Gunsmithing Rifle Project Ideas Needed

[reximus]

Next fall will be the start of my Senior year in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Utah. Let's just say that it has been a long time coming! The ME department at Utah has us do a sort of 'capstone' project that culminates all engineering principles and concepts we've learned during our previous and concurrent years of learning.

I am not a huge fan of all the 'book work' and calculations that we endure in our undergraduate classes, and I would LOVE to finally enjoy the last bit of schooling I have left. As such, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am hoping to somehow mix rifles and shooting into my senior project.</span>

This next spring, summer, and early fall I plan on contacting some gun manufacturers and seeing if they have any interest in <span style="font-weight: bold">'sponsoring' our Mechanical Engineering Senior Project</span>. They'll get some 'free engineering', I will (hopefully) finally get to learn about an industry that I'm passionate about and get to have fun doing it.

The project doesn't necessarily need to be something completely new - just scientifically involved and related to engineering/design/manufacturing etc... I don't know all the requirements for the project yet - but obviously, I'm VERY excited to get the wheels of brainstorming going.

<span style="font-weight: bold"> SO, that being said, I figured I'd give the 'Hide a try for ideas. </span> I was thinking about 'disguising' load development/long range ballistics/building a precision rifle/temperature and atmospheric variables/etc... into a solid "senior project".

My humble submission to this great group and this vast think tank of knowledge: <span style="font-weight: bold">What could I (and my group) do for our Senior Project in Mechanical Engineering that relates to Bolt Action Precision Rifles??</span>

Thanks for your patience. Bring on some good ideas! Please!!

 

[dlc356]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

Some kind of reactive/moving steel target might be interesting. Incorperating some of the movements from USPSA props like drop-turners, swinger, or pop up, etc...

 

[insight3b]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

Something about concentricity/run-out pertaining to the ejector pressure in a Remington 700

 

[kortik]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

Try to build super light scoped custom MN, say, under 6 lbs. total with the scope. After my 30+ of mechanical engineering + 18 custom MNs in various configurations I believe it's a real challenge. Will try it myself in 2013, but so far, I'm looking at 6.7 lbs. with shotgun scope and 17" barrel + effective muzzle brake. Not exactly sure how to get rid of that 0.7 lbs. yet. Should have skeletonized alum. or carbon fiber stock.

 

[swampbuck]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

A few things that I would like to have a definitive answer on

Does cryogenic treatment make barrels more accurate?

I heard about some MIT students that made a lubricant where every drop of ketchup came out of a bottle with no shaking. Bullet coatings might be cool but maybe more for chemical engineers.

I don't know that a new reactive target would impress your faculty too much but bullet catchers are becoming more mainstream. A new ricochet proof design might be good

A few years back there where a few designs for rifles with electric ignition. They did not succeed but the engineering behind it was good. An electric ignition has a shorter lock time than a spring therefore making more accuracy potential. Also a measured electrical charge may be more consistent than a primer?

 

[dlc356]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

Swampbuck has a good point. What I had pictured was one target doing all of those movements randomly...

 

[Bubb]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

What about the different types of actions round rem 700 vs badger flat.. See what
Type of torque difference and what is more accurate?? Or gas flow on muzzel brakes and what is the BEST type??? Baffle design on muzzel brakes and how they work ....I'd read any of those papers!!!!!

 

[E. Bryant]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

Ah, yes - senior projects. Lots of late nights, picking up the slack from lesser team members, and being led on wild goose chases by your advisor. In other words, a good introduction into the rest of your career

A few thoughts on possible projects for mechanical engineering students (keeping in mind that these are coming from the mind of an electrical engineer):

1) Design an experiment to determine the effect of different variables that would be present in the barrel/action fitment of a typical bolt gun - concentricity of the chamber to the bore, fit of the bolt lugs to the action lugs, squareness of the bolt face to the bore, fitment of the threads, etc. The trick here would be to design an experiment that allows you to vary the parameters of interest while fixing what is most likely the biggest variable (the barrel itself).

2) Design an action/barrel interface that does not depend upon the threads for alignment. If you look at other applications (such as internal combustion engines) that require tight tolerances for radial location of bolted joints, they will use solid (offset) or hollow (coaxial) dowel pins. Alternatively, you could explore thread forms that are better than the standard 60-degree UN at producing a joint with minimal radial displacement while being less sensitive to machining tolerances.

3) Determine the effects of barrel fluting on barrels of various manufacturing type (cut vs. button vs. hammer-forged). Maybe even explore the optimal machining process (tooling, feed rates, and depth of cut) to minimize stress relief while cutting the flutes.

