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All manner of requests for scope mounting will come into the gunshop. Many of these requests are routine while others are more interesting and can sometimes be quite complicated. Old military rifles are among them.
Crossbows are often permitted for the older or disabled hunter but cocking these heavy pull weight bows becomes a great effort without some form of cocking aid. A rope cocking device can come to the rescue by reducing pull weight by half.
Sometimes restoration of an old gunstock isn’t even in the realm of possibility, but this old gun was different.
Properly selected and placed stock inlays or overlays can set off the good-looks of a gunstock, but few will surpass the eye catching beauty of a silver wreath with encircled cartridge headstamps.
While breaking in a barrel might not normally be considered a routine gunsmithing procedure, many shops can benefi t by seeing their newly chambered barrels off to a proper start.
Sometimes an imaginative effort is the only solution to getting a job done. Turned down by three others, a hunter came to me for help in mounting a scope on his crossbow.
is basically a straight forward gunsmithing procedure. However, redoing a botched job sends a special message to any gunsmith. Here’s the procedure I used for a RPA Trakker Target Sight.
Ruger offers several rimfi re chamberings in their Model 77 rimfi re line. On the same scoped action using the same magazine you can add a custom .22 WMR barrel to the 77/17 rifl e or a .17 HMR barrel to the .22 WMR rifl e. The gunsmithing is quite basic resulting in a most versatile, little switch-barrel rifl e.
Mounting an optic on a Model 94 Winchester Lever Action Rifle, with the turret between the rings, isn’t easy but can be done by the care fitting and positioning of the right scope and mount.
Rebarreling a Savage Model 12 rifl e with a .308 Winchester-size bolt face for a PPC cartridge will require extractor replacement. Such extractors can be made by careful machining and fitting of a new part.
Some rifles can benefi t by adding a central bedding pillar as an assist to the regular front and rear bedding. The inherently accurate Savage Model 12 single shot rifl e is one of these, with the added advantage to strengthen the stock at the same time.
screws located centrally and at the front receiver ring. The addition of a third action screw at the rear tang, along with a well placed pillar, adds strength to the overall bedding system.
fitting or replacing a barrel on the Model 504 Remington 22 Target rifle. This rifle is capable of extreme accuracy with a few improvements, most notably installing of custom barrel with a more precise fit at the barrel to receiver junction.
While the Savage Model 12 single-shot short action has a rear bedding pillar, the former Model 112 long action single shot did not. The addition of two major pillars positioned at the two trigger guard screw holes vastly improves the overall bedding.
Proper screw thread torque is an often overlooked and misused area of gun care. This is particularly true of the do-it-yourself gun owner with limited experience.
A Model 631 Timney allows a safe pull weight from 1 ¼ - 4 pounds along with adjustment for sear engagement (creep) and over travel.
Even though the shock vibrations aren’t nearly as great when firing a rimfire rifle there may be an accuracy advantage in pillar bedding. The Ruger Model 77 is an ideal candidate for such work.
Drilling and tapping older .22 single-shot rifles for a scope base is an uncomplicated gunsmithing procedure. However, attention to detail and precision will result in a better job.
Attaining top accuracy from a long-action bolt rifle can be difficult, but it can be accomplished through careful bedding and proper use of the central action screw. It may involve the use of a different stock as well.
Sometimes the gunsmith is the one to turn to for those hard-to-find items … especially precision parts that require special lathe work.
With a milling machine and common gunsmithing tools, a quality one-piece, steel trigger guard can be made. No special jigs are required...just a pattern and a bit of careful craftsmanship, including the use of hand tools.
Sometimes gunsmiths must perform work akin to that of a dentist making a bridge or a surgeon arranging bone fragments to their original state.
This simple extra step to the bedding process can help bring a wood-stocked rifle up to the same accuracy standard as one stocked with the best of the synthetic stocks.
Internal friction inside the bolt of the Remington Model 700-Series rifle can produce inconsistent lock time and diminished accuracy. The problem is, however, relatively easy to solve.
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