Bowcaster Parts

All reference I could find for any cocking levers are not even all that close... The forks on everything I've seen are far too wide. Looking at the reference pics it looks like it was constructed to me... possibly from found parts no doubt, but put together...

If you wind up do a run of parts barrel and attachment to the scope area, knobs and side panels, front sight area and barrel supports - or any parts of that list - please let me know :D

Thanks,
Jedi Dade
 
damon5973 said:
I have the Horton, I was curious if the bend in the actual bow was the correct curve. I know I need to fix the stock and all....
Click to expand...
You've got a Horton Magnum? Congrats! That makes four of us. Were you the one that bought the Magnum that was on Gunstar last year?

The bend in the bow looks correct to me, at least for the ANH BC. The Empire/Jedi bowcaster has the string on it and the limbs pulled back.
 
...actually that would make 5 AFAIK: You, me, kurtyboy, Marv & Damon5973

Putting up an INT thread for the machined parts (barrel assembly/ front barrel support) would be wonderful. I know Marv was planning to have some of his conversion parts machined as well. Time for a joint venture ;)

JediDade:
Wouldn´t make much sense to put up an INT for the found parts, as listed on GotWookies excellent website (thanks a million for that!), unless we would plan to have these done by a machinist instead of using real world parts (camera knobs, dials, amp-knobs, turntable pulleys etc.). The sideplates would have to be custom-fitted to your crossbow frame anyway, since the Horton Magnum and the Magnum Safari are a) slightly different and b) the needed shape of sideplates is affected by the way of how you modified your plastic Safari frame.

Best choice would be to take some 1 to 1,5mm aluminum (yes, it is that thin) and cut your own sideplates

Markus
 
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OdiWan72 / Markus,

As far as I know the barrel and sights have not been found... just guessed at, and I've been scouring the web looking for a cocking lever that is remotely close... No Joy so far... GotWookie mentioned that he was thinking of getting something machined. Additionally a cast of the magnum frame itself would be of interest - and then all the parts would fit properly.

I am planning on taking the safari I have and making a cast of the frame (in a special fiberglass resin for strength) so that if I screw up the modifications its not a big deal. After I try that out - if it works well I would be willing to create molds and cast the magnum... I've given up hope of actually finding one. But that is a long way down the road still.

I guess I should have been more clear in my post.

Thanks,
Jedi Dade
 
i guess you misread my post!?

I stated that an INT thread for the barrel assembly and frontal barrel support would be a good idea, just not for the already found/ identified parts.
I never implied that the barrel parts have been identified already ;)

Casting the horton magnum frame could be an option in the future :cool

markus
 
OdiWan72 said:
i guess you misread my post!?

I stated that an INT thread for the barrel assembly and frontal barrel support would be a good idea, just not for the already found/ identified parts.
I never implied that the barrel parts have been identified already ;)

Casting the horton magnum frame could be an option in the future :cool

markus
Click to expand...

I was just doing some research on resins that would be durable enough... the fiberglass route I was considering I don't think will work... Its too thick and will not pour well... and without the fiberglass in it, it would not be strong enough. I found a resin that seems plenty hard. I think just the resin would be about $100-150 without taking into account the molding materials etc. I still might do it though...would still be cheaper than a safari on ebay :)

Casting the magnum frame- somebody would have to trust me with theirs. I'm never gonna find one - been looking for years. You know what would be REALLY cool is a laser scan of the magnum that we could take to a CNC and have cut from Aluminium... that would rule. trigger probably would not work without some shananigans but still be damn cool.

Jedi Dade
 
Would love someone to cast their Horton Magnum, in the mean time will have to stick to the safari, but always find when its not "the one" my hearts not totally in it :)
 
I think it's a safari....its plastic? That needs to be sanded and trimmed out. The bow itself has a ridge in it. Not flat.

- - - Updated - - -

I got my safari for 80 usd shipped from a guy off eBay....can't beat that!

- - - Updated - - -

I got my safari for 80 usd shipped from a guy off eBay....can't beat that!
 
80 bucks is almost as good as my first safari - $50 :D. but that was a LONG time ago ;) buy had an auction ending at a weird time... and I just lucked out.

Jedi Dade
 
I know there are several members here with the actual metal Horton crossbow, has anyone finished these versions yet be great to see, sorry if I missed them.
Just got my old Horton back from Marv and have all the scopes and most of the bits, just missing the side plates and numerous knobs. Had a perfect set with cast ones, but gave away for another project, ah well should no by know never to give up on the bowcaster project as I always come back to it.
 
