Old Firearm Projects in Limbo

Status
Not open for further replies.
GunnyUSMC said:
Got one that I’m working on, just finding it hard to put as much time as I need to into it. Should have finished it the first week I got it.
Label forearm repair.
It was cracked in half and glued back together.
The plan is to inlay wood patches to stabilize it and make it look like an old repair.
Then fix the front.
View attachment 854060 View attachment 854061 View attachment 854062
Click to expand...
If you do not mind an O/T question,
The Lebel's drilled out magazine obviously makes them a bit more difficult to patch, is that the reason that you have substantial wood replacement or is it to resemble the style that the French armorers used. Second, did you use a dremel to rout out the repair area or something more like a drill press/router/mill? If you used a dremel, I am impressed by your hand control by not getting too close to the magazine tube in the forestock in depth.
 
O outlined the main cracks in these two pics. There are some smaller ones in the areas.
All wood removal was done free hand with a dremal tool and chisels. I've had a lot of practice over the years.
I cut in to around 1/8 of an inch deep.

10D52D11-B773-47E5-BC00-9EBD9DAE1F39.jpeg

In this pic I placed an arrow to point to an old repair that was most likely done by a French Armorer many years ago.
I still need to remove wood from the band spring area and will need to recut for the band spring once the repair is done.
I have a nice piece of Walnut to make the patches.
It took me a couple of weeks to figure out how I would do the repairs to make them look correct. The hard part will be making toe new repairs look 70 years old
I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking about putting some fiberglass cloth under the wood patches.
B25AFADF-9EA4-4E11-95D4-BCEEFB7C4220.jpeg
 
GunnyUSMC said:
O outlined the main cracks in these two pics. There are some smaller ones in the areas.
All wood removal was done free hand with a dremal tool and chisels. I've had a lot of practice over the years.
I cut in to around 1/8 of an inch deep.

View attachment 854133

In this pic I placed an arrow to point to an old repair that was most likely done by a French Armorer many years ago.
I still need to remove wood from the band spring area and will need to recut for the band spring once the repair is done.
I have a nice piece of Walnut to make the patches.
It took me a couple of weeks to figure out how I would do the repairs to make them look correct. The hard part will be making toe new repairs look 70 years old
I'm not sure yet, but I'm thinking about putting some fiberglass cloth under the wood patches.
View attachment 854134
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I have an old Berthier m16 stock that used the square block type patching but did not know if that was standard for the french--my m36's have good stocks with no patches.

I got lucky and scored a replica stock for my Lebel project but the guy is just starting in the replica field and the inletting is pretty rough so I am taking my time to clean it up. Even damaged Lebel forends (and bolt/trigger group parts) have dried up in the usual places and quite a few of the claimed Lebel parts are actually Berthier parts. I have a badly damaged buttstock that I was going to restore but could find no forend to match. In addition, I have been looking for a bolt connector for over two years to complete a 86/93 bolt and might have to have one machined if no other option. A badly rusted lebel barrelled action with apparently most of its internal parts went for over $200 on gunbroker a year or two ago where one could not even tell if the internal parts were usable nor did the seller claim that.

The only other alternative stock source was a Polish company that does quite a few hard to get repro stocks on old European weapons that you are probably already aware of. The website purely for reference to those that might need it for restoration of old European 1860's to WWII era military firearms, http://fox-military.com/en/ All pricing is by request and while I have not dealt with the guy running it, some others report good experiences but caveat emptor and YMMV.
 
Another of my OP limbo projects moved closer to completion last week when my Martini Cadet action arrived back from Craftguard, nicely refinished in black phosphate. BTW, the package was delivered by UPS at 9:40 PM -- somebody sure was working late!

CraftguardDelivery.jpg

I got everything reassembled and to the range this Monday. Shooting went so-so -- the action worked fine, accuracy with my vanity wildcat 308-357 cartridge and lead bullets was OK but not great, but the reinstalled one-piece front sight was off by more than a degree to the left, about 11:58 using clockface analogy. I ran out of windage adjustment on the ghost ring rear sight before achieving zero. I've ordered a short front sight ramp with dovetail in hopes of fixing the issue. Otherwise, I think this little rifle is a real honey! Slender and right at 5 lbs.

