I made a makeshift lathe then altered a barrel for 25 LBT

I have had my Condor setting in the closet for a couple of months now. It had been used to test the 25 LBT cast bullets and when I got a used barrel from Tagdagger, I cut the lead off the Condor barrel so I could use Kings again.

I then cut the choke off the barrel Tagdagger sent me cut a lead for the LBT bullets and put it in a Talon frame and it shot great, was short and handy so the Condor just stayed in the closet.

That little Talon became the first successful 25 LBT, it shoots better than anything that shoots Diablo pellets out past 150 yards.

The Condor also had the side screws for the bushings stripped out so I just did not use it at all.

Then I went on the Royale 400 and 500 craze and forgot about the Condor.

So today I went after it. First I drilled out and retapped the side bushing holes for 1/4-28. Then I altered two 1/4-28 3/8ths inch set screws to have a .185 shank to fit in the bushings by turning them down using a drillmotor to turn them and a Dremel to grind them while they spun.

Then I started on the barrel, I wanted to cut the choke off and recrown it, then lengthen the breech area because it was just at the point of not having enough breech portion on the barrel to allow the breech/hammer assembly to reach the sear. I also wanted to recut a lead for the 25 LBT bullet.

But I needed a lathe first.

So I put a piece of plywood, 6 inches by 12 inches into a vice, drilled a .70 hole in it for the barrel to go thru, chucked the breech part of the barrel in a Dewalt drill and I had my lathe.

By turning the barrel with the drill and supporting it in the plywood, I was able to use a grinder bit on my dremel to turn a 1/2 inch section of the barrel down to the same diameter of the breech, which allows the breech to push the hammer far enough to cock the hammer.

Then I cut a inch off the muzzle end of the barrel by turning it and cutting on a line I scribed with a pipe cutter with a Dremel cut off wheel.

Then I turned the barrel and holding a knife to the muzzle opening, then a grinding bit and then a craytex polishing bit, I made the crown.

Next I slowly opened the lead roughly with a small grinding bit I had shaped, then I finished it up with a craytex bit I had profiled, testing it with LBT bullets until I had a very tight fitting lead.

I put the rifle back together with a Airarcher hammer and hammer spring and a custom rear bushing to replace the power wheel and rear bushing. I used all stock valve parts. I set the tophat at .12, put the little 2×7 Burris on it and went out to the 58 Mercedes range.

Altering anything on a gun all comes down to what it does on paper and acrossed the Chrony.

It shoots 112 FPE without any custom valve parts and consistantly groups .6 to .7 for 5 shot groups at 40 yards without the flyers I got with the choked barrel.

Now I will see if Tagdagger has any valve parts left over, and also get a valve stem from RL and It will be shooting around 130 FPE.

Hillbilly gunsmithing at its finest.

My two 25 LBT rifles, The bullets cost me $2.10 for 125 and the air is free.

Regards,

Roachcreek