Bolt-Action to Automatic Fire?

[pmulcahy11b]

I have a book in the next room that has a passage about a guy who make a kit to convert a lever-action rifle to automatic fire. With the Pedersen Device, we converted a bolt-action rifle to semiautomatic fire. Given that, how hard would it be to convert a bolt-action weapon to automatic fire?

[Targan]

Wikipedia has an entry about the Charlton Automatic Rifle which was a New Zealander's conversion of the bolt action Lee-Enfield rifle to an automatic rifle. The entry even has a photo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Automatic_Rifle

In some ways the Huot Automatic Rifle based on the Ross bolt action rifle was even more impressive:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huot_automatic_rifle

[StainlessSteelCynic]

There's been a few such attempts in the past, the following thread may interest you
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=83641

And if you are not already aware of the following site, I think you'd find some interesting bits & pieces
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/
Although they don't have a lot of information, they have a few pages of bolt-action rifles converted to semi- or auto- fire.
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/lorem-ipsum/unidentified-prototypes/tatarack-p14-semiauto
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/lorem-ipsum/rifles/howell-automatic-rifle

[pmulcahy11b]

Wikipedia has an entry about the Charlton Automatic Rifle which was a New Zealander's conversion of the bolt action Lee-Enfield rifle to an automatic rifle. The entry even has a photo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Automatic_Rifle



OK, I'm stupid/forgetful, I even have that one on my site...

[pmulcahy11b]

And if you are not already aware of the following site, I think you'd find some interesting bits & pieces
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/
Although they don't have a lot of information, they have a few pages of bolt-action rifles converted to semi- or auto- fire.
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/lorem-ipsum/unidentified-prototypes/tatarack-p14-semiauto
http://www.forgottenweapons.com/lorem-ipsum/rifles/howell-automatic-rifle

That site's going to be fun going through! Thanks!

[dragoon500ly]

While capable of semi-automatic fire, the WWII Germans field two modifications to the Kar-98 that are intresting.

The first is the Gewehr 41: two versions were developed, one by Mauserwerke: the G41(M) and the second by Carl Walther: the G41(W). Both used a muzzle expansion chamber which turned some of the emerging gases backwards to actuate a piston surrounding the barrel. This then drove an operating rod to the rear and operated the bolt. The G41(M) mounted the rod on top of the barrel and the G41(W) mounted the rod underneath the barrel. Walther won the contest and was adopted into service. While the design worked, it was not popular; the muzzle cone was prone to fouling, and the weapon was poorly balanced with a pronounced muzzle prepondrance, making it difficult to handle.

Going back to the drawing boards, one of the first things discarded was the muzzle cone. A more conventional design of gas operated piston (very similar to the one used on the Soviet Tokarev) was added. The result was the Gewehr 43, this was a much more satisfactory design and was a popular weapon. It was adopted after the war by the Czech Army as their standard sniping rifle, which is a high compliment considering the firearms expertise of the Czechs!

[HorseSoldier]

Given that, how hard would it be to convert a bolt-action weapon to automatic fire?


The Pedersen Device was apparently pretty simple, but wasn't so much a conversion to automatic fire as it was a conversion of a rifle to a submachinegun. The T2K complication with that is a same-bore lower powered round in sufficient abundance to make it matter.

If it was Twilight 1943 or something it might be worth it to have a 1903 conversion that turned it into a blow back action firing 30 Carbine ammo.