Southern California Home Shop Machinists

The gun is a British quick-firing six pounder. Although historical details from the magazine article were sketchy, I would imagine that this is the sort of gun that would have been used on the British Q-ships against submarines or unarmored merchant ships.

The barrel is made from a recycled .22 rifle barrel. A working interrupted screw thread, lever-operated breech action is fitted. This incorporates a removable firing pin (for safety at shows and around inquisitive children), which, when not fitted to the gun, is hidden in the dummy shell shown in the photos.

Elevation and traverse are via worm wheels actuated by the hand wheels. These drive an elevation gear and miter gears hidden in the hollow base. The recoil mechanism is fully operable.

The aimer's (elevation) sight is operable and has a range scale and working adjusting screw. The trainer's (azimuth) sight wasn't specified in the article so I winged it with a design of my own. Both sights incorporate tiny telescopes which have (plastic) objective lenses.

I haven't attempted to fire it yet. Although it's chambered for .22LR, I want to start off with something less powerful, such as .22BB/CB caps, before I begin opening fire on the gophers with something more lethal :-)