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Maple spacers? The idea is to make it look GOOD. Better to splice a sjort extension on where the normal fore end ends than to add a long extension. Add a wafer of ebony at the joint to draw attention to it and add color. Right idea Brenden, wrong color though.

Yeah, once you get past this it's relatively easy, just time consuming and you need a good mill to get a decent finish. Still, nothing that a lot of hand polishing can't fix. Heck, I once knew a German gunsmith that could whittle an octagon barrel with his pocket knife. Solingen steel dontcha know.

Not sure what you mean by turn the front end? Taper blank to eliminate most unwanted metal. Thread, chamber, and crown. Mark barrel, cut flats, re-install barrel.

Yeah, but ya still gotta polish teh marks out to match. I'd rather not have to do this but it's well worth the results. Anyone got a few Swede shrouds they'd like to sell/trade?

I did a sideswing for a swede the other day and really liked it. Up until then I was convinced I would not like it. Couldn't have been more wrong, sure, its a lot more work, especially grinding down the safety flag lip but when all is said and done, there is no comparison.

Muzzle across the flats is .560" and the cylinder ahead of the receiver ring is 1.15". No setup pics sorry. Just an indexer with a tailstock and the appropriate amount of offset to achieve the desired taper.

Here's a few more pics. Not great and the metal still has Johnsons Wax all over from when I glass bedded the pattern but you kinda get the idea.. Gotta inlet & finish the stock and make the sights & scope bases, oh, and rust blue it.

The stock is based on one of my old patterns reworked to be a blind magazine and to have a little less drop and a more open grip. Not by much though.

Here's a couple of the stock so far. Need to finish inletting the barrelled action and then fit the hardware. Not the best pics, sorry. more soon as I get the sights done.

Happy B-Day!

If the gage only goes 2/3rds of the way in, then it is not simply an over tightened barrel. I have a had a couple of Milsurps that had short chambers but I am talking .001's of an inch not 10ths. Any chance there was a spacer between the barrel & receiver face? Did you face off the receiver?

Sweet! I have that is stamped 1899. But mine has been altered. Nice find!

Behind that cover is where the change gears are. The gears connect the spindle to the leadscrew.

And you've also never seen setback if I remember right...

Change gears vs quick change gear box has to do with changing the rates of feed and also the thread pitches you can cut. Mine uses a quick change gear box meaning I flip a couple of levers to the appropriate locations to quickly change the feed rate or TPI. Change gears require you to litterally swap out gears in order to get the right combination fo r the desired feed rate or tpi. It has nothing to do with spindle speed which is controlled by the belt placement. I've not seen plastic gears in any chinese lathe but then again the smallest I have messed with was 12".

A visual inspection will really tell you if it's worth it. Check the way's near the headstock for wear. Ask to cut a test bar. More importantly, check to see if it has a half nut for threading, if ya can't thread it's worthless. The headstock is likely to have too small a bore to chamber in the headstock with, check it and see. yo'll want a bore that at least approaches an inch and should be able to thread sporter barrels at least. And if it is a change gear model be sure it has the gears. You could pick that thing up by yourself if you've been eating your wheaties! It's a small lathe, a table top model. That 3 1/2 ft bed means 23" between centers.

In most cases the feed ramp/rails are too narrow for the wider .284 case to pass through unaltered. Look forward to some rail work.

It's like that here in CO too. Better place to live than CA but no ranges left due to expansion. People moving out toward the mountains and ranges either being shut down due to noice or being bought out. I miss the Angeles Crest range!

The thing to realize is that compared to othe H&H length rounds, the Rigby generates considerably less pressure.

Bob, I'm stocking it right now as a matter of fact. The owner sent me two emergency repairs so this one went on the back burner for a while, plus, he changed his mind on a thing or two.

Since you mention ALL bullet weights go with a fast twist, minimum 1 in 10". This will stabilize most bullets up to and including 120 grains. Some VLD styles may require faster yet. But then you risk blowing up the light weight bullets. I've always been happy with my 1 in 10". Shilen amkes a fine barrel for the money. They are my prefered entry level barrel, by that I mean, I start with them and work my way up. Probably 75% of the barrel jobs I do are with Shilen barrels.

The 7x57 has greater case capacity so loaded to equal pressures it will outperform the 7mm-08. But, most load books only load to 7x57 pressures which are lower than the 7mm-08.

Ken, very true indeed. I like the 7mm-08 but the 7x57 in a 98 is evry bit its equal and then some. The single greatest factor in favor of the 7x57 vs the 7mm-08 is 100% utter reliability in feeding with little or no work. The 7mm-08 will also work don't get me wrong, it's just may require a bit more effort to get it right.

I was in Texas visiting relatives and as a bonus I got to meet two members of our forum. I met up with Weaver77 (James) and Rojelio (Roger). Both of these guys are just super nice guys and both have quite a bit of talent when it comes to Gunsmithing, well, and everything it seems like. Very talented individuals and nice as the day is long! I was fortunate enough to get to go hunting with James on Sunday and again this morning and had the best time despite getting skunked. Definitely time well spent. James made sure I got to eat some Barbacoa and also introduced me to Rojelio who showed me his new shop which was quite impressive. We got to sit around for a while, chew the fat, soak up some A/C, and talk about guns. Both these guys are avid hunters and very skilled gun builders. I'm headed back to CO on Thursday but its nice to know I have two new friends to come back and visit next time I'm down. Thanks guys for the great visit!

I got to see Roger's shop first hand on Sunday. Wow! I'm jealous! I went back today and he was trimming out the A/C. He's quite the carpenter and equally adept at gun plumbing. I got to see his "rabbit" gun. It's even better in person. He has quite a few nice rifles that he's built and from what I hear, good shooters too. Anyway, it was my pleasure to get to meet Roger, share a cold drink on a day where the mercury was nearly topped out on the thermometer, and just sit and talk about guns.