Mark, I defer to your knowledge, skills and ability in discussions with my friends. I once ran a machine tool business. So your question on production. The Martini-Henry rifle is a modification of the Peabody. And that lockup of the loading tray/bolt to the frame is epic. The British cut that frame with a device called a “side brooch”. It plowed out a rounded grove up in the frame. A rough cut in essence. A rounded cutter, think file, was then suspended on a shaft and partially rotated to further finish the cut. It was finally finished to dimension by lapping in the bolt with abrasive paste. This is why you can’t just swap bolts among old martini rifles. The tolerance on that bolt and the abutment is typically 0.001 inch or less longitudinally when in battery. And yet “parts” bolts for those guns may vary by 3-5 thousandths of an inch bolt to bolt. Because rach was fit using this laborious process. Now today we would use a 5-axis CNC with a ball end mill and simply cut that fillet and be done. They did not have that luxury. They improvised. Enjoyed your video as always. Fox out.

As per your question.. "How do they get that relief cove cut put in there?"..... Manually. Here is a video of the "ENDIE", not the "OUTTIE" or the "INNIE"... The the "OUTTIE" and the "INNIE" are two other processes, still manually dealt with, by means of manually assembling the cutting tool(s) once inside of or passed through an obstruction area... Although, this video I am placing a link to, may look primitive, in their processes, where as today manufacturing processes of full throttle automation has allowed for a more efficient mass production, there is still some processes, that no machining center can simply handle. At least not with out buying, or having built some high measure of specialty machining system that performs just that one odd/random step, that can be handled simply manually/by hand and cheaper tooling. I would recommend simply watching the video for the sake of how great our beloved western world has it. But, if you pay note starting at the TIME STAMP of @6:00 for about 30 seconds... You will see, the dual "ENDIE" manual hand cutting tool in action, and the cutting surfaces dimensions are simply controlled by the nut at that other end, which also serves as the ease of removing the cutter to then remove the shank from the already reamed double shear holes, for the sewing machine's lift arm axle/bell crank axle. Enjoy. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hJhhpdh-rMurkWg.html

Mark, you are a national treasure and I enjoy learning everything you offer to teach. Thank you for taking the time to make videos to pass on your knowledge rather than hoard it like some people tend to do.

As always Thank you for showing us exactly I shouldn't be messing with altering antique firearms. I enjoy watching a master craftsman employing his skills.

ANSWER❤❤: the Watts Bros Tool Drill is used to machine square holes. When the lathe is running, you can see the head "bouncing" around in its guide. Based on a concept which uses an equilateral triangle with bisecting curves of constant width. Square holes can be so sexy. "Triangular Wheels" on the Curiosityshow channel provides a simple tutorial, explanation, and application! April '56 issue of Popular Science shows how to make one.

You know one day I'm going to show up at your shop around closing time with a few Ashton's and a 18 year old bottle of Single Malt Scotch. That way we can listen to war stories.

Yours is, literally, my favorite channel on KZfaq. I get a little excited every time I get notified of a new video. The pleasure is all mine, sir.

I also had to rewatch the shooting scene a few times to see the cleaning rod dump out the front. Had me thinking "Ummmmm.......hey Mark!"

Bag O Gun. Something every gunsmith is familiar with. Also, some of the machining feats they accomplished with primitive machine tools prior to the advent of electricity are absolutely mind boggling.

Mark buddy your one of a special breed that may in fact be lost forever once our generation has passed and I can only hope those watching truly appreciate the knowledge and wisdom you so graciously take the time to share with us all. Thank you much. I always look forward to your video’s. Peace, health, prosperity and long life to you😊

It's fantastic to watch a talented, experienced gunsmith at work! I could watch this for hours!

Lovely to watch an artist at work.

Mark… you scared the crap out of me when you fired the gun without taking the cleaning rod out. I didn’t see it fall out when reloading the first time.

Watching Mark reminds me of my friend who used to build hydroplanes. They may use simple tools but the skill behind those tools is what makes a gun run or an unlimited go 200mph in one piece. You would be a fool to question their method or madness..

What a fun conversion. As always Mark it is a pleasure to watch you work sir.

As always thanks for taking us along for the ride.

To make that cut in the back of the receiver, I would modify a ball endmill so it would have a spherical section on the end and machine to near the outside. After the semicircle cut I would fixture the receiver in a rotary table and use a slotting head attachment on a milling machine to make square corners with another custom ground tool. This last operation would clean up the edges and square them to the ends of the semicircle cut area. I used to work for John Martz Luger maker from Lincoln, CA. On the barrel extensions there is a stud cut into the side of the extension and it has a radiused area that can only be accomplished by using a slotting head on a milling machine, a correctly made tool and as the slotting head is reciprocating the rotary table is turning the barrel extension cutting a radius inside a small area. There were three or four parts on the Luger pistol that had parts that had to be slotted while rotating on a rotary table. Nice work Mark!

Mark, for you to let us in to your shop and share your knowledge, no, the pleasure has been and is all ours. And I thank you!!!

