Sailormilan2

I finally got my two latest builds parkerised to finish them. A standard 98 in .257 Roberts, using an Adams and Bennett barrel. Sako trigger. Light stock. A Yugo action, with a Parker Hale barrel in .243 Win. Dark stock. I used Allegheny Arsenal parkerising. I really like it. Easy to use. But it definitely needs to be up to temperature.

Payment sent anyway, Tony. PayPal.

I had a Springfield M1A, and it would continually stick at least one empty case in the chamber. At least once or twice a magazine. Springfield wouldn't fix it, since at the time I was using my reloads and South African surplus. I did not have the same problem, using the same ammo, in my one Polytech and my home built Tanker Garand. I sold the Springfield M1A, and got two more Polytechs. Never looked back. I have worked on, and upgraded each Polytech, though I am not sure that they needed some of the upgrades. It was something for me to do and work on.

I just rebarreled Chinese made Polytech M14S rifle. Numrich has a bunch of chrome lined barrels made by Criterion for LRB, and they're selling them at about half their normal cost. So, I got one in standard profile and 18 1/2" in length, and rebarreled a Polytech that had a medium weight barrel on it. I also cut ventilation slots in a wooden handguard. It took a little work, since headspace adjustment involved lapping the bolt lugs. Chrome lined barrels need to be cut with a carbide reamer, which is too pricey for one barrel.

Not a direct screw in. It will need to be rethreaded. But it appears to have enough metal in it to clean up the threads completely, and then rethread. Win threads are 1"-16tpi. Rem threads are 1.016-16tpi. Small ring Mauser are .980-12tpi. The major diameter of the Mauser should be slightly larger, or at least very close, to the minor diameter of the Win threads. I may have to get a cheap one just to try it out.

I know people have been using rethreaded Remington 700 barrels when they wanted to rebarrel a Turk 1903. But, while looking at a 1909 Peruvian Mauser that I have I figured out that it appears a Win 70 barrel can also be used. It's threads are almost identical to those on the Rem 700. I actually prefer the profile of the Win 70 Featherweight barrels. But, it has to be a post '64 push feed barrel. I've been trying decide what caliber to use on the Peruvian. Peruvian Mausers are identical to the 1903 Turk, but don't have the counter bore AR the front of the receiver. So, they have a longer barrel shank/tenon. They are also a standard length action, but use an intermediate length bolt. Someone prior to me had converted it to a 30/06, and lengthened it to 30/06 length magazine by removing part of the feed ramp/bottom locking lug. I think there's enough there to safely handle a 25/06. Otherwise I may just go with a .257 Roberts. Decisions, decisions.

I've got 2 AR-15 rifles, 2 stripped lowers, and one PA10(Palmetto .308). All have been done using lowers and parts from Palmetto. If one is careful, one can build one for under $400. But due to CA's insane laws, they often don't look like normal ARs. My next acquisition is an upper in .458 SoCom. Not sure what I'm doing to use it for, but I'm going to get on.

Happy Patriots Day to all. Paul Revere'sRide by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,– One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country-folk to be up and to arm.” Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war: A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon, like a prison-bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street Wanders and watches with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed to the tower of the church, Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry-chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,– By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night-encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, “All is well!” A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay, — A line of black, that bends and floats On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse’s side, Now gazed on the landscape far and near, Then impetuous stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle-girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry-tower of the old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height, A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns! A hurry of hoofs in a village-street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet: That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders, that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer’s dog, And felt the damp of the river-fog, That rises when the sun goes down. It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When be came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadows brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket-ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read, How the British Regulars fired and fled,– How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard-wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,– A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo forevermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere. __________________

Someone over on the Rimfire Forum came up with the idea of spraying the stock with ArmourAll then adding TruOil and rubbing them both together. The idea was that the addition of the ArmourAll "plasticizes" the TruOil. I tried it, and had very good results on a stock. Though I am not sure if the results were due to the "plasticization" or the extra rubbing and thinning that I did. With certain woods, primarily Maple, I've found that oil based finishes such as Tung Oil work best. Using Polyurethane on a figured Maple stock does nothing to bring out the grain. However, adding oil to it makes the grain stand out. Plus adds a nice golden tone to the wood.

I sent you a message.

