Old Firearm Projects in Limbo

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Dave DeLaurant

Dave DeLaurant

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Anyone want to share their interesting, incomplete rifle projects that have been on the back-burner for months or years?

This was the year I planned to concentrate on completing a bunch of older projects before buying any new guns. Right now I'm twiddling my thumbs because every one of my current projects is in waiting mode over something. I should be approaching the top of the CMP Custom Shop's waiting list to send in my M1 Garand for a barrel swap, I've a custom TC Encore barrel order in limbo at Match Grade Machining while they are debugging a problem with a one-off chamber reamer, a replacement Savage 99 buttstock is currently en route somewhere between Numrich and California, and the major parts of my Cadet Martini are at Craftguard Metal Finishing in Iowa.

Maybe I should catch up on reloading.
 
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I have the .22 rifle my Dad, my Uncle, myself, and my older son learned to shoot on, until said older son broke the stock in half. It is an old single shot bolt, made in Germany between the wars, imported by Remington. I see whole guns at gun shows from time to time, I just want to find a stock. I might end up making one, when I find a decent chunk of walnut cheap.
 
I just finished this '06 Winchester resto for my buddy.
20190609_193142.jpg 20190609_153157.jpg
The rough and rusty '94 he brought with it is probably next up. These were found in his FILs attic after he passed.
20190215_211144.jpg

Also have all the parts necessary to finish my prewar 99 Savage, which was missing the takedown latch hardware, and my '03 Springer which is getting the stock restored to full length, along with new upper wood and hardware.

Then theres the completed AR9 lower receiver here somewhere waiting on an upper to come along, oh and my aluminum Glock projected project.......:D
 
I've had one on the back burner for over a year now. Planning on doing an "un-sporterizing" project on a Number 4, Mark 1 Lee-Enfield. I must confess that circa 1995 I sporterized a decent, matching numbers, 1945 dated Canadian Lee-Enfield made at the Long Branch arsenal in Ontario, which was near Toronto. At the time there were tons of them for sale and I grew up in the 50's & 60's drooling on sporterized military bolt guns so I guess it can be blamed on bad influences from my childhood. Even back then I felt a bit funny so I saved everything left over and there was no cutting or hacking up any part of the rifle. So theoretically all it needs is for the scope and its clamp on / screw on, removable mount to be removed, the aftermarket stock taken off, and then replace the original stock, and hardware, the original sights, etc. and then it will once again become a matching number, 1945, Long Branch, # 4, Mark 1 Lee-Enfield. All the matching, original, needed parts are here in a box waiting to be put back where they came from. Only problem now is that summer is here, which is busy for me, and fall involves things like hunting, so this may have to wait until mid December after deer season closes. Then it can be one of those "dead of winter" Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. projects. But it's on the "to do" list. Here's the un-cutup gun with no Bubba alterations awaiting the restoration of its original parts. IMG_4841.JPG IMG_4852.JPG IMG_4844.JPG IMG_4842.JPG
 
I have 2 nickle plated S&W revolvers that need to be stripped and refinished. One is a .38 and the other a .32. Neither has much value so those are project guns.
One project I just finished is an AK47 I built several years ago and left it in the safe unfinished. I got it out and started on it with Scotch Brite Pads and prep for paint. After I realized it took on the looks of a battle field pickup I bought an old used stock and left it that way. So far everone that sees it loves it.
I also have my Grandfathers Remington 12 ga. shotgun that I never finished.
 
Wait, what is this "concentrating on completing a bunch of older projects before buying any new guns" of which you speak? I have no such desire or willpower!

I keep buying projects! I don't think I've purchased a new gun in years! (Unless you want to count lower receivers, which end up being projects).
 
Had 2 rifle projects recently that got pretty far. Tight money situations forced those projects closed. Not much crying loss. As I am still going for firearms to fill a need vs wanted for fun or posterity. Maybe some day down the road I will come up with more meaningful projects like a custom 1911 I have thought about for a few years.

First was to "sporterize not bastardize" a Mosin 91/30. Did a trigger job. Planned for a synthetic stock and a scope to make it a decent hunting rifle. Upside of this project was it was sold for more money than I spent on the rifle. And if I had waiting until the Mosin supply started to slow down the last few years I could have doubled my profit.

Second project was a long range (1000 yard+) 308 rifle. Stock was a gift from a co worker. Found a trigger kit for cheap at a gun store that I got on a whim. Sold off both parts.
 
