Just wonderful sir. A really nice DG rifle.

One question; did you do the Color Case hardening yourself ? Got very nice color and I am very curious about how you do it ? ( Ingridients and process )

Morten

Thank you!
The color case work was done by Turnbull. I've used them for a number of projects and have always been more than happy with the outcome.

quote:

Originally posted by The Norwegian:
Just wonderful sir. A really nice DG rifle.

One question; did you do the Color Case hardening yourself ? Got very nice color and I am very curious about how you do it ? ( Ingridients and process )

Morten

.


And do you still have the rifle or did you sell it?

Great looking 404 !


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I am wondering about that trigger. It appears to be a Blackburn Trigger. But the pin that holds the trigger to the action looks much larger than what a normal Blacburn trigger would have. Did the Wells shop make their own triggers>

I believe it's a blackburn as well, though it's not marked. The pin just has a larger diameter head to it, but the trigger unit has the same hole through it as any other Mauser.

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
I am wondering about that trigger. It appears to be a Blackburn Trigger. But the pin that holds the trigger to the action looks much larger than what a normal Blacburn trigger would have. Did the Wells shop make their own triggers>

quote:

Originally posted by Charlie64:
.


And do you still have the rifle or did you sell it?

Great looking 404 !


.

Thank you! I still have it. After returning from the hunt I refinished the stock as I gave it a little character in the field especially when I rested the forearm against a tree to shoot the buffalo
I also sent the metal work back to the engraver for some new adornments and then re-blued.
It made for a nice showpiece at the trade shows this year, and although I did stick a price tag on it, I certainly wasn't disappointed that it didn't sell.
Pics of it currently after the recent work below:

Perfection in a bolt rifle!! Thanks for sharing.

Hopefully your hunt turns out at least half as nice as the rifle !

That's about as fine a safari rifle as can be had!

It’s a true classic beauty, kudos.

GOSH that’s pretty.

I'll take it!

PM me with payment instructions.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
I'll take it!

PM me with payment instructions.

Whatever you offer, I will offer 10x less than you It is gorgeous. Glad to see such a beautiful 404. What pride you must have to make and own this beautiful rifle

I finally got around to editing a video of this rifle build. There's also a few clips from the hunt itself. The link's below:

https://youtu.be/ZiYQIBacYOI

Lovely video, thank you.

Beautiful rifle.

Very nice video.

I have read a few articles written by Gunmakers who say that interested parties should buy their custom guns from them because their products are born from hunting experience.

The question then is - now that you have hunted that rifle would you change anything about it?

That's a great question.
Short answer: No I wouldn't change anything. I suppose because I wasn't trying to re-invent the wheel with this gun (or any other for that matter). A flawlessly functioning, accurate rifle built in a classic style that's worked for the last 100 years.

As to the thought that hunting experience = better built rifles: I think that's fine as a marketing statement, but I'm not sure how true I've found that to be. I've been blessed to be able to hunt quite a bit across North America including several hunts in Alaska. Over the years I've changed my opinions on rifles quite a bit, but those changes really come down to personal preferences (blonde or brunette conversations). For instance, I no longer like slings on a rifle and I don't like high magnification scopes with large objectives, etc. However 95% of my clients also have a lot of hunting experience and they come to me with their own personal preferences. I suppose for the inexperienced client who has no idea what he wants in a rifle, the gunmaker with a hunting background would be beneficial. However I think most gunmakers would fit that bill. Most got into the trade out of a love of hunting.
The major difference between those of us that spend many days afield and those that hunt a little more conservatively is that the later group will be much easier for a client to get a hold of in the months of October, November and December

quote:

Originally posted by Kolo-Pan:
I have read a few articles written by Gunmakers who say that interested parties should buy their custom guns from them because their products are born from hunting experience.

The question then is - now that you have hunted that rifle would you change anything about it?

That's a great answer!

Awesome video, love the follow up shot.
I like how you did the rear sight base and lug.
Would you rather do a barrel like this vs integral? You must save a heap of time and money!
Also what is the horse rasp you’ve got? It looks like it rips.

Thank you! It's hard to say which way of doing a barrel I prefer. The integral certainly takes more time but not a lot more than making sights and installing (though in this case I only made the rear). I had already had a .404 Lothar Walther barrel sitting on the shelf so it made for an easy decision on this gun.
It's a Nicholson rasp. Certainly takes material away quick!

quote:

Originally posted by metal:
Awesome video, love the follow up shot.
I like how you did the rear sight base and lug.
Would you rather do a barrel like this vs integral? You must save a heap of time and money!
Also what is the horse rasp you’ve got? It looks like it rips.

MNR
What kind of files and rasps do you use for all of your shaping work? Thank you.

Matt

I noticed you wet sanded the stock with the finish? What grit paper do you stop at ? One of your videos showed you hand rubbing a top coat on the finish ? What brand finish do you prefer ? Do you rub the finish out with anything like rotten stone ? Your work is really good and so is your videos. Keep it up !

Matthew - Thanks for another very interesting and well made video.

Brilliant wood and metal work, both!

Kolo-pan: I use Nicholson files and Liogier rasps. I use a farriers rasp for a lot of the rough shaping too.
I know you're starting out with your first stock project soon, my advice would be not to worry about buying all of the "right" tools for the job now. I made a lot of stocks starting out with a basic set of chisels and gouges, Fisher scrapers, A Nicholson pattern makers rasp, and different shaped blocks to back sandpaper. Then if you find that you like stockmaking after a few stocks it might be worth investing in fancier tools. Just my .02 cents.

Craftsman: The caveat I would give about my preferred finishing technique and brand is that I seem to be constantly changing it. Lately I've been using Timberlux which I've been happy with. I wet sand at 320 until the pores are filled. Then once at 400 and once at 600. Then hand rub the finish in once a day until I'm happy with the result, occasionally knocking it back with 600 grit. The last stock I did I ended up with 25 hand rubbed coats, but that's unusually high. I would say I typically do around 10-15.
Yes, I've rubbed it out with rottenstone before but typically do not.

Michael: Thank you!!