Just picked up a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in 308 for $480 with Harris bipod and the base included. I've always wanted a bolt action rifle and this was a chance I couldn't pass up. I'll be picking up a new BCM AR or hopefully a Maadi AK within the next week.
So I was at a local shop yesterday, one I only check occasionally as they don't usually have much in the was of military surplus stuff. However, they happened to have a 3 1/2 NATO cans of 1978 Yugo PPU-made 7.9x57mm. So this morning I brought home 300rds. I paid $0.38 a round, which is a bit much but the 70's Yugo is some of the best surplus ammo and it's rare nowadays. This brings my total of 8mm surplus to over 1000rds.
I love the statistics nerds who spout the "more likely to shoot a friend than foe" numbers. Stats also show you're more likely to be a fan of Nickleback and watch American Idol. Again, Ill put my odds against a random any day of the week
I was going to express concern about trusting ammo that old until I remembered we had 7.62 rounds from the 60s that were still counted on to perform, so I guess carry on!
LOL Mauser 98: fucks not given. It would be a concern if it were in an autoloader such as a SAFN-49 or a Hakim, but in this action it doesn't matter.
Carving, carving, carving away. I finally have the my Winchester 70 fully inletted and fitted to the stock and managed to inlet the bottom metal in only two nights' work, which was way faster than expected. No power tools whatsoever, all work done by hand. I have a ton of material left to remove and right now its graceful like a 2x4, but holy shit it is taking shape! Spoiler
That looks excellent. I remember working on that semi-inlet stock for the Mauser 93, and how much time it took me just to finish off what had already been started. That you cold do the entire thing in 2 days would take some serious skill. Great work. Also: Spoiler
Thanks man... I should clarify, the bottom metal took maybe 8 hours of continuous work and the rest of the inletting required a solid 25 hours. Half the time was spent on the last 1/8" of depth to remove. Doing the bottom metal was pretty easy in comparison to the barreled action because I was mostly making straight vertical cuts, but fitting the round ends was tough with the limited selection of chisels I have (like 1/8" and 3/8" round gouges, and a bunch of straight paring chisels.) Before Spoiler 90% there Spoiler The tools I used are in the background on my bench.
I spent some time working on the Winchester over the weekend. Spoiler It points really well and will eventually be nice and trim like I want. Right now it weighs about 8 lbs. as-is. Not gonna be a light gun, but thats okay.
I finally got around to mounting the replacement stock for my No4mk1 SMLE. It's walnut, and much darker than the fore-end, but it's Fazakerley-production just like the rifle, and for $25 that's all right. The pic sucks; it looks much better in person. The whole stock set could use a refinishing. Winter project? Spoiler
Question on the SMLE: What is that little flip cap thing for on the shoulder rest/end of the butt stock? I've always wondered what it was for. Obviously not a ram rod.
The stock is held onto the receiver via a large bolt deeply countersunk into the stock. The passage for the bolt is also used to hold the cleaning kit, which consists of a tubular oil can and a bronze brush on a string. The hollow space also helps to lighten the rifle. This is a diagram of a No1mk3, but it functions the same way:
We used that spot to hide the candy from MREs in our training M16s in basic training, woe is you if the instructor looked in their or found food or you turned it in at the end of basic and you forgot you had something in there.
This was the image in my mind after reading that: Spoiler One of my buddies tried to sneak a couple of Cuban cigars back home with him from Iraq like that (yeah real Cubans, right?). Unforunately he got caught. Progress on my Winchester... Spoiler That is easily the chippiest, most brittle piece of ebony I've carved yet. FUCK. My fingers look like I jammed them in a blender after using that aggressive-cutting rasp so much. I like the direction its headed in. I'm freehanding the shaping and contouring at this point so I just do what looks and feels "right" after the important dimensions have been determined.
Someone saw the optometrist today. Since this gun has no sporting purpose other than to rid the world of feral hogs the scope I had on this rifle would not allow for a scope light to be mounted on top to facilitate night hunting so thanks to craigslist I now have some new optics, probably overkill for shooting 40-80 yards but at night it really picks up the light for head shots.