Dave DeLaurant
Member
This is the story of two rifle projects that helped me pleasantly fill many retirement hours last year. Perhaps it is a cautionary tale, but I've no regrets to date.
I live behind the Granola Curtain in darkest Central California, where shooting enthusiasts are surprisingly common and gunshops plentiful, but where our firearm choices are harshly limited compared to most of America. My favorite Fresno gunshop is a little place called Uncle Sams, where the stock is mostly used consignment sales. One day I noticed for the umpteenth time this very, very nice looking Mauser Gewehr 98 with the old Lange Vizier rollercoaster rear sight. The stock was pristine and the metal had obviously been refinished, so I assumed it had been someone's project rifle. I think I had asked Jim about it more than once and been told it had been reworked for an oddball Schützen (or Schuetzen, your preference) cartridge, at which point I had assumed it was too expensive and didn't bother asking the price. Well, this time I finally summoned up the nerve, albeit two hours later and by telephone. Jim answered, "How much do you want it?", followed quickly with "for you, $300." I said deal and came back the next day with some cash.
If anything, the deal kept getting better, though with one minor caveat. The rifle came with 25 RWS cartridge cases and 96 .318" sized lead bullets, and Jim threw in a set of RCBS 8.15x46R reloading dies for an extra $20. On closer inspection, it turned out that, instead of someone's refinishing project, the rifle appeared to have been commercially reworked sometime after the Great War and then carefully preserved. The only exception was a duffel cut at the barrel band, which had been poorly repaired and needed attention.
I discovered this rifle was a Wehrmannsgewehr, a target rifle for service rifle competition or Wehrsport shooting. Like many of its kind, it had been converted to a non-military chambering to avoid postwar destruction under the military arms limitations of the Versailles Treaty. In addition to a new barrel, the extractor had been altered and the magazine well filled with a wooden block to function as a single-shot. The original Lange Vizier had been reinstalled and the scale stamped in two places for 100 and 175 meters, the typical Wehrsport distances. During conversion the bolt had been exchanged for a turn-down, the receiver and bolt blued, and the whole rifle generally prettied up. Original military markings had been scrubbed from the receiver, and except for the proofs, bore dimension and manufacturer (Bohler), the rifle had been 'sterilized.'
Once I got the rifle home it took about a couple hours (not counting epoxy setting time) to repair the duffel cut using a 1/4" threaded steel rod 6" long and some Acraglas gel. I loaded up my supply of cases with 13 grains of 4227 and went to the range, where I discovered from my portable bench the rifle shot far better than I could with my aging eyesights. That started me down the trail for the acquisition of the prescription, competition style shooting glasses I'm shown modeling in my High Road avatar. Until I got those sorted out (which took several months), I kept this rifle in the safe and spent some time fabricating additional brass using reformed 30-30. The process involved annealing the 30-30 brass, followed by a run through a 32-40 sizing die, trimming to length, another run through the 8.15 sizing die and a final reduction the rim diameters and thickness. I got the process down to an average of about 15 minutes work per case including cleaning, and after a few rejects I ended with about 90 good cases.
In parallel with this rifle project I had been slowly bringing a Ruger No. 1 action back to life. I had bought this as a used and somewhat abused 1B in .270 Winchester in 2010, with a cracked stock and some shallow pitting on the right side of the receiver. The barrel was fine and I shot it a little, but I had a project in mind to completely rework the rifle someday. In 2017 I took the action to a local smith to remove the .270 barrel, which I then sold on Gunbroker. I polished the receiver and sent it to Armoloy for a hard chrome finish to match the stainless steel barrel I had in mind. When I spoke with the smith he recommended PacNor for rebarreling. After considerable hunting, I purchased a lightly-used factory Ruger No.1 laminated stock set off eBay. PacNor would charge something over $600 for rebarreling and shipping, so I had to wait about six months until funds were available. The one hitch I had was indecision over the new chambering. I wanted something fairly mild that I could use at club's indoor range, so I first thought in terms of pistol calibers. A Ruger No.1 extractor is relatively forgiving, but I didn't think I should stray too far from the .270's rim diameter. I was considering things like .44 Magnum, .357 Maximum and .45 ACP.
I acquired the Wehrmanngewehr during this period of dithering, and it occurred to me that I had already bought a set of 32-40 dies for caseforming -- why not have my rebarreled rifle in that chambering? PacNor had the chambering on their list. Brass was easier to reform from 30-30, I found plenty of loading data for my preferred powders and I could probably get by with the same .318" bullets as in the Wehrmann. Yup, my decision was that flippant.
