Dick, might as well have fun with the Tenex if you were going to shoot fouling shots with it anyways. It works on starlings too.

This is going to be a nice sporter for Butch.

I really like the lines of your template and the wood.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
I really like the lines of your template and the wood.

Thanks Dick... doing my best to make something as nice as those 1922s on the first page. This walnut has been a pleasure to carve so far.

Evan K.

You boogle my mind with the picture of you digging out the action mortice with a chisel. I always thought that was what a Bridgeport was for.

I know you gotta be really good at it or you wouldn't be making a gun for Butch.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
Evan K.

You boogle my mind with the picture of you digging out the action mortice with a chisel. I always thought that was what a Bridgeport was for.

I know you gotta be really good at it or you wouldn't be making a gun for Butch.

The Bridgeport would be nice (and I'd probably use one to start the job if I could), but the chisels can do a good job too- it just takes longer. Very glad to have the opportunity to to work on a project like this too.

Evan,

I've been screwing off here rather than doing the stock work that needs tending to...

Early in this thread you asked me if I still shot .22 BR. Answer... only in a few local matches and egg shoots nowadays and only with sporters. The Calfee rifle is gone. When I got the Calfee rifle I shot a lot, including ARA matches here in MI. I really hated that ARA target... been scoring best-edge targets forever. The worst edge messed up my feeble brain.

Also, I have shot serious centerfire BR since 1977. I found you have to hold off a lot more with a .22 at 50 yds. than you do a .22 centerfire at 100 yds. A 52 gr. bullet at 3490 fps has much less deflection. That really messed up my head and I quit serious rimfire BR. We do seem to have a lot of centerfire BR here in Michigan and I've been doing that a lot longer.

Anyway, age is seriously attacking me and I can't shoot nearly as much now. I'm selling my centerfire BR equipment and just shooting in a few small local rimfire matches. Sometimes I just go to matches and hang around. I really grateful that, at my age, I can still do that.

I started my gun tinkering career in the 1970's because I was interested in rifle precision. When I attended my first real benchrest match, I was fascinated by the big, blocky, very accurate rifles on the line. More than that, some featured truly outstanding workmanship from a cosmetic standpoint as well. Some of the gunsmiths and competitors were plainly from the "handsome is as handsome does" camp but others were serious about appearance as well.
I am as impressed by a perfect paint job of a fibreglass BR stock as I am on a classic motorcycle tank or fender.Just as a nicely shaped, machined and polished rifle action is as pleasing to me as a similarily finished rocker cover. Good workmanship is just that regardless of the medium or the purpose and I appreciate it all. Regards, Bill

Dick,
Was a long-time reader of Precision Shooting and hated when it ended. I enjoyed your stories quite a bit. If you would continue, this Michigander originally from within 30+ miles from you, though now in Colorado Springs, CO, would really appreciate it. (I hope my students don't see that last sentence. The Doctor would be cut no slack.)
I'll bet others here would agree.
Max

Evan,

My hats off to you. I've done a few with only chisels and scrapers. Took a lot of work to get a stock that I would say was mine. I now have a mill to do the hogging out.

Funny thing is, I kind of like using the chisels. Takes longer, but it is honest work. But the time I can spare says to use the mill.

Love to see the finished product.

Jeremy

quote:

Reply

Mr. Leeper,

The paint job on the .22 BR gun shown in the first post was done by a good friend who lives down by Lansing. The gun was made by Calfee but he didn't paint it... it was the multi colored blue just as it came from McMillan.

The painter is a highly talented individual and he did the paint for a PS article. Unfortubately he came down with a serious carpal tunnel problem right after he painted it and couldn't work any more. Too bad, I would have trusted him to paint the old Porsche and would have had him do it... He did cars too.

He engraved my name on the butt plate and, in script, put "Glorya's Diamond" on the stock. (That's another story.)

The gun, when I got it, was seriously out of balance... way too nose heavy. I filled the hollow butt with lead shot and it became much easier to shoot straight. I had the impression that the guy who made it really knew how to make it shoot but that he must not have done much shooting off a bench. ??????

Prof242,

If you taught 30 miles from here that probably means CMU although it could possibly mean Ferris or Northwood.

I have a friend who also retired to "The Springs". He is a serious collector of best quality custom rifles and is very knowledgeable about same.

I can't believe that you and I have not run into each other. Not that many people in this area really interested in custom guns.

I once, very facetiously, (sorta) thought about running for the state legislature on a platform of an open season on the politically correct. I find them slightly more obnixous, but a little smarter and, therefore, more dangerous, than the very far right.

Evan,

What sort of sanding block do you use to keep sharp edges sharp? Especially the shadow line on the cheek piece. I find it easier to scuplt these lines and square corners sharp than it is to keep them that way thru sanding and finishing.

Thanks,

I heard long ago through the somewhere on line (probably here) that fingernail boards work really well, a safe edge all the way around and multiple grits available. My wife owns a barbershop/salon so I had her order a box of 50, and they do work very well!

http://www.amazon.com/Double-S...s-Bulk/dp/B007TMSOE6

Like these...pretty cheap too!

