Mini questions

[one_bullet_dan]

I was putting a close eyeball on my new mini today and was wondering; Is the barrel screwed on or machined as part of the frame?

   

   Also, does NAA do any custom work? I have a revolver/barrel combination I`d like to have made.

   

   Thanks!

[newguy]

This could turn into an interesting thread

   

   

[wyn]

I believe I remember Sandy saying the barrels for the minis are screwed on. The barrels for the pug are machined with the frame from one block of steel. So the barrels for the minis are replaceable but the pug are integrated to the frame. Hope this helps.

[xmp]

The pug barrels are not part of the frame.

[grayelky]

Like any other company, I am confident NAA depends on speed of production to make a profit. This makes doing one-off work very expensive. However unlike other companies, NAA is very customer friendly. If it is a matter of using parts they already have, just changing the combination, I personally feel your chances of getting what you want are a little higher. It will still be more expensive than what you might expect. After all, what you are looking for is a custom, one of a kind firearm. On the other hand, if you happen to be close to something they have been considering, they may take the opportunity to help a customer and still see what they have been musing about. As an Ace-in-the-hole kind of thing, NAA has instituted their Curious, Custom and Collectible Shop (http://www.naaminis.com/ccc.html">http://www.naaminis.com/ccc.html), so there may be hope for your project. Your best bet would be to call NAA and ask for Kenny. If he is not the person you need to talk to, he will direct you.

   

   Good luck in your project. Keep us informed.

[theysayimnotme]

Look REAL hard at the barrel on the Pug. I assume it is the same as my Black Widow. I

   at first thought there was a tiny crack in the barrel but then found out it is where the barrel is screwed in. It's about .030" ahead of the cylinder gap.

[Dinadan]

Look closely at this photo of a pug and you can see the joint between barrel and frame.

   

   

[coinchop]

Don't the Pug, BW, and MM, have barrel liners?

   Thats what it looks like to me.

   When I have recrowned some of those,I have had to

   go down aways to get to what looks like the

   end of a barrel liner. There is a seam mark on

   those guns where the part of the barrel is

   fastend to the frame.

[one_bullet_dan]

If the company would sell barrels alone, I could probably get the local smith to make my project work. If they don`t, I could buy two guns, swap barrels, and sell the other (yeah, right).

   I`ve got an engraving project I`m about to have done, so I guess I`ll wait until I`ve put some money back and make a call to NAA.

[pvq]

As long as we are contemplating custom work....how about a break top buntline

[Dinadan]

Dan - about swapping barrels: note that the rifling appears to begin in the frame, on the pug at least. If that is the case, then the barrel and frames are not going to be interchangeable.

[cedarview kid]

So, is the rifling added AFTER the barrel is screwed on?

[Dinadan]

Dar - that is the way it looks, but I would like to see an exploded view of the pug and bw parts. Coinchop suggests a barrel liner, maybe it could go all the way through?

[Dinadan]

Sorry guys - I'm wrong about the rifling going into the frame. I always looked from the muzzle end: here is the frame end. I just did some shooting looks like I need to clean!

   

   

[mndoug]

DINADAN -->  Wow, I've never seen a view like that.  Are those rings all lead build-up, or what?

[Dinadan]

Mndoug - I think they are left over from machining the forcing cone. This is after a few passes with a brass brush.

   

   

[mndoug]

Thanks... I never knew what lead build-up looked like.  I'm sure I need to do that to quite a few of my guns!  (Unless YOU want to do it for me...)

[grayelky]

Sorry to hi-jack this thread, as it is something I RARELY do, but, let's talk about Dinadan's photographic abilities!!!

   

   Those are some awesome pictures that are difficult to take.

[red14]

I don't want to talk about his abilities.  He's too good, probably has a better camera too.  I fart in his general direction.

[wiseguy]

Nee...Nee..!

[bud]

Red14,

   Way to rip!!

   

[Dinadan]

Sorry to disillusion you Grayelky, but most of my photographic prowess is built into my Sony Cybershot DSC-80: which is a rather old model compact camera. I should be due for an updated version later this year. I do take a lot of very close photos of very small structures for a web page on wild flower identification that I created.

[olgy]

Getting back to the subject, Dinadan's excellent photos appear to show some pretty poor machining.  Annular rings, which is what D's photos show, are likely the result of what ought to be a first rough cut. A forcing cone is supposed to center the bullet so it can enter the rifling straight and centered as it exits the chamber. And in the case of lead bullets (cast)the forcing cone can often act to size the bullet to the correct diameter if it's a bit large.  But annular rings in the cone do nothing good for velocity, accuracy, or tumbling.   A forcing cone should be absolutely smooth to work properly.  Are they all like that?

[Dinadan]

Olgy, I am afraid we are still off topic, but here is an approximately scale photo of a Ruger SP-101 .357 forcing cone. The Ruger is more smoothly machined. But I would not say that the pug is poorly machined, just not quite as good. Now I definitely need more revolvers in orde to do a comparison!

   

   

[grayelky]

Blame it on the camera if you want, you still are able to get some really good pics.

   

   Any guess as to how much magnification we are looking at? Even tho the Ruger is seemingly magnified more, it is much better finished. I hope all of NAAs forcing cones are not that "stair stepped". I suspect part of the illusion has to do with the magnification we are looking through.

[louiethelump]

The part of the barrel you are looking at and saying is "part of the frame" is the barrel extension that goes through the frame.  It is rifled on the inside and threaded on the outside and screws into an oversize hole in the frame.  Then the outside is finished and polished and you hardly see the line.  To do the rifling, you need both ends of the barrel open so you can pass the rifling cutter through to cut the rifling................  Then the rifled tube is screwed into the frame and finished off.

   

   Picture a big steel bore brush that has progressive cutters instead of wire bristles.  It is dragged through the bored hole in the barrel and cuts the rifling.  (I have watched this fascinating process done at S&W)  It is rotated as it is dragged through to establish the spin.  

   

   Just my 2 cents..........

   

   But I think you will find it accurate

   

   louie

[Dinadan]

Gray - the second photo of the pug and the photo of the Ruger are approximately to scale - the ratio of the size of the bore to the size of the bore in the photo is pretty close. The actual magnification you see depends on the display you are using.

   

   Louie - you are probably right. The blow up diagram on NAA's site does not show that particular detail.