The Ugly Duckling' carbine
Oct 23, 2017 11:53:19 GMT -5
Stump Buster, dougader, and 4 more like this
Post by tinkerpearce on Oct 23, 2017 11:53:19 GMT -5
A while back I inherited my Uncle Jim's tools and guns. There were some guns I didn't need or wasn't interested in and I passed those along to family members or sold them. There was one rifle that I couldn't really do either. It was a hideous 'sporterized' M38 7.35mm Carcano. The sort of thing that used to be sold mail-order for $6-$8 before the GCA68. I suspect that's exactly where Uncle Jim got it. It came with a good supply of ammunition (pre-loaded in the now hard-to-find clips) and according to my aunt he had fired it only once, after which it literally stood in a corner for over 40 years. Here's a pic of a similar rifle-
The rifle was coated with a layer of dust in dried gun-oil and covered with spider-web pitting. Surprisingly the mechanism was fine and the bore good. No one in the immediate family needed a deer rifle and since these retail for $60-$80 there seemed little point in selling it. "What the hell," I thought. "It's functional and I have plenty of ammo. Might as well keep it around." Some time later a friend brought by a large chunk of walnut he found in the rafters of his grandfather's shop. He thought I might be able to use it for knife handles, but I had a different idea since I had also inherited Uncle Jim's wood-working tools...
I've always fancied a Mannlicher-style carbine but never found one that I like that I could afford. I shortened the barrel to 16-1/4" (after researching how ATF measures barrel-length for rifles) and cleaned up all of the metal-work and reblued it with Van's Instant Blue. Then I set about making my first rifle stock using my own shop tools and a variety of wood chisels from Uncle Jim. I fitted everything up and floated the barrel from the action forward. I fabricated a new front sight and place it by guessing based on the position of the original drift-adjustable front sight. I also fabricated a steel butt-plate then applied a hand-rubbed Carnauba-wax finish.
By what I can only attribute to Divine Intervention the gun shot precisely to point of aim at fifty yards. It's a very handy little rifle, and this fall it took it's first animal. OK, it was a goat that a friend wanted slaughtered, but still... It will be doing more deer hunting over the next couple weeks. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I think it's a project that Uncle Jim might have taken on himself if it had occurred to him. I think he'd be pleased too.
T
The only real change I've made since these pictures is the addition of a leather sling.
The rifle was coated with a layer of dust in dried gun-oil and covered with spider-web pitting. Surprisingly the mechanism was fine and the bore good. No one in the immediate family needed a deer rifle and since these retail for $60-$80 there seemed little point in selling it. "What the hell," I thought. "It's functional and I have plenty of ammo. Might as well keep it around." Some time later a friend brought by a large chunk of walnut he found in the rafters of his grandfather's shop. He thought I might be able to use it for knife handles, but I had a different idea since I had also inherited Uncle Jim's wood-working tools...
I've always fancied a Mannlicher-style carbine but never found one that I like that I could afford. I shortened the barrel to 16-1/4" (after researching how ATF measures barrel-length for rifles) and cleaned up all of the metal-work and reblued it with Van's Instant Blue. Then I set about making my first rifle stock using my own shop tools and a variety of wood chisels from Uncle Jim. I fitted everything up and floated the barrel from the action forward. I fabricated a new front sight and place it by guessing based on the position of the original drift-adjustable front sight. I also fabricated a steel butt-plate then applied a hand-rubbed Carnauba-wax finish.
By what I can only attribute to Divine Intervention the gun shot precisely to point of aim at fifty yards. It's a very handy little rifle, and this fall it took it's first animal. OK, it was a goat that a friend wanted slaughtered, but still... It will be doing more deer hunting over the next couple weeks. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I think it's a project that Uncle Jim might have taken on himself if it had occurred to him. I think he'd be pleased too.
TThe only real change I've made since these pictures is the addition of a leather sling.
