Sylvanite
Member
I had a customer request some pens made from back-to-back rifle shellcases. His requirements were:
This photo shows how I make my 7.62 NATO (and 308 Win) cartridge pens:
With a bullet seated to the correct overall length, the cartridge is too short to take a stock Cross-style refill. Many people overcome this hurdle by either
When I use a 30-06 cartridge for the lower barrel, the tube is soldered flush with the case head, as is the 308 upper barrel. There is a gap between the tube and the case mouth (at the finial end), which I typically fill with a piece of shrink tube (applied before soldering). I couldn't do that this time. The upper barrel tube has to be recessed.
So, I needed to solder at the case mouth instead. Solder won't fill the gap, though, so I had to come up with something else. I wound up using a slimline centerband. I reamed it out with a letter "E" reamer; soldered the centerband to a brass tube at the appropriate location; turned the centerband down to the correct diameter; soldered the tube to the case mouth; and then trimmed it to length. Now the upper and lower barrels will meet.
That then posed another problem:
When retracted, the refill sits nearly flush with the upper barrel case mouth. There's no room to press in the finial. I solved that issue by reverse-mounting the finial in a collet chuck and drilling a recess for the refill:
Now the parts all work together when assembled. The finished pens look like this:
And the customer is happy.
I hope that was instructive,
Eric
- both shellcases must be 7.62x51mm NATO caliber;
- the nosecone must be a real bullet; and
- no centerband.
- the bullet must be seated to SAAMI specs (in order to look real), and
- the Cross-style refill cannot be modified (so it can be replaced by the owner).
This photo shows how I make my 7.62 NATO (and 308 Win) cartridge pens:
With a bullet seated to the correct overall length, the cartridge is too short to take a stock Cross-style refill. Many people overcome this hurdle by either
- seating the bullet about 3/16" long, or
- shortening the refill.
When I use a 30-06 cartridge for the lower barrel, the tube is soldered flush with the case head, as is the 308 upper barrel. There is a gap between the tube and the case mouth (at the finial end), which I typically fill with a piece of shrink tube (applied before soldering). I couldn't do that this time. The upper barrel tube has to be recessed.
So, I needed to solder at the case mouth instead. Solder won't fill the gap, though, so I had to come up with something else. I wound up using a slimline centerband. I reamed it out with a letter "E" reamer; soldered the centerband to a brass tube at the appropriate location; turned the centerband down to the correct diameter; soldered the tube to the case mouth; and then trimmed it to length. Now the upper and lower barrels will meet.
That then posed another problem:
When retracted, the refill sits nearly flush with the upper barrel case mouth. There's no room to press in the finial. I solved that issue by reverse-mounting the finial in a collet chuck and drilling a recess for the refill:
Now the parts all work together when assembled. The finished pens look like this:
And the customer is happy.
I hope that was instructive,
Eric