ShadowCaster.jpg
 
Last edited:
GunnyUSMC said:
Boom Boom
give Outback Gun Parts a call, you might get lucky.
(812) 945-0480
Click to expand...
Thanks. I appreciate that and the poor old Lebel deserves to be reunited with all its parts. I will call them first thing tomorrow. I have also heard good things about Lee Gun Parts but have not done business with them and I keep forgetting to check them as well.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Another of my OP limbo projects moved closer to completion last week when my Martini Cadet action arrived back from Craftguard, nicely refinished in black phosphate. BTW, the package was delivered by UPS at 9:40 PM -- somebody sure was working late!

View attachment 854169

I got everything reassembled and to the range this Monday. Shooting went so-so -- the action worked fine, accuracy with my vanity wildcat 308-357 cartridge and lead bullets was OK but not great, but the reinstalled one-piece front sight was off by more than a degree to the left, about 11:58 using clockface analogy. I ran out of windage adjustment on the ghost ring rear sight before achieving zero. I've ordered a short front sight ramp with dovetail in hopes of fixing the issue. Otherwise, I think this little rifle is a real honey! Slender and right at 5 lbs.

View attachment 854171
Click to expand...
Beautiful rifle. If you do not mind a question, did you rebore the original barrel or did you use something else?
 
boom boom said:
Beautiful rifle. If you do not mind a question, did you rebore the original barrel or did you use something else?
Click to expand...

Thanks! The only original Cadet parts are the action, buttstock screw and the forend band. It was shipped from Australia with a trashed stock and barrel -- it was priced as an action-only deal. I still have the old buttstock, but the barrel was scrap metal that I junked after it was removed. The new barrel is a surplus FN Mauser .308 barrel I bought from Numrich/GPC ages ago. I cut the chamber area off and then shortened it one 'step' back from the muzzle. The remaining barrel 'step' was lathe turned to form a gradual taper, and then the breech was rethreaded and chambered with a custom PTG reamer. There's a threaded lug dovetailed at the far end of the 'nocksform' underside that I had installed to screw the forend onto.

Things reached this stage around 2001 and then my pa died and had to put the project aside to deal with my aging mother plus work issues. I just got around to digging it back out of the closet earlier this year. The chamber needed a little deepening; I made new wood and added the buttplate (reworked Steyr 95), then had the sights installed and the metal finished.

CadetWIP04.jpg
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Thanks! The only original Cadet parts are the action, buttstock screw and the forend band. It was shipped from Australia with a trashed stock and barrel -- it was priced as an action-only deal. I still have the old buttstock, but the barrel was scrap metal that I junked after it was removed. The new barrel is a surplus FN Mauser .308 barrel I bought from Numrich/GPC ages ago. I cut the chamber area off and then shortened it one 'step' back from the muzzle. The remaining barrel 'step' was lathe turned to form a gradual taper, and then the breech was rethreaded and chambered with a custom PTG reamer. There's a threaded lug dovetailed at the far end of the 'nocksform' underside that I had installed to screw the forend onto.

Things reached this stage around 2001 and then my pa died and had to put the project aside to deal with my aging mother plus work issues. I just got around to digging it back out of the closet earlier this year. The chamber needed a little deepening; I made new wood and added the buttplate (reworked Steyr 95), then had the sights installed and the metal finished.

View attachment 854197
Click to expand...
Nice to see a true custom firearm that revives an old warhorse, you do excellent work.
 
boom boom said:
Thanks. I appreciate that and the poor old Lebel deserves to be reunited with all its parts. I will call them first thing tomorrow. I have also heard good things about Lee Gun Parts but have not done business with them and I keep forgetting to check them as well.
Click to expand...
Jeff Lee at Lee's Gun Parts is a great guy to deal with. He is only open for business Tue-Thur. He is also sometimes hard to get a hold of.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
Jeff Lee at Lee's Gun Parts is a great guy to deal with. He is only open for business Tue-Thur. He is also sometimes hard to get a hold of.
Click to expand...
I've called a time or two but no joy. Need to be a bit more proactive at times but we have been engaged in home improvement issues and personal health problems during the last couple o' years. Trying to make the home more accessible for being disabled is a pain--kinda like changing the transmission in the car while you are going down the road if you have to live in it while doing it.
 
