Eldora

The name is Steve. My surname is from English descent but lots of Irish blood here, too. We live in northwest North Carolina on part of what was my grandfather's farm. I've hunted all over these hills and hollers since I could carry a gun. Sadly, it's getting too crowded to do that anymore. I'm a 45 year old 2nd generation electrical contractor. Never done anything else but we do like to invest in real estate from time to time. Married to a real "peach" of a lady, who I probably don't deserve, for going on 27 years, now. No kids. Thought I'd wait until the honeymoon was over! LOL! I have a pretty decent "accumulation" of guns gathered up over the years. Nothing really fancy but I enjoy 'em all. Sometimes I just like to look at them and handle them! We have a private informal range set up here on the farm with a bench and target stand. We can shoot about 100 yards max. It's cool to have a place to shoot at home when I can grab a few minutes! Don't have time to work on guns very much, although I did build a 7X57 on a Polish action a couple of years ago. It turned out pretty well. I currently have a Mexican action waiting for a project. We do most of our deer hunting in West Virginia where we have friends and a small piece of property. My real passion is quail hunting and dog training but with all the development around here, it's **** near impossible to find a place to hunt for birds that aren't there anyway. I do still have a Brittany who's getting old on me. She'll soon be 11. Don't think I'll get another one until I can get the business arranged to the point where I have enough time to train a pup. That's me. This has been interesting reading about everyone.

I had a chance to trade for a Model #1066 S&W last week from a friend. It had only been fired 2 clips or 18 rounds. Traded him a cassette-style varmint call plus some cash. I'd never had any luck with the call anyway and it was going down in value, too. Thought it'd be a good chance to move it out for something of better value. It's a 10mm, stainless steel with a skeleton holster and an extra clip. Mighty smooth and accurate, too! I originally intended to just trade on it but...you know how it is. I never seem to want to get rid of anything! It's going to be our house gun for defense. Burglars beware!

It'd suit me fine. Been trying to find time to go shoot, anyway Everybody and his brother seems to want electrical work done right at Christmas!

Beautiful indeed! I've considered building a Kentucky style several times just for the heck of it. Just never got around to it. You know how it is...so many ideas and not enough time/money to satisfy the urge. I still use BP too and was not aware of the regs. Better see if I can round up a couple of pounds. Again, great looking rifle! Enjoy!

Have you tried RIG? My local dealer swears by it for rust prevention. I use it on all my rifles 'cause I usually wind up hunting in snow or rain. So far, so good. Coat the metal well under the wood line and put 'er back together. I do check it right after each season though.

Thanks! I'll take my time in the next one. Seriously, I think 100 yards would be better although I personally would rather shoot for group size than X's. But I'll go for whatever the group wants to do. Just post the rules. This is fun!

Of course this is just my .02 worth. If it were mine and I 'm going to all this (pleasant) trouble to re-barrel, re-stock, etc., Iwould definitely matte blue the entire rifle. There is something in that soft glow that appeals to me and says "class". BTW, I have rifles with each type of finish. As for rust bluing, I'm going to try it after deer season on a floorplate/triggerguard. I'm not satisfied with it's finish and want to learn before beginning my next project rifle. Good Luck!

I'm in northwest NC and the bow season is in full swing since early September. Black powder opens for a week this Saturday and the rifle season the next Saturday. Runs until about the first of the year with a limit of 6. It's a pretty big deal with a lot of absenteeism at the schools. I don't hunt much here, though. Being a business owner makes it almost impossible to hunt from home. We go to West Virginia for the big event and take a few hours occasionally around home when the opportunity arises. We have a small parcel with a couple of campers set up on it. Makes for a pretty comfortable setup. Friends allow us access to nearly 800 private acres! Non-resident licenses in WV start around $110 and go up with each additional $25 stamp that is required for additional deer (bucks or does) with different weapons. I spent $135 for a license, conservation stamp and an additional doe tag this year. I don't hunt turkey, bow hunt or (usually) ML so it doesn't cost me as much as it could. WV licenses run with the calendar year unlike NC which runs July 1-June 30 each year. I've had a lifetime Sportsmans License sine the '80's so I'd have to look at the fee schedule. The schools close down for opening week in the county we hunt in. Guess you'd have to say it's a big deal there, too! My dad started taking me with him when I was 11 in '71. We've only missed one year together since. He's 72 and I'm the one taking care of the arrangements now. He's in good health for his age but I keep a pretty close eye on him. Heck, I would much rather help him drag out a nice buck than kill it myself anyway!

