Bubba's gun smithing rifle version.

[12Bravo20]

I'll start off here with Bubba the Backyard Gun Wrecker's handy work on rifles since there is a thread in the handgun section. This first post will be a safety briefing also.

MY neighbor called me over to look a t a used rifle he recently bought. It WAS a nice Browning A Bolt in 25-06. He shot two rounds out of it and the scope flew off and hit him in the face on the second shot. He also got peppered with fragments of brass. After I inspected the rifle, I found that Bubba had re-drilled all four of the scope mount holes to 10-32 threads. The worst part is he drilled completely through the barrel chamber on the front hole. And this is why the scope came flying off. Bubba didn't even bother to remove the mounts when he drilled and tapped the receiver for 10-32 machine screws. Plus the holes are no longer in line or centered on the receiver. The fired case has a nice round hole blown out where the front mount screw was.

The safety briefing is: Make sure to dismount scopes and mounts on used rifles and inspect everything before ever firing a single shot!!!!!
Here are a few photos of Bubba's handy work.

Receiver holes.



Fired case with a nice hole blown out.



Photo of the mounts and bottom of scope. Note that the front ring and scope took damage when it was blown off the receiver.



I am just glad that my neighbor is okay and did not get seriously hurt from Bubba's gun smithing skills.

Edited because I stated the wrong caliber. The rifle is a 25-06.

 

[jmorris]

Well, it is easier to tap when the hole isn’t blind…

 

[12Bravo20]

I'll post this photo here even though I posted it in the other thread since I don't remember if it was an AR pistol or rifle.

When building an AR upper make dang sure that you use the correct barrel extension for the type of upper receiver you are using. NEVER use a barrel without the M4 cuts in an upper with M4 cuts. Bubba couldn't understand why he kept having feed issues and ended up with a bit of damage.

 

[LoonWulf]

Ive done some bubba-ing. Slipper recoil pads, hacking up Mosins, removing and installing barrels with pipe wrenches.....stuff like that. Ill try find some pictures.

 

[adcoch1]

Ive done some bubba-ing. Slipper recoil pads, hacking up Mosins, removing and installing barrels with pipe wrenches.....stuff like that. Ill try find some pictures.

A pipe wrench is a fine gunsmithing tool! And unfortunately I've had to resort to one for a Barrel nut removal before. I'll admit, I've done some bubba class gun work, but in all but one case it actually IMPROVED the firearm I was working on... No pictures though, and nobody is in danger...

 

[CraigC]

I'm actually surprised we don't hear of this sort of thing more often. Of course, I'm also shocked I can drive to town and back without witnessing 14 car wrecks (trying not to call them "accidents"). Guess I don't have much faith in humanity.

 

[Enfielder]

I paid $200 for a Model 81 that wouldn’t cycle. It had the side mount scope mount on it and the screws extended into the receiver so they rubbed on the reciprocating bolt. A little bit of dremel work after disassembly in the receivers and it worked as it should.

 

[horsemen61]

That’s bad so bad

 

[21H40]

Why change the threads? Do you reckon Bubba already stripped the originals?

SMH

 

[12Bravo20]

Why change the threads? Do you reckon Bubba already stripped the originals?

SMH

That would be my guess on why Bubba went to a bigger screw size.

 

[LoonWulf]

That would be my guess on why Bubba went to a bigger screw size.

Probably because he lost the screws. The went to the hardware store, got some 6-32/6-40s and tried to screw them in and got em stuck

Or snapped off the heads of the existing screws in the blind holes.

When I was working on a friend of mine's abolt the front screw was snapped and I couldn't get it out till I got the barrel off.

 

[4v50 Gary]

We used to joke about chamber porting but Buffing Bob did it for real! Mills allow you to drill (actually mill) w/precision.

 

[LoonWulf]

Sum uf muh fynest wurk!


Same gun after i could afford to spend any money on it.

 

[MarshallDodge]

How can something like that be repaired?

People always talk about how strong brass is, and I always say it is basically just a gasket. It has to be supported or it will let go.

 

[LoonWulf]

How can something like that be repaired?

People always talk about how strong brass is, and I always say it is basically just a gasket. It has to be supported or it will let go.

