Doble Troble Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 I still need to add the front sight (from a 24/47 with a slimmed-down blade) the rear sight (an old, banged-up Lyman 57 that has been purdied-up - the receiver is already drilled for it but its tapped for 8 x something more than 32 and so I'm still looking for screws), and the top handguard (made from a Turk and held by a reblued Turk band tapped for a #6 screw, made from a #10 nail and blued) needs to be wired with a copper wire that I'll probably get from the scrap wire box (I'll need to strip several inches which I hope won't be a problem. The stock was splitting so I had to pin it. I may have to add one more at the wrist - there's a crack, but I don't know if its growing or not. I blued the barrel, receiver, butt plate and barrel band. The bottom metal was in pretty good shape, so I left it alone (the origninal bluing where remaining was artistically done - the bolt release was a bit worn but was flamed blued and what was left was so pretty I left that alone too). The bluing I did came-out pretty good. I've done better but this is just fine. I tried steaming for a couple of passes, which with my modified detergent method is problematic. I include detergent (selsun blue shampoo in the bluing solution, and Dawn dishwasing detergent in the boiling solution) to keep oil at bay so I don't have to worry about it. The steaming doesn't have detergent, and its hard to return to anality after giving it up for a while, and so I've got to continue boiling in detergent to avoid oil spots. Hopefully I'll find the sight screws at Home Depot tomorrow (do they carry 8 x 40?) If so I WILL FIND TIME FOR THE RANGE ON FRIDAY and I'll report back on accuracy. This little rifle weighs in at 6 lbs 8 oz without the sights. The trigger is perfect. I can't wait to shoot it. I can't wait to kill a deer with it next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemson Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 8x40 screws will have to come from Brownells. The Model 91 was really well-made, wasn't it? Too bad it is a low-pressure design. The machine work on one is unparalleled. Clemson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 I got to thinkin'. I just bought a Lyman no. 55 black powder dispenser. Maybe make some bp loads, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Clemson, You're right, no 8 x 40 screws to be found in our little burg. But due to the miracle that is the mini-lathe I made my own damn screws! It took most of my time this eve and so I still don't have the front sight on so no range time tomorrow. I should be able to get the sight on Sat. morning and if everything goes according to plan I'll be shooting it Sunday afternoon. FC, I'm not planning on hotrodding it, but I'm confident that I'll get close to 2500 fps with a 140 gr bullet at 45,000 psi - we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Holy smokes!!! You made an 8X40 Screw?? Gotta love that! Now Can I put in an order??? I need a kind of "special" screw. 6X48X.350, w/ a large "pan" head, straight slot!!! Seriously tho, You have a very cool project cookin' right there!! I for one will be dissappointed if we don't get to share this to the "end"... MV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Hey Racepres, #8 screws aren't too hard to make. I've made a #4 that was a bit more challenging - the problem is they tend to snap in two when cutting threads. But by the time you file the slot and flame blue them you've got an hour into making a 25 cent part. But in this case it should allow me to shoot it this weekend - so it was worth the effort. If you really need a #6 x 48 with a .35 headI'd be happy to try to make one - let me know how thick you need the head and how long you need the screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racepres Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 DT: Thanks for the offer! If I don't find one in the next while, I will certainly let ya know!! I am in amazement, as my old eyes can't see the threads on those little devils!! Can't imagine myself trying to grind the tooling for any X40-48 thread!! Go, Man Go. MV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemson Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Lookin' good, DT! It is amazing how far a piece of 3/16 drill rod and a pint of determination will go. Clemson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Here's the "finished" product. Quotes of irony because I'm confident that after I get it back from the range that there will be more tweaking to do. How could it be fun if this wasn't the case? I'm hoping that I'll be shooting it tomorrow afternoon. I've got 20 rounds of starting loads prepped so my path should be clear. The lower panel is to illustrate results of my Bubba approach to hole filling of a military stock. There are two holes. The one on the face is easy to see, the one on the bottom isn't and so I put the big arrow in to point it out. Of course there HAD to be a wrinkle. After I managed to solder the front sight on I attached the top handguard with a stretch of stripped scrap electrical wire (this is correct way to attach a 91 Argie handguard and so it is NOT Bubba - even though it is cool). When I got it all together and tightened up the action screws, all of a sudden the barrel started torquing skyward and hitting the upper handguard. DAMN! It didn't do this before! What's going on? This will wreak havoc on any potential accuracy! My blood pressure starts rising. I was so careful with the inletting of everything just to avoid this type of frickin' problem. I thought I was getting good at this, and all of a sudden out of nowhere comes thiss unexpected wrinkle in my carrefully prepared plans - Dammit! I tear it all apart looking for an errant chip that may be causing interference - none - it looks perfectly clean! Maybe this 110 year old stock has finally had enough of Bubba modifying it and decided to warp overnight? I break-out the inletting black. Any time you break-out the inletting black when you didn't expect to have to, you are by definition having either a bad day or