carzngunz

Hi Tony, DC is definately the way to go.If you get the AC/DC you can get a tig dry torch setup for around $100 and a bottle of argon and you can tig weld bolt handles and such. You will not have the high frequency so nonferrous metals are out but it is still very useful and well worth the investment. A lot of times you can find these setups at used tool outlets as they are common industrial maintenance setups.

I never believe anything unless I see it on TV!

Also needed for Mas 49/56, If you reload for one.

That's a great idea! I like the way the letters show up.

Walnut, Make sure to post your question for the guys here on this site. There are some very knowledgable car people here!

Great looking rifle! I really like those floorplate releases, to the point of making several myself.

I vote with z1r. I prefer the Timney Sportsman over the Bold and many others that I have tried. I have recently aquired a Timney Featherweight for a tactical/target rifle that I am just getting started on. I have a couple of these and like them very much. I have used several of the Bold triggers but I like the Timney better. It may just be in my head but I would spend the extra couple of dollars for the Timney. I would probably save my money on the more expensive triggers to buy other parts!

I am going to go out on a limb here and offer an opinion on something that I didn't actually witness. It SOUNDS to me like the areas that were spot annealed were allowed to cool too rapidly. After being heated they need to cool very, very slowly. Just removing the heat source and allowing it to sit may be allowing the area to remain in a hardened state. The cross sections where the holes are located are thin. The few times that I have had to do this I just used the torch and kept the heat on and gradually backed it off. This can be tricky if you are not careful and have a good bit of experience with a torch. Something else that may work a little easier and more controlled is to fill a metal coffee can with dry sand, heat it in the oven to about 350 deg. or so and get the sand thoroughly heated. Heat your receiver spots and immediately bury your receiver in the sand. Let it cool until the sand is cool to the touch. Having said this I will also say that I have never even seen a Siamese mauser action. I have had to spot anneal a few holes in other mauser actions and I think either method will work well for you. I also have a drill that I bought to drill out a broken high speed steel, 6-48, tap. It is tiny. It cost over $20. I looks like it would break if you dropped it on the floor. It drilled through the tap like it was made of butter. I was amazed to say the least. I bought it from Travers Tool Co. but that is all I can remember about it. Just be careful, earlier someone posted that he used only carbon steel taps for easier removal in case it breaks. Someone else suggested using a carbide tap. These are extreme opposites in the hardness and brittleness areas. When you break that carbide tap off in the receiver thing are going downhill fast. There are only a few ways to get it out and you ain't gonna like none of them. Be careful and good luck!

Nice job! Great looking rifle.

Nice job on the handles! Keep at it with the files. You will be amazed at what you can do with hand tools and a lot of practice!

The only 243 that I have done was modified just as Z1R suggested. After opening the rails a little it fed fairly well. I found that my extractor was too tight against the cartridge and was causing some problems. After reducing the extractor tension it fed like it was made for it.

Excellent job weaver77! This is much appreciated. I have one of those stocks that I am getting ready to start on. This is very helpful.

Very cool indeed!

I used to remember a real easy one for cutting speeds too but my memory lets me down sometimes! I've got some notes somewhere but I probably couldn't find those either.

An easy formula to remember is: Tap drill size = O.D. (of bolt) - pitch (of threads) Pitch = 1/ threads per inch This gives a decimal size drill. An example would be 3/8-16. 3/8 - 1/16= 5/16 or 0.3125 1/4-20 would be 0.250" - (1/20) or 0.050"= 0.200" a #7 drill is 0.201" This gives a good fit and easy to remember, works for metric also.

I'll offer another repair suggestion, since it's always good to have options! I don't know what kinds of tools that are available to you but this should be an option even if you have to pay someone to make it for you. Since the protruding part of the threads is gone how about this. Drill the threaded hole out to a size that is just a little under 3/8". The only receiver I have close by measures about 3/8" OD at the boss. If the lug bottom is not flat where the thread boss was, file it flat. Turn a piece of stock down, in a lathe, so that it just fits with little clearance into the drilled hole. Make this length dimension the same as the hole. Have the piece that you are machining step up to 3/8" or whatever the OD of the boss actually is and make that length the same as the boss protrudes from the lug. Tap it with the appropriate threads,( 1/4-22 or whatever you want) while it is still in the lathe. Then silver solder it in place. I would leave the threaded hole blind so as not to have any problems with solder accidently getting into the threads. This repair should be more than strong enough and just about invisible. It would generate much less heat than welding. There isn't much room for a thread insert, by the time you drill out the threads and tap it you will leave the boss thin, not to mention having to use other than original thread dimensions. I am sure there are other ways to do this and that's why it's fun to ask these questions here! Good Luck!

