DWright started a good thread on "eye candy" rifles (his words), it was great & I enjoyed it

I'm sure they are functional as well as good looking but most of use have a smoke pole; a meat rifle; the rifle (like the girl who didn't get asked to the prom) that always brings home the bacon or saves your bacon; they may be the same rifle in some cases but not mine

How about some pictures of those "working" guns, the ones that only come out of the safe when its time to kill something; the ones that have been used and abused but keep on ticking; your "go to" rifle; the one that has the bluing worn down and dings in the stock

I'm not belittling the beautiful custom rifles; or the the outstanding workmanship of the outstanding gunsmiths, metalsmithes, barrel makers & engravers of the world

This is not a us against them thread, just a chance for the ugly girl to get asked to the dance

P.S. It's OK if you got a name for it, many of us have a pet name for our favorite rifle

OK ... I'll fess up.

I can't afford the lovely beasties some of you fellas have built ... love'm but ...

So I build what I call a practical rifle. Here is a .376/.416 Steyr Improved (otherwise known as the .416 Aagaard). Is a 22" Douglas barrel on a Higgins FN Mauser action. Has custom QRW mounts that I made and is bedded into a Hogue stock. Is fitted with a 1.5-5 Leupold Illuminated Reticle scope on Leupold QRW rings. Weighs just over 9 pounds. Pushes a 350 gr bullet at about 2300 fps.



Is just going through load testing, but last pass finally gave groups of less than 1 MOA.

A handy little rifle that points well and has good punch ... not dissimilar to a .404 Jeff in terms of performance.

Sweet, got a feeling we are going to see a lot of plastic stocks if this thread takes hold

I'm taking this one hog hunting in Texas next week. It has been very reliable and accurate. Obviously it's handy. It was a military Mauser that has been converted. It feeds the 35 Whelen excellently. No modifications to the feed rails, but I did add FN commercial bottom metal, and mate the feed ramp to it. I have several rifles that I consider perfect feeding, ejecting, etc. and this is one of them.

I stuck it in the Butler Creek stock so I could get going with it, and later bedded it. I was thinking someday I would upgrade the stock, but it has been so handy, durable and workable that I just don't want to mess with it. I guess I could paint it. The nice thing is I dont have to worry about weather, or dings. the action is Black T, the barrel is matt stainless.


KB

I've got so many ugly ones I don't know where to start!

Maybe one never before seen here, and the ugliest one I own ... be back later ...

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
I've got so many ugly ones I don't know where to start!

Maybe one never before seen here, and the ugliest one I own ... be back later ...

How bout that Tijuana body shop job with the Synthetic Cubist bondo applique...??

The 404 Jeffery M70 to which Macifej refers is a beauty compared to my first efforts
at smearing epoxy on a Brown Precision stock, as a finish coat.

Hard to beat this 8-pound dry weight .458 Lott for ugly.
She is a gray-Parkerized Whitworth .458 WinMag converted to .458 Lott
with a Brown Precision fiberglass stock smeared all over with brown Microbed epoxy
and textured with a wood scraper while the epoxy was still tacky,
then spray painted black,
has a KDF muzzle brake for the soft of shoulder and hard of ear,
fold down rear sight for better use of either a peep, or a 2.5X Leupold in QRW rings
on her 8x40-ed and epoxied QRW bases,
the slip-on Pachmayr pad covers a 1" Pachmayr Decelerator underneath,
double-recoil padding gives me a correct LOP,
and buried allthread crossbolting and pillars,
... She is called "Wartsow" and feels good in my hands, but hurts my eyes
if I don't cover the dings and scratches with a toot of Krylon now and then.
It would be unsightly to let the brown epoxy show through too much:

This Blaser Attache in 7x64 or 9.3x62 is the rifle that most frequently comes out for a shot, be it for a wild pig, goat, Deer or fox close to home or for the Mountain game of New Zealand or Mongolia, or be it Lion, Buff etc in Africa.

.. This is the Spruce King . Since 1994 it has been there done that for me .458 Win Mag on a stainless Ruger action . I keep thinking about what I could change it into and haven,t come up with anything that felt right yet... It has a Shilen barrel , with an extra recoil lug under the barrel , Its interesting , I have a snolly bomb of JB Weld on the pistol grip now in the same place as Rip does his Lott.... currently it wears a 2 1/2 x scope .. And yes , a muzzle brake .. The metal work was done by Wm Fowler in Anchorage ..... ..

Ah, I see serious competition from gumboot458!

I have not revealed my first ever forray into "semi-custom" rifles.

My first visit to Willis Fowler of Anchorage, Alaska, January 1986:

Willis did not do stock work. Said he was allergic to epoxy.
So I became a self-taught glass bedder.
This is my first ever job.
A bare fiberglass Brown Precision stock,
some Acraglass gobbed on the grip panels and textured with a pointy stick.
The rest of the bare fiberglass was subdued with black Krylon.