Ages ago, I purchased a stripped Remington Model 5 laminated stock with the intentions of putting it on my CZ99. I prefer the external dimensions of the Remington stock to those of the Zastava made stocks, though Remington's inletting is not as good.I eventually got around to mounting it on my Z5 17HMR. However, in the long interval, some Remington stock parts dried up. I could no longer find a butt plate to fit the curved cut on Remington's tock.So, I trimmed just enough off the butt to make it straight, and installed a Pachmayr recoil pad. But, in the process of grinding it down to fit, I didn't pay enough attention and went through Remington's combination stain and finish.After doing some research on the internet, and the horrors of trying to stain a laminated stock, I decided to finally try it. I stripped the stock with CitriStripper, which took about 4 applications. I used a scraper, and most of the finish peeled right off. After it dried, I sanded the stock both to properly blend in the recoil pad, and to get rid of the top layer of wood that had had Remington's finish on it. Final grit was #400.I tried several MinWax oil based stains, but didn't like any of them. I ended up going with a mix of MinWax Gunstock 231(too light and red by itself) and MinWax Dark Walnut 2716. First batch was about 50/50 mix, and was way too dark. So, I thinned it with more Gunstock to about a 3(Gunstock) to 1(Dark Walnut) mix. That was better, but I think it's still a bit dark. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will use a 7(Gunstock) to 1(Dark Walnut) mix.Stain was applied twice, following instructions. Then, after drying for a day, I lightly steel wooled it, which removed some of the color. I didn't want to do too much, as some of the laminate layers didn't take much, if any, of the stain.3 coats of MinWax Satin Poly were then airbrushed on, with a light final steel wooling when dry.It's not perfect, but I think it is better than it was. I've included a pic of a Remington 799 stock as a before and after comparison.

Has the bolt been forged low for scope, or a new handle welded on? If so, has too much been taken off the bolt root, so that the bolt goes too far past center when closing? Easy way to check is to see if the "U" cut at the top of the bolt where the bolt shroud screws in lines up with the guide notch in the upper receiver bridge when seen from the rear.

Commercial or military?

I've got a couple of AR lowers that I need to work on. I've been toying with the idea of either a .458 Socom or a .450 Bushmaster. Socom is a bottle neck case that uses a rebated rim, and is for rifle bullets. Bushmaster is a straight walled case, and uses pistol bullets. Finally took the plunge and ordered a 458 Socom barrel from Bear Creek Arsenal. At $49+S&H it was hard to pass up. Now I have to decide if I should build it as a semi auto, which means that here in CA I can't put a pistol grip, flash suppressor, or collapsing stock. Or, I can build it as a straight pull, essentially a bolt action, in which case I can put on all the evil goodies. Decisions. Decisions.

The newest thing to prevent leading is powder coating the bullets. Powder coat, then size. It's not hard to do, though a little tedious. Some of the colors used are wild. I have a serious issue with pink and purple bullets. I'm using something called Translucent Copper. I't a bit different.It sort of looks like a copper washed .22 bullet. But, it does seem to leave the barrel cleaner. Here's a 45 acp bullet, and 2 9mm bullets. Flash kind of washes out the color.

Gunbroker has few FEGs, which are copies of the HiPower. Price is much cheaper than those for HiPowers. Most, if not all, HP parts will fit. Though the ones I saw needed some finish refinishing. I even saw a Mauser 80, another HP copy. I would seriously consider getting another one, but here in CA we can't have the FEGs or the Mauser. If you really want a nice HP, look at the new Tisas Stainless Steel models. They are really nice, and about 1/2 the price for the HPs. HP prices will be going up since FN has decided to discontinue making them. If I could get the Tisas BR9 here in CA, I would get one in a heartbeat and use it as my EDC gun.

A 1903 Turk is a true '98 action. Meaning it cocks on opening, and has the 3rd or "safety lug" on the bolt. The 1893 Mauser design will not have these. The bolt will only have the front lugs, and the left one will be shaped differently. As was stated, the bolt stop on the 1903 Turk will the "flap" on the ejector box, but so does the 1893 small ring Turk. For that matter, so does the 1909 Argentine and the 1909 Peruvian(which is nothing but a rebadged 1903 Turk). The 1903 Turk is a standard length, that is, "98 length action, but it has an intermediate length bolt(as does the 1909 Peruvian). Plus it has small ring threads(as does the 1909 Peruvian). You can find complete bolts at Numrich. As to whether or not another year of small ring Mauser bolt will work, I can't say. There are two types of small ring bolts. Flat bottom and round. I have no idea which one a 1903 Turk would take. https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/mauser/rifles-mauser/1893-turkish-rifle

Last year I got an Isreali reimport FN HiPower. A parkerized Mk I frame, and a MK III slide with the standard epoxy finish. Mk III slides have sights that use a dovetail cut, and have inlets for paint to high light the side picture. I've replaced the barrel, installed a "No Bite" hammer with new sear, and ambidextrous safety, removed the mag safety, and added simple wood grips from Herretts. I stripped the frame and slide and refinished them. The epoxy paint used on the slide was difficult to remove. I soaked it in epoxy paint stripper, then bead blasted it. I ended up have to restrip it after the first park attempt, as well as polishing the sides with fine sand paper. But, I am very happy with how it turned out. I am considering using it for my EDC gun.

