rustvyper Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 So the stars finally aligned & I got both the time & the wantto to finish up my 308 project I've been working on for almost a year. So, since the bug had bitten me, I figured - heck, why not do 2? So out came my most pitted action to restart life as a 270. the 308 - Action is a VZ24 which at some point was accepted into the wehrmacht, then sold as a capture weapon to the israelis who rebarrelled it to 7.62 NATO. They were kind enough to modify the feed ramp & put in a metal spacer in the magazine, as well as shorten the follower so a lot of the internal work had been done for me. I sandblasted the whole thing, tapped for a one-piece Leupold & then fit a A&B barrel to it. Next I filled in the locking screw holes on the trigger guard & replaced the military screws with the B Square allen heads. Finally the whole shebang got a mirrored bluing followed by a turtle wax coat. I also replaced the trigger with a bold w/side safety & put a FN style shroud on it. Then I replaced the handle & jeweled the bolt. Finally, a semi-fancy richards microfit stock in montecarlo style came. Boy was it rough!!! the inletting was ok, but the mill obviously needed the cutter sharpened because there were DEEP chatter marks all along the stock. So deep in fact that I really couldn't get them all out without changing the shape of the stock. Fortuantly, those were down on the underside near the recoil pad so they aren't TOO noticable. Most came out with a lot of 150 grit power sanding. about 12 coats of Tru-oil later & she's starting to look real nice! Next out of my box of actions came a german mod 98. This also had been an israeli rebarrel & it had seen some ROUGH days. It was my most pitted action, however it passed a hardness test & the inside was still whole. The israeli's hadn't even bothered to obliterate the wehrmacht marks, they'd simply stamped a HUGE "7.62" & a crappy-looking half star of David - practical folks those israelis! Anyway, there was massive pitting & they horrid looking 7.62 mark so after a good sandblasting I filled the pits & stamps with JB weld then sanded down smooth; filled, sanded, filled, sanded...you get the idea. Again a A&B barrel in 270 win fit the bill & the whole thing was ready for duracoat. Tanglewood, who also did the bolt for me, gave me a good idea. I had ordered gun blue, however, it is REALLY blue. He suggested a mix formula. I didn't have all the blacks he had used, but I did have combat black, so I mixed a solution of 50/50 gun blue & combat black. I had to order bottom metal for this one & file out the insides so that it would accept 150gr rounds. Duracoated the entire thing & then dropped it into a ready made boyds FT thumbhole in laminate nutmeg. I REALLY like this stock. I either got lucky, or boyds has really improved their QC since I last ordered from them. The stock fit like a glove. All I had to do was cut a bolt notch. By now tanglewood's bolt had arrived, so I headspaced the rifle to the bolt & then teardropped the ball. I duracoated the handle, fitted a FN style shroud & bold trigger again, & topped with a 2 piece Leupold for this one. This was a good month of work - but well worth it! Final step...took them to the range today. the 308 right out of the box was dead-on at 100 yards. First time it ever happened to me with just a bore-sight. I know these groups will tighten up, because I discovered the rear of the receiver was slightly loose while shooting at the range. I plan to bed both these rifles so I'll address that then. The 270 wasn't as lucky on it's boresight. In fact, it was well off the paper & these 3 were after I had adjusted once. Forgive the last one - it was my flinch & it produced a nice flyer. Nothing like getting back into building again. Now I already have other projects perculating in my mind!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojelio Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 I like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayak Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 I like the .270, but I'm in love with the classic beauty of the .308. That forearm tip work is gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdm1962 Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Very nice. I would say it was a month well spent. Ralph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Good job(s) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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