[<SLV>]

Howdy, this is my first post on this forum. Just found it tonight.

I'm trying to find some basic information on gunsmith machine work. I have an Arisaka that has been converted to .30-06 and the stock has been shortened. This gun was given to me. I have already refinished the stock and installed a Limbsaver grind-to-fit pad. The barrel is nearly 27" long, and I'd like to cut it to 22" to make it a better hunting gun (I have been told that barrel length is measured with a rod down the barrel with the bolt closed and an empty chamber - is this true?).

Anyway, of the following things, what should I keep in mind if I try to do these on my own? I don't feel like spending any more money on this "sporterized" Arisaka.

1. Shorten barrel to 22" (pipe cutter? hack saw? is "crowning" necessary?)
2. Remove rear site (appears to be a soldered sleeve-type mount - heat with torch, "sweat it", and knock off?)
3. Drill and tap for scope mounts

What do you think?

[redneckdan]

to be done right, you need to chuck the barrel up in a lathe, part it, face it off and recrown. I did help a fellow student out who wantted to shorten a barrel. Had already hack sawed the barrel and it wasn't exactly square. The shop boss at the time would not let us work on government work in "his shop" (it's still university property, it belongs to the students). So we chucked up a peice of 4140, bored it to fit over the muzzle, faced it off, heated it cherry red and dropped it in the coolant tank. Came out at some insain Rc. He slipped the guide over the barrel and used a bastard mill file to square up the barrel and recrowned with a brass hand lap.

As for the scope mounting, you need to use a mill. It can be done on a drill press, but not very well.

[<SLV>]

Thanks... I'll take that as a "No, let the professionals do it."

[Jim K]

How well does the gun shoot? The 7.7 barrel is a bit oversize (.311" vs .308") for the .30-'06 and some of those conversions don't shoot very well. If it is OK, it might be worth spending some money on, but it will never be the equivalent of a good sporter.

For one thing, the action does not lend itself well to scope mounting; you have to mount the scope fairly high, even if the bolt is bent down.

You should never attempt to drill and tap a rifle receiver without a jig. A mill is not necessary, but there is no way you can "eyeball" mounting holes. Plus that receiver ring is harder than heck, so you best find a gunsmith who knows what he is doing. Nor (IMHO) should you try to crown a barrel without a lathe, in spite of numerous "tools and tricks" that have been used.

The problem I see is that no matter how much you do to it, or how much money you spend, it will still be an Arisaka and sale or trade value will be almost zilch.

Jim

[<SLV>]

Thanks, Jim. I've heard the same thing from others - it's just an Arisaka. I have heard, however, that the Arisaka had one of the sturdiest actions of all the war rifles.

My gunsmith quoted me the following:

Cut and crown - $60
Remove back sight - $40
Drill and tap - $55 (three holes - one forward, two back)
Install custom ground recoil pad - $75 (including pad)
TOTAL - $230

Add about $20 for Birchwood/Casey finishing supplies, and it has cost me $250 to turn a free gun into something that will hunt.

Is that reasonable?

[Tinker2]

The bolt still needs to be bent down.

Tinker2

[Jim K]

One hole forward and two back? Sure it isn't the reverse?

You first said, "I don't feel like spending any more money on this 'sporterized' Arisaka."

Now you are talking about spending $300 or so (as Tinker2 says, don't forget the bolt turn down), which is in the ballpark of decent used sporter rifles in this area. The gunsmith prices, by the way, are quite fair, so no problem there.

The Arisaka action is extremely strong and there are no qualms in that direction, but the Type 99 actions are often rough, are cock on closing, trigger pulls leave a lot to be desired, and the accuracy may not be all you might want. In the long run, the overall usability of the rifle has to outweigh, IMHO, a theoretical factor like action strength. After all, you are not going to be testing super hot ammunition.

I won't try to tell you what to do, but I am well aware of the "surplus" rifle trap, where folks start with a cheap milsurp or bringback rifle and end up spending more on it than they would have paid for a brand new sporter.

Jim

[sansone]

midway sells a re-crowning tool(cheap) if you decide to cut the barrel. you Must crown it! ( make a really square cut too). // yeah, I would drill and tap for scope. not too difficult.

[<SLV>]

Well, I decided to let the gunsmith have a go at it. He has to do two holes back and one forward because of the gas vent by the mum-mark.

I think this bolt handle has already been turned down. Didn't the original T99 have a bolt that stuck out at parralel to the ground and turned 90 degrees upward to perpendicular to the ground? Mine is bent down toward the stock.

We'll see about the accuracy. I'll post some pictures of the gun and benched targets in a few weeks when the project is complete. It will have cost me $250 (plus scope and mounts), but I kind of did it for the heck of it just because it was a free rifle. If it is a good shooting .30-06 in the end, then good enough.

[lathedog]

I am an Arisaka nut. I like mine in original form, but concur that they are well made - up until they started with the "last ditch" modifications. Even then those are strong if not pretty.

MidwayUSA (and other places) sell a Remington 180 gr softpoint .311 bullet in a 500 count bulk pack for very reasonable prices. I recommend this highly in a 7.7 Arisaka or .303 Brit Enfield. You could load these in a 30-06 case for this particular rifle but be careful about not shooting it in a .308 bore gun by accident. Stain the brass or something.

I'm not sure how effective this bullet is on game, but it seems to be the same bullet used in a lot of their non-premium loadings, just 500 of 'em in a plastic bag. It certainly punches paper just fine.

I concur with a previous comment that you can get a set of tools to re-crown by hand for fairly cheap from Brownell's or MidwayUSA. I've seen several "how-to" articles in gun mags over the last couple of years. I'm sure some of these are searchable on the internet.

I also would like to officially ditto the concern about spending more on the gun than it would cost to buy a new Savage or a good used Remington 721 or something.

[King Sin]

Good evening.. I needed this web sight, kinda like a porn sight for me.. I'm playin.. Anyways, I'm thinking of drilling scope mount holes on a python.. It seems fairly easy but easy scares me.. Do I need anything special to do this?? I like doing my own work but I don't want to ruin this piece.. By far my favorite.. So I need some opinions fellas, I would greatly appreciate em...

[IndianaBoy]

Anyways, I'm thinking of drilling scope mount holes on a python.. It seems fairly easy but easy scares me.. Do I need anything special to do this?? I like doing my own work but I don't want to ruin this piece.. By far my favorite.. So I need some opinions fellas, I would greatly appreciate em...

Don't hack a gun into worthlessness because you don't know what you are doing......

[rcmodel]

+1

If you want to practice drilling & tapping scope mount holes, do it on something besides a Python!

You might even consider trading it for a recent vintage S&W.

They are factory drilled for scope mounts already.

Then, when the novelty wears off, you can take the scope off and put the iron sights back on without ruining a fine collectible python!

rcmodel

[jmorris]

None of the procedures you are looking at are that difficult and with proper equipment take only minutes to perform. One reason it costs so much is the investment the smith has to make in equipment and tooling. On the other hand ask the price to weld up and re-tap two crooked holes and get the broken tap out of the third. Then you’ll know the other reason. Experience doesn’t come free either.

[JFettig]

IF those are your options, PLEASE do not attempt your own gunsmithing. You will only make a hacked up mess, it would be a shame to let any of those tools touch a gun. Either live with what you have or take it to a real gunsmith.

Jon