One last additional detail to work out was the sighting system for the reworked rifle. The tang safety on the No.1 precludes the usual type of tang sight without considerable gunsmithing yoga, and I didn't especially want to put a barrel-mounted scope on the rifle. I have several H&R/NEF single shot rifles with NoDak spud ghost ring peep sights mounted just in front of the receiver. My plan was to use one of these with a ramp front, and specified barrel dimensions accordingly.
Jumping forward a couple of months, when my newly rebarreled action arrived I was delighted with the appearance and smooth functioning of the action with some reformed brass I had prepared. I think the PacNor guys did a little internal polishing because the action seemed much slicker than it ever was in .270. I got a bit of a shock when I installed the laminated stock and looked at the nocks form -- it was considerably shorter than I had specified. I reviewed my communication and found the point where my measurement had been confused, leading to a difference of .75" shorter than intended.
At this point I had to decide whether to complain and try again or love the one I'm with. The NoDak Spud sight couldn't be mounted within the shorter available space, so I got out the Brownell's catalog to see whether something else would. NECG makes a really nice aperture that mounts onto a grooved .22 receiver -- it is more adjustable than the NoDak and about the same height. That would require either grooving the barrel or mounting a thin grooved plate. I found a good candidate for the latter on eBay for a princely $4.00, though it meant a wait for shipment from China. When it finally arrived I cut, shaped, polished and drilled it to fit the available space. I went back to Jim at Uncle Sams to have everything firmly mounted, and a few days later the 'new' rifle was complete.
We're almost to the end if you've made it this far: about the only additional problems with the Ruger was the unanticipated larger .323" bore, so I either have to buy two sizes of bullets for the 32-40 and 8.15, or buy .323" bullets and resize them down for the Wehrmann. For now I'm just buying different bullets for each. Both rifles shoot great at indoor distances when I do my part, but Rx glasses with a stopped-down iris are a must for me to use the sights on either rifle properly. It took a couple tries to get the front sight correct on the Ruger No.1 -- it turned out to be lower than I had calculated.
I made an improved magazine block for the Wehrmann from cast brass that avoids having to pick out empties with my fingers. I stripped and lubed up the action and blocked off the underside, then poured melted candlewax into the magazine cavity from the top. I took the resulting wax model to a friend who operates an art foundry and had it converted to brass. After shaping and polishing it provides a perfect single-shot feeding and extraction surface.
Both rifles seem happy with 4227, though I've experimented a bit with 4198, Lil Gun and Trail Boss. At some point I'll chrono my preferred 13 grain 4227 load in both rifles, but that isn't practical at the indoor range right now.
I live behind the Granola Curtain in darkest Central California, where shooting enthusiasts are surprisingly common and gunshops plentiful, but where our firearm choices are harshly limited compared to most of America. My favorite Fresno gunshop is a little place called Uncle Sams, where the stock is mostly used consignment sales. One day I noticed for the umpteenth time this very, very nice looking Mauser Gewehr 98 with the old Lange Vizier rollercoaster rear sight. The stock was pristine and the metal had obviously been refinished, so I assumed it had been someone's project rifle. I think I had asked Jim about it more than once and been told it had been reworked for an oddball Schützen (or Schuetzen, your preference) cartridge, at which point I had assumed it was too expensive and didn't bother asking the price. Well, this time I finally summoned up the nerve, albeit two hours later and by telephone. Jim answered, "How much do you want it?", followed quickly with "for you, $300." I said deal and came back the next day with some cash.
If anything, the deal kept getting better, though with one minor caveat. The rifle came with 25 RWS cartridge cases and 96 .318" sized lead bullets, and Jim threw in a set of RCBS 8.15x46R reloading dies for an extra $20. On closer inspection, it turned out that, instead of someone's refinishing project, the rifle appeared to have been commercially reworked sometime after the Great War and then carefully preserved. The only exception was a duffel cut at the barrel band, which had been poorly repaired and needed attention.
I discovered this rifle was a Wehrmannsgewehr, a target rifle for service rifle competition or Wehrsport shooting. Like many of its kind, it had been converted to a non-military chambering to avoid postwar destruction under the military arms limitations of the Versailles Treaty. In addition to a new barrel, the extractor had been altered and the magazine well filled with a wooden block to function as a single-shot. The original Lange Vizier had been reinstalled and the scale stamped in two places for 100 and 175 meters, the typical Wehrsport distances. During conversion the bolt had been exchanged for a turn-down, the receiver and bolt blued, and the whole rifle generally prettied up. Original military markings had been scrubbed from the receiver, and except for the proofs, bore dimension and manufacturer (Bohler), the rifle had been 'sterilized.'
