Barnard Palma FINISHED

[NesikaChad]

Been a little while since I updated anything about this rifle. This is a Barnard action switch barrel gun for Palma and NRA 600 any/any matches.

I made a few changes on this rig from the standard Barnard stuff. Most notable was the addition of a recoil lug between the action/barrel and enlarging the ejection port a bit. I also pulled everything to the rear more than I usually would so that the owner could peel cases from the port without having to stretch as much.

This thing is chambered in 6mm CM as it sits. An interesting cartridge. You start with a 243 Winny and end up with something that resembles some inbreeding between a Gibbs and Ackley cartridge. The customer and I suffered a bit of a learning curve as there was a slight goof up with some of the chambering tooling. I guess there's been a few revisions with the cartridge and we ended up with version "B" reamer along with version "A" gauge. Made for a very puzzling phone call when the owner told me he won his first 600 yard match with a 200/13x (while fireforming mind you) but his brass was almost .100" longer than it should have been!

Needless to say I was mortified (I assumed I somehow chambered the rifle too deep) and when I got the barreled action back I was even more puzzled when the GO gauge plopped right in with .001" clearance.

More phone calls. . .

As stated, we got it all sorted and she's a healthy gun now.

Here's some photos. I'll start from the beginning

PARTS!

Taking #'s from the action:

Puter doodles

Writing code from the Barnard barrel tennon prints (which I later changed as there's a few things I wanted different)

Barrel work:

Houston, we have a barrel tennon:

Inletting the stock begins:

Made the recoil lug:

Bedding:

 

[NesikaChad]

Here's some more:

Primary inlet with the mounting holes for the accy rail:

Making the rail: (FROM A-2! -cuz I can

The trigger guard was a biche. No gettin around it. Pulling the action to the rear complicated things. I knew it would and finding an elegant solution took me awhile to sort out. I liked the end result. This is a two operation part.

Now for some cheek piece hardware. Again all scratch built.

Buttplate assy installation:

One more bedding photo:

 

[NesikaChad]

Now the good stuff:

Seeing this bugger with all the metalwork done and with finish on the wood. I wanted to take it to a motel and have my way with it but the owner said no.

 

[NesikaChad]

Thanks for lookin! Hope you enjoyed!

I've wanted to do a Palma gun like this for a long time. Nice wood and an identity with traditional wood guns with all the black metal parts. I'd of liked to coat the barrel and anodize all the aluminum stuff but the customer had to rein me in a bit. probably for the best since this is a "working" gun that he'll shoot the dickens out of.

Comments welcome.

C

 

[Boyd Allen]

Chad,

Beautiful work...Great photo essay...Do you true the shank to the bore before putting it in the collet? What are your impressions of the action? It looks impressive. It looks like you may have made provision for the cheek piece to be removed for barrel cleaning, without changing it's adjustment. If that is the case, how does does it work?


Boyd

 

[Fred J]

Smooooooooooth

 

[David Sengelaub]

That gun appears to have a major flaw. It's way to pretty to shoot. Nice work Chad

 

[NesikaChad]

Boyd I use a Dunham 16C indexable collet chuck on my lathe. It's exactly like a four jaw only I have part captivation almost a full 360*. The exception being the 3 .075" wide slots in the collet. A basic fundamental of machining is rigid work holding which is what lead me to go this direction. I adjust the hydraulic pressure on the draw bar and literally beat on the chuck with a dead blow till the indicator gives in and tells me what I want to see. Then I snug up the six screws that register the nose to the base, crank the drawbar pressure back up, check it one more time, hit "cycle smash" on the control and go surf midget porn while it turns the tennon and gets the initial thread cycle out of the way. I don't get to look at many midgets as it only takes about 40 seconds to complete that part. It's amusing that with a little practice a guy can hit something with a hammer and get under 5/10th's TIR! Kinda' funny to me actually as it really pees all over the romantic images of a diligent little craftsman dressed in an apron as he works under the warm glow of a light bulb in his work shop. NOT HERE! Rock music, cuss words, and big hammers! (and a keyboard/mouse)

The town mayor was in here a few weeks ago watching me beat on the chuck to center up a barrel. I didn't know he was watching and finally curiosity got the best of him. The look on his face was priceless when he saw the runout. (.00005")

Yes, the cheek piece is adjustable/removable without losing the height setting. just a simple non rotating jackscrew with a detent.

The Barnard will never win a beauty contest (unless you guys are into fat girls ) It's big, robust, Russian looking, and shoots very well. The triggers are pretty dern nice. It's kinda clunky but for what it is and the price point its at, you can't go wrong for a LR single shot. A 200/13x's while fireforming in the wrong chamber pretty much closes that discussion for me

 

[Kitsap]

Chad,

Great pictures and absolutely outstanding work. Looks pretty good from Poulsbo!

DougF

 

[19Turkeys]

Chad,

It looks darned fine from Oregon! Update on the Nesika pistol you built for me in 6.5 BR. I took the scope off it a couple of months ago to get sight settings for the iron sights. I shot a 40x40 + 3x5 shoot-off targets with the wrong shooting glasses! The sights were a bit fuzzy. I still get many compliments on your work. In fact, I carry a rag in my shooting box to wipe off the drool from the admirers.