I suspect the radius was cut using a cam directed single point tool something like a shaper or planer. Today I might do such an operation with a die sinking EDM. But that is not suitable for high volume production. I look at how many of the cuts are made on lever action firearms and wonder how it was done. Manufacturers in the past built a lot of dedicated machinery.

Glad to have had this Peabody in my hands. Thanks for the video, Mark!

I believe that unknown cut you're asking about was done with the same type tool used to trim down the ears on the bottom of a 1911 barrel where the slide stop holds back the barrel. Like starting an old crank style Model T Ford, you have the crank rod, and a slide on sideways reamer bit used to cut the radius as you turn the crank. The bit would have to move across the plane of the radius as it's cranked, cutting from one side to the other.

Outstanding presentation and master craft gun smithing skills. I wish I could apprentice under someone like you. Thanks for an enlightening picture into re sleeving an old classic, not something to be undertaken by novices. Liked and subscribed sir. 🇺🇸⚓️💪👊

Excellent 16 min & 7 seconds. A 45/70 Martini Peabody, that is cool.

I Just LOVE how He Gets In After IT fearlessly!! Keeping these Smoke Poles SMOKING!!

14:12 Just trows away a perfectly good cigar

I liked the classical music in previous times. Great content regardless

Man, I love watching you do your thing. I especially like all the historical firearms you work with. Thanks for sharing. From the upstate

12:54 if the radius is concentric with the hole, it could only have been done on a lathe with a tiny groove cutter style boring bar. If it's not, it could also have been done on a horizontal mill with a remarkably small arbor and cutter.

Great video Mark, thank you for the history on the gun. I have to admit I had to rewind and watch again after you used the cleaning /ram rod to clear the shell from the chamber as I didn't think the rod had been removed but then I saw it fall out the muzzle.

These videos....I really can't wait to get moved so I can get my lathe set up and finish up all the project I put on hold seven years ago. Mr. Novak has a interesting day job for sure!

And as always, it’s been a pleasure watching your work.

Oh wow. I admire your filing. Love how you chunked it out with the Dremel. Smoking a meerschaum lined briar quarter bent with about 50% virginia sweet burley and 50% northern lights gifted to me by my son. Old stoners rule

Always a pleasure to watch a craftsman work.

And just like that, I learned something.

All of your videos are a wealth of info. I’m sure they will be viewed for a long time.

Mark you are a MASTER of your art sir!

If I remember, that cut is off center from the hole, I was thinking it may have been a broach cutter, then chisel work, or scrapers. They did such unique cuts with hand tools back then also.

One of the best channels out there. Certianly the best ive found on the topic. But one of the best channels overall

I love the history lessons I get from your channel. As always thanks for such a great video. Cheers 🍻

The way that cut was done is definitely a real good head scratcher. If somebody told me to do it... I would put a 3/16 boring bar through that 1/4 screw hole and then insert a hss cutter into the boring bar. You can get a good 1/16 deep cut out of it I would reckon

I watched this on my phone. I had to rewatch to see Mark dump the cleaning rod out

Mark it is a pleasure to learn from your videos!

aah nothing like GUNSMITH ASMR, loved every second of it

Great work and a very fine weapon outstanding video sir five stars

Any day an Anvil is uploaded is a good day.

Thank you for a very helpful and educational video. Among the very best that I have seen. My compliments!

Nice conversion mark. Great video as always,

LOL, I thought he fired the ram rod out until i rewatched segment and paid close attention. I slid out when he lowered muzzle towards ground

Thank you, still love your craftsmanship and your Humor :-)

Mark your my favorite gunsmith / personality on KZfaq no one better Godspeed brother

The cut is broached with a half round cutter assembled through the pin hole.

Excellent video mark I had an old marlin whitney 40-60cal.carbin length saddle gun or so we were told I wanted to have it rechambered to 45-70. However all the folks I spoke with told me the rifle wasnt a carbine and should have been 11 to 12 inches longer and that there was no way to make the conversion. It was an 1880 model and year. The whole rifle was 29 3/4" long

Great video. Thank you Mark and your crew.

I've often thought about how they cut the breech block shoulders in the martinis, and with it sharing the axis of the hinge pin hole it would have had to have been cut through that hole. It's possible it was roughed out with a radius milling cutter through the top then set up in a fixture with holes matching the pin hole on a separate machine. Here you could insert an arbor and cutter (similar to a line boring operation) to finish the radius to size and square up the corners. I might give it a try for fun, maybe make up a mock receiver and some tooling. If it's a success I'll post a video.

Thanks for sharing some more wonderful knowledge

At about the 7.5 minute mark you said that the Dremel has a place in the shop, but never as a "go-to". I grew up with a gunsmith whose shop equipment consisted of an Atlas lathe, a Delta drill press, and a small barrel of dead Dremels. He made a good living for 50 years knowing what his limitations , and the Dremel's were. He'd go through 3-4 a year, and never a day went by that he did not have one in hand. Good Video!

I have been a gun nut all my life . I love to watch video's on how they work.

Spectacular job Brother thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise and hello from Detroit Michigan brother God-bless

Thanks Mark .... always learn something from your channel ....

