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Old November 26, 2011, 04:34 PM   #151
Asgardnz
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Hi Bill

Just an update. I sent off my money to the auction house a few days ago for the harmonica rifle. The gun should arrive within the next couple of days. I'll then photograph it and go see Brian- the maker of it.
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Old November 29, 2011, 11:39 AM   #152
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My son tells me the rifle arrived yesterday. I'll photograph it today. There is one for sale on a local site www.trademe.co.nz search for "harmonica rifle". Price is over double what I paid at auction!
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Old December 2, 2011, 08:30 PM   #153
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I have the harmonica rifle now. I hope to see the maker on Monday. I have taken some photos of the action at work and figured out how to feed the magazine in.
The magazine appears to feed from the left. The crank handle has to be rotated 180 degrees to the front and the magazine pushed in from the left until it stops. The handle is the rotated 180 degrees clockwise to line up the first of it's six chambers. A 360 degree clockwise rotation of the handle then lines up the next chamber. The rotation of the handle cocks the action(what appears to be a hammer). The steel box section that holds the magazine moves forwards and back and pivots slightly sideways as the handle rotates. The box section draws the magazine up against the barrel to seal them together for firing. The box section also carries a floating firing. I will try and load some images tonight when I get home from work.
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Old December 12, 2011, 09:24 AM   #154
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Very interesting Asgardnz. Thanks for that operational description. Can't wait to see your pics of it.


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"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old January 1, 2012, 12:41 AM   #155
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Hi

Sorry about the delay. Christmas has been busy as I have been working right through and training staff.
I will try and post some photos in a couple of days of the harmonica rifle and a pistol also made by Brian Redwood. I don't have access at work to load up photos.

Just briefly. I managed to see Brian just before he headed away for Christmas. He told me he made twenty rifles for the TV series Greenstone. Ten were functioning and ten were not. He said it would have been easy enough to make them all work.
My gun is one of the firing ones and features an anodised aluminium receiver and solid brass magazine. He has given me an extra magazine and a punch for punching out the large pistol primers used in the magazine. mine has a non functional peep sight. The lead actors gun had a functional peep sight.

The magazine chambers are in .44 calibre, but the barrel is .45 as it was made out of heavy walled 7/16 tube. Not a problem for a blank firing movie gun. A friend of mine has had the gun at a local Mountain Man black powder shoot this last week to demonstrate it. I did note at Brians factory that the trigger is very sensitive and a good tap on the stock will make the gun fire! I'll need to check the sear engagement.

I will post up a series of photos showing the action working and some close ups. As the trigger guard lever is cranked, the magazine is cammed in and the whole magazine feed mechanism rocks and moves forward to seal the magazine against the barrel, so it is interesting to play with.

I also photographed a prototype single shot pistol that Brian made as an initial concept for the film job. It uses a chamber that pops out to the side as the trigger guard is rotated and the chamber can be unscrewed to load and replace the cap. I recorded a video of Brian firing a blank in this in his factory.
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Old January 4, 2012, 07:41 AM   #156
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Fantastic Asgardnz! Can't wait to see your pics.

I know you said your .44 cal harmonica block mag is solid brass but your barrel is just a fake tube. Which makes me wonder that since your brass harmonica block mag would work with real black powder loads, would it be possible to make the rifle an actual firing model if you just replaced the fake barrel with a real .44 cal barrel? Sure would be nice if you could then you'd have a real firing version.


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"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old January 11, 2012, 05:37 AM   #157
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Can't wait to see your pics Asgardnz.


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"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old February 10, 2012, 04:12 AM   #158
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Still waiting to see your pics Asgardnz.


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"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old February 13, 2012, 12:51 AM   #159
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Hi, Sorry about the delay. I have been preparing a court case against the government and this has taken all my spare time. I had the the court case last week. Yesterday I started organising the photo's and a short video I shot of the harmonica gun designer- Brian Redwood. Today I found out he died on the weekend in a boating accident. I will post some pics up now and try and sequence the shots of the action working over the next few days. I think Brian made one firing barrel. I will try and talk to his son a week or two after the funeral about getting the barrel. I hope he doesn't dump or sell it not knowing what it was. I am going to try and organise a gun show display and magazine article on Brian.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg DSCF3190.JPG (32.1 KB, 71 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3191.JPG (36.4 KB, 61 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3192.JPG (36.5 KB, 65 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 12:52 AM   #160
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Pics continued
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File Type: jpg DSCF3193.JPG (35.4 KB, 56 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3194.JPG (37.0 KB, 46 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3195.JPG (36.7 KB, 45 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 12:55 AM   #161
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Pics continued 2
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File Type: jpg DSCF3196.JPG (38.6 KB, 41 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3197.JPG (35.4 KB, 38 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3198.JPG (37.6 KB, 39 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 12:59 AM   #162
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Pics continued 3. These are pics from underneath showing the sequence action movement as the handle is rotating. Download them in sequence from the first post of them. They are numbered in the sequence I took them.
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File Type: jpg DSCF3199.JPG (136.1 KB, 41 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3200.JPG (43.5 KB, 33 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3201.JPG (38.0 KB, 38 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:04 AM   #163
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Here's a pic of Brian with my gun.
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:08 AM   #164
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Here is a pic of the pistol Brian first designed where the rotating trigger guard cams a removable chamber out of engagement with the barrel and rotates it to 45 degrees for removal or reloading.
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:12 AM   #165
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Here's some views of the mag.
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File Type: jpg DSCF3222net.jpg (20.5 KB, 35 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3223net.jpg (18.7 KB, 35 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:18 AM   #166
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Here are a couple of pics of the firing pin and hammer and a blurry overall shot of the gun.
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File Type: jpg DSCF3199cocked.jpg (25.1 KB, 36 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3200fired.jpg (43.5 KB, 36 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3228crop.jpg (24.8 KB, 36 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:22 AM   #167
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Here are a couple of shots of the barrel showing how the mag rides over the start of the barrel when ready to fire.
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File Type: jpg DSCF3214load.jpg (35.3 KB, 39 views)
File Type: jpg DSCF3216fire.jpg (33.1 KB, 38 views)
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Old February 13, 2012, 01:47 AM   #168
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Is there any way of uploading video? I have a highly compressed video of Brian firing the pistol.
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Old February 14, 2012, 02:10 AM   #169
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There's free registration for uploading video at www.Youtube.com which is a website that's totally dedicated to video. It's probably the largest website in the world for video hosting and watching.
Another free website that allows for uploading video is www.photobucket.com which is basically a photo host site that also hosts videos for posting.
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Old March 14, 2012, 07:35 PM   #170
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Great pictures Asgardnz. Best pictures of that gun so far that I've seen. Thanks very much for posting them. Sorry to hear that Brian was killed in the boating accident. Did you ever contact his son about that firing barrel? Would your rifle actually fire if it had a real barrel installed on it rather than the fake one it currently has? In your opinion, would the rest of the rifle's action take real actual firing if you changed the barrel to a real one?

