JDinFbg
Member
Back in the mid to late 60's when I was getting started in competition benchrest rifle shooting, handloading, and wanting to develop some gunsmithing skills, an older gentlemen in my rifle club, who did gunsmithing on a part-time basis, took me under his wing and was my mentor in these pursuits. He also dispensed a lot of common-sense information for which I will be eternally grateful. One day some "young kid", as my friend described him, came to him with a Model 43 Winchester rifle in pieces - literally pieces (see picture) - and wanted to know if he could put Humpty Dumpty back together again. My friend declined the job since it would take too much time, have no guaranteed outcome, and he would have to charge more than the rifle was worth. He told the "young kid" that the only value in the rifle was for spare parts. The back story to this is that the "young kid" had attempted to drill and tap the rifle for scope mounts, used a pipe wrench to remove the barrel from the receiver, and totally botched the job. The "young kid" got thoroughly PO'd and took the rifle out and attempted to wrap it around a tree. My mentor friend let me know about this and suggested that if I wanted a beginning gunsmithing project this might be a good one to try since it wouldn't cost much and I wouldn't have much to lose. I never met the "young kid", but through my friend paid $10-$15 for the shattered rifle.
Fast-forward 50 years and I've finally drug this rifle out of storage with the intent to try to resurrect it. As my mentor friend noted 50 years ago, I don't have much to lose. Through review of the exploded view and a parts list breakdown on the Numerich Arms website, I've determine that the only essential pieces I'm missing are the trigger guard and the two trigger guard screws. I further discovered that I already had a set of scope bases for this rifle. I've started work on gluing the stock back together and think I have successfully been able to straighten the barrel. At least, it no longer wobbles excessively when spun between centers on my lathe, and the view down the barrel no longer shows the far end looking like a partially eclipsed moon. This project may be an attempt to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and I can't guess as to what I'm going to end up with, but I'm game for the challenge. Wish me luck.
Fast-forward 50 years and I've finally drug this rifle out of storage with the intent to try to resurrect it. As my mentor friend noted 50 years ago, I don't have much to lose. Through review of the exploded view and a parts list breakdown on the Numerich Arms website, I've determine that the only essential pieces I'm missing are the trigger guard and the two trigger guard screws. I further discovered that I already had a set of scope bases for this rifle. I've started work on gluing the stock back together and think I have successfully been able to straighten the barrel. At least, it no longer wobbles excessively when spun between centers on my lathe, and the view down the barrel no longer shows the far end looking like a partially eclipsed moon. This project may be an attempt to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and I can't guess as to what I'm going to end up with, but I'm game for the challenge. Wish me luck.