The Home Machinist!

Photo of the lock innards

Progress has been a bit slow so far.
Have the lock plate fabricated and the lockworks functioning.
Need to contour the plate now to at least resemble the lines of the original from the recess on the receiver. that will entail a bit of file work

Still working on the drawings. Have most of them finished, doing custom screws now. Need those for the existing holes in the receiver which are oddball threads, close to SAE but a tad looser. Also researching casting as I'm thinking of casting the lever parts, trigger and breech block parts from sil...

Good info here:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/americ ... e-carbine/

I'll probably use Sharps lock parts from Dixie as well as the Sharps lock is very similar to the Burnside's. There are a few fiddly parts that could be made the innards will not be seen and I'm not going for an absolute reproduction.

So here's the start of my Burnside carbine build. Acquired a receiver and barrel so the hardest parts are already done. Bore needs a bit of a cleaning but in general looks very good considering its age. Attachment is just the breechblock so far, not yet dimensioned but full sized. Will probably have...

The back third of the breech block (with the percussion nipple)is a separate spring loaded piece that pushes the empty high enough to grab it.

Lever causes breech to drop down, cartridge goes in small end first. Closing lever makes breech rise and move foreward pushing bullet into barrel slightly
The bulge below the bullet acts as a gas seal.
Yes, indent in small end is concentric

Thanks to all. Lots of information to sort through.
I'll have to experiment with the different methods and see what works best.
No bullets yet, just the empty case so probably a center would work ok on the front end.

Cartridge looks like this 54 caliber. Fires from percussion cap igniting cartridge powder thru small hole in base.
I'll try to get some measurements today of the new brass i have.
How about a d reamer?

How best to bore a tapered hole in steel?
Trying to match the taper of a civil war cartridge (Burnside) in the breech block.
Lathe plus boring bar or ...?

Also good points to ponder