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Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 23 Jan 2016 21:06
by mountaintracker
Hey Folks,

This is sort of my first post, but I wanted to share this. I decided to work on my ranch hand and add the old school plunger magazine system. That way there are both multiple ways to load and also remove ammo. So in a nut shell here is what I did. I started by purchasing a Henry Big Boy plunger for 44/45. From that you can get the knurled twist, spring, and plunger. Next I replaced the stock mag tube with a new metal tube at 0.625" x 0.028" x 0.569", cut down to allow for the knurled knob to still be less than the barrel. On the barrel there is a notch for the barrel/mag strap cut into the barrel. The new mag tube length goes to this notch as the strap will be relocated to behind the front sight. So the next step was to grind in new notches for the strap to be behind the front sight on the barrel. Then to grind corresponding notches in the new mag tube. Using the knurled knob as a template, I then ground a 'L' notch in the tube so the future plunger can be pushed and twisted to secure. The brass plunger took a bit of work too. I used a brass tube from K&S engineering with the specs, 9/16" x 0.014". This brass tube slides almost flawlessly up and down the existing mag tube size. To keep the plunger from falling out of the brass tube, I used one of those pipe cutters that bends the edge of the pipe over a bit as you cut the tube. Then assemble plunger, spring, and knurled knob in the brass tube cut to a length just a hair under the new mag tube size. The knob is held on by a hole and set pin that is pushed through that hole. So the end result is below. Granted I still need to blue the new mag tube a bit and sand down the brass tube a bit to let it spin a bit more freely. Loading on both sides though seems unaffected. But now I have the ability to quick load through the top or quickly dump ammo. Silly, yes, but why not?!?!? :)

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Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 23 Jan 2016 21:33
by HarryAlonzo
Not silly. Extremely cool.

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 24 Jan 2016 03:17
by NavyDoc76-80
I like it!

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 24 Jan 2016 04:22
by Deleted User 2826
Very respectfully,
Buck

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 24 Jan 2016 09:18
by Ranch Dog
Outstanding work and thank you for taking the time to document it!

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 24 Jan 2016 11:47
by Deleted User 2826
Very respectfully,
Buck

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 24 Jan 2016 13:51
by Archer
Lot of work there. I applaud the effort and it looks cleanly done.
Looking at my Henrys and what you have done, at the knurled knob tab, I may put a little extra upward cut toward the muzzle so that the plunger assembly won't work out from recoil or when there is loosened pressure from rounds leaving the tube from feeding into the chamber or being completely out.
I noticed it doesn't look like the stud on the mag tube is captured or trapped by a notch as well.
I think this may almost be a requirement in the end to prevent recoil and handling from walking the stud back out to the open cut. All the removable tube plunger guns I've dealt with in the past have had this feature down to the .22 rimfire level. They usually seem to require you to insert the tube to slightly compress the O-ring to get it into the notch.

Looking forward to range reports.

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 26 Jan 2016 12:09
by mountaintracker
I put 50 rounds through it, about all I can afford, geez I've got to get reloading again. Anyways, I had absolutely no problems with anything coming loose. I was pretty careful to have the tolerances pretty tight all around. To my defense, the recoil on a 45 lc is not that much in the RH. So you may need to add some things to get it to work well in the 44 mag. Cycling was flawless. I added a small steel pin to the knurled grip just so that I have a bit more leverage to untwist the mag tube. Tolerance probably too conservatively tight. But she cycled just fine and there have been absolutely no problems. About the only hangup is loading rounds through the side port. Once in a while a round gets just slighly hung up being pushed in. I think it is probably due to using the pipe cutter to round at the tip, keeping the plunger in. The way Henry does it is to compress a bead ring about a cm up from the opening, and then flare the actual opening. This is probably possible with the existing tools I have, just will take more work to do. But honestly the feed issue was only slight. A few extra ms on loading at most. I'm getting picky at this point. So far so good though. I worked to get everything pretty tight, since there is no stud now. But this may not hold up to stouter recoil. With the 45, however, good to go so far.

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 27 Jan 2016 09:24
by Deleted User 2826
Darn nice job!

Can this be stickyed?

Very respectfully,
Buck

Re: Removable mag tube plunger

Posted: 27 Jan 2016 13:55
by Deleted User 2826
Very respectfully,
Buck