The holes in the receiver are are clean thru, our enterprising gun smiff punched clean thru the barrel.

I dunno what the "right" fix is but probably the easiest thing to do if it were here, would be to have the holes re-drilled to insure they are straight and true then install threaded bushings and a new barrel.
Or just re-do the holes/threading and customize the mounts/bases for larger screws, and adjust for any offset on them.

Either way, time for a new tube.

 

[12Bravo20]

My neighbor's rifle will need a new barrel at minimum. There are a few ways to save the receiver. Bubba opened the mounting holes for #10-32 machine screws. So the next step up would be either s #12 screw (specialty) or 1/4" screw. Both would be too big for the job. And I have never liked plugging holes and then tapping the plugs. Plugs are never as strong as he original material.

A simple solution would be to use a one piece mount with the holes slotted so that the scope can be lined up with the bore. I haven't talked to my neighbor to see what he has decided to do.

 

[dbmjr1]

The solution would be to weld the holes. Mount it in a milling machine and redrill / tap the holes. Refinish it and re-barrel it.
All that should cost a bit less than two or three new rifles.

I'd sell the stock and bolt. Destroy the receiver. Use the barrel as a tomato stake.
Cut my losses and blacklist the fellow I bought it from.

 

[Hillbilly Hydrographics]

I was at flea market few years ago and seen what looked like a decent shape old single shot bolt action 22. But it was only 30 bucks. I didnt haggle with the guy or say anything that might make him second guess the price. Then after i told him id take it he said it wouldnt chamber rounds at all. I figured probably easy fix since most of them old 22 rifles got pretty gunked up alot of times they just need a deep clean to loosen everything up to work. Got it home tore it apart and discovered the problem was somebody used a cleaning rod and jag that was to big and it had been broke off in the barrel. I was finally able to drive the rod and jag out of barrel but the barrel was pretty gouged up inside. I found a replacement barrel on the interwebs and she became a great shooter that ended up makin me a nice trade piece.

 

[12Bravo20]

The solution would be to weld the holes. Mount it in a milling machine and redrill / tap the holes. Refinish it and re-barrel it.
All that should cost a bit less than two or three new rifles.

I'd sell the stock and bolt. Destroy the receiver. Use the barrel as a tomato stake.
Cut my losses and blacklist the fellow I bought it from.

Welding the holes shut is not as strong and would really be no better than installing threaded inserts. I have done both in the past as a machinist/tool and die maker.

I told my neighbor all the different options on how to fix his rifle. It will be up to him how he proceeds.

 

[CraigC]

A new barrel guarantees that the gunsmithing bill is going to far exceed the cost of the rifle. IMHO, not worth it.

 

[Remington1911]

I paid $200 for a Model 81 that wouldn’t cycle. It had the side mount scope mount on it and the screws extended into the receiver so they rubbed on the reciprocating bolt. A little bit of dremel work after disassembly in the receivers and it worked as it should.

There are all those little "levers" on the side as well. I just love that rifle, 8 as well. Amazing someone could visualize that all in his head in the days before computers and all.

 

[12Bravo20]

A new barrel guarantees that the gunsmithing bill is going to far exceed the cost of the rifle. IMHO, not worth it.

Which is what I told my neighbor.

 

[CraigC]

It would probably be a good project for someone able to do all the work but they wouldn't want to pay much for it. Now that I look, there's actually a bunch of barrels on Ebay, as cheap as $60.

Probably be easier to unload if it were a Remington 700, Winchester 70 or Mauser.

 

[Jim Watson]

A blank scope base; it and receiver drilled to miss the present holes.

One of those takeoff barrels.

 

[Pat Riot]

At a gun show last year I discovered this guy that has a Mauser rifle mounted in a plastic stock that looks like it’s from Planet of the Apes (the original one). $250 was the price. He also had some other Bubba modified guns. There was a rifle laying on the table with a scope mount but no scope. It looked odd. I picked it up and found the scope base appeared to be mounted with JB Weld to the receiver. I put it down.
The Mauser interested me so I asked what the deal was with it. The guy behind the table said that these were all his brother’s guns he didn’t know much about them. I figure if the brother JB welds scopes to receivers there’s no telling what was done to the Mauser. I walked away.