4) Do some experiments with various coatings to determine the effect on bore life. Melonite/nitriding would be one obvious candidate, but I'm sure there are others.

5) Explore the effects on accuracy of stressing/straining the action to determine the influence of bedding. Bonus points here for looking at the geometry of the v-block in chassis systems to see if there are any possible improvements on what is commercially available (I believe that the AICS and Manners mini-chassis already employ somewhat different geometry, so perhaps this would be a good starting point).

 

[LRI]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">2) Design an action/barrel interface that does not depend upon the threads for alignment. If you look at other applications (such as internal combustion engines) that require tight tolerances for radial location of bolted joints, they will use solid (offset) or hollow (coaxial) dowel pins. Alternatively, you could explore thread forms that are better than the standard 60-degree UN at producing a joint with minimal radial displacement while being less sensitive to machining tolerances.</div></div>

Think CAT 40 spindle taper with a thread to pull it up tight. . .

 

[Al_Ski]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">1) Design an experiment to determine the effect of different variables that would be present in the barrel/action fitment of a typical bolt gun - concentricity of the chamber to the bore, fit of the bolt lugs to the action lugs, squareness of the bolt face to the bore, fitment of the threads, etc. The trick here would be to design an experiment that allows you to vary the parameters of interest while fixing what is most likely the biggest variable (the barrel itself). </div></div>

So... copy Vaughn's work?

 

[Clark]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

My youngest brother made a pistol for a jr high shop project.
He just had a picture to work from. He had no internals. He did not know about leaf springs. He designed the internals to use drum brake springs we had lying around the garage.

Here he is shooting it. He is not that slim any more.

You could work on springs. My father had a gas based spring like device to lift a 20 ton barrel. The equation for compression gas is PV = NRT if I remember high school. The equation of a spring is F = -kx if I remember college.

The energy stored in a spring is E = 1/2 kx squared if I remember college.

My father wanted to preload a recoil spring. He wanted to have as much energy stored in as small a volume as possible.
So he set the derivative of the energy equal to zero.
The answer a 50% pre load.

Or you can do control theory around springs. If the spring in a lawn mower governor is too long, the change is force with change in position is too small, and then there is too much gain in the loop, and the lawn mower oscillates. Ringgg tingg tingg Ringgg tingg tingg.
Then you can use imaginary numbers. Square root of minus one in the S plane.

There are control loops in the fire control [that means aiming, not triggering] of big guns. They look like elephants mating when a phase gain meter sweeps them.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Rifle Project Ideas Needed

A challenge, for either an individual or a group, either in whole or in part:

Design an action that requires no forging or machining. Ideally, it should be possible to construct it completely from sheet metal stampings.

Design an action that operates as a straight pull design, that can be adapted to operate as a straight pull bolt gun, a lever action, or a pump, or also allow gas operation as a semi. Ideally, the semi can be cycled either by pulling an oprod handle and/or cycling a pump forend.

The rifle should employ a sleeved, tensioned concentric barrel assembly that sheds heat in a distinctive manner, in the footsteps of the L-W Ultra-Lightweight Barrel.

The stock design should align the bore axis with the shoulder contact point, similar in principle to the AR rifle. If this permits a longer barrel in a shorter firearm overall length, ala a bullpup, so much the better; but if so, the typical bullpup/lousy trigger issue must be addressed successfully. Replacing a hammer design with a striker design, not completely unlike the Vz-58's design, might be desirable.

The overall design should accommodate optical sighting, with BUIS available instantly by canting the stock. I think the stock should incorporate active recoil dissipation measures, along with a longer eye relief for the sights. Real men shoot right handed...

I think there should be a flash hider, perhaps combined with a brake, with a 22mm OD, configured to handle 22mm NATO grenades with a flip-up grenade sight that automatically disengages any gas system feed, emulating the principle, if not the design, of the Yugo 59/66A1.

The action should accommodate a D/M, with AR-15 and M-14 mags being the preferred designs.

Parts not made of metal should be made of composites, and the overall design should not be dependent on custom bedding to achieve best accuracy.

20th Century USGI chamberings ideally, but I'd also like to see a .280 Rem chambering with a nice long 1:8" barrel as an option. I think that chambering has a real potential for LR precision.

I suspect that combining so many non-standard features is a huge leap of faith for any folks making research funding decisions, and is highly likely to constitute a handy excuse for erecting stumbling blocks. By the same token, it could also serve to identify those who might be seriously interested in genuinely advancing the cutting edge of modern rifle design.

I sincerely hope you rise to this challenge.

Greg