Once I got the rifle home it took about a couple hours (not counting epoxy setting time) to repair the duffel cut using a 1/4" threaded steel rod 6" long and some Acraglas gel. I loaded up my supply of cases with 13 grains of 4227 and went to the range, where I discovered from my portable bench the rifle shot far better than I could with my aging eyesights. That started me down the trail for the acquisition of the prescription, competition style shooting glasses I'm shown modeling in my High Road avatar. Until I got those sorted out (which took several months), I kept this rifle in the safe and spent some time fabricating additional brass using reformed 30-30. The process involved annealing the 30-30 brass, followed by a run through a 32-40 sizing die, trimming to length, another run through the 8.15 sizing die and a final reduction the rim diameters and thickness. I got the process down to an average of about 15 minutes work per case including cleaning, and after a few rejects I ended with about 90 good cases.
In parallel with this rifle project I had been slowly bringing a Ruger No. 1 action back to life. I had bought this as a used and somewhat abused 1B in .270 Winchester in 2010, with a cracked stock and some shallow pitting on the right side of the receiver. The barrel was fine and I shot it a little, but I had a project in mind to completely rework the rifle someday. In 2017 I took the action to a local smith to remove the .270 barrel, which I then sold on Gunbroker. I polished the receiver and sent it to Armoloy for a hard chrome finish to match the stainless steel barrel I had in mind. When I spoke with the smith he recommended PacNor for rebarreling. After considerable hunting, I purchased a lightly-used factory Ruger No.1 laminated stock set off eBay. PacNor would charge something over $600 for rebarreling and shipping, so I had to wait about six months until funds were available. The one hitch I had was indecision over the new chambering. I wanted something fairly mild that I could use at club's indoor range, so I first thought in terms of pistol calibers. A Ruger No.1 extractor is relatively forgiving, but I didn't think I should stray too far from the .270's rim diameter. I was considering things like .44 Magnum, .357 Maximum and .45 ACP.
I acquired the Wehrmanngewehr during this period of dithering, and it occurred to me that I had already bought a set of 32-40 dies for caseforming -- why not have my rebarreled rifle in that chambering? PacNor had the chambering on their list. Brass was easier to reform from 30-30, I found plenty of loading data for my preferred powders and I could probably get by with the same .318" bullets as in the Wehrmann. Yup, my decision was that flippant.
One last additional detail to work out was the sighting system for the reworked rifle. The tang safety on the No.1 precludes the usual type of tang sight without considerable gunsmithing yoga, and I didn't especially want to put a barrel-mounted scope on the rifle. I have several H&R/NEF single shot rifles with NoDak spud ghost ring peep sights mounted just in front of the receiver. My plan was to use one of these with a ramp front, and specified barrel dimensions accordingly.
Jumping forward a couple of months, when my newly rebarreled action arrived I was delighted with the appearance and smooth functioning of the action with some reformed brass I had prepared. I think the PacNor guys did a little internal polishing because the action seemed much slicker than it ever was in .270. I got a bit of a shock when I installed the laminated stock and looked at the nocks form -- it was considerably shorter than I had specified. I reviewed my communication and found the point where my measurement had been confused, leading to a difference of .75" shorter than intended.
At this point I had to decide whether to complain and try again or love the one I'm with. The NoDak Spud sight couldn't be mounted within the shorter available space, so I got out the Brownell's catalog to see whether something else would. NECG makes a really nice aperture that mounts onto a grooved .22 receiver -- it is more adjustable than the NoDak and about the same height. That would require either grooving the barrel or mounting a thin grooved plate. I found a good candidate for the latter on eBay for a princely $4.00, though it meant a wait for shipment from China. When it finally arrived I cut, shaped, polished and drilled it to fit the available space. I went back to Jim at Uncle Sams to have everything firmly mounted, and a few days later the 'new' rifle was complete.
We're almost to the end if you've made it this far: about the only additional problems with the Ruger was the unanticipated larger .323" bore, so I either have to buy two sizes of bullets for the 32-40 and 8.15, or buy .323" bullets and resize them down for the Wehrmann. For now I'm just buying different bullets for each. Both rifles shoot great at indoor distances when I do my part, but Rx glasses with a stopped-down iris are a must for me to use the sights on either rifle properly. It took a couple tries to get the front sight correct on the Ruger No.1 -- it turned out to be lower than I had calculated.
I made an improved magazine block for the Wehrmann from cast brass that avoids having to pick out empties with my fingers. I stripped and lubed up the action and blocked off the underside, then poured melted candlewax into the magazine cavity from the top. I took the resulting wax model to a friend who operates an art foundry and had it converted to brass. After shaping and polishing it provides a perfect single-shot feeding and extraction surface.
Both rifles seem happy with 4227, though I've experimented a bit with 4198, Lil Gun and Trail Boss. At some point I'll chrono my preferred 13 grain 4227 load in both rifles, but that isn't practical at the indoor range right now.
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