Reader Forum

Back Issues For Sale As I reach the advanced years where I think about retiring completely, I look at divesting myself of things associated with my trade. Is there a market for back issues of American Gunsmith? I have most all the issues from 1992 to date. Any requests for my collection can contact me directly. Doug Spooner The Armorer’s Bench 18200 County Route 59 Dexter, NY 13634 Winchester 62A In the March 2011 issue of American Gunsmith Mr.

Frank Borgeson of Scottsdale, AZ wrote in with a problem concerning a Winchester 62A .22 rifle. Winchester changed the locking system in the 1890 and 1906 model rifles. Basically, it is the same locking system conceptually but the parts do not interchange. The bolt from either the 1890 or 1906 models will appear to fitin another 62A rifle but will not properly lock up. Put pressure forward on the forearm slide handle and the rifle will shoot all day long.

A quick check on this problem is to close the action and look for approximately 1/16-inch gap between the rear of the left lug of the bolt and receiver. If there is a gap here it indicates the wrong bolt is installed in the receiver. Not long ago I ran across this problem. The tell-tale sign was the finish on the bolt did not match the finish on the rifle. It was obvious the rifle did not come from the factory with that particular bolt in it.

Usually you will encounter this when the owner changed bolts not understanding the difference, but I have reason to suspect some rifles from the factory had the wrong bolt installed and do not know what the reasons were for changing the bolts later. Either locking system on these rifle was supposed to have about 1/4-inch of play in the forearm slide handle before the action started to operate.

The hammer was supposed to be down on the firing pin to unlock the bolt, but if the wrong model of bolt is installed it will not lock up. Hope this is of some help. Thanks for the addendum Mr. Horn! This is a good bit of technical advice on the 62A. A customer brought in a few AR-15 mags which area mix of 5.56 and 7.62. How do you tell them apart since they all look the same. There are no markings on them identifying which are which. The only identifying marks on the magazine components are L, P & S. Roger E.

Mitchell Fleet Reserve Association, Branch There are considerable dimensional differences between the 7.62x51mm (.308) and 5.56x45mm (.223) cartridges. The case length of a .308 Winchester measures 2.559 inches where a .223 Remington measures 1.760 inches. The case diameter of a .223 at the base of the shoulder is .03542 inches, while the .308 mikes out at 0.454 inches. It seems to us that checking out which fired, resized brass fits and feeds in one of your mystery magazines would not be terribly difficult.

After that is established, mark the magazine. Deeply. Sporterizing Mausers I read and reread the series of articles recently published in these pages about sporterizing Mausers. Your readers, assuming they don’t know Mausers, are going to have some issues with the author not mentioning that Yugoslavian model Mausers were intermediate length actions.

Stocks, bolts (assuming the possibility of replacement) and bottom metal from standard length actions, such as G98, K98, M1909, CZ 24, etc., will not fit the Yugo series. The action is also a bit short for .30-06 length cartridges. I’m not a professional gunsmith, merely an enthusiastic amateur, but I have built a fair number of Mauser sporting rifles. The M47/48 series will work well for .308 based cases or the original 57mm length rounds. Daniel P.

Horn Huron, SD Also, the photo caption in the first article is incorrect as well. The Midbarrel vise comes with with oak blocks and not walnut, or at least it used to. I also hate the mention of cold blue by the author for possible finishing. Nothing shouts "Bubba" quite like an entire rifle done in cold blue, in my experience. Charles Moriarty 188 President Author Wendell Deaner responds: Thank you very much for reading my article on building a Mauser sporter.

First, it is gratifying to know that a reader has taken the time to write to me about any inconsistencies in my work. I probably could have been clearer in what my choice of actions was for this project. It was not a "Yugo 48" as they are known. My rifle was a German-built, standard-sized model 98. The Yugoslavian communist government obtained a great many of these rifles mostly as battlefi eld surplus when Germany invaded Yugoslavia during the war.

The German markings were ground off and the actions were stamped with Preduzece 44 indicating they were reworked at the Krogujevac armory probably around 1950-52. Many of these found their way to America as imports. Going back and rereading my article I noticed that I did give the proper dimensions for an action necessary for the modifi cations mentioned in the article. The crests of these rifles are stamped with the star and torch of the post WW2 communist government.

Model 48s are usually stamped as such and are easily recognizable. Plant City, FL

As for the Midway USA barrel vise being supplied with oak blocks, you are correct. Although I believe any hardwood will suffice for this job, I sincerely apologize for my error. I did not want to get complicated about using cold-bluing on my rifle. There are several good articles in back issues of this magazine about finishing metal. I did say in the article that I was going to do things my way. I do not mean to imply that my way is the only way, far from it.

One of the concepts I was trying to follow in these articles was the use of hand tools and processes that could be handled in a home shop even by amateurs. In the following articles I comment on the many finishes available and, although I am not familiar with all of them, I find rust-bluing very pleasing to the eye if one knows how to go about it. Lastly, I hope you will do me a favor and not tell Bubba that you compared me with him. He will be insulted!

Browning Auto 5 A client brought in a Browning Auto 5 Magnum with a three inch chamber that he claimed would not cycle three inch shot shells. Having some previous experience with these guns the first thing I checked were the friction rings and brakes. All five rings were in place but not in the proper order. Ire-arranged the rings according to the Browning owner’s manual and attempted to fire some 3-inch shells with a 1 5/8-ounce load.

The first round fired but would not eject and obviously subsequent rounds stayed in the magazine tube. I then increased the load to 1 ¾ ounce but had the same results. Following this, I fully disassembled the gun, thoroughly cleaned it and inspected all parts for excessive wear or breakage but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I then reassembled the gun but only installed one brake ring and one friction ring, which is what the owner’s manual recommends for shooting high speed 2 ¾-inch shells.

The gun functioned well with 3-inch magnum shells but would not function with the 2 ¾-inch shells. I can recreate this problem regardless of the load weight of the shells used. It is counter-intuitive to me that worn rings are an issue, since worn rings should decrease the friction created and facilitate increased barrel recoil and functioning, although it would tend to batter both the gun and the shooter. Do you have any suggestions? Am I looking at this problem the wrong way?

Ed Gierbolini G Man Gunsmithing We want to compliment you on the thoroughness in submitting your query. Often, we find the task of diagnosis, which is difficult enough without the troubled firearm resting on a bench before us, is made twice to ten times more so when reader questions are muddled or include incorrect or unfamiliar terminology. For example, we are told a gun is "jamming" but not told how. With your troubled Auto 5, thanks to your clarity, such is not the case. Disassemble the shotgun once again.

This time, before reassembly of the friction ring/spring assembly, lubricate the magazine tube by wiping it down with a lightly oiled, lint-free cloth. We know, this fix sounds far too simple to work, but it will likely cure the problem you’ve been having. How often? Probably about 99% of the time. Winchester Model 24 I’m looking for information on the Winchester 24 Side by Side shotgun. I have back issues but no index. Did American Gunsmith ever do an article on the 24? And if so, what year and month?

George Roghaar Firearm Refinishing We have nothing in our records on this on. Check out americangunsmith. wordpress.com/index for an Index of firearms covered by month from November 1993 to present. Abstracts of all current issues are posted monthly and the site has a search facility. The Model 24 was Winchester’s attempt at marketing a medium priced double. It was introduced in 1939 and discontinued in 1957.

The Winchester Collector’s Association (winchestercollector.org) may be able to provide more information and leads. AG