Gun replicas

vilts

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Hello,

I've question about gun replicas, replicas in the sense that they're not even real guns, that shoot only blanks or maybe BB guns. Sites like http://www.9mmblankgun.com sell these. Do you know of which metals are they made of and can they be engraved?

I'd like to give a try on gun engraving, but buying a real one just for trying is too expensive, but I could survive $100 bucks or so.

Viljo
 

Don Cowles

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Viljo, I would expect these guns to be made of die-cast pot metal (zinc), rather than steel. They are probably engraveable, but would likely have no more value than a practice plate as a finished work.
 

sword

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Viljo,
I don't know the gun laws where you are from but you might want to check into black powder guns . The replicas are usally pot metal or plated plastic wher the black powder guns are of a good quality steel/brass.
the price for black powder pistols start at about $100.00 US for a small single shot and a cap and ball revolver will start around $150.00 There are also very inexpensive used ( 1st and 2nd world war) bolt action rifles and semi auto pistols starting as low as $30.00 us, these usally take some work , but again I do not know about the availabilty in your country.
Good Luck,
Tom
 

Weldon47

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Viljo,

Rather than trying a pot-metal replica I would recommend that you look at a quality knife instead. I know you will make every effort to do your best work on whatever you choose to apply your talent & skill to. A nicely done knife would serve well as a display piece for as long as you choose to keep it. When & if you sell it you will reap the benefit of having added your efforts to a quality piece. I would worry that it would not be so with a replica of a gun.
Just my 2 cents worth,

Weldon

Oops, I didn't see the post showing your work on your dad's knife, my mistake, please forgive! I see you already know about quality knives! Keep chipping!!
 
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monk

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all the above advice is good, but a replica gun can't be loaded with anything or be made to fire. go with a black powder gun or a nice knife.
 

FL-Flinter

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I can't help you on the engraving part (and I've got pictures to prove it) but I can help you on the gun part.

As others already stated, most of the "non-firing" replica's are made with pot metal castings and they are complete crap. Those that are made of ferrous metal or have ferrous metal parts, this is usually cast crap, not quite steel and not quite cast iron. It's the crud that they can't use for anything else and is the same thing counter weights for heavy equipment is made out of and you never know what you may find in it.

Now, there are "working" or "firing" replica's, these are generally the muzzle loaders and cap & ball revolvers. While some of the higher end guns are half decent, others are absolutely dangerous junk. I've come across ML's made in India and Pakistan that have very poorly fitted breech plugs that are only soldered in with a poor quality solder job at that. These are made from whatever alloy's they have available so you never know what you're going to get. To that off with the extremely low quality and you're setting yourself up for major problems.
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Vilts

I have a suggestion for you if you are keen to try real gun parts.

I'm not sure how it works and what laws you have in your country. Try getting hold of an old second hand shotgun. It dosn't matter if the barel and stock are no good as what you are looking for is a good action to the gun.

I've posted an old shotgun action below to show you what I mean. It's an old hammer gun that I picked up for about $20 or less. The stock and barrells are in the rubbish but the action made an excellent practice plate to engrave on.

hope this helps

Cheers
Andrew

 

vilts

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Andrew, that's one good-looking 'practice plate'!

It seems that replicas are out of question then, thanks for the info!

I'm sorry to be ignorant, but what is the difference between black powder gun and, um, a regular one?

I have to look into our laws and find out what they say about black powder guns, but I suspect I need a license for any kind of firearm, including black powder one (our laws are quite strict about guns). And probably buying old second-hand gun is also out of question because of that.

I want to give a try on gun engraving in the future, because if I'm going to offer this service to people then I'd like to show them something that I'm capable of.

But as of now I've got loads of practice ahead - just now finishing one knife and I've 2 more knives (my dad is unstoppable...) and one or two swords waiting to be engraved ;)

Thanks again for the info and you'll definitely hear from me if I finish something.

Viljo
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Vilts

A very good idea.............check the law first!!! You don't want to get into any legal trouble.

OK......The difference between black powder guns and regular /modern guns.

The first thing is that black powder guns are like the old muzzle loading guns where you poured black powder down the barrell, then pushed the ball down. They were either flintlock or percussion guns. Shotguns, rifles and pistols were all made that way.

The modern guns are the cartridge guns that we see today with bolt actions etc. There were also black powder cartridge guns in other words they took a brass cartridge but the powder used in them was black powder. Modern guns take nitro powder which is a lot more powerful.

Many manufactures and custom gun makers still make black powder guns today that are great fun and deadly to shoot. Names like Pedersoli and Uberti are two Italian manufactures that make black powder guns today.

That's a really simple explanation of it all.


Cheers
Andrew
 

vilts

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OK, now I got it. I just didn't know that this type of gun was called black powder gun, in my language it's called something like 'front loaded gun'. I've never shot one myself, but I've some experience with modern guns, thanks to army.

Thanks again!
 

FL-Flinter

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Absolutely check the laws and always get answers in writing from the authorities because you can't use spoken statements to defend youself if the need should arise. Every country is different but in some cases, guns built prior to a certain year may be considered legal to own/purchase without any conditions being attached. In this case it does not matter if it was built to use "black powder" or "nitro powder" (smokeless power).

"Front loading" is another term for "muzzle loading", they mean the same thing.

Something to note, if you go with a flintlock or percussion, the hardness of the lock plate can vary greatly by manufacturer and sometime from gun to gun. Some will not be too hard while others are extremely hard. Comparing cost and quality, I would suggest looking at Spanish made guns. I have owned several Spanish & Italian guns over the years, guns coming from the small not well known manufacturers in both countries are generally of considerably higher quality than those coming from the high-volume well known manufacturers. The big manufacturers are interested only in pushing product out the door and quality suffers.
 

djfamine

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Something else you might consider, depending again on the legal considerations, would be getting individual parts for the gun you are interested in working on. In the US, there is only 1 part of a cartridge firearm that is regulated, and that is the frame or receiver. So, depending on the type of gun you are interested in, you could get a slide for a modern gun and work on that, or perhaps a back strap and grip frame (for old fashion revolvers) to work on.

Just my 2 cents.
 

Dmitry Martinov

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vilts the better way to find out about the law is to visit any gun shop in town. Those guys usually knows also a lot how to get some part of guns which possible to get without any permition from police.
 

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