Outstanding as always! Thank you for sharing.

You are great at what you do!!! I love it!!!!

Such a cool video thanks Mark.

I I had to make a bunch of them, I'd make a rotary broach that piloted off the pivot pin hole. Segment it into enough individual cuts as to be workable. Maybe a rougher and a finisher. Make it out of M2 it should last thousands of cuts.

Great Job Mark 👍😉👏👏👏 Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Your videos are the coolest amd most interesting on youtube. Coming from a carpenter/gun enthusiest

A perfect vid to see after work on a friday !

Is it weird that I enjoy watching a man hand file a part for five minutes? Did I just make this video awkward? I don't care. great video, please keep doing great work! Love you're channel.

Simply outstanding!👏👏👏👍👍👍

Thanks Mark I enjoy your videos 🇺🇸

Sweat-fit the sleeve, no worry about glue. It's also easier if done right.

Nice job bringing her back to life with a much handier to load for round.

The machines back of the block with a very small boring bar, with a removable cutter that's held in place with an end center line set screw.

I do love to watch Mark work. I had at one time aspirations of becoming a gun smith. But due to the regulations and such with taking that on and the almost war against the Second Amendment I took another path. But I do very much enjoy watching Mark do his thing.

I was starting to wonder if we were ever gonna get meaty vids again? I'd like some more please

Thanks for sharing beautiful firearm

Thank You for educating us hobby gun Smith's .

I've watched several gunsmithing videos made by some real butchers. Your an Artist compared to the rest of them. No one compares to your expertise.

Mark, I agree with Lauren H, I can remember seeing an old newsreel film converted to video of a Ball Burr being used to cut round ended recesses in a steel housing for valve pivots, they used a jig that moved the housing to accommodate the burr coming in from the front of the housing to make it cut eccentric due to the limited opening for the milling burr. In other words, for the Peabody receiver, they would feed a long shank round burr in from where the barrel would screw into the receiver, maybe before the thread was cut to prevent damage to the thread.

heyoooo another bag job! good work mark

You should just add a very small bead of tig weld or 2 after you line up the holes. This is done with a lot of manufacturers and doesn't harm anything.

Fantastic content as always. God bless

Mark you are one awesome man.

Back than they did a lot of scraping, broaching and chiseling (dont know if the words are correct, technichal terms are difficult to translate), by hand or by machine. I have some workshop notes from a gunsmith school dated from the 60's/70's, they did the complete action for a break action rifle from a forging blank by hand. I can imagine for mass production they had a scraping machine with form tools or something similar.

Might have been better to go with 45-60. Less meat to take off the breach with a shorter cartridge. I find that threading the chamber sleeve in is a better way to go and have always made the sleeve the same length as the brass.

Not all metal was removed by rotary milling cutters. I think broaches were also used in some firearm manfacturing. Look at the breech block mortise in the receivers on the Winchester low walls and high walls for instance. If you are making a few thousand of some part, a dedicated machine and cutter specific for that problematic part would be justified.

You must be one of the luckiest guys around, you get to handle and test fire weapons most of us will never be lucky enough to see in person, personally I'd be honored to work as your apprentice but I doubt your schedule would allow you to train anyone.

Another very cool and interesting video.

Of course the white socks was a nice touch!

I was watching your episode on rechambering a Peabody rifle to 45/70 and you asked how the rounded cut in the rear of the action was done . The only way I could fathom that being done would be to use a short enough bit to fit through the holes in the side and machine it from the each side from the center . I’m a ne subscriber and have enjoyed watching. Have a great day.if I can make a suggestion for an episode, how to remove and replace a breech plug” slot stripped” from a muzzle loader. Thanks

Bag master Mark, I thought you were going to shoot me with its cleaning rod. Glad to see another one back on the firing line.

I live in Birminghsm UK not far from BSA where you can Go to the Gun Quarter and see all the old tools and machines used..one type of Barrel made by bending a single piece of wire around a bar n soldering in All the gaps in the spiralling barrel sets.French origin I believe,left a beautiful set of barrels..

The pleasure is ours sir.

The cut is almost certainly done on two jig grinders, using a small radius grinding belt cantilevered on an arm. Infeed to one corner on the "left handed" machine, note the infeed hard stop, set up the "right handed" jig grinder to the same stop. Clean up mismatch by lapping with a die made specifically for the task.

That's a neat one mark

A dremel on guns is a lot like an X-acto knife. An X-acto knife it practically the same system as a surgeon's scalpel. It just depends on who is holding it.

I chambered my .410 shotgun in .444 Marlin. You should see the look on people's faces when I pull that trigger. All it took was a brass sleeve to preserve the .444 cases during firing.

That part could have been cut on a horizontal mill with a face mill or shell mill. Another option is a rotary broach that indexes of pin holes. Some of the old machinist handbooks might give a clue to the process.

Great video

Lovely and fascinating!

The recessed groove: Boring-bar style single-tooth cutter threaded through the bolt hole without the milling-spindle running would really be the only way to achieve that square-shouldered recessed inside groove.