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Author Topic: Casting gun mounts  (Read 265 times)

Offline Dan Fruth

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Casting gun mounts
« on: October 22, 2025, 07:27:28 PM »
Try casting your own brass mounts

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  I made the flask from 1" popular and the pattern from straight maple. The crucible is a #6


[url=https://ibb.co/Q79WStQJ]
Scroll sawing the recess for the pattern in the pattern board



The flask with alignment added




The pattern board pinned and in place




The riddle is a simple frame with 1/8th hardware stappled on the back. tamper and sprue form I turned from scarp walnut









The sifted powder is rottenstone which keeps sand from sticking where you don't want it











As you can see the greatest shrinkage from the pattern was in the area of the bow. The small guard is what is commercially available today, so you see why I did this.

 I recommend reading Erik Kettenburgs Muzzleblast article on sand casting mounts, as well as watching The gunsmith from Williamsburg starring Wallace Gussler
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The old Quaker, "We are non-resistance friend, but ye are standing where I intend to shoot!"

Offline Jim Kibler

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2025, 08:00:09 PM »
Wow!  Beautiful work.
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Offline rich pierce

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2025, 08:05:00 PM »
Impressive and I’m more aware now of how much shrinkage can happen in casting brass.
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Andover, Vermont

Offline Dan Fruth

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2025, 09:01:25 PM »
Yes brass shrinks .187/foot or about 1/64 per inch, and increases it seems with wider crosssections
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The old Quaker, "We are non-resistance friend, but ye are standing where I intend to shoot!"

Offline whetrock

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2025, 09:14:02 PM »
Great photos. Thanks.
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Offline tallbear

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2025, 09:16:10 PM »
Dan

I moved this topic to Gunbuilding(I hope you don;t mind) as I believe it belongs here and will receive much more well deserved responce.Thanks for taking the time to post this!!1 very informative!!!

Mitch Yates
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Offline Ky-Flinter

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2025, 09:29:28 PM »
Great stuff Dan.  Thanks for taking the time to document the process.  Now, that is old time gun making!

Ron
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Ron Winfield

Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun. -Nate McKenzie

Offline L T Grey

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2025, 09:38:25 PM »
Really enjoyed seeing the process from start to finish. Thanks for sharing!
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Offline Clint

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Re: Casting gun mounts
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2025, 02:16:10 AM »
Nice castings! It is easy to see why you need a crucible that holds more metal than the guard will take. Sprues runners and gates, O My! The sprue wants to be generous so that there is enough weight of liquid metal to force it's way all the way to the far reaches of the mold. If your castings come out on the red side, you can add zinc just before you pour, you can get zinc from any boat yard and play with the color. when it's time for another pour the sprues etc can be easily broken at a red heat. Also, keep lead out of the pour, it will make any subsequent bending/hammering nearly impossible, Lead is added to brass to improve machinability (engraving)
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