dirtyjim Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 the circus is in town so i needed something in case one of those pesky elephants escapes. the action in a rail marked oberndorf, bottom metal & bolt handle are from sound metal products & the stock is a british express rifle classic from great americans bargain bin. i started working on it a few months ago and finally had time to thread the barrel and chamber it today, hopefully next weekend i'll have time to inlet it into the stock. i still need to finish opening up the rails, finish shaping the bolt handle, get the barrel band sling swivel, silvers pad & a metal grip cap. for the rear sight i'll probably use a necg island base with a two leaf sight but i may run a banded rear sight base. i'm going to try to have it finished by october, if its not finished it will at least be shooting by then. a pic of the parts before i got the smp bottom metal smp bottom metal & square shank bolt handle barrel mounted another pic of the action & bottom metal i need a bigger lathe smp bottom metal next to argie 1909 bottom metal for comparison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 the circus is in town so i needed something in case one of those pesky elephants escapes. i need a bigger lathe [ You just need a bigger gun . Thats going to be a nice stomper Jim. Give us a close up of that bolt after you get it shaped up and looking good. Its very intresting, I like it. Nice stock choice too, it will compliment the rifle well. Hows the inletting look on those stocks? Brenden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dindvik Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 can't find where you got the stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojelio Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Nice Project! What barrel are you going with? Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic1 Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 nice start ... link for stock.. http://www.gunstocks.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted July 7, 2010 Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 Should be a nice rifle when you get finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronploude Posted July 7, 2010 Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 I assume the definition of "smp" bottom metal is "self made part"? If so, then I'm in awe. The bottom metal alone is quite a piece of metal smithing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojelio Posted July 8, 2010 Report Share Posted July 8, 2010 I assume the definition of "smp" bottom metal is "self made part"? If so, then I'm in awe. The bottom metal alone is quite a piece of metal smithing. Sound Metal Products (Duane Weibe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted July 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 Brenden, i've had three stocks from great american and they were all from their bargain bin. the inletting on them has always been usable. in the action area and barrel channel they all requred quite a bit a material to be removed and they were slightly deep in the bottom metal area. on one of them i wanted a trim german style rifle so i just shortened and slightly angled the magwell and front pillar to work with the deeper inletting. on the other i had to shim the bottom metal up about 1/8" then bed it in place. hopefully this one will be better. Roger, its a a&b barrel. i know they get a bad rap but i also know several people who have had great luck on big bores with them. this rifle will mainly be shot offhand at 25 yards & i'm not looking for extreme accuaracy. i have one more chamber to cut then i'm going to donate the reamer to the co-op Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden Posted July 11, 2010 Report Share Posted July 11, 2010 Thanks for the info Jim. I've been looking at their stocks, just wanted some feedback. Doesn't sound like any major issues; all can be addressed with a good wood rasp I'm on my 4th A&B, and I can't find any accuracy problems. My .308 and 338-06 are one hole guns and I'm not the best shot in the world either. Needless to say, for the money I paid, I received more than I expected. I'm anxious to see how this 375 turns out. It’s a beautiful start. Just out of curiosity, did you stick weld your bolt on? I'm still waiting on the final shaping I like that bolt design. Brenden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted July 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 brenden, i tack the handle where i want it with my mig then have a local shop tig weld it on. i've done them with a stick, mig & flux core wire and untill i get a tig i'll keep tacking it in place and have the local guy finish it with a tig. i did a springfield bolt handle with a stick once and it came out good but wasn't worth the time i had in it. i started inletting the stock and so far the only problem i've ran into is the rear tang area was cut about .200 to deep so it will have to be bedded. i guess that was one of the reasons it was in the bargain bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 its inletted into the stock now, i'm going to order most of the parts to finish it next week. i still need to order the rear sight, front sight insert, banded sling swivel, silvers pad & a grip cap. i also need to figure out the dimensions for my banded rear sight base so i can have it made. i was going to use one from recknagel but all of theirs are slightly to big or slightly to small. the stock has a lot of mineral streaks that should come out when i finish it. right now the forearm is 7 1/2 inches long in the short british style. it may end up being just a tad longer when i install the ebony tip. the exact lenght of the forearm depends on the rear sight base that i haven't had made yet. i still need to sand some of the file marks off the bolt handle. i realy like the look of this big fat bottom metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojelio Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 That's a sexy looking rig. It's coming right along. Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdanh Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 i realy like the look of this big fat bottom metal Same here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob58 Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Nice - can we see a picture of the feed ramp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted August 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 bob, i'm still working on the feedramp and rails. as soon as i have them finished i'll post a couple pictures. since i don't have a mill yet i had to be a little creative opening up the action. i used a drill press with an x-y table and a carbide burr to open up the bottom of the action. it actually worked better than i thought it would. i'm still tweaking the rails and ramp a little at a time. the ramp is very close but the right side rail still needs a little work then i'll focus on the left side rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted September 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2010 its just about ready to shoot. i'll put the front sight insert in & start regulating the sights next weekend. the feed rails still need a little bit of work but they are very close. all thats left is to install the cross bolt, install the ebony tip, regulate the sights, install the rear sling swivel base, finigsh the stock then rustblue the metal. so far i have right at $1100 in it and almost half of that is in the bottom metal & sights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden Posted September 13, 2010 Report Share Posted September 13, 2010 Thats a good looking gun. Bolt turned out nice as well. I'd be very pleased with that one. The L.O.P looks to be pretty long,or is it just the picture? I like a longer l.o.p for open sites, and cuz of my arm length... I've pondered the crossbolt. How tough is it to install? Anyway.. very nie Jim. Brenden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted September 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2010 the lop is right at 15". it feels right so thats were i'm going to leave it at. the cross bolt shouldn't be to hard to install, i'll find out in a day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted October 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 i put 15 rounds down range regulating the sights today. it shoots, feeds, extracts and ejects very nice. the sights centered up real nice too, the only concern i had with using an a&b barrel was the sights being way over to one side but it shoots straight so that wasn't a problem. brenden, i used the b-square jig to put the crossbolt in but i think it wound be just as easy to put an angle plate on the drill press to install it. i also bedded the front receiver ring & recoil lug area. i think between the bedding and the cross bolt the stock should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Good to hear everything turned out well. That gun sure is a beauty. I've been getting the hankering to do a big bore. I'm thinking a 9.3x62, but some day i would like a .375 H&H. Hows that A&B treating you? Brenden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuedoperson Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Nice rifle Jim! What had you done to the stock at the time of those pics is that the bare wood? I am working on my first build right now(338-06)and i'm still working the stock. I also got one from GAG an oberndorf. Have it mostly inletted but am still tweaking it.Getting ready to do the recoil pad soon and was wondering what u did there.My stock has the little inlet at the top for a buttplate as it looks yours does it looks like u filled yours with a spacer howd you do that?. I want to keep my LOP long too. I have long arms and all my factory rifles are way too short always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtyjim Posted January 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 the stock is bare wood in the pictures, now that hunting season is over i can get back to work on it. i have one of gag's oberndorf stocks on another project. the pad i have on this rifle is a galazan period pad & the widows peak is part of the pad. all i did was sand and file the back of the buttstock square then placed the pad on the stock with the widows peak on top of the stock. i then marked the tip of the widows peak with a pencil and drilled a 1/16" hole on the edge of the mark in the center of the top of the stock. then i place the pad on top of the stock lining up the tip of the widows peak with the hole that i drilled and scribed the sides of the widows peak. i then inletted the top of the stock down for it. mounted the pad and used my hillbilly disk sander(bench grinder with a 6" piece of wood with a 80 grit sanding disk attatched to it) to grind the pad to shape. i have about 40 rounds through it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuedoperson Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Ok Jim, thanks for the info. Where do you get the galzan pad? I like the rifle so far. I really want one in 375 H&H someday but ive read it takes too much out of the feed ramp and it weakens the action...you obviously dont agree? How do you go about fitting the barrel band swivel? I wanted to do one of those my self.Where did you get the front sight? Ive seen some from NEGC but they are pretty expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Jim, Looking great! How did you handle opening up the action? Did you split the difference and open up the receiver from both the front and rear or did your magazine cause you take most of it out of the feed ramp? I've thought about doing a project like this forever but have always been warned off by the gunsmiths I know. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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