German "Moeller" Martini -- Making a New Toggle/Action Part (part 1)

[Old No7]

Greetings all. I'd first posted about a new-to-me "M. Moeller" Martini from Zella-Mehlis Germany in a few posts down below... Thanks again to those who helped me ID the maker from the proof marks.

Here are the major parts of my Martini, along with the no-good toggle that was in it when I bought it:



I covered the left side of the receiver with tape and mounted the tilting block and lever parts on the outside, which allowed me to better visualize what was happening inside the action:



I'd also posted on a rimfire Martini forum looking for some animation of a Martini action, and while the triggers of the British design are placed differently than on my German gun, this Martini Action Animation (click for link) was also helpful.

At the bottom of next image, at the far left you see the original aluminum part -- which didn't work -- followed by 6 iterations of hard plastic parts that I made to check dimensions and fit. Note I copied the first part twice, before I obtained the background image and that changed my whole approach to making a plastic proof part. The last 2 plastic parts on the right side worked, with the one on the right working the best, so I used that as a guide and made the last part on the right from aluminum.



That new aluminum toggle (colored black with a Sharpie to see where it was rubbing other parts) took over 2 hours to make, 4 times longer than the plastic ones, as I had to hand cut and file it to final shape. The small jig saw I'd used for the hard plastic was no help on the aluminum. But still, using the hard plastic for making several "proof parts" did get me to where this Martini is now functioning!!!

Next steps in part 2, coming soon...
I'll enlist the services of my brother-in-law's machine shop to mill a new STEEL toggle, thus replacing the plastic and aluminum proof parts -- and getting me that much closer to finally pulling the trigger on this old Martini.

Edited to add:
My BIL passed away suddenly soon after the above was written, but I paid a gunsmith to make a steel toggle and install it into the Martini. It now fires and functions well.

Old No7

[mike ford]

Old no.7,
Well done, you didn't quit in the face of adversity. I'm proud of your effort and the way you documented it. Your process may help someone else with a problem.
Mike

[mike ford]

Old No 7,
First of all, let me say I am really sorry for your family's loss.
I've known a lot of gunsmiths in my life, and each one of them did something better than anyone else. My late friend and neighbor Barney( I called him Bernie because his wife did) Quarterman was the best I ever knew at taking a piece of "junk" and making the parts necessary to make a gun out of it. He worked for every pawn shop in town. Since he lived across the street from me, I very often watched him work. He was retired from the railroad and generally made the parts from a railroad spring( flat spring), hacksawed from the material while holding it with a pair of "Vise Grips" on his lap. He held the parts the same way while filing, grinding, stoning, and polishing to shape. He had a small 3" grinder with a cloth "buff" on the off side, a bench type drill press, normal and jeweler's hacksaws, chisels, files, stones, etc., as well as micrometer, squares, scribes, and centerpunches. I did not know, until I cleaned out his shop, that he even had a(n) (unused) bench vise. With these sparse tools, but experience and understanding, he could make virtually any gun shoot. I have been impressed by your efforts at mocking up the part you need, and there is no doubt you can make the final part to repair your rifle. If you encounter a problem, I'm sure someone here will help you.
Mike

[Peter K]

Old #7, Thank you for you informative post. I also have limited tools in my shop so I make do with what I have. Here is how I would tackle this. First select a piece of steel large enough to fit the pattern. If the thickness needs to be adjusted a belt sander could be employed. (If holding the piece of steel becomes a problem one could temporarily epoxy a bolt to one side as a handle. It can later be removed with heat. Or router a shallow pocket into a board the shape of the metal and stick it on with double sided tape.)
Then drill the hole. Using the hole to centre your pattern scribe the pattern to the metal. Then grind the metal away with a small angle grinder almost to the edge of the pattern. Finish off with files and emery cloth.
Making the pattern was the difficult part of this restoration.
Peter

[otto nebel]

Jack,
Congratulations. You have the had part done. With your working aluminum part, it is relatively simple to make the steel one. Depending on the tools available, you may need to combine the suggestions above but it isn't as hard to do as it may seem. I didn't use the fixture in your first photo to make the part but did make use of the fitted screw to hold the part. The steps that I used to fabricate the part once I had a test part that worked are as follows.
Step-1. Select a piece of steel that can be hardened (case or through). Ideally, a piece of O-1 tool steel of the proper thickness is perfect and will save a lot of work. You will want to know what steel you have for the hardening process later. If not a standard thickness, grind, mill, file or sand to thickness.
Step-2. Drill screw hole. Mine was 5/16", which made it easy but you action will give you the dimension. Drill and tap an undersized block to hold the parts for grinding / filing.
Step-3. Dykem the steel and attach your working tumbler to the steel. Scribe around the working part.
Step-4. I suspect that a hacksaw and files will work fine, as it is a small part but some form of grinding might speed things up.
A wire EDM is ideal for this type of part but standard machine tools aren't as much help as you might imagine and you will do fine using a combination of the suggestions above.
Good Luck,
Otto