Well...not quite brand new, but it is new for me!
So far I have $25.00 (+ about $18.00 postage) into it for the poor 1937 marked VZ-24 receiver. First thing I did was to modify the follower, then begin massaging the underside of the rails. The Mausers have this retarded tapering wall underneath the feed lips. Once I got rid of that junk, the receiver feeds like grass through a goose. I have spent about three (3) hours on it.
Let's see:
Kreiger barrel $300.00
Front sights $70.00
Rear sights $120.00
Banded swivel $60.00
Wood: already have a nice Husqvarna Mod. 46 stock to drop it in.
2nd lug under barrel $100.00
Double set triggers $175.00
Blueing $100.00 (I'll have it Parkerized)
And now I need to decide which action to make this on. The VZ was a fitter, I have several to choose from, but which one? The Chilean (all matching), Brazilian (all matching by the way too), three m1909's, ahhh...choices....

1st round down

2nd round down

3rd round down

Looks to me like it ought to feed! Good work!

It feeds perfectly. I wanted to use the VZ receiver to work things out, when I am satisfied I will use a different one. I could throw a barrel on this junky, pitted hulk and it would work just fine, but I do not know how to keep the pitting from rusting. I should do that anyway, so it'd look real old and nasty.

I am going to make a new follower for it. The original is kind rough even by my standards. I am also going to make a deep floorplate so I can hold another round farther down. I have some 0.750" steel bar to use for the deep floorplate. All I need to do is find someone to mill out the cavity and cut the follower spring slots.

Nitroman I hate you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm now green with envy I'm now going to run crying to my bed room and bury my head in my pillows It looks to be a beauty!& Im sure it will shoot as straight as a Die.Good luck with the project & keep us posted

Nitroman, I would take either the Chilean or Brazilian and grind the military crests off the receiver rings (but retain the banner on the bridge and Oberndorf markings!), stipple the top of the ring like an Oberndorf sporter and make an open-sight British express-style rifle.

Nitroman,
Will wonders never cease!
Does not the severely rebated rim cause problems with the bolt overriding the case and leaving it behind in the magazine?

What's with all the special magazine lip clips and single stacks on the original .425 Westley Richards?

Nitroman

Because I like you and I would hate to see you ruin this project by Parkerizing your rifle, but mostly because you have something I want. I would be glad to rust blue your rifle for one of your surplus actions, provided it’s not as pitted as your VZ test bed. I could probably work something out on shipping as well. My sister is coming in from Anchorage sometime this summer. I could blue it and send it back with her maybe. Not real sure how legal that would be though.

Great job by the way. Like RIP asked how does the bolt pick up the rebated rim? I wondered this a couple of years ago when someone posted pictures of one of the "big names" take down combo rifle in .425 and 30-06. Great idea but how does it feed?

Shawn

You guys!

The original configuration would actually feed the 2nd and 3rd rounds down. Those are the first and second rounds out respectively. The problem was the 2nd round, which is under the left rail/lip, would squirt/pop up and out about 1/2 the time. Particularly when the bolt was pumped through quickly.

There were three areas to address on that: the small area of projection at the front of the left feed-ramp was kicking the bullet nose out too quickly, the shoulder of the case was right at a section of feedlip that was angled to allow an 8x57 case to slip out and a small raised area at the back of the receiver well.

I smoothed the entry into the feedramp, which entailed removing much of the projection in the receiver wall just prior to the feedramp, I removed the raised flat at the rear of the receiver well (the follower rubs on that), and lastly, ground out the ridiculous angled wall of the receiver, making a 90 degree wall and flattened the lip that was angled.

Each small modofication played a role in keeping the case under the lip for longer and longer bolt travel. Now I can depress the case (it has the first round down and itself), to the bottom of the magazine and pull my finger out as quickly as possible letting the follower snap the case up. Nothing will budge. It locks up under the left feedlip like it should. This was kind of trivial to what I had to do to the right side of the receiver.

Here the problem was a combination of the feedlip keeping the case and the follower rail holding the case under the feedlip. This is when the bolt would ride up and over. By grinding the follower wall the case can move to the center of the feedwell. I removed some of the projection into the feedramp to keep the bullet from being kicked out too quickly (crosses up the case-to-forward bolt movement), and began removing right feedlip. Once enough of the feedlip was removed,the case began moving forward with NO diving under the bolt. I will take some photos outside in the sunlight once it gets a little warmer today. Right now about 18 degrees F. (-8 deg. Celsius).

The magazine is a little crowded, but once this is done, you can clearly see what Mssrs. Westley and Richards were doing: build a rifle for African bound adventurers and colonists that was inexpensive enough they could be purchased by said people. W-R did this by keeping machining and special parts to a minimum. They buy a boatload of Mauser actions, screw on barrel and have a bench of apprentices making the receiver mods under the eye of the gunsmith. At least this is my hypothesis.

