Jeff H

I bought my Dad an action wrench and barrel vice for his birthday several years ago and I drop mine off with him. However, he is a retired tool and die maker with 40+ years in the trade and can figure out about anything. He still amazes me with the solutions he comes up with even as long as I have known him. A great big pipe wrench was his solution and it wroks admirably. He uses PB Blaster for any "sticky situation" but I use Kroil.

Whoooa, not so fast,..... one other requirement. You have to have a camera and be able to post pics of the build, otherwise, you have to leave it original. Not really, but it's always fun to share the experience and you'll make a lot of friends that way.

I look for really nasty ones and check out the action. If the action is good and the rest is beyond hope, I have a candidate. I also tend to be attracted to the poorly "sporterized" guns that everyone else seems ashamed to be caught looking at, as they are prime candidates for sportizing - someone else already defiled them. Do you have any photos?

I finally got my '95 back. I had trdaded it to a guy who wanted a "project" but the project never made it off the ground, do I traded him some stuff for it. Said he had 500 rounds of commercial ammo to throw int on the trade but showed up with 200 rounds of new/modern Bosian 139 gr. FMJ. Pulled one to make sure it was boxer primed, and it is, but the flash holes are tiny. Anyway, will be trying to decide whether to remove the '94 Swede barrel and go for a project or just put a stock on it and use it. Could have sworn I D/T'd this one foe a reciever sight, but no holes anywhere. The extractor is not allowing the Bosnian case heads to come into the bolt face recess because the edge that goes into the extracor groove is "long," so that extractor may work with the .35R case head.

Wow! Been a long time since you could buy one of those for that. That would have been a good deal even for just an action. What shape is the bore in? If it's a 7x57. I would be shooting it, but it would kill me to leave it original. I try to leave those to other folks who I can trust not to mess with it.

Some day...... at least that's the plan. I will have to be content to shoot at wood chucks and dirt clods in the meantime, but that's good enough reason to assemble a rifle in itself.

Hey, that worked out perfectly. Now, I wish I had kept the harware from the stock. The stock was a mess, but the harware seemed to be in decent shape. PM forthcoming. Thanks, Jim. Jeff

I was reading through the old threads and got to thinking about some of the stuff you guys have that is still original - not sporterized. As you all know, the '09 bolt stop is not the ideal piece for a sporter and I was planning on replacing it some day. If anyone here has an '09 and needs an original bolt stop for it and has a bolt stop in nice condition they would be willing to trade, mine is available. Otherwise, it will languish in a parts box.

Good point, but I wouldn't be loading the .35R to the point of sticky extraction. I appreciate the input from everyone. I don't want to remove the barrel just to run a few through it but I will rlemove the barrel if I am pretty certain the cartridge change is viable with the above considerations.

You're singing the siren's song with that post, Larry. I have yet to run a case through it. What you did with yours sounds like what I was thinking but with a stubby barrel.

The 6.5 barrel is fine - just the way I described what had to be done... Gave it another shot in my last post. I won't put a .358 Win on it because when someone buys it at my estate sale, they could put factory stuff in it. Haven't looked up the pressure on the .358 though, so maybe..... I am liking the 9x57 idea though. I will have to check the bore/groove dimensions and see if the mould I got for this project will work. It's an RDO and I have squeezed them a good bit but don't know the limit. 8x57 and 7x57 brass may be easier to locate that the .35 Remington too. Hmmmm.....

Yes, aware of the bolt face/extractor difference. I could replace the extractor with an oversized one as I sumble accross one that is "tight" from time to time. Better to save one like that and replace with one tha fites better. It can be trimmed a little with some stoning. The .35 R cases don't seem to slop around a lot in this bolt face, even though it's chambered for a 6.5x55. I have been using Remington brass in it and the bag of 100 that I got measures the same as my .257, 7x57, etc. brass. Go figure. That did sound weird the way I said that. The 'smith who put the barrel on tried it without any machining, and when he had the barrel seated, it headspaced, but the sights were on the bottom, so instead of setting the barrel back and touching the chamber up, he rotated the sights.

So, I have this '95 Chilean, in very nice shape, with a '94 Swede barrel and '93 Spanish bottom metal (hinged floorplate with button inside the guard) and no wood. I had a Choate stoc on it but sold it. I know it will shoot with the Swede barrel, but I have been wanting to make it into a .35 Remington but the budget is tight, since I gave up my "real" job and went into teaching at a local community college. Shilen has a short-chambered barrel for $225. I can install it and rent a reamer and do all the rest of the work myself. This will actually be used primarily with cast bullet ans iron sight. Any ideas on how well that Shilen will perform? Anyone know of another alternative? Is the '94 Swede barrel worth anything? The sights were heated and turned 180 degrees to prevent setting back and rechambering. It headspaced when seated, but the sights were upside down. Thanks. Jeff

Thanks much, Sir! The deer are safe here in Ohio. No rifles - which is probably a good thing with as flat as it is in my corner. I may have to use up a few of those 160s on some woodchucks though, until I work up a load with something lighter. Glad I stayed with my original plan on the '09. Of course, it would have just ended up as a 7x57 or .257 Roberts anyway if not a 6.5.

Hard to believe that I posted THAT long ago on this, but I have had this ready to shoot since shortly after I posted, just never got a chance to get out. Well, I changed jobs and took a week off in between and got her out. The loads I had were 160 grain Hornady Round noses loaded for an M38 Husky that would put them into less than an inch at a hundred yards. I was surprised that my A&B barrel would do this. Of course, it is STILL not done, but the new job will afford me a bit more time for my projects. Oh, those are three shot groups. Pics of the groups were with my cell at the range, real camera at home for the rifle.

Thanks for the response, Clemson. I did save this '09 for the 6.5x55 specifically because they are both my favorites and have a couple VZ24s set aside for whatever else. Jeff H

This is the second thread I have see on this subject lately. I built a 6.5x55 sporter on a DWM '09 Argentine that is ready to shoot. The action showed no signs of setback before insatlling the barrel and I was assured that the 6.5x55 would be fine in this action. I load my 6.5s rather sedately - nothing not already deemed suitable for the '96s and usually not even the max listed for those. Do I need to be concerned about this in my '09?

For what it's worth, I have a Columbian FN (a military Mauser) with the H-ring. It's a sporter now but started life in the military and with the H-ring. Don't remember seeing a date and the base covers most of what was visible on the ring. My Dad built a .257 Roberts on it for me almost 20 years ago now.