOSwzAtadIoJ

 

[kahuna]

Heck, as long as I'm allowed to share, here are some shots of a few previous pistol builds; a 9mm ( 670 fps! )and a .25 'ladies gun', plus a wild reservoir-in-grip .22

 

[kahuna]

n2stuff, I love to fiddle; most of my builds are one-offs because by the time I'm done with one ( got to fit it around my day-job ) I've thought of mods/new design ideas I want to try out, so it's a slow but constant flow of production ( and when I say slow, I mean reaaaallllyyyy sloooowwww)
Usually I wind up making about $7-10 an hour on my labor if I'm lucky.

 

[Guest]

Great looking guns.

 

[Brian10956]

I don’t think I like a 8 pound trigger that’s not adjustable.

 

[kahuna]

I understand; for a long time I made my guns with, essentially, hair-triggers; now I make them more positive. Different strokes for different folks....and this, too, shall pass.

 

[kahuna]

Anyway....more eye-candy....I built a side-by-side for a Vermonter that has curly Koa grips and he absolutely loves it; loud as a cannon, has a recoil, he says he gets great tight groups with it at 25 meters, I'm glad he's happy. You'd think from looking at it that the balance would be off, but the reservoir side weighs very little and the gun is a delight to shoot.

The carbine is the best all-around gun I have yet designed, almost 800 FPS with 112 grain loads, small, light, easy to manage, and very accurate, it is truly a sweet rifle. Will shoot right through a 2 x 4 from 50 feet away.

 

[n2stuff]

"kahuna"n2stuff, I love to fiddle; most of my builds are one-offs because by the time I'm done with one ( got to fit it around my day-job ) I've thought of mods/new design ideas I want to try out, so it's a slow but constant flow of production ( and when I say slow, I mean reaaaallllyyyy sloooowwww)
Usually I wind up making about $7-10 an hour on my labor if I'm lucky.

I here you on getting board once you done all you can do. You make some beautiful guns. I will follow you on feebay. Keep up the awesome work.