Quote Originally Posted by dvd View Post
I like the bronze bearings on the idler gears, way to go to reduce drag imo, can run them practically dry. If I understand the system you are using well, they will only be loaded in the stationary position.
Good luck with your endeavours👍
The bearings weren't strictly necessary, the gears would have run just fine on hardened steel pins. But if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right! One of the nice things is that when you press fit this type of bearing, the hole actually closes up a little bit. So I had the pin through the hole when I press fit them. This closes the bearing up on the pin and and makes it a bit stiff to start with, but then they bed in to a perfect fit. They spin very freely with no play now, sometimes I just sit here spinning them
The highest load will actually be at the start of piston bounce. However the mass of the moving parts means this load shouldn't be too high. I will probably try it with just one gear at some point, see how it holds up.

Quote Originally Posted by robthedog View Post
Having recently got my first recoiless rifle(Original 75)which has peaked my interest in this subject, like others i'm following with interest
Thanks. The Diana recoilless rifles were obviously a big influence on this project, in particular the mod 60. Initially I had just planned on having a sporter/thumhole style stock made for my mod 60 or 66. But then I got a bit carried away....