I would like to be able to say I dreamed this mod up, but I did not. A thread was posted on here a few months more than a year ago about the .425 W-R and a very nice fellow in Germany posted close-ups of his new .425 W-R rifle. He also sent me photos of his rifle, just as the cartridge was popping up under the extractor. So I am not able to boast. All I can do is confirm that I duplicated what I saw in his fantastically well-made rifle. Soo....

Desciple-of-Keith: naawww, don't run away, stay and play. Find a good old receiver and I'll send you pictures of mine.

Fla3006: you reminded me I do in fact have a commercial Oberndorf action, with the Mauser banner on the rear ring. Can you believe I bought it for $90.00 off www.auctionarms.com about two years ago. I think because the man who posted it misspelled "receiver" and no-one saw the auction. Hint, hint.

RIP:
1. yup.
2. Nope.
3. Catering to people with big bank accounts, or making something real fancy. The Brits occaisionally like to over-engineer things too. Why do you think Mr. Jeffery copied Mssrs. Westley and Richards case for his .404? And Remington copied it too?

Bluetick: hmmmmm....let me think on that.

Nitroman,
What a fun project! Please do post pictures when it warms up. So this is the standard staggered configurations too?

Are you going to tease us next with a bellied floorplate addition to hold yet another round down! Ya know I have a nice never crested VZ in the garage waiting for something...was going to do an 8x68S on it.
Jeff P

Roger,
You cannot waste a working receiver like that.
Barrel and bolt it.
Bead blast the crap out of it and parkerize.
Synthetic stock.
Then you have the working rifle/shop mule to work up loads with and take your time doing the rust blued and walnut job for use with pinky finger extended.

Ok, I made some more pix.

This one shows the bolt engagement for each of the three cartridges.
Left to right: the 1st out will pop out within 0.5" (12mm) of bolt movement. 2nd out will pop out in about 0.750" (20mm). Last one out takes a bit more. Almost 2" (50mm).

This is the point of minimum bolt engagement on the rim of the case. While this would be cause for alarm, I have tried wiggling the bolt in every direction, and what you see is the least I can get. This persists for about 0.125" (4mm)of bolt movement and the base begins moving up the face of the bolt. I believe it may be due to the shape of the feedramp.

Please note in this photo, you can see my case on top is quite crossed-up. I have since removed more material from the front of the feedlip and underside. The early kickup of the bullet nose has been reduced, but still not there yet. Note the bottom case. It pops out at roughly the same point mine is having some difficulty. In that rifle, the feedramp is shaped like a trough, also, the follower is close to the same inside dimensions as the magazine box. I will make a new follower tomorrow before doing anything more to the receiver itself.

Lastly, a photo of a tired warrior. The serial number of this 68 year-old is 4476. The serial number of the triggerguard/magazine is 4921, I bet these old friends could tell us some stories.

I you plane on doing any fitting, the stockmakers handscrews from www.ch4d.com are a lifesaver.

They tell me it will not feed positively without the WR clips on the action..Dunno???????

Ray,

What is maddening is the first and second cartridges will come up and out slicker'n lizard poop on a hot brass pole. You'd think Peter and Paul Mauser themselves had breathed on the action. That last cartridge though, it is killing me. I KNOW it will work. And I am thinking what I need to do is make a follower that will function like the cartridge on the left. Meaning: the first shell out goes fine, what would happen if the follower was shaped like the second cartridge sitting there? If the first goes out fine, then the last should too.

Let me work on it.

quote:

Why do you think Mr. Jeffery copied Mssrs. Westley and Richards case for his .404?

Methinks the other way around: Mr LB Taylor used the 404 case directly for his .425.

The first formal drawing of the 404 Jeffery is dated 18/10/1905 as "tracing number 24 by Eley

The first 425 drawing is Drawing AQ52 dated 26/07/09 and signed by Leslie B Taylor a second drawing AQ 12 of 20/09/09 shows the "pointed capped bullet" for the 425.

Arrrgh! Reality intrudes...yet again! Can I not have one moment of peace within my own psychosis?

Nitroman,

quote:

Lastly, a photo of a tired warrior. The serial number of this 68 year-old is 4476. The serial number of the triggerguard/magazine is 4921, I bet these old friends could tell us some stories.

Looks like the new VZ-24 rails are similar to those of this old warrior? Where did this one come from - this isn't a WR is it? Nice moving inpsirational case colors on that action too!
JP

Nitroman,
Very interesting! Please keep us opdated on your project! I hav e been thinking of doing the same for years, but never got around to do it.

Bent

quote:

Looks like the new VZ-24 rails are similar to those of this old warrior? Where did this one come from - this isn't a WR is it? Nice moving inpsirational case colors on that action too!
JP

I think that picture is of another member's 425 -- see this thread, and is given for comparison. I think that one was Nitroman's inspiration for his project.