Another place you can upload video at is Webshots.com




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__________________
"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old March 25, 2012, 10:33 PM   #171
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You still with us Asgardnz?



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"This is my Remy and this is my Colt. Remy loads easy and topstrap strong, Colt balances better and never feels wrong. A repro black powder revolver gun, they smoke and shoot lead and give me much fun. I can't figure out which one I like better, they're both fine revolvers that fit in my leather".
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target".
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Old March 27, 2012, 07:09 AM   #172
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I had no idea there was this much interest in this rifle.

I'm one of the engineers working at Redwood Engineering, i was one of Brians apprentices (Now qualified). I often quizzed Brian on his designs and ideas for firearms, being a very avid shooter myself.

I had no idea Brians designs had created as much interest as this however, especially internationally! I doubt he would've been surprised however.

The alloy actions were only really designed as quick-manufactured blank fire weapons. I would believe they could handle a light blackpowder load with a live barrel, but nothing more than a half standard charge weight.

The brass-receivers Brian made were designed to be fired. There are one or two floating around, they definitely are rare.
The design of the rifle itself is remarkably simple, yet extra-ordinarily ingenious. I had the distinct pleasure of firing the one real example Brian had complete in his gun room before his passing, and it was a true darling to shoot. In fact, Brian had often commented on wanting to shoot it more, but the only problem he could come up with on the rifle was that under live loads there was the potential (It had happened two or three times to him) when firing, one of the non-chambered loads could jolt out of the magazine.

The spare live-firing barrel he has is sadly now in the posession of the family Trust, along with the rest of his guns. There wont be much news about it until the legal wrangling has died down.

I may be able to dig up some of Brians original drawings however, and am willing to assist in any way i can with any of Brians designs. Sadly, his son shows no inclination to follow his father in terms of gunsmithing, so preserving what few rifles and pistols still exist is the only real way to commemorate the true genius that Brian had for firearms design.
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Old March 29, 2012, 11:45 PM   #173
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Well I might as well throw in my two cents worth!

First off, I don't think the use of black powder would gum it up to the point it would not work. Was the Welby BP? Can't remember. You would prob have to clean it between 'reloads' oh well.

I would make it so that the barrel and chambers would recoil on a bottom slide, that way there would be enough mass for stiff loads. And that way the chambers would not have to move relative to the barrel except sideways.

I don't see why the barrel to chamber gap would be such a problem, it isn't on revolvers.

As far as if it should be in this thread, sure why not it is BP and he was talking about loading the chambers from the front, right?

Also I would note that Colt made a very large caliber like .50 if I remember correctly revolver rifle. That might be a more compact easier to carry design for such a gun, and with a top strap as the Colt design of that gun had a cylinder could be changed out faster or as fast as the horizontal harmonica chambers array.

Practical? Who cares. Fun? You bet.

But on that note, my 58 carbine is VERY practical in the underbrush for hogs, just as good as any modern gun would be, except you really only have one shot. But OTOH that is all you need if you do your job. And it is very cheap to shoot, and a lot of FUN.

Also I think the case could be made that IF we cannot get ammo anymore someday (soon?) then BP could do good duty as hunting arms at any rate to save what we have for more serious use.

I personally would like to fool around with a paper cartridge sharps rifle, they could be loaded as a muzzle loader, loose powder breech loader, paper cartridge gun, or metallic cartridge gun! With a bit of a mod, it could also be fired as a flintlock. Fascinating. And it was powerful and accurate. -Ken
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Old March 14, 2013, 07:55 PM   #174
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Cap & ball full auto rifle

Anyone ever hear of a early cap & ball rifle called a "Mershon and Hollingsworth revolving cylinder automatic rifle"? Supposedly had the capability of either single chamber firing, or fully automatic emptying of a cylinder. I'd like to know if the cylinders could be swapped as easily as a '58 Remmy (if so, found my summer project).
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Old March 15, 2013, 07:14 PM   #175
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Dunno bout a rifle but they made a prototype self cocking revolver using a frame of their making and the rest of it is an 1860 Colt.

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