Jump to content
Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Downwindtracker2

Members
  • Posts

    86
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    B.C.

Recent Profile Visitors

1,934 profile views

Downwindtracker2's Achievements

0

Reputation

  1. I have one of those 798 stocks. I did NOT refinish it. Mind you seeing how much better you shaped it, I would be tempted. I used it for a Zastava action, and 6.5 barrel, chambered 6.5x55.
  2. A 6.5x55 . Even the Weaver 4x , a 60B, worked. I had it rebuilt years ago and never mounted. A gunsmith friend of mine had a comment, "How come the guys in El Paso could make a scope that tracked, whereas those in Beaverton Oregon couldn't ?" Mind you, with 4x, I needed fat lines. I make up my own targets from dollar store poster paper and a Sharpie , this time it was the 1" Sharpie. I was very pleased. The rifle is a true project. It started out as imported from Sweden sporter . It had a side trigger block safety installed. There must have been a kit available in Sweden. I was unsuccessful at converting it to cock-on-open. I followed the instructions too closely., they were more of a general idea ,so I ended up messing up the bolt. I found a turned down bolt on the web, and then checked the headspace.The gauge was a month clearing custom , held up on both sides. I then fitted and bedded it to a gunshow find , Husqvarna 1600 stock. That original stock proved that not all Swedes had good taste. The shimming the scope bases took some trips to the range. I don't think I will make a hinged floor plate, but I will make release button. They are easy, just a piece of longer 1/4" round stock with an offset oval at the end .
  3. Pure tung oil take a long time to dry. It a good finish for things that come in contact with food. Polymerized Tung Oil had driers in it, works much better and quicker. Here is what I do: When I tung oil finished . I used Lee Valley's Polymerized Tung Oil. It has driers in it. I made up sanding blocks out of 2x4 on edge with 1/4 foam backing. It was a gasket material from work. I stapled strips of wet dry on them. I even got fancy and routered finger slots.I sand to 220 grit dry then I started at 320 grit wet sanding . I would wipe across grain. I continued each night until I got a " finish ", About two or three evenings . I used the same grit sanding block, the wet oil seemed to renew the block. I would then move on to the next grit down 400.I worked my way down to 1000 grit,or more it was so easy. It might have taken half an hour each night, likely less time. In a couple of weeks I got truly great finishes . When you are sitting on a clearcut and not seeing any deer ,you can always admire the walnut. Even ho-hum factory wood looks great. I had to use analine dye on that one, the walnut they used was the colour of spruce. I guess Winchester got a deal. The method I picked off the net, the choice of tung oil from furniture experience.
  4. I thought to give a report. A project rifle rewarded me with an good group, on target no less. The rifle is M96-M38 II, a made in 1944 Husqvarna . As it was raining, I didn't chrony it. I had a heel of left over RL-19 and a few Sierra 140 BTSP . I still have some RL-19 so next load will be Core-Locs 140s. I'm using up a mixed batch of bullets bought at a gunshow. I used 44grs of RL-19
  5. I think I remember reading the 222 Magnum is only slightly shorter than the 556. Someone who had more interest and a better memory can go into the relationship.
  6. The Newton 256 is a 6.5 as is the 264WM. One is bore, the other bullet. You are a year younger than me., youngster. But in the '70 Canada went metric, sorta. We end up using both. I found on machines, it was often easier to use the system it was designed in. Bolt spacing would have some odd number until you used metric, then it would be simple, like 70mm. 25.4mm is an inch. Engineers tend to like round numbers. Bearings and the shafts are almost always metric. I have 14" Beaver brand bandsaw, made in the nearest I could fiquire, 1947, right after the war. It takes a very standard off the shelf metric bearings. Beaver woodworking tools are common in Canada.Callender Foundry was taken over by Delta in '52. Delta was still using Beaver brand into the late '80.
  7. If my old memory works, that's not a given, the 6.5x57 would use a 8x57 headspace guage, not a 7x57. I was going to build my 6.5x57 on a commercial Zastava Mauser. The one that ended up 6.5x55 Velocity depends on who is loading. At a F-class meet a ten years back or more, I was in the butts with old timer, he was telling me the velocities he was getting with a surplus action 6.5x55, they were up there with my 264WM. They out did my 6.5-06 .I have a thing for 6.5s . I guess they were safe enough, otherwise he wouldn't be there to tell me about them.
