Machining Rodney Storie Action Casting Kits

I just bought a set of castings, 8620 steel, for a falling block action. I would like to get your inputs on how to set up the receiver casting for machining.

My thought was to establish the two sides flat and paralel and then square up the front so I can bore the barrel hole and thread it. the mortice would then be set up off of the sides and the front.

Whatcha think???

How out of square is it to begin with?

I am in final stages of a Rodney Storie High Wall casting set. It was cast using an action as a pattern and the mortise was fairly well finished.

I filed and stoned the mortise first to get it square and straight. I made up a dummy breech block to check fit. I then referenced the barrel and other surfaces off the mortise.

When did you buy the castings? There have been several mentions on other sites concerning the difficulty of contacting Frontier Armory.

Storie casting set

I bought the set of castings from a man who had them for several years and never used them.
Mine is for a Farrow 1887. the mortice looks pretty good and the block casting goes in abut 2/3 of the way. I think that after I square up the mortice I will have to make a new breech block to get the fit I want. That isn't going to be a problem as I want to put the trigger in the brech block with the hammer to keep things simple, similar to some of the custom built Farrows I have seen.

What is the current wxperience with Storie casting as far as quality and availability?

action kits

I bought several kits from a man who never put them together. He bought them when Storie had Bison Arms. Some kits are pretty good while others are pretty rough. Some parts would have to be thrown away & remade. As much time as it takes to assemble these actions, a man would be better off machining them from scratch. I would recommend some of the DeHaas books for pictures helpfull in assembly. I set up the action to surface grind the out sides square with the barrel shank hole. The mortice's I slick up with a fine file & stones. Then I fit the block to it. Saw an outfit at the Wanenmakers show in Tulsa called Frontier Armory, but haven't found out an imfo on them. They had some actions on "display" & were taking orders.

Setup for HighWall castings

If your casting or castings have a rough barrel hole and a rough mortise then these have to be your reference points. The mortise has about a 5 degree tilt forward from the barrel hole long axis. The side walls of the mortise, front to rear, are parallel to the long axis of the barrel. These walls also form the top to bottom axis. Everything else comes off of these. If you start with the outside and it is not parallel to the mortise then you will have problems later on with the function of the action.
The best starting point is to set up the casting with the barrel hole up and bore or float ream the hole to the minor dia. of the threads to be used for the barrel. Keeping this hole square and parallel to the mortise for best finish cleanup. Now make a plug that fits this hole snug but not tight, you will be putting it in and out from time to time. Make the plug at least 6" longer then the barrel ring so you have at least a 6" of surface to indicate on for later ops.
Once these surfaces are where they should be have fun and go at it.
The movement of the action is best worked out with a test block. Put all cross pin and screw holes in where they should be, in relationship to each other, don't worry about the barrel or outside contours, make it flat and square. Make all of the internal parts out of something that is easy to machine, like plastic or such. Now you can test all of your moving parts and their final sizes before you make the finished ones. If you have to move holes, it is better to do it in the test block then in the casting.
Remeber that anything more then a .0005 press fit is harmful. Normal press fit holes are only .00025 on the dia. under the nominal size, nothing is gained by a tighter fit and some things are lost. And only press fit one side of the casting, making sure that this side is the same side for all holes. It is normally the right side. The other side is a tight slip fit.
There are some castings and other parts of sale on Gun Broker this week 12/17/08 under 1885 High Wall Castings.