This rifle started off as a Whitworth .375 H&H.
It was rechambered to .375 Wby with the 1945-spec reamer of Willis Fowler.
This cartridge was the first ever .375 H&H improved. All others are imitators.
The 2001-spec reamer is the same, with a better throat.
It has had me and several gunsmiths besides Willis Fowler work on it since 1986,
so you can't blame Willis Fowler for all the ugly.

This rifle has a 2.5X Leupold scout scope to go on the Ruger quarter rib with Ruger rings,
a 4X Leupold in 3 Weaver rings,
a Redfield pop-up peep,
Lyman and Williams receiver sights,
a fold-down rear sight,
a big bead front sight:
5 different sighting systems, always carrying 2 scopes and 2 iron sight systems afield:



Fold-down peep on the back of the Weaver base. Also drilled and tapped for Lyman or Williams receiver sight.













I have killed several Kodiaks with it, deer that is,
and I got within 300 yards of King Kong of Kodiak while carrying this.
That bear must have got our wind and hightailed it as I and a buddy approached from 2 miles away.
We glassed him from 2 miles away,
as he was lying on a hillside looking at two bowhunters in their deer camp,
like a big dog with his head on his paws, waiting to make his move,
just 50 yards above them, I swear to God.

King Kong looked like a 13-footer as he ran off.

The bowhunters had a single 300WinMag in camp as their backup for deer hunting
in Jap Bay of Kodiak.
Fall of 1987, my resident drawing permit for Kodiak brown bear.

I went ugly early!
My first "serious rifle" and still seriously ugly.
"Grunhilda" is her name.

About her elegant metal finish:
She was blasted and brushed, then parkerized, and then blued,
and it still did not hide the Whitworth purple.

RIP, Hal Waugh would have loved it, his "big Nan" was a 375 WBY

Abob,
I blame Hal Waugh's "Big Nan" for "Grunhilda."

So, on this theory, men should have beautiful mistresses but ugly wives?

As some wag once said, "Life is too short to hunt with an ugly rifle."

Heres my workhorse. Ironically, I never shot anything with it. Its my hiking/camp gun. Its been dropped off cliffs (me or the rifle...hmmm), Had to have the front sights replaced twice. The rear sight is solid as a horse.

Still shoots dead nuts at 100yards with 400gr cast.

This co-pilot (45/70) is the best thing I ever wasted my money on.

MY EYES!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:

As some wag once said, "Life is too short to hunt with an ugly rifle."

That is tired, man. Plumb gay! John Taylor?

The only interesting rifle is an accurate rifle.
Thank you Townsend Whelen.

quote:

John Taylor?

Jethro Bodine I believe...

Jay,
There you go again, a stupid smartass crack!
Are you calling Jethro a homo?
At least the fictional moron character owned a rifle and could shoot it.
How about you?

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Jay,
There you go again, a stupid smartass crack!
Are you calling Jethro a homo?
At least the fictional moron character owned a rifle and could shoot it.
How about you?

Touchy this afternoon eh..??

NO!! I don't own any rifles and I've never fired one either...

You think Jethro could really shoot...??

I bet he was a good trapper...

I posted this in the other thread about members guns, but it belongs more in this thread as it's a bit to scarred up and not so pretty. But it's no safe queen and has done it's time in the field. It's a Whitworth that started life as a .375 and grew up to .416 Rem. It's sick and will feed anything you give it, is accurate, and at a hair over 8-lbs is a pleasure to carry.........

I don't have many pretty guns. This is my new go-to deer rifle, for ranges under 150 yards.
Its a Savage 110, factory stock. 20 inch 458 Win Mag barrel by E.R. Shaw. Current scope is a Nikkon 2-7 shotgun scope. I had a Weaver 3x for the picture.

This rifle weighs 8 lbs. It points well, and is reasonably light. It is now my favorite deer rifle for walking, or surprising situations. I killed two deer with it this year. Both were bedded when I walked up on them. They spotted me at the same time I saw them. They stood up, about to go. That is the kind of situation I like this rifle for. Two shots, two dead antlerless deer.

RIP, that's a Dreadnaught if I ever saw one! I bet it gets incrementally prettier with each shot (of Scotch, that is).

It's butt ugly. It's a .375 Wby. and I call it Whomper.

8.5 pound dryweight 404 Jeffery, the pinnacle of my art-decopoxy finishing of Brown Precision stocks, lying on its favorite game rug, though it was originally conceived as the ultimate M70 African Sheep Rifle:





Is that not so ugly it is cute?
I have many more ugly rifles, and they are all fully functional and very accurate with at least one of my handloads.

One of two SSG's I've had. An SSG-PII with double set triggers and this here "Green Gun" in .308" ...if you need a utilitarian rifle that doesn't require body work, bedding, or any other VooDoo ...can't beat a Steyr. Shoots 1/2 MOA with dollar a shot Federal bought at the corner store ammo...no need for a special diet. Want to "Monkey Wrench" one ...add the McMillan stock for SSG's in whatever color/texture you dig ... then you'll have a $2500 "Truck Gun" ...

