$30 Vintage Plinker Rescue

So, my kid watches a bunch of those "Celebrity Style on Zero Budget" videos (hey, she built her own AR9, so Im not too worried), well- this is my version of "Rifle Style on Almost Zero Budget!"


My buddies Joel and Dom at my favorite pawn shop hooked me up with this basket case, knowing that I enjoy a challenge (and all things old and .22). The Wards Western Field Model 491 is better known as a Mossberg Model 46B, tube-fed repeater.

I really need to start taking "before" pictures, but trust me, the condition description at the bottom was accurate.

This is how it looked after about four hours of sanding, buffing, bluing, more buffing, some wire brushing, and six coats of Danish Oil-


Fortunately, it was complete, with a good bore, so I knew it had potential. On the downside, the plastic trigger guard was cracked (very common on old Mossbergs- they shrink and warp as they age), and the rear sight windage screw had snapped off. The Mossberg 103 sight has a very tiny, almost useless v-notch anyway, so Ill eventually replace it with a peep, but in the meantime, a sliver of plastic jammed under the elevator will tension it adequately for testing. Once I get it dialed in, I can always just fix it in place with a dab of epoxy.


Theres nothing to be done for the guard, so I ordered a new reproduction on Fleabay for $20.

Ahhh, the best part, refinishing all the screws and hardware..........not!

Im not going to use the ejection port cover, so if anyone wants it, PM me and Ill drop it in the mail for ya.

Ok, here she is all screwed together-


My craptastic camera doesnt do it justice, but the wood turned out really nice-

This is a very early production gun, and the action is much better than my later 46M, with a shorter, more positive bolt throw and smoother trigger.





Now, Im just waiting on the new trigger guard to arrive, and Im ready to add another classic plinker to the stable. Not bad for a $30 rifle..........winning!

 

Nicely done, sir!

Sam

 

I like it. I like that dogleg bolt.

 

For an inexpensive gun it had some nice touches, as the mentioned bolt and the cheek rest on the stock.

Good luck with it!

My brother just bought a place in Bradenton, I’ll have to visit that place if we’ve ever able to travel again. lol

 

I enjoy bringing neglected guns back to life. You did well. I have a Winchester 60 i did over was my latest.

 

I suck at *before* pictures too - I know the loss to the process.

I love that you got so much out of so little outlay.

You should show us the little-one's AR9 too.

I keep a rack of *project* guns against ever watching garbage TV or wasting my time and money on things like professional sports. As with my motor vehicles and motorcycles - I expect no more return than my own or the next owner's satisfaction in the finished project.

Todd.

 

I'm finally overhauling the New Haven 250K my son brought me to fix some ears ago. Ordering what parts I can today, the trigger guard I couldn't find, so I substituted one off another project gun.

I redid my Grandpa's Western field 497A, the magazine fed version of your 491, Nightlord 40K, some years ago. They are fun, even when parts costs exceed the rifle's value, as this 250K I'm working on now will.

 

Very nice! What did you use to reblue it?

 

Here is the Wichester. Before pic is at my LGS,

 

As requested-

She said it had to have a bipod and a bayonet, lol. We used the Stern Defense M92 Beretta magazine adapter and so far it has worked great.

 

Just Birchwood Casey cold blue, its what I had on hand, as was the Danish oil left over from some furniture projects. Id probably have used BLO if id had any handy, but I didnt feel like driving to the store.

 

I use the Birchwood Casey bluing too.

 

Nice!

Ive got an '03 Springfield, Savage "click-clak", and a '93 Winchester on my docket for some work coming up. Someday, Ill get around to doing my Garand stock too, I hope.

 

Very nice job. Yours is the "house brand" Mossberg 46B made for Montgomery Wards. Top quality vintage .22. The receiver sight you need is the No.4 to fit the stock cut out but later versions used the S-130 IIRC. Show a pic of the cut out. Too bad .22 shorts werent cheap like the old days. It'll hold 30. They are going up in value and you got a STEAL at 30 bucks. Enjoy it.

Havlins has a lot of Mossberg parts and a solid 1" mount that fits the 2 factory holes if you want to scope it. https://www.havlinsales.com/

 

Ya, too bad a decent S-130 goes for crazy $$$$$. I did bid on an airgun peepsight which looks like it can be easily adapted without any permanent mods to the gun.

That link is a great resource, thank you!

That scope mount is tempting and reasonably priced. If she proves to be a good shooter, I may just go that route, thanks!

 

I love seeing people bring back these old guns. Keep up the good work.

 

........Me too; thanks for posting it and all the pix. You got a great deal on that one. Congrats.

 

Dang! $30 for that much fun AND a neat .22 rifle! I got to come up with a reason to visit Bradenton some time. Shooting bud married a school teacher from down there and we were down a bit and when I worked for IFAS I got down there a bit. Bought a old very nice copy of Mac Bride's A rifleman Went To War in a used book shop down town a couple of decades plus ago.

Great work. Ran into a guy in a LGS with a $10 auction junker he was getting a bolt put on yesterday If I had run into him in the parking lot before he got in I would have offered him $15 at least just to play with sandpaper and such.

There is a gun show in Williston FL this weekend, first in at least a decade. No telling what might wander in out of the woods.
FYI local guys it is at the old Martha White Flour warehouses between Williston and Ocala. I expect to see the usual suspects from the Ocala Shows and Newberry shows at tables but maybe a few new faces in the crowd.

-kBob

 

Thanks to Ebay, AperturesandMore.com, and my drawer of miscellaneous old gun parts, I managed to piece together an actual Mossberg peep sight for this-


This is a Model S108, not technically correct for this rifle, but way cheaper than a No.4 or S130 these days. A simple setup, but it'll do.