I have recently gotten a couple of the Zastava made(Old Interarms) Mini Mausers, and have been gradually working on them. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they use standard Mauser Mk X style adjustable triggers. Unfortunately one wouldn't hold the cocking piece no matter what I did. I finally determined that someone had beveled the top of the sear, where it makes contact with the sear face on the cocking piece(green circle in photo). So, I removed the sear, by drifting out the sear hinge pin. After taking my trusty Dremel tool, and using the side of it as a grinder, I took off enough to give a sharp edge. Now it can catch and hold the cocking piece. Unfortunately, the bottom of the sear that rides on the top of the trigger was very rough with grinding marks that went crosswise to the direction of trigger movement(red circle in photo). I had tried adjusting the trigger, but it was very gritty and rough. With a light rifle like the Mini Mausers that is really not good. So, putting some #400 sandpaper on a very flat surface, I moved the sear back and forth, in a front to rear motion. Simulating the movement of the trigger. I then used some #600 wet/dry in the same fashion to polish it. When I reinstalled the sear, I had a very smooth trigger pull right at 3#. Just where I wanted it. I ended up doing two more that needed similar work, though they weren't as bad. All 3 are now in the 3-3 1/2# range, with very smooth pulls.

Try lapping the bores with some JB Bore Paste. That might help. That also helps removing some of the lead deposits. I've had luck, when trying to remove lead from a barrel, in driving an unsized cast bullet through the booze. Acts like a scraper and cleans a lot of the lead out. Out of curiosity, what size bullets are you using? For years I sized at .356 for 9mm. But after reading that it's better to go up a bit, I've started sizing mine at .357. My High Power takes a .358 bullet.

Numrich lists the firing pin for the '93 Turk as being in stock. Unfortunately, that's the one that they don't have a photo of. ASSUMING that the firing pin is the same, and ASSUMING that they actually have it in stock (since ALL the other mid 1890 firing pins are out of stock, you might try there. If the Swede Firing Pin will work, there are at least 3 on eBay, and one on GunBroker.

Go to CalGuns forum and search 80% lowers. There are quite a few threads about them on CalGuns.

If you want Sporter calibers, you can get a pre-threaded, short chambered 98 barrel in 25-06 for about $130 from ER Shaw. #1 contour, 24" length. Should feed with absolutely no problems. They also have 30-06 and .308 Win barrels in the same configuration for the same price. Ok, having said that. If you choose to go with 25-06 or 30-06, you will want to lengthen the mag well opening by about .100". Pretty much a necessity for the 30-06, optional for the 25-06. Easy to do. Mauser actions are designed around a tapered cartridge, and the 25-06 and 30-06 are just about perfect for this. Now, if you go this route, you can get left over Santa Barbara made blued hinged trigger guards from Numrich for about $60. They are made much better than some of the aftermarket Mauser hinged trigger guards out there. There are also hinged aluminum trigger guards on eBay for $65 - $70, and they take about a 1/2# off the weight of the rifle. The .308 Win barrel would be great on the Yugo action. I have just finished installing and headspacing an Interarms MkX .243 Win barrel to one of my Yugo actions. You can pick up a short chambered, prethreaded .308 Win and .243 Win barrel from Numrich for about $140. (More than likely made by ER Shaw) I'm working on the stock, and I think that I've figured out how to make a nice looking hinged trigger guard for the Yugo action. I've just got to work it through in my head more, and find someone with a TIG welder.

No need to do any mods to the mags. A 9x23 is the same length as a 38 Super, and many times will actually fit into a 38 Super chamber. But I've found a source for some very good 9x19, aka 9mm Parabellum or Luger, 1911 barrels at a very good price. Though they require minor fitting.

Getting ready to start my 9x23 1911 conversion. Barrels showed up today, and I'm now waiting for the reamer.