Oh my!
Now that's a PFUGLY rifle!
Jethro would be proud!
Did the clip fall out of that Push Feeder accidentally or on purpose?
At least the front sling swivel is in the right place.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Oh my!
Now that's a PFUGLY rifle!
Jethro would be proud!
Did the clip fall out of that Push Feeder accidentally or on purpose?
At least the front sling swivel is in the right place.

Jethro would need to read the manual on a proper rifle like this...except Jethro can't read!!!

Push Feed...whatever...you'll need better bait for that shallow trolling...tell it to the worlds Elite Military Units...they're all using CRF rifles...NOT!!!

I'm thinking about upgrading it by bondoing a 3D relief of Elvis on the stock...

RIP,

Love the art-decopoxy on the M70. How did you do the continental relief?

Also, what parts are involved in the rear flip-up sight on the .375?

Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
RIP, that's a Dreadnaught if I ever saw one! I bet it gets incrementally prettier with each shot (of Scotch, that is).

Thanks, tiggertate. You get it.

BTB...take a gander all ...at the rear sight on this here Green Gun and then a peek at the new Ruger .416 rear sight. Seems Steyr/Ruger cooperation continues...word is the SBS Pro-Hunter will be available in 375 Rooguh this year as the 376 Steyr was discontinued in that model...

quote:

Originally posted by mstarling:
RIP,

Love the art-decopoxy on the M70. How did you do the continental relief?

Also, what parts are involved in the rear flip-up sight on the .375?

Thanks!

mstarling,
Thank you, thank you very much.
Did you notice that Kilimanjaro is visible and palpable right on the equator? And Antarctica with the rear sling stud as The South Pole?
I did that with assorted palette knives (spatulas) and sharp and dull sticks (toothpicks) and freshly applied JB Weld, carressed as it set up. I am an artiste in oil and acrylic on canvas and quite comfortable with the JB, whether epoxy or scotch.

The pop-up peep was made by Redfield, and Willis Fowler had them in stock in 1986.
They just require two small screw holes to be drilled and tapped at the perpendicular back side of any rear scope base that is wide enough and tall enough to fit it.
It is under spring tension in the 90 degree arc between flipped up and locked, or kept flipped down, locks in place. Nifty little item made of good steel.

He put one on my .416 Barnes Supreme on another Whitworth he built for me in the late 1980's, just before the .416 Remington arrived on the scene. I did not know about the .416 Hoffman then either, but the .416 Barnes Supreme was near identical, and has been around since at least 1949. My .416 BS and .450 BS are two more ugly rifles, and I have a .358 ST Alaskan that is crudely Brown-Precision-art-decopoxy stocked too, all Whitworths ... I will spare y'all for now, until I get bored or this thread needs revival. 'Twould be a chance for a better view of the Redfield pop-up peep.

Abob & RIP ----- Both of you mentioned Hal Waugh. I had the good fortune of staying at his old camp at Post Lake in 1999 when I Moose hunted with Dennis Harms. We hunted the Farewell Burn but two days were spent in prep for the hunt there simply resting and glassing. ----- RIP I also noticed you shoot a STA, which is my "Fancy" as well as "Go To" rifle. Good to hear of Hal Waugh on AR, I have some of his books. Good shooting.

RIP the best one is yet to come...

The MFG rig.... (Mud flap girl)

Make it complete with duct tape ammo holder/sling, Bourbon in the removable mercury recoil reducer and snuff can cut out for a true backwoods feel

I could sell a bazzilion of these... synthetic stock naturaly...

Some how I feel inferior in the Ugly Gun department ...I guess I'll have to create my own masterpiece of function and p0or taste ...

PERHAPS A CONTEST ...??? UGLIEST GUN CONTEST 2009 ...!!!

George S ...what say ye ...???

A Big Bore Forum annual Ugliest Gun Contest ...??

Like that Ugliest Dog contest

A very few of us already know the winner.

Behind curtain number three: The 577/550 double rifle! Granted, it was a proof-of-concept rifle but still...

Will the owner please step up and show proof of ownership???

Like a picture?

picture?
you ARE kidding right?

even the 550 Flanged mule was WICKED ugly...

picture? HAHHAHHHAHAH
trust me, ugly and proof of concept describe it well.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

Looks like you even tried to incorporate a topographical map into it. I think I see Mt. Kilimanjaro.

RIP

Honestly, that are the ugliests rifles I ever saw.
Don`t know what it`s more disgusting: The texture you made with a stick or the epoxy art with the African map.
I like them both. And I also like the idea of a reliable and accurate gun that looks completely f***ed up and abused.

Please let us enjoy more wonderful pieces from your collection!

Al,
You are the first person smart enough to recognize Kilimanjaro, besides me. Thanks.

Dentist,
AMERICAN CUSSED GUNMAKERS GUILD membership is not easy.
I are one and you can be too, I reckon, if you have the manual dexterity of a Dentist, and just "stick" with it.
PS:
You tap a good lan, lack you was talkin' mah dahlect.

Nice rifle bja105!