Matt,

Good idea. Since I'm in the middle of a project right now I'll rob my wife's supplies.

Thanks,

quote:

Originally posted by farbedo:
Evan,

My hats off to you. I've done a few with only chisels and scrapers. Took a lot of work to get a stock that I would say was mine. I now have a mill to do the hogging out.

Funny thing is, I kind of like using the chisels. Takes longer, but it is honest work. But the time I can spare says to use the mill.

Love to see the finished product.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy... I've done a few mostly by hand like this before so I (sorta) know what I'm getting into, but of course it's still a lot of work. You can stop chisels easier than you can stop a mill before it ruins the thing, that's for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
Evan,

I've been screwing off here rather than doing the stock work that needs tending to...

Early in this thread you asked me if I still shot .22 BR. Answer... only in a few local matches and egg shoots nowadays and only with sporters. The Calfee rifle is gone. When I got the Calfee rifle I shot a lot, including ARA matches here in MI. I really hated that ARA target... been scoring best-edge targets forever. The worst edge messed up my feeble brain.

Also, I have shot serious centerfire BR since 1977. I found you have to hold off a lot more with a .22 at 50 yds. than you do a .22 centerfire at 100 yds. A 52 gr. bullet at 3490 fps has much less deflection. That really messed up my head and I quit serious rimfire BR. We do seem to have a lot of centerfire BR here in Michigan and I've been doing that a lot longer.

Anyway, age is seriously attacking me and I can't shoot nearly as much now. I'm selling my centerfire BR equipment and just shooting in a few small local rimfire matches. Sometimes I just go to matches and hang around. I really grateful that, at my age, I can still do that.

Local matches can still be a lot of fun. Serious rimfire competition is a LOT to keep up with, I've learned. I mainly just shoot in local IR 50/50 matches- don't have the time nor cash to spend on all that Eley ammo and travel, but it's still a good time and the group is competitive yet all friendly. Haven't been to a centerfire BR match yet but I'd like to this summer, among other competitions.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
Evan,

What sort of sanding block do you use to keep sharp edges sharp? Especially the shadow line on the cheek piece. I find it easier to scuplt these lines and square corners sharp than it is to keep them that way thru sanding and finishing.

Thanks,

It is a pain to keep a fine shadow line sharp after cutting it in. I use little wood blocks with hard 90 degree angles along the shadow line and dowels on the inside of the cheekpiece cove. I use a plain rubber sanding block with a flat side and convex side for most sanding and have a pile of little wood blocks with different shapes and angles to use, and dowels of varying diameters for concave and curved shapes too. I also may wrap sandpaper around old files. I use scrapers more and more too, which cuts down on sanding time.

Evan,

Re: the shadow line. I've had some really good tips here and the work is proceeding well. The most important thing is extreme patience.

Re: small matches... they are the backbone of competitive benchrest, whether smallbore or centerfire. It's where shooters get their start. Glorya and I started informal centerfire BR matches at the local club 24 years ago and they are still going strong. From day one we have had two classes... competition guns and factory guns. We have found the key to factory class is to not make up any rules. Our definition of a factory gun is extremely loose... if it doesn't look like a bench gun, it's a factory gun and he can shoot it in that class.

Let's say a guy has a gun and he wants to shoot. Just let him shoot his gun and quit worrying about what kind of a scope he has. You gonna tell him he's got to go buy a new scope before he can shoot in your stupid match? Won't happen, he's gone and you blew it.

I was amused a few years ago... one of the national BR organizations decided to include factory class in their program. They ended up totally stymied... they couldn't decide on rules that would work... I mean you gotta have rules, don't you?

Get me started on this at your own risk... However, we are up in the woods, a hundred miles from any population center, and our club matches consistantly draw twice as many competitors as the one's in the Detroit area.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:

That's just beautiful.

Mighty Mouse,

It's better than that... That's a Jerry Fisher rifle. I got the picture from D'Arcy Echols.

That rifle is what every one here aspires to with varying degrees of success.

Re: turtle control... I have a notion that when the 17 HMR project is completed that we just may make a device that will screw right on the end of the tuner and quiet things down a bit. The tuner was made that way on purpose. I'm not going to use the "S" word since it's entirely possible that some government agency's Cray super computer may find it and become interested. Gawd only knows what would happen then...

If I do I will probably go thru whatever I have to in order to get the appropriate license. It's about $200.00 and takes a long time. I'm too old and can no longer run fast enough to try to get away with anything.

FWIW a good friend with no similar quams tells me that you can buy (the "S" word) on the net nowadays. Somebody markets one as a device to catch slop coming thru the barrel whilst cleaning the gun. One doesn't need a license to buy a slop catcher. I really like the way some people's minds work.

I have no intentions of doing anything illegal with my slop catcher. I just like the idea of touching the trigger, hearing a "Phutttt" and seeing a turtle go flying. I'm aware that a 17 HMR shoots at double the speed of sound so we'll find out how loud the supersonic "Crack" is here in the thick woods.

The winter was way too long... one's mind wanders.