22250Rem said:
I've had one on the back burner for over a year now. Planning on doing an "un-sporterizing" project on a Number 4, Mark 1 Lee-Enfield. I must confess that circa 1995 I sporterized a decent, matching numbers, 1945 dated Canadian Lee-Enfield made at the Long Branch arsenal in Ontario, which was near Toronto. At the time there were tons of them for sale and I grew up in the 50's & 60's drooling on sporterized military bolt guns so I guess it can be blamed on bad influences from my childhood. Even back then I felt a bit funny so I saved everything left over and there was no cutting or hacking up any part of the rifle. So theoretically all it needs is for the scope and its clamp on / screw on, removable mount to be removed, the aftermarket stock taken off, and then replace the original stock, and hardware, the original sights, etc. and then it will once again become a matching number, 1945, Long Branch, # 4, Mark 1 Lee-Enfield. All the matching, original, needed parts are here in a box waiting to be put back where they came from. Only problem now is that summer is here, which is busy for me, and fall involves things like hunting, so this may have to wait until mid December after deer season closes. Then it can be one of those "dead of winter" Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. projects. But it's on the "to do" list. Here's the un-cutup gun with no Bubba alterations awaiting the restoration of its original parts. View attachment 845628 View attachment 845629 View attachment 845632 View attachment 845633
Click to expand...

I bought your rifle's cousin last year in a near identical state, and am contemplating a similar project once I can source all the suitable new wood and fittings I'll need. So far all I've done is swap the scope mount for a flip sight.

Unfortunately, the end of the barrel on mine was bobbed to remove the bayonet lug section, so a restoration could only go so far.

EnfieldNo4.jpg
 
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I generally don’t mind having projects waiting in a long queue, but falling, truly, into limbo is kind of disappointing. The only ones I can think of on the bottom of my ledger right now with a “TBD” are two projects:

1) My wife’s second custom AR build of her own, in her own. Another 20” 5.56, but she wanted one done up two-tone style in multicam and FDE. We’ve had a complete rifle sitting in a box since before our son was born, and just haven’t made time to put it together. Our go-to hydrodip guy retired due to sudden medical issues about 5yrs ago shortly after our son was born and she was getting back around to shooting again. Then other things piqued her interest (like a green & black home brew 2011) and this AR was deprioritized.

2) My second Sheriff’s model. I bobbed a Ruger New Vaquero 5144 Convertible 45 colt/acp a handful of years ago, removed the ejector, swapped to a Bisley hammer, and converted to a birdshead grip frame. I had intended to make a matching partner for it, got the frame swapped and fitted, rear grip frame and cylinder frame bosses reprofiled, and the ejector assembly boss cut from the frame, but that’s how it sits on my shelf today... I didn’t really want it when I started it, but it always feels like a fixed sight single action begs for a matched partner - even though this Sheriff’s model is really only meant as a back-up gun to another pair of full sized revolvers. A natural stand-alone if there ever was one. This past winter, I had ambitiously put it back on my summer schedule, but bumped it for a few “mini-vacation” road-trips with our family to explore our home state with our son.

So despite several years of each of these projects being in and out of queue, and all of the parts being on hand, they’re really not in line. They’re the folks jumping in and out of line, arguing over which movie they’re going to see, which frankly, might not end up ever buying a ticket at all.
 
Mauser lover said:
Wait, what is this "concentrating on completing a bunch of older projects before buying any new guns" of which you speak? I have no such desire or willpower!

I keep buying projects! I don't think I've purchased a new gun in years! (Unless you want to count lower receivers, which end up being projects).
Click to expand...

I should have stipulated that 'new' means new to me rather than brand new from the factory. I've my share of the latter, but the old interesting stuff outnumbers it by about 2:1. :)
 
Yeah, I did figure that's what you meant, but I keep accumulating projects.

And I do need to amend my former statement. I did buy a new (really, it's new) CZ compact about thirteen or fourteen months ago... And if Ruger comes out with a 3" .327 LCRx I'll be probably number three in line to get it, also new.
 
Not so much in limbo as in a holding pattern. Over the past 18 months or so, I accumulated a trued Remington 700 short action, an older VSF stock, BDL bottom metal, Timney 510 trigger, recoil lug ... all the parts to assemble a new-to-me rifle except the barrel. I was originally thinking I'd build a 7mm-08 Ackley but thanks to this thread, settled on a fast-twist 22-250 Ackley. Now I'm waiting on McGowen to finish the barrel.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
I bought your rifle's cousin last year in a near identical state, and am contemplating a similar project once I can source all the suitable new wood and fittings I'll need. So far all I've done is swap the scope mount for a flip sight.

Unfortunately, the end of the barrel on mine was bobbed to remove the bayonet lug section, so a restoration could only go so far.

View attachment 845741
Click to expand...

This isn't the first time I've read of a No4 of either Mk having been de-lugged like this. Just a question I've had... would a No5 Jungle Carbine's front sight arrangement, which has the flash hider and bayonet lug, be a viable option? If so, while my train of thought wouldn't be a restoration and could turn into a purist's nightmare, the fore stock/handguard of either the Jungle Carbine (or L42A1 for that matter) might be an option.
 
If you remember my Savage saga thread recently that took ten years to complete, that rifle was sold to a very happy customer. However, I have one more major rifle project to wrap up this year that is over ten years in the making. I bought a Remington 700 Alaskan Ti 300 WSM in January of 2008 for a sheep hunting trip (that I didn't go on). It was a very nice rifle but I knew right away that I would change the stock. I bought a B&C Medalist (I think) that looked good, felt good and seemed to make the rifle shoot well.