My project (posts #14 and #44) is finished. I think it came out rather well. More info here.

index.php
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
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.
Click to expand...

I've been remiss bringing this project list up-to-date, progress-wise. My M1 Garand was completed last month and returned with a brand new Criterion 7.62x51 NATO barrel installed, along with a couple of smaller replacement parts that the CMP Custom Shop smith found and informed me about.

MyGarand.jpg

The MGM Encore Barrel was the first project to be finished and returned, along with my custom chamber reamer. The reamer wasn't producing a smooth surface inside the chamber, a problem that held up the project several weeks while the reamer went back to PTG for evaluation and resharpening. I don't know exactly what was wrong with the reamer, but there was no extra charge for correcting it so PTG is in my good books. New barrel shoots great!

ShadowMaster.jpg

The Numrich stock for my Savage 99 is about 98% fitted now, and just needs some minor fiddling. It's not a perfect replacement stock, but far better than the butchered original that it replaces.

Savage99.jpg

As mentioned earlier here and in another posting, the Martini Cadet project was returned from Craftguard with a nice black Parkerized finish and has been the subject of considerable fiddling getting the off-center front sight to zero. I think I've finally got that squared away and am doing basic load development now for the custom chambering (357 Magnum necked to 308 using a 30 Tokarev die, same reamer as the Encore barrel)

ShadowCaster.jpg

A few other projects remain on simmer, including a Husqvarna Mauser that's been at the smith since August waiting for a scope base to be mounted, but mostly I'm caught up on projects that have been languishing for years. I even completed a couple handgun projects in the interval ('parts' Luger refinish and Glock 'Roland Special'-type upgrade.)

Luger19062.jpg TimmyGlock02.jpg
 
Last edited:
Shanghai McCoy said:
^^^
That one looks like a challenge Gunny.
What did the guy do, butt stroke a Buick..? o_O
Click to expand...
Some guy was doing bad at a Trap match and decided to take it out on the gun. I was told that he hit a tree with it.
My buddy Joe Meaux, at Aklys Defense bought the shotgun for $200 from the guy. A replacement stock is $300. Joe asked if I could fix it for less.
It’s really not that hard of a repair, should only take me a day to finish the repairs and another to dress it up.
 
More immediate demands on my time coupled with some other issues have stalled a number of my projects. That didn't stop me from starting new ones...

The oldest would be the Mk3 Ross straight-pull. It started as a bare receiver; I had to scrounge enough parts to make a working action. It has an over-the-top, pistol grip, bright blue stock from Richard's Microfit, a 6.5mm barrel, and when I get around to chambering it, it will be in 6.5x54R Mannlicher. Which is a rimless cartridge, but very similar to .303 British, other than the rim and neck. This will give me a 6.5-303 without having to get a custom reamer and die set; Lee had the Mannlicher dies in stock and I can rent the reamer.

The newest is a Mk1 SMLE, also starting with a bare receiver. This one is in 6mm Musgrave, which is a .303 necked down to 6mm. I'll have to make the reamer for that one, but the dies were available and sitting on my shelf at the moment. It was intended to be a gift for a friend; I probably need to get back on that project if he's ever going to get any use out of it.

It's not that I'm such a big milsurp or .303 fan; it just happened that the earliest and latest happened to be that way.
 
I've got a completely trashed Mosin Nagant M91/30. The stock is uncleanably saturated through and through with cosmoline. I tried all the tricks (they're all stupid) and scrubbed it until it looked grey like driftwood. I was worried I ruined it, and then it greased itself back up just like it was before. Amazing. The bolt sticks to the point of nearly requiring a mallet, so I tried to polish the chamber. It didn't help, and I'm wondering if I damaged the chamber. However, I paid $65 for it back in the day (without stocking up on cheap ammo), so I don't mind relegating it to wallhanger status.

I've also got a police surplus 1970's Remington 870 Wingmaster. Allegedly, it's a Vang Comp gun. It's got an (incan) Surefire forend, +1 Vang Comp mag extension, magnum ejector, sidesaddle, cool pistol grip stock, and the much-loved fancy MMC "ghost ring" rear sight on the receiver. But no barrel. Turns out MMC is long dead, so I'm concerned about a suitable matching front sight. I've been meaning to get the barrel with an XS front rifle sight and seeing if it's close enough. If not, different height sight blades are available. But I just never ordered it.