I think this is a cool idea and I'd like to shoot in it. My rifles are zeroed about 2 1/2" high so "score" is my vote. The target don't matter. Just post the official decision. Did I overlook the mailing address? Thanks, MB for suggesting this!

Mighty fine! That's an inspiration for that Mexican action I've been wanting to get started on. Maybe I should ask Santa for a lathe? Seriously... very, very nice!

Thanks for the compliments! I had E.R. Shaw put on the bolt handle, d/t, barrel and blue. They left the corner of the bolt too square to clear a scope so I re-contoured it. I also did the bolt jeweling with a homemade jig I found on Steve Wagner's site (did the magazine follower too). The stock is from Richard's Microfit and is my handiwork, also. It's glass bedded 2" past the receiver and pillar bedded. The checkering is my first attempt but it looks pretty good. I've re-cut several projects but never did one from scratch. Scope is a Bausch & Lomb Elite 3200 3x9x40. The bottom metal is a Santa Barbara and is the one thing I'm not satisfied with. Originally, I had planned to use an aluminum one from Brownell's. After sending it off to Shaw I changed my mind and then had to blue the floorplate/triggerguard myself. My Dad used to run a small gun shop years ago so he has a few tools that I've borrowed. He and I are going to refinish the bottom after hunting season. He still has his bluing set-up although it hasn't been used in quite some time. I have a customer who runs a chemical company so we got the salts from him. The trigger is a Timney Deluxe w/safety. BTW, I shot it several times yesterday with new brass and everything appears OK. I even cut one of the fired brass to inspect it inside. No signs of stress so, apparently my problem was a mis-adjusted resizing die. Now...for that big old buck in a couple of weeks!

Thanks! Sorry for the messy post. I'm not too good with this computer.

Sorry, I'll keep trying. It's easy to see that I'm no computer geek!

I would like to show you guys a few pictures of the rifle in question but don't know how. I have them on a disk converted from 35mm film.

OK, guys. That "no-go" gauge finally came today. My rifle won't close on it. I believe I could force it by hand but I haven't and won't. The bolt will close about 80% before stopping. There is some slight pressure as the bolt comes down. Instructions say that a rifle that will close on a "no-go" MAY have excessive headspace but still be within SAAMI standards. So, if I'm understanding this correctly, the rifle is probably OK and my re-sizing die was the problem after all. I've thrown out all my used brass and will start over with new & unfired. The first resizing will be done carefully so as not to ruin it and create another unsafe situation. I greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions! It was a great learning opportunity.

Thanks, Clemson. I ordered one from Midway just now. I won't fire it until I check it out.

Thanks, guys. I've been gone to clean up our hunting camp this weekend so I'm just now getting your replies. To be more clear...I think the reloading die was out of adjustment from the beginning. It was bumping the shellholder pretty hard. We (my Dad & I) backed it off so that a resized cartridge will chamber easily but no more. The one that seperated had been 'sized and fired 2-3 times with the original die setting. If the die was the problem, that case may have been weakened especially if, as I suspect, the shoulder had been set back too far. And it could very well be a little long-chambered. Only way to tell is to do a casting. Good idea! I'm going to fire it with a brand-new unfired case, safely from a distance of course, to see if a problem develops with that. BTW, this isn't close to an overload! I'll probably buy some factory ammo, too. That's a good idea, too. Shaw did a beautiful job on everything else so it's hard to imagine they would mess up something as important as headspacing. I'll have it checked professionally before saying anything to them IF I continue to have problems. Just to be sure. I'll keep you posted.

I customized a Radom mauser two years ago into a pretty nice-looking classic deer rifle chambered 7x57. Did the stock work and bolt-jeweling myself. Haven't shot it very much until now getting ready for the season. I've tried various handloads in an attempt to find something it likes. Sometimes it shoots very tight groups, other times it's awful (same load). I 'glass bedded it completely so I'm pretty sure that's not the problem, especially since the last few days. I began to notice signs resembling excessive headspace. This isn't close to a maximum load, either. I checked all my brass and the resizing die. The die was off a bit so it was re-adjusted correctly and I bought new brass. Today I fired it three times and the last case seperated. Needless to say, I stopped immediately! The action was trued, barreled and blued by E.R.Shaw because I knew I didn't have the capability to do it right. The finish is beautiful but I'm thinking the workmanship is not. Question is...now what? Re-barrel? Take it off, turn the shoulder and re-install? I've also discovered the chamber isn't perfectly round either! In fact, could that be the whole problem? Could there be a problem with the bolt lugs? How would I tell? You guys could/would tackle this yourself but I'm not comfortable trying it since I don't have the tools or experience. Who comes recommended? A lot of questions....hopefully a few suggestions? Thanks!