David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XIX

[Lee Martin]

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

[cmh]

Always enjoy seeing pics of your 03 Ruger Mr Bradshaw and that looks like some ultra fresh cider Now whats the story on that pump rifle ??

[alukban]

I love that pump gun! That is just slickety-slick

[coldcase1984]

Looks like a dead nuts simple truck gun that will do as a general purpose power tool. The FH protects the muzzle wherever you jam it in yer muddy floorboard. Pop off the tough Weaver Quadlocks with a quarter or the spine of a pocketknife blade if Hell freezes over or snow freezes on yer Leupy Scoutscope.

I'm assuming its an '06, like the 1950s 760 Woodsmaster I toted in my car when I left the department for a gun company PR spot for a few months in '05. I had a 4x Tasco on it and the mag stuffed full of AP.

Been meaning to turn that slick-shuckin ol' gal into a Benoit Special w a 17-in. Bbl, XS BDT sights and a receiver rail so I can swap back and forth between a Micro T1 and a Leupold 6x36 with LR dots. And a flash hider of course.

NEED a Monte Carlo like Mr. Bradshaw's; the original is missing a chunk of wood off its toe and the comb is woefully low for any optic. Was thinking Burnt Bronze Cerakote, but Rustoleum has its charms, too.

Made the first step recently by dropping the 3-lb spring from a Timney 870 Fix into it, amazing change.

[onegoodshot]

Brings back memories of making cider with my grand father. With his mill, we would load the apples whole and crank a handle to mulch them up. Then they would go to the press. He would freeze it and thaw out a new gallon as the old became a little "hard".

[bradshaw]

Big thanks always to Lee Martin.
And thank you CMH, Alukban, Coldcase, and OneGoodShot.... top four photos are of Ruger 03 with a Jim Clark rear sight and Ruger blued steel Redhawk front. Top marksman and pistolsmith Jim Clark made a drop-in sight for Ruger revolvers thirty or so years ago. Gave me the one now installed on the 03. It uses the Ruger elevation screw. The windage screw is of Elliason/Bo-Mar type, which clicks occur on the circumference of the screw head----16-clicks per rev. The three photos of the 03 on river rock show the Meprolight 3-dot tritium sights.

Fine apple crop in Vermont this year, with plenty for the bear, deer, small game, and two legged folks. We grind the apples prior to pressing in a hand made, hand cranked wood chute fitted with screw-studded a wood drum. The press has been in use for generations. Two of us push a long pinch bar stuck through the thimble of the press screw. The apple cider is squeezed through clean burlap dedicated to the chore. The cider is shared with family and friends, and, as onegoodshot indicates, frozen for later consumption.

The Remington Model Six dates to 1980. The M6 is the 7600 with with polished blue and checkered walnut. This one is .308 Winchester, selected specifically over .30-06 for cutting barrel to 16.8-inch carbine length with better efficiency, and occasional volume shooting with less noise and recoil. Ben "Bear Man" Kilham of Lyme, New Hampshire shortened the barrel and installed the Ruger AC556 flash hider, installed the Pachmayr Decelerator pad, and drilled & tapped the barrel for a Weaver type Intermediate Eye Relief (IER) mount. Kilham drilled the heat treated stainless Ruger flash hider for the .308. The scope is the Leupold 2x IER originally made for the Winchester 1894, probably before Jeff Cooper coined the term "Scout." The rear sight is the old Williams Guide. The front is the old Burris Sourdough post with brass insert. I cleaned the trigger. The big head safety is from Uncle Mike's, long since discontinued.

This M6 has enjoyed quite a few scopes: first & second generation red dot Aimpoints; Leupold 2x IER, Leupold 2-3/4x IER; Weaver Quick Point red dot; Leupold Var-X II 1-4x; Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5X; Leupold Vari-XIII 1-3/4-6x Heavy Duplex; Schmidt & Bender 4x36mm with German #4 reticle. Every now and then I throw some cheap paint on it as a hedge against the elements. Thanks to the paint, the polished blue underneath is pretty well preserved.