  8. You need a couple more if you're skinning out a moose. If you hit moose hair it's like dragging a blade across a stone.
  9. I worked at a wire mill. We got our rod from a couple of steel mills, one in Kobe Japan and another from a mill in Brazil. We used Kobe steel in wire for aircraft arresting cables and Brazilian was OK. Kobe had an earthquake and the Brazilian mill went broke . So with out any suppliers, they went on the open market and got some Spanish rod. It was terrible stuff, it would break in our wire drawing machines constantly. That was my experience with Spanish steel. Metallurgy made great strides during the first half of the 20th century, much like electronics now. Before that, the Swedish iron ore had some impurities that made it prized in steel making. The alloying of steel is a much underappreciated.
  10. The Swedes bought some of the M93-M95 as the shorter cavalry rifle version first and liked them. So they contracted with Mauser for the regular army rifles. A M96 is really a M93 made with Swedish steel. Or that's my understanding of it's history.
  11. I still have the original two stage military.After dealing with the HVA model 1600 trigger, that's a good thing. There is a button on the front of the housing that comes up through the floor and matches up with a milled recess on the bolt, so it won't fire unless it's in battery. When I lowered the shim under the front mount, the screw got in the way of the bolt lug. That was before the last time, when it was sitting at home. It's tough to test a rifle at the range when it's at home.
  12. The rifle is my Swedish sporter. Tradex imports used rifles from Sweden. Sweden limits the number of firearms a person can have, so used rifles have little value. This one is a 1944 Husqvarna made M96/38. It was the last year of any production of the model 1896. They started modifying them in 1938. HVA made a run of them during the Second World War. That's where this one comes from. The stock proved beyond all doubt that Swedes can be as tasteless with the worst of them. I fitted a HVA #1600 stock on it. The #1600 stock is a fine a hunting rifle stock as any factory rifle ever had. The # 1600 is a small ring Mauser actin, so it wasn't too difficult a fit. It came with a mounted scope and a side safety. The scope was a Weaver K4 60B ,late '60s, and with Weaver mounts. He had Weaver high rings. and very high check piece added on to the military stock. But he had botched the mounting. There was a .080" shim under the front mount. I dropped it down to a .046" front shim. I use Burris Signature Zee rings., the ones with the plastic inserts. They can be had in different thicknesses. If you turn them sideways , you can adjust windage. I used a +/- .020" on the front and another +/- .020" on the back for .040 of twist. .020 is the biggest they make. But it's under a 1/2" from the center at 25 meters. When I can see better, I can do load development at 100 meters. To complete, the stock needs the checkering to be pointed and I need to make a hinged floorplate.
  13. Last Thursday,It didn't go bang again. This time I picked up the other identical black soft case.. I have 260 and 6.5x55 ammo. Friday morning I got a couple of holes.
  14. The trigger wouldn't move. A Swedish Mauser has a button that comes up from the floor that mates up with a relief cut into the bolt. If the bolt is removed the trigger works, I think the bolt is not in battery. This is the second problem, first the trigger shoe jammed on the guard, now this. If nothing else. I'm getting a good education on the workings of the M96/38.chuckle. Basically I have been dealing what the original owner did, a Swede , when he sporterized the rifle. I only live half an hour from the range, so it's not like these trips are a big deal for an old retired phart.
  15. Another day with no Bang. Yesterday it did, today it doesn't . It sure makes it hard to check the scope when you don't get any holes in the paper. I have been lowing the front base, so may be there is a too long screw. ?? It had an .080 shim under the front base, when I got it. I then put a .046 under it , last night I changed that out to .021. I'm cutting up SS pre-cut shims so that is why I've got such odd numbers.I'm also dealing with windage. I'm glad I stopped to write out my misadventures, it gave me a chance to think about what I had changed. I lately have changed around some scopes, the other rifle today was a FN Mauser 338-06 shooting 225gr at 2650fps, one heck of lot more snap then a 6.5x55 with a starting load for 100gr. Damm near got me.The second shot, I was more careful.
×
×
  • Create New...