300wsm_bolt_03.jpg

300wsm_168grsmk_rl22.jpg

I couldn't leave well enough alone so started to mess with it. After reading about Remington bolt handles falling off, and not being a fan of the extractor I thought I'd take it to the next level with various upgrades starting with the bolt. So the journey began.

PT&G .700" O.D. bolt
Sako style extractor
Original bolt handle welded in place
David TUBB firing pin and spring
Jewell trigger

I didn't like the way the bolt handle turned out so I let the rifle sit for years. A few years back I had the B&C stock inletted for CDI Precision bottom metal. More recently I acquired a TriggerTech trigger and two Horizon/Iota stocks that I could use. I need to get the project up and running, get a new bolt handle on the bolt, get one of the Horizon/Iota stocks inletted, get the trigger installed and shoot the thing. Ultimately I might rebarrel it to .375 SAM and give it to my girlfriend to replace the POS rifle her ex-husband built for her in .375 SAM. If it shoots as well as it did as a 300 WSM I might leave it alone. I could never get my money out of it since it cost around $1,800 new but I have no use for or interest in bolt action rifles without locking bolts so I most likely wouldn't hunt with it. Yep, plenty of regrets with this one.

Added in edit: This was the rifle that had me doubting Leupold optics. I had to send a Mark 4 3.5-10X back to Leupold twice!!! The recoil of the rifle kept knocking paint off the inside of the tube and large chips would land on the reticle. I still have that scope and to this day consider the Mark 4 3.5-10X scopes to be some of the best made.
 
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Mauser lover said:
Yeah, I did figure that's what you meant, but I keep accumulating projects.

And I do need to amend my former statement. I did buy a new (really, it's new) CZ compact about thirteen or fourteen months ago... And if Ruger comes out with a 3" .327 LCRx I'll be probably number three in line to get it, also new.
Click to expand...

I might be temped by the .327 too -- I'm very fond of my Single Seven.
 
mustanger98 said:
This isn't the first time I've read of a No4 of either Mk having been de-lugged like this. Just a question I've had... would a No5 Jungle Carbine's front sight arrangement, which has the flash hider and bayonet lug, be a viable option? If so, while my train of thought wouldn't be a restoration and could turn into a purist's nightmare, the fore stock/handguard of either the Jungle Carbine (or L42A1 for that matter) might be an option.
Click to expand...

It's a thought, but then the purist would remember the receiver and barrel lightening cuts on the No5 -- ugh! Though personally I've always thought the No5 looked way cool.

I'd be OK with the bobbed muzzle and just a good repop No4 stock, provided I can get the bedding to work properly when I'm done. I follow this guy regularly and he has a lot to say on the subject:

 
Dave DeLaurant said:
It's a thought, but then the purist would remember the receiver and barrel lightening cuts on the No5 -- ugh! Though personally I've always thought the No5 looked way cool.

I'd be OK with the bobbed muzzle and just a good repop No4 stock, provided I can get the bedding to work properly when I'm done. I follow this guy regularly and he has a lot to say on the subject:

Click to expand...


Interesting video.

I wouldn't do the lightening cuts... wandering zero comes to mind. Out of curiosity, I perused eBay listings for Jungle Carbine parts... most of it's priced to make you wonder what they're smoking.

As long as a bayonet's not necessary, I'd say that'd work. Or the muzzle may be too short for the front sight guard to look right.
 
Gunny: "I have one or two projects that have been on the back burner".

Me: "Just one or two Gunny? Sure you don't want to add a couple of zeros after those numbers? Just sayin'..."
 
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bannockburn said:
Gunny: "I have one or two projects that have been on the back burner".

Me: Just one or two Gunny? Sure you don't want to add a couple of zeros after those numbers? Just sayin'...
Click to expand...
Well, it’s not one or two hundred. But I have been buying project guns for some time for when I retire. I guess I’ll have to get started on them next year.
I have others but don’t have pics of them.
 
Dave DeLaurant - Almost flipped seeing your Lee-Enfield picture.... Looks like mine minus the scope & mount. I also recognize that stock. Same one I have. Dug out my box of the original parts for mine and found the literature that came with the sporter stock. IMG_6499.JPG IMG_6500.JPG I think they were selling those stocks back in the mid 1990's because of all the Lee-Enfields that were coming in at the time. When I get around to de-sporterizing this one I'll just put that synthetic stock, and the scope mount and anything else not original back into the box where the original wood stock and other parts are now. If anyone has a #4 Mk 1 Lee-Enfield that's been sporterized ( or Bubba'd ) to the point it's not restorable I could provide a synthetic stock for not much more than shipping cost. Only problem is I probably won't get into this project until next winter. So this one's in limbo for now.
 
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