evening. I blacken all the bottom surfaces - it's kind of a pain with the handguard wired so I try to slide it off the front sight, but it won't go. So there I leave it dangling in space while I reassemble everything else and tighten it up and take it apart looking for rubs. There's nothing notable, but a few marks so I take them off with the chisel. What is going on. I try again, and again. Oh, its dinner time so I have to take a break. I come back with a clear head and the problem also becomes clear. The wire "pig tail" left under the barrel after wiring the handguard is interfering with the bedding. A quick chisel cut to provide clearance sets everything straight. Lesson learned. If you've been careful to cut everything to fit and it doesn't don't get flustered. Take a break to think about it and come back to the problem with an open mind. Hopefully I'll have some good pix of holes in a target to show you guys tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Lesson learned....... don't get flustered. Take a break to think about it a come back to the problem with an open mind. Best suggestion I've heard in a long time. Good luck tomorrow. Oh, and it llooks good. I have one that will be a project too. I was going to rebarel but thought instead, I'll load up 180's at 2400 and call it a day. A redifeld receiver sight and new stock and we are good to go. Now, if I only had the time and equipment, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Thanks, Z. I hope you like yours as much as I'm enjoying this one. They're really beautiful guns. Well multiple quotes of irony have emerged. I shot it both today and yesterday. It looks like its going to be a shooter with these 140 gr Rem bulk coreloks. I seat them to the cannulature over 41.6 gr of AA2495. This is a load that I worked-up using the same barrel in rifle I built for my father in law for Christmas. Based on experiments with my FIL's rifle, I expect these bullets to be doing about 2550 (I still haven't sent my Chrony back for repair after a wad took it out this summer - I'm behind on a lot of things). Anyway, yesterday didn't produce a target because I was walking all over it getting a zero, and the boy scouts had a shooting day and the range was busy so I only got 10 rounds off. It was worth it to hang-out with the youngsters learning to shoot high power, and I figured-out really quick that I needed to make a taller front sight - the one that I modified from a 24/47 wasn't nearly tall enough. So I made a new sight after I got back from the range yesterday. Actually I made two. I have trouble making dovetailed sights, it seems like they always are either way too tight, or after I file them just a few more strokes, they become way too loose. I managed to be patient enough the second time around to get one that fit tight. So I took it back out to the range today. I got it right on paper, but of course it was shooting way left because I left the sight way right because I didn't want to file it any more because if I did I was sure that it wouldn't fit. So it fit tight. It still looks like its grouping well - at least within two inches and probably better (sorry, you'll have to wait for the evidence). But now it's shooting about a foot low. I packed my file expecting this so, file-file-file, shoot its up about three inches. File-file-file, shoot its up another three inches.... Finally I managed to get the elevation where I want it. It's still about 7" left of where I want it. I've got a hammer and punch in my case, so I decide to try to move the sight. Whack, whack, whack. Nothing it didn't move. Damn. WHACK, WHACK, WHACK! Hey! Something moved! But of course it wasn't the sight blade, it was the base. So clearly I didn't solder it well enough. So I've just finished with tonight's project of resoldering the front sight (it beats having this happen in the field which is why problems at the range should be embraced as disasters averted). I'll be taking it out again tomorrow with hopes that I'll get to shoot it again to produce a target to post here. We're having an informal Garand match - a "pick-up" Garand match. A bunch of us officially have tomorrow off for Dr. King's B-Day. I've got some work to do in the morning, and hope that Dr. King won't mind a lot of 30-06 going downrange in the afternoon - it seems American to me, and in the spirit of non-violence the best defense is a strong offense - it's somehow comforting to see a bunch of guys taking beat-up 60 year old rifles, 35 rounds of 30 year old ammo, and from various positions, putting them all in 6" at 100 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z1r Posted January 15, 2007 Report Share Posted January 15, 2007 Great report. But, am I missing something? 140 grains .311's? What caliber is this? 7x57? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted January 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Z, Yes, it's 7 x 57. I should have been more clear. I put one of the $35 Sarco 19" large rings on it. I had to turn it down and rethread. I put the upper hand guard on it to hide some major pitting - but I've been wanting to try my hand at putting a hand guard on a sporter so this was a perfect opportunity. Shot it today with the Garand guys. Still no target 'cause it became a popular item and it seems like everyone shot it. Everyone was hittiing the paper so I still think its shooting well. At least nothing came loose today. Maybe next weekend I'll get some time alone with it. One of the guys had his Chrony set-up - it clocked 2596 - one shot - about 20' from the muzzle - 41.6 gr of AA2495 with the 140 gr Coreloks. Zeroed a little high at 100 yds it was hitting an SR-1 center at 200 yds usually in the black depending on who was shooting it. This is the first rifle I'll be hunting with next year - come on September! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted January 16, 2007 Report Share Posted January 16, 2007 Sounds like real shooter. I've got two 7X57s in the works, a k-kale and a chilean 95. I'll be posting photos soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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