flaco

Z- I'm flattered--Thanks!!!--but as far as we know I've only been able to find the target off a bench. I'd try offhand--I've been humiliated before--but would be most comfortable with bench (sandbags only, no fancy holders), sitting, or prone. Slings or not? flaco And yes, we have to shoot the 100 yd target at 100 yards. LOL.

Short of MFRC, or AR, this is currently my favorite site:Deerstalker. It's replete with hunting stories from both sides of the pond, and the antipodes, lots of excellent advice, and (most importantly) cartridge evaluations. I especially like the 9.3x62 evaluation I found there. Why slow heavy bullets are sometimes better than fast. I learned a lot. flaco

Also- Do we add or deduct for handloads? flaco

May I suggest three categories? Sporterized glass, sporterized iron sights, stock milsurps? Each rifle to have a military receiver or action? NRA official 100-yard small bore rifle targets? flaco Don't know what to do about military glass--sniper rifles--but these are so priced out of the market not certain anyone would want to use one. Count me in. Let the chips fall where they may.

Tony- Who do we thank for moving the threads into the Archives? Not to mention all the good new threads. Well done, MFRC. flaco

Vietnamese cookbook: "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog." What do you call a Vietnamese with three dogs? A rancher. flaco

The Mother of All Barrel Vises. Well done, sonic. flaco

DT- See z1r's post here. I believe he is correct. Your loyal disciple, flaco

She looks good, swamp_thing. flaco

This beggars a couple of questions, Z. I know that one cannot use a mandrel to ascertain if the bolt is square to the threads. Is there any way to tell if the bolt is square to the threads? And if truing the receiver face, and all the subsequent processes, are based on the act of faith that the threads are square to the bolt, why does virtually every gunsmith offer a Mauser accurizing service that begins with squaring the receiver face. Using a mandrel. Is this just a rip off? Is it more often than not an improvement to the action? Thanks. Your loyal disciple, flaco You may call me "Grasshopper."

Okay, this may be a © violation. If so, or if it makes Tony or Z or the guys at Mauser Central uncomfortable, please delete this post. For rings that I just want to clean up or that haven't been scrubbed I use a barrel stub that I clamp in a vice. Then I use one of those combination stones (Crystalon on one side/ India on the other) and use the coarse side to remove pits etc. You could use this method to remove remainder of your crest. Get the wide stone. Then, In a side to side motion, allowing the stone to ride flat on the ring rock it back and forth in a hack sawing motion. Rotate the receiver a little every few minutes to evenly remove material. Don't concentrate on one area or you'll end up with a flat spot. Use the rough side until the crest is gone then clean off everything to remove the coarse grit and use the other side to get a nice finish. You must be aware of the serial #. It is possible to remove it if you remove too much metal. Three VZ actions. The one on the bottom had a partial crest that has been removed. The one in the middle will soon look like the one on the bottom. The one on the Top has only had the charging hump partially removed in the Jig. This pic shows the Jig I use for milling. I make my passes with and endmill from front to rear or rear to front along the ring. I make a pass (.001) and then rotate the receiver a smidgen. I'll repeat the process again once the entire ring has been covered. I'll do this until all remnants of the old crest are gone. this usually takes less than .005. An indexing table or rotary table would be easier but I don't have one. This will leave a series of very small longitudinal flats that the stones will eliminate later. As you can see I also use it to polish in. A barrel stub held in a vice is also good for holding your work because it allows you to get to the top of the left rail easily. This pic shows how I hold the stone for polishing. I finish off with stones (Crystalon on one side/ India on the other) to keep a nice flat appearance to the front ring . Using only the weight of the stone I make a side to side seesawing/hack sawing motion. Keep the stone flat on the ring. The stone is a bit wider than the ring. Don't let the stone rock or cant near the edges of the ring or they'll round off and you'll end up with low spots. That's the Turk Receiver in the Jig. You'll notice the charger hump has been removed. I used only a file on this one. Why? Just to show it can be done. It will get the stone treatment and look like the VZ. It only takes longer. It does make you appreciate the mill though, that's for sure. This pic shows a Turk that I used only the stone on. It has removed most of the sizable pits. I could remove all the pitting but doing so would remove one of the digits from the serial #. One number was stamped shallower than the rest. I can still safely remove most of these pits while still keeping the ring concentric and keeping the law happy. There were a lot of scratches on the top of the ring all of which are gone now by simply using the Stone. This pic shows the left side of a VZ24 receiver. You'll note that there are no more markings left. These were polished out using the stone. That's lint on the left side near the front ring not scratches. Use the same principal as used on the front ring. Follow the contour of the side. It took about twenty minutes to clean up with a medium stone. None of these receivers have yet to see the fine stone. They have only gotten the coarse treatment so far so they will look much nicer when I hit em with the fine stone.

