Sharps Borchardt Action

[Harry Eales]

Hello Tom and Dave,
There's no real problem until you come to put a barrel on it, only then does it become a 'lethal barrelled weapon' that requires a firearms certificate. Oddly an original Borchardt in any calibre other than 45/70 can be held without a FAC as long as it is not fired, if you want to use it, then you will require an FAC. In recent years many of the older single shot rifles, especially those for which commercially made ammo is no longer made or available can be held as an antique or curio as long as they are not fired. HM Government's Home Office list older weapons (calibres) that can be held without a FAC. Previously many antiques were bored out and rechambered to a shotgun calibre, but that hammered their value as collectors items. This change in the law at last stopped antique weapons being ruined and essentially made valueless.

Tom, EDM wire cutting machines are miraculous creations. Their accuracy is nothing short of phenominal, tolerances can easily be held to 0.001" or less. Sadly they are very expensive and few individuals can shell out the cash required to purchase one for a home workshop. Even having work carried out by an engineering shop can be very expensive, it's a very, very slow process indeed. That's the major drawback with this type of machine, fortunately I know an EDM machine operator.

Harry

[MG-42]

Harry, I love the work that you are doing. My wife and I were just in England a couple of weeks ago and had a terrific time. I have an old Borchardt that was found in an attic and given to me. It has or I should say had a rust problem. Rust is off now but the action is still frozen. I too am looking forward to a similar project. Best of luck.

[Harry Eales]

Hello MG-42, your a very lucky man indeed having that happen. Even a poor action will bring upwards of $1,000.00. Your frozen action could be due to several things, actual rust inside, broken cocking plates etc. I'd suggest you strip off all the woodwork and dunk the whole action in a penetrating oil and leave immersed for a few days. Then try dropping the lever down and see it there is any movement. If not, soak it some more. Alternatively you could put the action in an ultrasonic cleaning tank, in just a couple of seconds you won't see the action for the cloud of dirt and rust that billows out of it. Many large towns have someone who can do this cleaning for you and it is fairly inexpensive. Always take your time and remember the breechblock is dropped to remove the link screw and then the block is pushed out of the top of the frame. A friend of mine who repairs Borchardts says he has lost count of the damaged breechblocks he has seen where the owner has pounded on the top of the block with a hammer in order to push it out of the bottom of the frame. Very few Borchardts were case hardened, and none of the military rifles were so be careful with it, the metal can be easily 'dinged'.

Glad you enjoyed your visit, it's a beautiful country when the weather is good, sadly this year has been the worst in living memory for a lack of sunshine and the wettest since records began in the early 1800's.

If you need any more advice or have questions on Borchardt Rifles don't hesitate to ask. I'd be interested to know what model it is and the calibre, a picture or two would also be nice.

Regards,

Harry

[MG-42]

The action is frozen in the open position. I have been socking in transmission fluid for months and still no movement. All the wood work was missing already.
I will try and post pictures and we can go from there. When I get it apart my plan was to use it as a pattern to make a new one. Thanks Chuck.

[Harry Eales]

Hello Chuck,

Hmmm, frozen in the open position presents more problems than if it was in the closed position. I'd suggest tapping out the trigger pin and remove the trigger and safety catch, remembering there in a small coil spring and plunger under the rear end of the safety which will fly off to never, never land (meaning you will never, never find it.) if your not carefull. You can test some parts to see if they are loose. e.g. If the lever pin and locking screw aren't frozen in place, adjust the locking screw so the lever pin can be pushed or tapped out. Once that is done the lever should be capable of some movement, but it is still attached to the breechblock by a swivel link and screw. Remove the lever spring that is attached to the underside of the barrel, that may well increase some movement. Look at the lefthand side of the breechblock, the link pin should just be visible. If not, then it's another problem to solve, as the breechblock is not fully down so the link screw can be removed. With the lever free and removed I would seriously suggest the Ultrasonic Tank cleaning process, this will remove a lot of dirt, rust and corrosion and vibrate it free of the action.

I trust you have a set of the action stripping instructions? If not, they can be found in Frank DeHaas's book Single Shot Rifles and Actions, there may be a copy in your local library. There is only one way to take apart and put a Borchardt together, you can't do it by removing all the screws and pins and giving it a good shake.

Try the above first and get back to me and let me know how you get on.

Finally before you start any dismantling work obtain a plastic box with a sealable lid large enough to keep all the parts in. Keep the lid on at all times, otherwise, sooner or later you, or one of your family will knock it on the floor and you will loose bits and pieces. Don't ask how I know.

Harry

[TOM REED]

Vert nice work and well photographed. I would be really interested in the plans for the action if you either have them available or can tell me where to find them, tom

[Harry Eales]

Hello Tom Reed,

It took me a very long time to find a set of plans and I eventually found a chap in the USA who had a set that were drawn up to go with a castings kit of parts. That company is no longer in business. As I said in an earlier post there were a lot of dimensional errors and a few missing dimensions as well. However, a fullset of plans that I understand have been ammended and corrected are available from the Buffalo Arms Co in the USA. They have a website and sell just about everything you could wish for if you are a Black Powder Shooter. Dave Gullo the owner, is an international Long Range black powder rifle shooter. He also has/had, sets of plans for Browning Hi-Wall, Remington Rolling Block, Rem. Heppburn and a few others. I believe the price is in the region of $90.00 per set, but I haven't been on his site for a while. These drawings are full size engineering drawings

The ASSRA Archivist sells sets of A4 size plans for the same rifles, but not the Borchardt. You would have to get a copy shop to enlarge them for you but at $10.00 a set they are cheap to buy. I have seen several of them and they are really good. Google ASSRA and go to the Home Page and look up the archivist's contact details. For anyone interested in single shot rifles, the ASSRA Forum is a mine of information. Oh yes. ASSRA = American Single Shot Rifle Association. Bolt Actions, Semi-Auto's and Black Rifles please go elsewhere. This association is purely for single shot rifles designed and made between the end of your Civil War and WW1 or identical replicas of the same. I hope this info helps.

Regards,

Harry

[TomG]

Western Sky Publishing also sells a number of very nice drawing sets, but not the Borchardt. I have their Winchester 1885 and Remington Rolling Block drawings.

Tom

[MG-42]

Thanks for the info. This coming weekend I will try and get it apart. Thanks again.

[DaveH]

(08-13-2012, 08:51 AM)MG-42 Wrote: Thanks for the info. This coming weekend I will try and get it apart. Thanks again.

Hi MG,
Don't forget your camera
A couple of photo's would be very nice - Thanks

DaveH