Did anyone else look at the starting and stopping times on that auction? Less than 7 minutes! It takes me longer than that to recognize a good deal!

I bought one (stock) from Springfield Sporters a few years ago. They had quite a few at that time.

Plank Road Farm, If you still need a gunsmith close by try here, http://www.gun-shop.biz/index.html, Fred does good work and is your general area.

OK, I'm going to jump in here with several random thoughts. Bear with me if I ramble and jump around some. The C&R (Curio and Relic) license is the best thing going for people in our hobby. You don't need a kit. You can download the form from the ATF website. Send it in with the appropriate fee ($30 I think) and a copy to your local chief law enforcement officer. In a few weeks you will have your license. As for record keeping all you need is a book to keep track of your C&R purchases. There are several ways to do this but Brownells sells a book just for this for a couple of dollars. Money well spent. The C&R will let you get dealer pricing from Midway USA and Brownells among others. Very good for sporterizing rifles! Be very careful of what you read on the internet concerning firearm laws. When you get your license the ATF will send you books with all of the laws and also a book of their interpretation of some of the laws. Their version is not always correct. But they enforce them. I have read many, many times very bad and wrong advice about firearm laws. Often times it is bad advice that just keeps getting repeated over and over. A lot of the bad information comes from people who claim to and should know better. This is the hard part, when you get the books read the all of the laws concerning collectors, both federal and the state laws where you live. They are not always the same. I have had to read the same paragraph 8 or 9 times just to understand the meaning, but the most important part is that after YOU read through the laws it is much easier to go back and look up specific information when a question or problem comes up. Another thing is that, contrary to popular belief, the ATF isn't sitting around waitng to lock up you and your family if you make a mistake. As long as you are intending to follow the laws you are not likely to have any type of problem with the government, for now anyway! I have been looking into some of the 6.5 cartridges lately. I still haven't made up my mind which way I am going to go yet, but most will get the job done, whether for target shooting or hunting. If you are using one of the intermediate length actions the all the previous advice is good. 260 or 6.5x55, both are excellent cartridges. Choose based on cartrdge availability for your situation, especially if you don't handload, yet. If you keep building rifles you will. I have built a couple based on the 308 case and one fed just like it was made for the action and a 243 took a LOT of work to get it to feed correctly. Make friends with a machinist. Most of the work you will need in the beginning is very simple and not much trouble to set up for an experienced machinist. Translate this into cheap cost or maybe trading out work, especially if you are good with computers. People are always crashing these things. If you don't know any machinists, ask around, I guarantee that someone you know does. Find one who likes guns, also not too difficult. Most mechanical type people like guns, being mechanical devices and all. OK, I'm tired of typing with both my fingers so I'll give it a break now. Good luck with your project.

I would think that feeding problems would be minimal. Then again I bought an unissued M48A that wouldn't feed the 8x57 it was chambered for. Tried several different rounds and none would feed out of the magazine, so you never know till you try.

I have a question. Why would you recommend a 6.5x57 over the standard 6.5x55? I have been looking at some 6.5's and thought I may have missed something.

I bought myself a present on Gunbroker. A Mauser C96 Broomhandle. Wanted one for a long time now. I'll probably get it in a day or two! I knew better than to wait for someone else to get it for me!

I've been around this site for a long time now. I don't post a lot but I do read a lot. I don't know Tony personally but I DO know how he makes a living. I wish he had time to sit around and censor eveyone's posts but I know better. As for losing the posts, that has been going on AT LEAST since the board was changed. I never thought Tony or any other person was responsible for this. All in all this is a pretty fine place to be. I appreciate everyone's opinion because after a lot of years I finally figured out that I'm not always right! Soooo I will leave off with this: GET OVER IT! and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have a tactical style rifle/ target rifle project running around in my head. I thought about making a handle similar to yours only using a parting tool to make grooves in the knob part of the handle. I'm not sure how it would look on a rifle but in my head it looks pretty good! As for yours, welding and bluing should be no problem. 1018 welds great and blues just as well. Bluing is just a rusting process and that stuff rusts easily. Good luck!