mcassill- If you go to Steve Wagner's Site and rummage around, you'll find instructions on making a tool to lap the inner torque shoulder. I'd then lap the lugs, and then the bolt face. It seems to me that everything should line up pretty well then. Still, .009 seems like a lot, and in general the advice is not to lap the lugs too much, for obvious reasons, or the bolt face too much, because of potential feeding/extraction problems Now--at risk of yelps of protest--I'll suggest that opinions vary on whether to torque the barrel to the inner torque shoulder, both shoulders, or the receiver face. A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a smith who builds top grade Palma rifles: He advises torquing to the receiver face, as it's impossible to torque to both faces, and the outer torque face has a larger diameter, and is therefore more stable. I'll be curious to read responses here, as this is by no means my area of expertise; I've only built two rifles, and the inner torque shoulder was parallel on both (judging by depth micrometer) after truing the front. flaco

I'll also add that... although z1r is close to perfect--but not quite--he neglected to mention the fact that he uses ATF as a lubricant on the stones. flaco

MorgansBoss- Z's stoning instructions can be found at Mauser Central. I'm pretty certain the instructions can be found at another URL, without the advertisements, but Mauser Central might be an informative site to have on your Bookmarks list. flaco

Look- z1r had the foresight to save this post. It needs to go to the archives, with credit to Bill Soverns and Z sub credited. Can we have a little competence here, Moderators? Thanks, flaco And please delete my post--this one--when you move it. LOL. Just title it "Stock Finishing By Bill Soverns", and subtitle it "Saved By z1r"

This will be pretty short, as I'm pooped, and have a couple of rifles to clean. I shot a sub MOA group--.8"--with Project #2 today. She's 6.5x55, bedded 1909 action with rear pillar, Lothar Walther barrel, Mauser two stage military trigger, stocked in Claro with full length fiddleback, and a BSA Contender scope. It's a four shot group, as I have yet to replace the Argie follower, and the magazine doesn't like that fifth round. I expect a Swede follower will solve the problem. Round was the Sierra 140 HPBT, but I'll have to go back and check my notes for the powder and load. What makes this amazing is that I, well, am a terrible shot. I have a life long flinch, drink too much coffee, and in general have a hard time hitting the broadside of a barn. A whole lot of this success is due to MFRC. I wouldn't have undertaken these projects without MFRC. Everybody has had good advice, but I'd like to single out z1r, because of his selfless dedication to this site, answering even the most imbecilic questions. With little disdain--although he used to get testy sometimes--and almost always in battle with the keyboard, as he doesn't touch type. Anyway, thanks to all. flaco Look, Z, I had breakfast this morning with an English prof and published author who hunts and pecks too. If you do it enough, it really cuts down on the hunt part. LOL. And you can amend that title of you want; it should read "English Major Liberal Shoots Sub MOA Group." LOL. Do you think this is a first?

Thanks for the invite, fritz, but... you guys get riled up enough without my input. LOL. It's the rifle stuff that interests me most, anyway. flaco But you're correct, fritz. I've never been made to feel unwelcome, even though I am a card carrying Liberal, and proud of it. Ain't America great.