Bryndon,
I am a dyed in the wool Jack HAUGH fan, He was and may still be the worlds greatest rifle maker..lot of Custom guild members agree on that also..I think he is making carriages now but his son Frank is following in his footsteps and he is a skilled individual for sure...I have owned and still have a few of his rifles.

Jack is an old friend. I talked to him the other day and he is still doing stock work although he's down to half-days. He's eighty-four now so that's doing pretty good.

I've been lucky to own and deer hunt with a Ruger No. 1A .243 that he completely re-did and engraved back in the 80's. I added a Kepplinger trigger a few years ago. That gun ain't going no place.

Does the floorplate release in the triggerguard have any function? Does the rifle still have a factory magazine release?

FWIW this is my deer rifle, a Ruger No. 1 .243 which was entirely made and engraved by Jack Haugh.

I put the Kepplinger set trigger on it a few years ago. I shoot benchrest all summer with 1-1/2 oz. triggers and, in the fall, I had one 'ell of a time getting it to go "Bang".

Dick, After using the 1 1/2oz triggers, I have to make sure I don't jerk the 1 1/2lb hunting rifle triggers and shooting over an animal.

Butch,

Exactly my experience... A few years ago I had a good shot at a decent buck, had one 'ell of a time getting the shot off so I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, yanked on the trigger and ended up hitting about 2" low. It was only a 50 or 60 yd. shot. The deer ran about 75 yds. back in the brush before he decided he was dead. Had to drag the S.O.B. that much further. At my age that ain't funny.

I called Brownell's and got the Kepplinger trigger the next day.

I come from a long line of Jackpine Savage deer poachers and have long known where to hit 'em in what we call "The Violators' Spot". You poke them there and they don't run.

A lot of the neighbors still eat venison year round. If you don't want to meet the fish & game fuzz it helps to pop the deer, immediately throw it on the back of a pickup and get out of Dodge expeditiously.

I just reread this thread and find it interesting how it has gone from a picture of a really good benchrest rifle, something that won't appeal to a lot of fans of the elegant customs, to pictures of a few world class rifles.

We need a pic of a James Anderson rifle here. Maybe that little .223.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
I just reread this thread and find it interesting how it has gone from a picture of a really good benchrest rifle, something that won't appeal to a lot of fans of the elegant customs, to pictures of a few world class rifles.

We need a pic of a James Anderson rifle here. Maybe that little .223.

In keeping with the spirit of this thread, James Anderson did make a really nice BRNO No. 1 in .22LR that would fit right in with the Fisher/Burgess and Jack Haugh rifles. Maybe someone could find and post some pics of that rifle?

Anderson made the Brno for a nice fellow down in Texas. That was the first Anderson rifle I saw and I loved it. I have communicated with the guy who owns it and I will try to get him to post a couple of pics here. It's a superb rifle.

Butch has an Anderson Enfield to die for.

Matt Salm,

Here is my CZ 17 HMR which I finally finished a while back. I need a lot better set-up for photography and more/better pictures to finsh the thread about making this gun.

I was incredibly lucky to get this piece of wood.

A beautiful piece of wood Dick and a beautiful rifle.
I think Evan is about done with my stock on my 40X rimfire. I'm ready for it to go out for the metal finish.

quote:

Originally posted by Dick Wright:
Anderson made the Brno for a nice fellow down in Texas. That was the first Anderson rifle I saw and I loved it. I have communicated with the guy who owns it and I will try to get him to post a couple of pics here. It's a superb rifle.

Butch has an Anderson Enfield to die for.

Here's a few of the Brno Mod1 I did a few years back.

Doesn't it tend to slip when leaned up in the corner? I suppose one could always use a slip-on pad. In the corral or in woods, you can always place the butt in a divot in the dirt.
More than pretty. Regards, Bill

Mr. Anderson, thanks for posting the pics of the Brno Mod. 1. I saw some pics of it on RFC some time back, and it is one of the most beautiful .22 sporters I've seen. Dick, the wood on that CZ is fantastic. More pics, please!

Mr. Anderson, I'm sure glad you follow this. Thanks for the pics.

If I were forty years younger and still hunting in your area I would want to stop in and see how you take your pictures.

Just cause it's appropriate, will you also post a few pics of Butch's Enfield here? That gun is magnificent.

James, top job there. What rings did you use?
Cheers,
Metal.

Metal,
James made the rings himself. They release with a quarter turn and come off the factory dovetails. Very neat. James' work is second to none.
John

Thanks for the reply John, I built a custom Brno Mod.1 a few years ago but couldn't find much in the way of nice rings off the shelf.
Not wanting to make a set I modded a set of Talley CZ 527 rings to fit but they were too high and looked like hell.
Anyway they did the job but they still annoy me no end. Guess I'll have to try and make some one day.

Metal,
Have you ever seen a set of rings made by Don Blincoe of New Zealand. He does not make them for sale, but I have some drawings. They are simple and neat. Email me for details.
email: beartrax at consolidated.net (replace at with @).
John

Welcome aboard, John! That Brno Model 1 Mr. Anderson built for you is a beauty. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more pics if you have them handy....

OK. Here are some more shots of it. Shoots as good as it looks.