This M6 is built for speed. It does not pretend to be a cross canyon rifle. Nevertheless, from a steady rest it groups inch and sub-inch groups at 100 yards with any good optic. As Remington pump shooters know, the slide action with full floating barrel tends to shoot like a bolt rifle and displays none of the sporting autoloader's trait of opening up as the barrel heats.
David Bradshaw

[alukban]

Hey David,

Would you mind if I posted a pic of your M6 and you desription over at scoutrifle.org?

They'd have kittens over this rifle

[bradshaw]

alukban.... By all means. The mount is milled from Brownells' Weaver base stock to match barrel contour. Uses the two rear sight screw holes, plus two. I epoxied the base with Marine Tex after traeting threaded areas with release. Screws were not finish-snugged until epoxy cured.

coldcase.... I wouldn't trim an '06 below 18-inches. That's plenty carbine enough for the grand .30-06. It'll be a hair quieter with the extra inch, with a hair more velocity.
David Bradshaw

[alukban]

Thank you Sir!

Posted: www.scoutrifle.org/index.php?topic=3679.0

[cmh]

Thank you Mr Bradshaw......... your post like this are always a treat. Have never had a pump rifle although I have had a love affair with 870's for years and swear by them. May just have to get one as now Im wondering with that free float barrel and a 5R barrel in 308......... Thanks again

[jayhawker]

Pumps are great fun. Love my AWA copy of the Colt Lightning. Got it in .44-40, had it tuned and it runs perfect. Guns originally designed for the slight bottle necks ( .32, .38 and .44 WCFs) function best with those cartridges. The .38/.357 and .45 Colt have feed problems.

[jayhawker]

Pumps are great fun. Love my AWA copy of the Colt Lightning. Got it in .44-40, had it tuned and it runs perfect. Guns originally designed for the slight bottle necks ( .32, .38 and .44 WCFs) function best with those cartridges. The .38/.357 and .45 Colt have feed problems.

[jayhawker]

Sorry about the double post.

[bradshaw]

coldcase.... Shortly after I had Ben Kilham modify my M6, a North Country friend brought his M6 to Kilham for a flash hider. He fit a surplus M16 flash hider to the muzzle. Slightly different thread. Traditional M16 flash hider looks and works fine on the Remington pump. I would save a few skins and go the M16 route.
David Bradshaw

[bradshaw]

While Ben Kilham installed the Pachmayr Decelerator on my M6, I've installed Decelerators on a number of rifles, along with the very effective Kick-Eez sorbothane, and Limbsaver air pocket pads. A few observations may be helpful. So-called "prefit" Decelerator pads don't mate up without fitting, as wood stocks may not all sand out the same in production; thus, the prefit pad must be a bit oversize. A worse complaint is found in the little bar of metal Pachmayr inserts across the prefir pad to support the pad over hollow stocks, such as found on molded synthetic. I can feel this stinky little bar on recoil. Since the prefit pad must be trimmed anyway, better to start with the standard, better designed pad. Measure toe-to-heel and width dimensions of your stock before ordering.

Limbsaver work fine on some guns, but are too mushy for serious recoiling rifles. Others may not agree, but I prefer Decelerator or Kick-Eez for big rifles.

For the better part of a century, manufacturers have used cheap, slippery plastic butt plates. Remington pumps have been so afflicted and they act more like skid plates than butt plates, inclined to slip on your shoulder just as you squeeze the trigger. Friction, not recoil, was my first motive in using the Pachmayr Decelerator on the .308 pump. Two additional points of attention: trim butt as necessary to preserve fast shoulder mount when dressed for hunting. Coat end grain of wood stock with urethane prior to screwing pad in place. Otherwise, rain seeps in to swell butt.

I looked over on the scout carbine site, where someone jawbones about "tactical" slings for the pump. I'll tell you what a tactical sling on a pump carbine is. It is a simple strong sling----without flimsy buckles designed to slip off----attached with QD swivels. The QD swivels allow the sling to be rolled up and stored in a pocket for stepping through the puckerbrush. Sometimes I think these guys with goobers and crime cameras dripping off their rifle must sneak through the woods with a sofa strapped on their back.
David Bradshaw