MorgansBoss- For Emul8, it's gotta be Belle. Not Beau. (Although I've come to like that.) LOL. flaco

I know, I know, we're all bummed about the loss of the archives. Me as much as any. Still, I'd suggest that this is in some ways an opportunity: We've got a pile of Archive topics with no threads at all. A Blank Slate. Let's get over the "Irreplaceable Loss" moaning and see if we can put together threads so definitive, so exquisite in their detailed approach to important topics that they are nominated for instant inclusion in the archives. flaco And I promise not to make any political posts... at least until I'm through reloading these 50 rds. LOL.

AzRednek- As it happens, I ran across this thread in my wanderings: A Martini Sporter This looks like a very cool rifle to me. And... I know I'll date myself, but when I was a kid the Martinis were a glut on the market. Now they're scarce as hen's teeth. Good luck with you project. flaco

Actually, bilurey- There's a 30-06 on one of the auction sites right now. The gun's not ugly, a full length stock, but the seller--a dealer in PA--refers to the "original barrel." It's an original 7.65 barrel with a s/n that matches the 1909 receiver. Doesn't seem to deter the bidding, so far. Although it's still below what you might pay for a nice 09 action. If I weren't so lazy I'd email the seller and see if the magazine has been lengthened. Dollars to doughnuts it hasn't. flaco I'm still obsessed with the 7.65. Especially if, as Z says, they're ballistically somewhere between the .308 and the 30-06. The 30-06 kicks too much for me, and I'd choose the 308 for it's accuracy... if I didn't have to look at the cases. Am I the only one who thinks they're ugly?

Actually, I'm with Jimro on this one. One of my best friends is a physician, and he hates patients walking in suggesting various drugs. And why, really, DT, must Americans pay more for drugs than most any other developed nation? flaco N.B. I expect you'll see any number of MDs leading the charge against the pharmaceuticals. Still, a good stock tip is a good stock tip. And... my analyst friend made a lot of money on Phillip Morris. LOL. Guess he made his clients a lot of money, too.

Oh come on Emul8. You're the least confrontational member of the board. Excepting your faux squabbles with Shooter Tom. I'm tempted to say token distaff member. What happened to Tall Lynn? flaco Who was that nasty guy? With the black mask? Why... that was flaco, Agent Provocateur.

We need newbs, too. In the past, the dynamic would work something like this: A newb would ask a question, many would answer, and z1r would come up with the definitive answer. Or MorgansBoss, or Tye, or any number of members. I can remember one Winter Friday night watching z1r and MorgansBoss hash out some disagreement: Both eminently experienced and articulate, but with varying opinions. What a pleasure. What a learning experience. And it wasn't politics. I do have one positive suggestion: There are just a few posts that could be moved to the archives, including Bill Soverns' stock finishing method. Some foresighted person saved this. As it is, any newb would wonder what the h*ll the archive section is all about. Since most of the topics are naked. Yes, I can be as provocative as the next guy. But I'd much prefer to read stuff in the gun sections, even if it's something I've read a zillion times before. And there is no pleasure quite like watching the newbs learn, and finish their first project. flaco Note to Newbies: Before the crash, this site was so rich with material that for the most part, topics--"Restoration," or "Sporterizing" say--would go to 20 pages. Think of it. Twenty pages. And after they made the 20 page mark, posts would be evaluated for the "Archives." What a loss.

So. I had breakfast with an old friend this morning, a stock analyst. He picks issues--companies--for a few funds, and private clients. Also, obviously, himself. I asked him if he was invested in pharmaceuticals. "Heavily," he replied. Why? Their stocks are so beaten down by the threat of suit that they're paying phenomenal dividends. Merck, I believe he mentioned, in particular. He mentioned a 6% dividend, which is amazing. Since I spend all my discretionary cash on stock blanks, actions, sights and the like, I haven't gone to the trouble of confirming the numbers he mentioned. And I'm not certain whether this is other peoples' money or his own. Most likely both, I imagine. And if the stock prices go down further, he's gonna by more. Just thought I'd mention it. flaco N.B Also, I find it impressive that there's now a vaccine for cervical cancer, and the human papilloma virus, which is commonly associated with cervical cancer.