Waiting for Range session

[butlersrangers]

I am wearing a "Frankenstein Boot" due to a foot problem and surgical intervention.
This hopefully brief 'limitation' is keeping me from the Shooting Range.

During the interim, I have finished restoring a (WW2 'Rebuild') Remington model-1917 rifle. It is waiting to rumble.

I still need to correct the 'canted' front-sight base, on this 1903 Springfield rifle restoration, before another shooting session.

Now is also a good time to load some .30-06 ammo, for the future Range Outing, when I'm back in a regular shoe!

These pictured rifles had been altered into 1/2 stock 'Deer rifles' by prior owners.

The 'sporters' came with messed up sights. The military rifle stocks were ruined. The handguards and much of the hardware were missing.
Both actions still had their original barrels, with excellent bores, which made the projects appealing and feasible.
These will be fun shooters that save wear & tear on more collectable arms.

The days for doing practical U.S. military rifle 'restorations' are probably waning. The parts are getting so expensive and hard to find!

[scottz63]

Very nice work! Love both of them!

Taking my FN49 out tomorrow for some testing and gas block adjustment. I've replaced several parts on it recently.

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[butlersrangers]

Neat FN auto-loader! What caliber?

[MooseNugget]

Awesome restoration work as usual BR! Hoping they shoot straight and true.

Also hoping for a speedy foot recovery.

BTW: You didn't include your 'Frankenstein Booted' foot in your photos.

Scott63 - An FN49 has been on my wish list for a long time... Good luck with testing and adjustments.

Below are some photos of my summer projects. 1st & 2nd photos are a before/after Winchester 1917 restoration. 3rd photo is a .32-20 caliber Australian Martini Cadet rifle restoration.

[butlersrangers]

MooseNugget - Wonderful job on those two restorations!

Hey, I have some Winchester parts on my 1917 mixmaster Rebuild!

What bullet are you using in the Australian Cadet Martini?

I had a Queensland marked B.S.A. Cadet for years, that was still in the original .310 Cadet chambering.
The bore required a .317" or .318" diameter lead bullet.
I altered a bunch of .32-20 Winchester brass on a lathe, by thinning the rims and shortening the length.
My brass loaded and chambered fine. I had access to an old Lyman mold that threw the correct diameter & weight bullet.

Loaded with IMR-4227 my reloads were very accurate at 100 yards. However, the bullet I used, was not 'heeled' (stepped) and I had horrible extraction problems.
I had cases stretching and separating, because the .310 Cadet chamber is tight.
It requires a 'heeled' bullet, because there is little room in the front of the chamber for case 'mouth' expansion.

I should have just had the chamber altered, but, I gave up on the project and sold the rifle with the chamber in its original state.

British and American differences in the way of doing things can create challenging gun problems!

[MooseNugget]

The BSA cadet rifle was purchased from a friend who in-turn purchased it from a friend who told him that it was chambered for .32-20 WCF. Since finding no marks/stamps indicating the rifles caliber I decided to slug the barrel's chamber. From what I could ascertain the rifle does appear to be chambered for .32-20 WCF. In its day the .32-20 caliber bullet seems to have been a very popular rifle and pistol round. The rifle also came with RCBS reloading dies and about 20 rounds of ammo.

Finding .32-20 brass proved to be a challenge but I finally found a supplier and was able to purchase 100 Starline brass cases. Bear Creek Supply provided the 125 grain, .323 diameter, heeled round nose lead projectiles. The primers and powder used respectfully were CCI #400 small rifle primers and 4.5 grains of Unique powder.

As you experienced BR, I to had a difficult time extracting the cartridges, that came with the rifle, from the chamber. Especially since the Martini/Henry style lever had been modified/shortened reducing any extra leverage. However, the cartridges I loaded seem to load and extract just fine...go figure?

Shooting the rifle was a joy with not much felt recoil and reasonable accuracy. I'm no Carlos Hathcock or Chris Kyle but I did manage to consistently hit a 6 inch diameter target at 100 yards shooting off-hand without really trying.

The only bummer about the rifle is that it's missing the engraved kangaroo that would normally be found on top of the receiver.

[scottz63]

Neat FN auto-loader! What caliber?

Thanks! One of my favorite surplus rifles. This one is 8mm Mauser.

Went completely through it last winter and replaced worn and incorrect parts. Also, a complete clean/lube/oil.

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[scottz63]

Scott63 - An FN49 has been on my wish list for a long time... Good luck with testing and adjustments.

Thanks! One was on my wish list for several years as well. Picked up this one at a local auction last year for a very fair price, about what they were going for 7-8 years ago.

Beautiful restoration on that 1917!!

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