Home gunsmithing

I recently bought a Mousin Nagant 91/30 rifle for $85 from an internet company (incl shipping and transfer) for a do it myself project.

The tools I used were: Drill press, Makita hand held grinder, Makita 12 volt drill, hammer, screwdrivers, files, punch, vice and propane torch and chop saw and a couple of taps and allen wrenches.

What I did was:
Remove the sights
modify the bolt for low scope clearance
add scope and scope mount
make adjustable trigger
add recoil pad (made from womans flip flop)
cut and modify stock
add bipod
remove front and rear sights
paint stock and add warning lables

It turned out a thing of beauty, depending on how you look at it.

My question is: Has anyone else here embarked on a project that they had never tried before?

I will provide a link to my rifle if anyone wants it.

RonE wrote:My question is: Has anyone else here embarked on a project that they had never tried before?

Many, many, many. And some were tried more than once! If you really want to hear about some, I will dig down for some, in detail:

Put a 430 cu. in. Lincoln engine in a brand-new '64 Falcon

Convert an Astra Constable .380 to 9mm

Build a BIG Tesla coil

Make 9mm ammo sub-sonic

Dress-out a sheep

Marriage

Your preference, or shall I just shut up???

There is an old cliche among craftsmen of old, "it aint what you have its what you do with what you have".

An example of that, I once saw a picture of a home made bench lathe, something like 10" between centers, and maybe a 3" swing.

Big deal one might say, Popular Mechanincs used to sell such "kits" all the time.

thing is, this was made by some Brits in a japanese prison camp during the big rodeo of the era.

Probably not one of the camps in Battaan, but little doubt they had to be pretty inventive to make it, even in the most lax camps. And they then produced all sorts of small parts and pieces for the corpsmen, hidden radios, sneak and peek stuff, etc.

Most of the stuff you mention would be pretty harmless, even if not done totally according to hoyle. Only thing I would advise some forethought, would be in modifying the bolt handle.

I have never paid much attention to a Mosin, and I dont recall it having them, but in some rifles you have rear locking lugs, or even the bolt handle itself is part of the locking system.

Destroying the case or heat treat with a torch, is a good way to get a third eye, or maybe even the family cashing your 401 in early.

Not throwing stones, just advising too give some care and forethought before getting certain parts of a receiver or bolt, anywhere near red heat.

RonE wrote:My question is: Has anyone else here embarked on a project that they had never tried before?

Marriage

...The ultimate project

Oh Yeah, I forgot too answer the question, yep, I have a whole corner full of scrap, of projects attempted that I had never tried before.

In 1985 I lived in the northern Sacramento Valley, which is walnut country and abounds with small stock making companies that provide semi-inletted stocks to gunsmiths and hobbyists. So I took the plunge that year and with a little coaching and some Jim Carmichael books started inletting, glass bedding, and shaping my own stocks. I built around a dozen rifles from components for friends and I before Mister Arthur Ritis took away my ability to do the precise close work needed to make the wood look like it was growing out of the metal. Rather than botch up an otherwise beautiful hobby I quit doing it in 1997. Here are some photos of some of the stuff my rifle-nut friends and I used to do back then. This is a Mark X Whitworth action barrelled with a Shilen short-chambered medium-weight barrel cut to 23" and chambered for the 6.5X55mm Mauser cartridge. My favorite handload pushes a 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip along at a chronographed average of 3100 fps with minute of angle accuracy. (Don't try this with a Swedish Mauser rifle in this caliber as it will ruin its soft receiver in a heartbeat and ruin the rifle for you.)



This stock sold for $125 in 1992 from a small stockmaking company and would have been a $400-$500 stock had the knot on the right side of the forend not been there. Shuckydarn! Please pardon the dings, she's been around a bit.The wood is English walnut, which is preferred to black or Claro walnut because of its tighter grain and superior strength....despite its considerably greater cost. English is always preferred to black walnut when building a magnum rifle for this reason.



The finish is unstained, Tru-Oil, about a dozen coats sprayed on and sanded between coats with 600 wed or dry, and finished out with 0000 steel wool and Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner.



This is the offending $400 knot. Actually I'm glad it's there because I wouldn't have been able to afford the stock if it hadn't been.



The two photos below depict the left side grain and the shadow line cheek piece. This type of cheek piece is especially handsome on a custom rifle with a classic style stock, but is an unholy buggernasty sonofagun to finish out correctly. Lotsa evenings there, boy!



The barrelled action was a retirement gift from a government-coyote-hunter-former-gunsmith friend in Rock Springs, Wyoming. His name was Kent Robb and he was a wonderful craftsman in his own right.



So that's what us olpharts used to do in days of old. I had seven of these homemade Mausers when I moved to Tennessee in '96, some on military actions and some on commercial actions, but I sold all but this one when the aforementioned Mister Ritis also took my ability to deer hunt. Do it while you got it, boys.....once it's gone it's GONE!! :)

JayPee

I can relate on the ritis, but mine isnt rhumatoid, so with the exception of locked wrists my fingers and hands are still in pretty good shape, Everything else is pretty much held together with modern science.

that 6.5 is a good round, way underrated for an all around, though of course few American gunmakers ever chambered for it.

thats indeed a nice honest piece of english. A couple of those CA stock outfits had a difficult time breaking away from the CA influence, course by 92 some had made the transistion.

My late pard used to use a lot of George Petersons stocks, one called the "western varminter" with a wider FE but admit, was a good stock for off the bags and ground squirrels.

JayPee here was an absolute craftsman! Incredibly beautiful work. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Have not some of the modern medications been able to help enough to at least do SOME work? A real shame to stop completely.

My Father was a similar craftsman, only in metal. I will try to post a pic of a part he built dies for, which blanked it out of 1/4 inch thick metal, you may try to guess, some may know, what this part was. If you have seen it before, I bet money it was long, long ago.......

As far as I can tell, the ONLY thing that ever actually slowed down my arthritis to any noticeable degree have only been out a few years, Humerin injections, and cant think of the other first cousin of it.

Had they been available 20 years back, I believe I would be in better shape overall. But the anti inflammatorys that knocked backed some of the pain and swelling, I am down to one kidney due to the other being removed for it being full of cancer.

when they give those warnings about the fancy aspirin being dangerous over the long term, they aint kidding.

I developed it a young age, 19 and again, every med that they offer, has some side effect long term. I am living proof of that.

I dont know what the percentage is that have it as bad as I do. For example I went from a perfect hip, to walking bone on bone in about two years. And I literally mean that, zero cartilage left.

At the time, I voted too live for the day, and had a hip replacement, which came back too bite me big time 25 years later, but again trust me, a wheel chair to someone in their 20s was not a real good choice to make either. Or at least I didnt think so at the time.

I could fill a couple of pages with violin music, but have been more than blessed by the good Lord over the whole deal.

Severed chronic arthritis, is one of the most underrated and un known afflictions around. If you get it in the sunset years you may only suffer a few years. Get it as a teenager, decades of suffering await.

I made the choice not too have children, as I did not want to chance passing it on.

Here is a project gun from the recent past. the one pic shows what I started with and nothing else. the rest of the parts had too be found and located, the stock and forend came from blanks, and a lot of sweat equity.

I note from other pics and their dates, the project took just about two years too the day, working when I was in the mood. BTW, its a 25 20. relined barrel, rust blued all the work I did personally. Click on the pics for a full size view.