I've got great-grandpa's 1940's bolt action .410 ...without the bolt. The only source is a complete shotgun. I ...am not a fan of .410, so this one isn't going anywhere.
 
kozak6 said:
I've got a completely trashed Mosin Nagant M91/30. The stock is uncleanably saturated through and through with cosmoline. I tried all the tricks (they're all stupid) and scrubbed it until it looked grey like driftwood. I was worried I ruined it, and then it greased itself back up just like it was before. Amazing. The bolt sticks to the point of nearly requiring a mallet, so I tried to polish the chamber. It didn't help, and I'm wondering if I damaged the chamber. However, I paid $65 for it back in the day (without stocking up on cheap ammo), so I don't mind relegating it to wallhanger status.

I've also got a police surplus 1970's Remington 870 Wingmaster. Allegedly, it's a Vang Comp gun. It's got an (incan) Surefire forend, +1 Vang Comp mag extension, magnum ejector, sidesaddle, cool pistol grip stock, and the much-loved fancy MMC "ghost ring" rear sight on the receiver. But no barrel. Turns out MMC is long dead, so I'm concerned about a suitable matching front sight. I've been meaning to get the barrel with an XS front rifle sight and seeing if it's close enough. If not, different height sight blades are available. But I just never ordered it.

I've got great-grandpa's 1940's bolt action .410 ...without the bolt. The only source is a complete shotgun. I ...am not a fan of .410, so this one isn't going anywhere.
Click to expand...
Your bolt sticking has more to do with the extractor. Do a little search and reading and you will be able to fix the issue.
When it comes to the stock, that cosmoline didn’t get into it over night. When you clean the stock, you will only remove oil from the surface and some from just below the surface.
As you have found out, deep soaked in oil will come back to the surface after a few days.
You just need to clean with a good cleaner that will remove oil, but not hurt wood. Allow to dry in a cool area and then set in a warm area, like the attic. (Best done in summer time) clean about once a week until your happy.
Note: you will never be able to remove all of the oil.
 
357 SAA buntline... have the grip frame and wood to modify into a minimal shoulder stock.

t38 arisaka is waiting for parts from Santa. It won’t be all of the parts,but enough to kick it another notch down the line.

rem700 .270 still won’t shoot worth a flip. Time for a barrel. Not worth the trouble or cost though as it’s a bottom end 700 to begin with.

5 rifles ready to sight in. Nowhere to shoot.

16ga shorty squared is what I call my 16ga 18-1/2” barrel that I want to get some slugs into, but short chamber and low pressure makes it tough, and I haven’t bought the lead yet.

then there’s the handguns...
1898 SW safety hammerless needs a bolt
1870s Colt New Line 22 might get a whole new aluminum frame
Mauser 1914 needs a lot of cosmetic work and a set of grips.
I have a Glock 21 frame to build but I’m considering selling it and moving on. I don’t care for Glock and I keep looking at more and more ridiculous things to do to a $500 pistol when I could buy a Witness for a little more and be happier with it.
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
Another of my OP limbo projects moved closer to completion last week when my Martini Cadet action arrived back from Craftguard, nicely refinished in black phosphate. BTW, the package was delivered by UPS at 9:40 PM -- somebody sure was working late!

View attachment 854169

I got everything reassembled and to the range this Monday. Shooting went so-so -- the action worked fine, accuracy with my vanity wildcat 308-357 cartridge and lead bullets was OK but not great, but the reinstalled one-piece front sight was off by more than a degree to the left, about 11:58 using clockface analogy. I ran out of windage adjustment on the ghost ring rear sight before achieving zero. I've ordered a short front sight ramp with dovetail in hopes of fixing the issue. Otherwise, I think this little rifle is a real honey! Slender and right at 5 lbs.

View attachment 854171
Click to expand...

Dave is your rifle a 22 cal., I have had the same rifle (during the 80's), such a beautiful plinker.

czhen
FL
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
What to do... Your opinion may mold my next project..
Replies
10
Views
558
natman
N
Dave DeLaurant
T/C Encore Carbine project, continued ...
Replies
11
Views
339
Dave DeLaurant
Dave DeLaurant
Back
Top