Steve W.

 

[J Pappas]

Chad

I am in awe of the workmanship in you rifles.

 

[NesikaChad]

Chad,

It looks darned fine from Oregon! Update on the Nesika pistol you built for me in 6.5 BR. I took the scope off it a couple of months ago to get sight settings for the iron sights. I shot a 40x40 + 3x5 shoot-off targets with the wrong shooting glasses! The sights were a bit fuzzy. I still get many compliments on your work. In fact, I carry a rag in my shooting box to wipe off the drool from the admirers.


Steve W.

Steve,

Goosebumps. . . Glad that thing is still werkin for ya. I still have a scrap barrel here at the shop from that thing to remind myself why I hate and never want to ever flute a barrel!

If you have an idle moment sometime, would/could you take a few pics of that little monster? (plllleeeeaaassseee) The ones I have from long ago were done when I was still with "Big N" and the camera left quite a bit to be desired (as did my photography skills-lack of)

Better yet. . .

Any way of talking you out of it for a week during SHOT this year??? I'm supposed to piggy back with the Sturgis Economic development booth. It'd be a neat addition to the little "trinkits" display we put up.

To everyone:

Thanks for the kind words. It's very appreciated and very, very encouraging to hear. Lets me know to keep plugging along my little bumpy path.

 

[cassidy]

NesikaChad Please post your website or business address. The work is outstanding
Cassidy

 

[VinceB]

Nesika Chad,

Beautiful work. But can I ask a question? The boltface on a Barnard has a flat on the end of the cone - unlike a BAT or Stolle for example, which finishes in a sharp edge. To (presumably) reduce the amount of unsupported cartridge case, the Barnard tenon drawing shows a small 'flat' around the end of the chamber before the cone starts - to closely match the profile of the bolt. I notice from the pic of the tenon that you have omitted this flat - may I ask why?

Vince (UK)

 

[NesikaChad]

Vince I set my breech clearances at .015" (.38 mm) on most of the guns I build. I check it very scientifically with a piece of soft lead solder stuck to the bolt with a dab of grease. Then I rotate the bolt into battery and go fishing for the smooshed solder. Then measure it's thickness with calipers. All I can tell you is the bolt is off the back of the taper on the tennon by .015". Unless the owner loads the cases with nitromethane or some split atoms he's never going to rupture a case and if he does the lack of raceways, the large gas check, and the big burly knurled knob on the back of the bolt is going to mitigate gas from ever reaching the face.

Besides, the guy who owns this is so tough he can gargle peanut butter...

Breech clearance is important and it is something I pay attention to. That being said take a look at an 03 springfield. You can park a bus sideways in these actions between the bolt and breech. Lots of dead Germans tells me it worked just fine.

 

[NesikaChad]

Update:

John got home and was able to squeeze in a few shots on Sunday with his new rifle. I posted a similar thread on Sniper's Hide that he responded to. Here's the test group (while fire forming brass) and what he had to say.

Enjoy. . .

C

This is the first test target. went to the range yesterday to get the front sight leveled up, that took about 10 shots. It was starting to rain so I had to cut the range session short plus deer season is coming here in MI. so all the idiots were out in force.

Group details:

Barnard palma rifle
6mm Competition Match
Berger 105 VLD
Win case
Rem. 9 1/2
47.0 H-1000 Fireform load
Bartlein SS 1-7.5 5R 30"
Rifle built by Long Rifles Inc. Chad Dixon
5 shots iron sights 100 yds. .277" (no scope for this group)

Sorry the picture is not better but you get the idea.
_________________________
I got two things in this world, my word and my balls. I dont break either of them for anyone.

 

[eljefe]

came back after a while and found the usual Chad magic-I better start keeping a drool rag here. Outstanding, even with the wrong chamber fireformed...

 

[Kodzoff]

Handsome work. Do you do your own anodizing? If so, what is your shop toolong for that task? Also, your shop seems quite well equiped, and I'm certainly impressed with your work holding fixtures - first class. What make model lathe and mill are you using and what cad/cam software? Again, beautiful work. Regards, Chuck

 

[19Turkeys]

Steve,


If you have an idle moment sometime, would/could you take a few pics of that little monster? (plllleeeeaaassseee) The ones I have from long ago were done when I was still with "Big N" and the camera left quite a bit to be desired (as did my photography skills-lack of)

Better yet. . .

Any way of talking you out of it for a week during SHOT this year???

Chad,
The best pictures I have of it are the ones you took with the blue fabric background. I believe I sent those to you several months ago. I have registered for the 2011 SHOT Show but do not know if I will be able to attend as my wife is battling some darned serious health issues.

If you need me to resend those photos, e-mail me.

Steve W.

 

[NesikaChad]

Steve,

No worries. I have the originals. You provided them to me a few months ago. (thanks)

Hope your bride feels better and hope to see you there. I'm still on the fence as to if I'm going to attend or not. I've not generated one single sale as a result of SHOT. It's just more of a mingle thing to see old friends. Gets expensive though. . .

Thanks Steve.

Now hurry up and shoot that barrel out so I can put a new one on! I wanna molest your pistol again!

C