Thread: Another .45acp Delisle Comando Carbine completed.

Good on you, fantastic job and work of art.
Question. I believe that the originals had trouble ejecting spent 45 ACP cases.
I converted a 223 into 9mm Luger and immediately found the spent cases were happy to draw out of the chamber, but because they're so short that once clear of the chamber they tipped sideways and fell off the end of the bolt.
Had to do some imaginative carving of the receiver to get them to eject cleanly.
Is that what troubled the Delisle ?

Not exactly, while trying to chamber and eject any pistol round in a long action rifle has simalar challenges the delisle was it's own monster.
Many early problems were feeding from the 1911 mag. The delisle uses the origional smle mag catch and ithe 1911 mag angle is set by the angle on the front of the trigger guard so is not ideal. When the mag is topped off with 7 rounds the first 2 out are under a lot of spring tension and had a habit of dropping their nose into the mag creating a fail to feed. The new fabricated magwell has a built in feed ramp and makes the best of a crap selection of donor mag.
The next bad choice of scrap parts to build them from was the .308 extractor, they due to the counter bored bolt face, the .308 extractor didnt hold onto the .45acp brass tight enough to eject with any authority when slapped against the new spring steel side ejector the protrudes into the bolt face to snap the brass free of the sloppy extractor hold. Often the brass dropped out of the extractor before getting to the ejector due to the vertical pressure of passing over the next round popping up as the mag as the bolt clears it.

To fix these shortfalls I have refined the mag angle, hight and feed ramp shape of the mag housing and make a custom extractor that works as a controled feed system on the way in and holds the spent case tightly in the recessed bolt face until it strikes the spring steel ejector on the way out.

A nice aged finish that looks good. I made a Sterling folding stock copy of that same one-off model in 1998. I believe the original owner still has it. I am working on a small batch of standard models at present to try and catch up on back orders. Life is just too short!

God, that prototype paratrooper carbine would kick like something that kicks really really really hard, I'll be bound!

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

God, that prototype paratrooper carbine would kick like something that kicks really really really hard, I'll be bound!

It's a. 45acp pistol round with a big suppressor.. it kicks like a .22lr

Took this one out for its first few shots down the tube and it didn't disappoint.

Where do I place my order

that woodwork is next level..you have excelled yourself AGAIN.

Hey mate,

I've got a project Delisle that I'm slowly chipping away at, but was wondering if you would be able to give some advice? Specifically on barrel and bolt.

What is the length for the bolt? And what was your method for shortening it? Currently I am looking at cutting a section out and rewelding the end (with the threads) back on to avoid needing to recut the threads.

For the barrel, do you make them yourself or do you get them made for you?

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Viridance

Hey mate,

I've got a project Delisle that I'm slowly chipping away at, but was wondering if you would be able to give some advice? Specifically on barrel and bolt.

What is the length for the bolt? And what was your method for shortening it? Currently I am looking at cutting a section out and rewelding the end (with the threads) back on to avoid needing to recut the threads.

For the barrel, do you make them yourself or do you get them made for you?

Cheers.

I use Lothar Walther and Vulcan s/s 1-16" barrel blanks.
I have made a set of jigs for cutting, turning and threading the bolt and counterboring the action for the barrel.
The bolt needs to be annealed to a softer machinable state to bore out for the shorter striker pin and re thread. I have made a tap to cut the special enfield thead pitch and dia threads needed. The bolt head then gets re timed, bolt face bored for the .45acp head size and then all rehardened and then tempered.
Bolt length and barrel set back distance is critical to get it to feed from the mag correctly.

The machining of the barrel is equally challenging and important for function. Making the spring steel extractor and ejector will test your patence for sure.
I certainly would never weld a bolt! You would have to weld very close to the locking lugs which opens another can of worms. You still wouldn't be able to drill the counter bore through it for the firing pin travel either as they are too hard. The firing pin also needs to be shortend and rethreaded but you can rethread that to 1/4"x28tpi and use a later No4 mk1 cocking piece as they use UN threads not the old enfield threads of the No1s.

They are a very challenging and labour intensive build with many quirks in the fine details.
That's about as far as my advice extends on this subject sorry.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

that woodwork is next level..you have excelled yourself AGAIN.

Thanks mate,
It can be quite the challenge to match up colour and grain of the butt and mid wood which are often from different donor rifles and then even more so going through all of my walnut panks and slabs to find a bit to match for the newly made fore wood.
I know the originals made in ww2 would have been just thrown together of what ever scrap parts they had on hand but I like to offer a higher grade finish as an option.
Whether the customer wants a new look, an old patina war torn look or anything in between I try to match it up as best as I can. Some are more challenging than others..

Hey Wingman, these look amazing, great workmanship! Can you please message me with a price on one of these please?
Thanks

Originally Posted by k300

Hey Wingman, these look amazing, great workmanship! Can you please message me with a price on one of these please?
Thanks

Your new account only has 2 posts so you can't send or recieve p/ms

Hi Wingman, thanks for your reply. I'm trying to re-instate my old login/profile but have so far been unsuccessful, so started again. (because I know a few guys on here from Auckland Service Rifle. I did flick you an email a couple of days ago though. It would be great to get an idea on your prices. Cheers

I haven't recieved any email in this regard sorry