Me too... I'm working on the side plates and knobs, as well as the sight/barrel supports front and back. picked up some sheet metal - now I just need to carve a few hours out of my schedule to figure the exact pattern to I can cut once :) I still need to figure out exactly what I want to do with the front of the safari to make the front barrel support. it seems a bit nuts to cut off the front just to put something back that takes up the exact same spot... maybe some carving and adding on is the ticket... still figuring.

Jedi Dade
 
So, who actually built the original bowcaster?

I know the prop came from Bapty and Company, like many of the other weapons. Did they merely supply the base parts for rent or did they actually build the bowcaster prop, greeblies and all?

Does anyone know who specifically might have done the work itself? I mean the actual person?
 
As far as I know only kurtyboy and Marv have finished their BC´s so far...all other are just partially or unconverted as of yet.

Would be interestíng to know who built the actual prop!

GotWookie/ Marv: I am still counting on you guys to offer accurate conversion parts in the -near?- future :cool

Markus
 
GotWookiee said:
Yep. That's my fall project.

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Cool... Have you ever thought about doing it as an active project? This way more people can contribute to discussion of the parts with the goal to make these as accurate as possible

Just a suggestion ;)

Markus
 

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bowcaster_anh_sight-guard.png


I'm bumping this post up with a new lead on the front sight. A fellow Wookiee had a lead a number of years back that the front sight on the ANH bowcaster was actually a hose clamp from a Datsun. So I reached out to vintage Datsun parts website, and sent them the above photo to get their thoughts.

Hi Matt,

43 years around Datsuns, 41 years in the business...

It doesnt look like any clamps that I have ever seen, BUT it does look like a strip of metal wrapped around a Datsun swaybar (stabiliser bar) bushing, with a bolt or screw holding the clamping force between the two vertical sections

https://www.suspension.com/prodimag.../energy-suspension-7.5103-360-giant-01-15.jpg

The metal looks to be a hand-formed strip using pliers or a vise, and the corners filed or ground off, and "ears" formed at the ends with pliers or a vise

It is too raggedy and home-made looking for it to have been a car part

My two cents worth-

Good luck!

Riley
Click to expand...

I did a bit of googling and found a few bushings that look close enough that make me think this might be something worth pursuing:
beck-arnley-beckarnley-101-3944-large-2.jpgmoog-moog-k201025-large-1.jpg
The second one is split in the same spot as the ANH front sight.

I don't know much about cars so I'm not sure how big these are, but so far I've found a few that are designed to fit bars in the 13mm to 22mm range. The 5/8" diameter of the barrel is right in the middle there, but that was just a few minutes of googling. Maybe there is one out there that is the right size.

Of course, the real part does actually resembles a front sight protector, although despite claims the to the contrary its not the Enfield No. 4 sight. I decided to also follow this lead and found a number of front sights (British, Russian, etc.) all had the same general style but wrong in the various details. I reached out to a vintage firearms site and got this:

I am pretty they would have fabricated the futuristic looking front sight protector. Similar to various vintage military but exaggerated in size.

Appears to be sheet steel wrapped around the front sight base and finished for the look.

Regards LTC
Click to expand...

Figured I would post these and see if anyone else might know something or recognize a part, etc.
 
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More info from the Datsun guy!

Hi Matt,

Some of the OE bushings may have had the slit in the flat side- will investigate for that and for a 5/8" center hole

Most of the OE bars back then were skinny by today's standards, but were probably all bigger than 5/8"

The smallest one I could find was from a 71-73 Datsun 1200 which used a 17mm/.669" bar- pretty close to 5/8" (.625")
Could be shimmed with a round or two of electrical or "friction" tape

Here are the OE 1200 17mm/.669" ones, but the slit is not in the right place
I am pretty sure all OE bushings are slit on the side now that I think of it
www.ebay.com

DATSUN 1200 Stabilizer Bracket Bushing (Fits NISSAN B110 B120 Ute Sunny Truck) | eBay

Datsun 1200 Ute (7510 - 9403). DATSUN 1200 Stabilizer Bracket Bushing. (Both Sides Sale). This Stabilizer bracket bushing is available for Datsun 1200/ute(B110/B120) for Genuine Sway bar. Datsun 1200 (7001 - 7305).
www.ebay.com

Some of the aftermarket ones of the same 1200 bushings that I found pics for, have no slit in them

Here are some square ones for the Datsun Roadster that looks to have a 5/8-ish hole- maybe the corners were pared off of one side...

cgi-lib.16196.1.jpg

https://www.datsunparts.com/assets2/cgi-lib.16196.1.jpg

I think there is no slit in these, but easily done with a razor blade

Will contact some of my Roadster peeps and get the exact dimensions

Regards,

Riley
Click to expand...
 
If they are from Datsun none will be 5/8 - it'll be metric likely 15 or 16 mm

That being said 5/8 is a pretty small for any suspension part needing a bushing...

Jedi Dade
 
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