Carbine William's barrel.

[sweeteviljesus]

How did Carbine Williams make the barrel for the rifle he made in prison?

Thanks,
Rob

[astro]

@sweeteviljesus

How did Carbine Williams make the barrel for the rifle he made in prison?

Thanks,
Rob

Here

[astro]

Some add. background

Well, yes, actually, we do. He made six rifles in prison, some not
known by the guards. The reason for the movie was that, in 1951,
Captain Peoples wrote a story for Readers Digest, under their (now
defunct) “unforgettable character” category. In the 1951 article, he
gives thew basic details, as they appeared in the movie, of how Marsh
Williams built the rifle in prison, mostly from Ford parts. Williams
exploits were well-known at the time, and newspapers carried articles
about a prisoner building firearms. Several of the articles are
reproduced in the Ross Beard biography. Not in the movie, but in the
bio, is the fact that, in response to public concerns that a murderer
was building arms in prison with the intent of escaping, Capt. Peoples
stated that if Marsh Williams escaped, Peoples would serve the balance
of his 30 year sentence.
As I stated before, the modified Remington used in the film IS the
actual carbine that he built in prison. According to the Beard bio, it
did feature BOTH the floating chamber later used in the Service Ace
and Remington 550, and the Williams short-stroke piston. Williams
worked in the blacksmith shop, and was the armorer for the prison
guards.
Jeff/addesign
NRA Certified RSO
ISRA,Tuesday Night Irregular Rifles, High Power League

[sweeteviljesus]

@astro

Here

I saw the link, but it didn’t say how the barrels were made. In the film, Jimmy Stewart states that he made the barrel from an old car axle. In reality, did he use an existing barrel or did he fashion one from scratch? If so, have any photographs of his equipment survived? I doubt that even a prison, or hell, even a military armory would have barrel making equipment.

Thanks,
Rob

[astro]

@sweeteviljesus

I saw the link, but it didn’t say how the barrels were made. In the film, Jimmy Stewart states that he made the barrel from an old car axle. In reality, did he use an existing barrel or did he fashion one from scratch? If so, have any photographs of his equipment survived? I doubt that even a prison, or hell, even a military armory would have barrel making equipment.

Thanks,
Rob

He wasn’t making license plates, he was the prison “armorer” so his machine shop may have had a decent collection of gun smithing tools.

As I stated before, the modified Remington used in the film IS the
actual carbine that he built in prison. According to the Beard bio, it
did feature BOTH the floating chamber later used in the Service Ace
and Remington 550, and the Williams short-stroke piston. Williams
worked in the blacksmith shop, and was the armorer for the prison
guards.

[sweeteviljesus]

@astro

He wasn’t making license plates, he was the prison “armorer” so his machine shop may have had a decent collection of gun smithing tools.

Yes, but barrel making equipment is not part of a gunsmithing tool kit. See if you can find such a machine in the Brownell’s catalog. It’s been a while for me, but I didn’t see any in there.

It seems as though you are saying that he used existing parts from a Remington rifle including the barrel, and that the film was embellishing the story by saying that the barrel was made from a car axle and the stock was made from a fence post. Is that correct?

Also, what exactly is the advantage of a short stroke piston? What does it allow you to change about the firearm that makes it better? What about a floating chamber? What does that mean anyway? When you float a barrel or a receiver, that just means that it doesn’t touch or isn’t fixed to the stock. What is it about the chamber that can be said to float?

Finally, if Williams used an existing barrel, does anyone make barrels “in the field”? For example, do the gunsmiths of Darra modify existing barrels, or do they create their own? If so, what does their equipment look like? Are there any pictures of it?

Thanks,
Rob

[Scumpup]

What the floating chamber does is increase the recoil force from a sub-caliber cartridge in order to cycle the action of a recoil-operated weapon. The floating chamber is what made a .22lr-training conversion of the .30 Browning MG work. It is also what made the Colt Ace .22lr version of the 1911 work.

[Scumpup]

Towards the bottom of this page is a pretty good explanation and some photos for the floating chamber.

[sweeteviljesus]

@Scumpup

Towards the bottom of this page is a pretty good explanation and some photos for the floating chamber.

So the M1 carbine has the short-stroke piston, but not the floating chamber, correct? What is the advantage of the short-stroke piston? Is it that you can make a gas-operated weapon not loose much pressure behind the bullet?

Thanks,
Rob

[Scumpup]

In a short stroke piston, the piston moves a small distance and basically slams into the bolt. The bolt continues through the rest of its travel by momentum. In a long stroke piston, the piston is attached to the bolt and travels completely through the range of motion with it. There is a perception amongst gun-folks that the short stroke has some advantage in reliability, fewer harmonics to “tune” for accurizing, and there is a smaller shift in center of gravity for the gun during the cycling of the action.

[Kevbo]

@sweeteviljesus

Yes, but barrel making equipment is not part of a gunsmithing tool kit. See if you can find such a machine in the Brownell’s catalog. It’s been a while for me, but I didn’t see any in there.

All of the required tooling for barrell making is made in machine shops. A lathe, a mill, and lots of time, and it can all be produced as needed. Not cost effective if you are looking to make money on the enterprise (cheaper to pay for the services of a specialist) and commercial equiptment will likely last MUCH longer under production conditions…but if you only need a few barrells, and have lots of time to kill…

[sweeteviljesus]

@Kevbo

All of the required tooling for barrell making is made in machine shops. A lathe, a mill, and lots of time, and it can all be produced as needed. Not cost effective if you are looking to make money on the enterprise (cheaper to pay for the services of a specialist) and commercial equiptment will likely last MUCH longer under production conditions…but if you only need a few barrells, and have lots of time to kill…

I know how to make the machine, but I don’t know how to make the bits. I was wondering if and how barrels were produced in low-tech workshops, especially in clandestine conditions. I gather that Williams didn’t have to operate as secretly as was implied in the film.

Thanks,
Rob