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My son will be turning 4 next spring so I thought that would be a good time to give him his first custom rifle. He has been researching for the last few years.  I looked at the Chipmunk and other such rifles, but was less than impressed with there quality so decided to build him one. Started with an old junker Remington 514. I took a saw to both ends, reshaped the stock, slimmed the grip and forend a bunch. Added a ebony tip, and am in the process of checkering it now. Forend pattern is done, just trying to decide on the grip pattern. I also reshaped the ugly trigger guard to a slightly less ugly shape. Here are a few work pics of where we are now. The grip cap and bolt handle are out for engraving and checkering.    I'd like some suggestions on checkering pattern for the grip, as well as suggestions on sighting equipment. I have a old 3/4" tube redfield that will go on it when he is ready for a scope, but not sure I want to start him out with one. Some have suggested that I put an aimpoint on it as they are very easy to learn with, just put the dot on the target and shoot. I'd be interested in other thoughts. Thanks much, John | ||
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 Perfect time to get him started!!! Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
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I'm considering the same sight issues for a rifle I am building for my 9 yr old daughter. I agree that starting on a scope is not the way to go and feel the same about dot sights. At this point I plan on fitting a Patridge blade in front, a removable or folding leaf rear on the barrel, and Lyman or Redfield aperture sight on the receiver. My thinking is that she should learn to shoot with the barrel mounted rear (like I did) and aligning the post in the rear sight is important for handguns in the future. The aperture is easier to shoot well with, and will be used for intro into competitive sports. A scope will be fitted later, but we'll probably need a cheek pad for the stock. | |||
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What a nice project. I bet you are having a ball with it, eh? For the checkering on the grip I think you have already established the pattern in the great forend job you did. Sights? For now I would lean toward iron sights. It's the walk before run thing and do you want him out-shooting you this young? Many commendations and fun to you both. Your son is fortunate. Stephen | |||
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Finally got the pistol grip checkering done, and got the grip cap and bolt back from engraving. The grip checkered up better than the forend. Only lost a couple diamonds which I felt was pretty good considering the wood remington put on this rifle.     Thanks, John | |||
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That gun will be with him till the day he dies and I hope he passes it down to his kids That said you know I'm up for adoption?? Right???  www.KLStottlemyer.com Deport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK | |||
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That is VERY cool! I have often contemplated doing the very same thing... Beautiful work, you give me something to aspire to. Thanks for sharing. | |||
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I have a Rem 510-or-other marked "Junior Marksman" on the barrel- it lit up some kid's eyes on an Xmas morning way back when, and it will again someday. Beautiful work on that rifle of yours. | |||
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Your masterpiece makes the Winchester Model 69A, which I raised all three of my boys on, look pretty shabby. All I did was shorten the butt and equip it with a rather primitive Redfield sight, which, if I remember right, clamped onto the dovetail on the top of the receiver. My dad was opposed to rifles, although he was an avid shotgunner. Consequently, I never owned one until I was 18 years old. I have since made up for that lack of ownership. Actually, in those days (1940's-50's) there was nothing to be hunted in our area with a rifle. Deer were reintroduced 50 years ago, and have now grown so populous that the bag limit during hunting season is three PER DAY. My sons, on the other hand, although exposed to both rifles and shotguns at a very early age, never developed an interest in either. Perhaps familiarity does breed contempt. | |||
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Very nice little rifle that you are getting ready for the son. It brings back my early years wishing for such a rifle, but I had only a pre WWII straight pump Benjamin 177 air rifle. The sights should be kept as low as possible because the drop of the stock was made for open sights. If a small person tries to shoot with a scope on that stock he will need a pad to raise the comb up so that his eye will line up on the center of the scope. The plain open sight would be the best choise at this time. | |||
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Thanks everyone, it has been a fun project. After working on AR's all day, it is nice to come home and go down to the basement and tinker on this. I'll likely just stick with the open barrel sight for now. The way he is growing he'll probably outgrow this before long so I can put a scope on his next rifle. John | |||
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John, That is damn nice work. It shows that you can make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Very well done. Butch | |||
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Sir, You have created an instant family heirloom ... and wonderful memories for your son! Congratulations. Very nicely done, indeed! Mike -------------- DRSS, Womper's Club, NRA Life Member/Charter Member NRA Golden Eagles ... Knifemaker, http://www.mstarling.com | |||
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Very Very special and cool! Something unique that will have a special place in your family forever... | |||
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Great project, turned out very nice! | |||
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Astute observation: My son is luke warm to guns and hunting, two of my grandsons are so avid they will probably require counseling...maybe it skips a generation?? | |||
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I'll change my name to Benjamin and call you "dad" - can I have that rifle please! Fantastic idea and work. I wish I could checker a stock like that. I cut my old Remington for my boy bit did not do any of the extras. I am now trying to rust blue the rifle as a project so that I can learn to do it on larger bore rifles. "When the wind stops....start rowing. When the wind starts, get the sail up quick." | |||
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Thanks for the compliments, means a lot coming from this crowd. Rust bluing is next, which I have never done before, so I expect I'll soon be on here asking for help with that. John | |||
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as everyone said, what a fantastic project, and your execution is top notch! when my daughter was 1 we brought home her first gun, an older walnut stocked chipmunk. i thought THAT was cool, but DAMN! you blew me out of the water! NRA Life Member Gun Control - A theory espoused by some monumentally stupid people; who claim to believe, against all logic and common sense, that a violent predator who ignores the laws prohibiting them from robbing, raping, kidnapping, torturing and killing their fellow human beings will obey a law telling them that they cannot own a gun. | |||
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Rust bluing, too !?! John... you rock. This really is turning out to be a special gift of love. An instant family heirloom, indeed. I'd say Benjamin is blessed.  | |||
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Very nice work John. I like the little hook on the back of the wrist panel. Who did the engraving? | |||
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At the suggestion of several on this forum, I had Jerome Glimm checker the bolt handle and engrave the grip cap. John | |||
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A swell rifle and reading material. Very Nice John! Are you now doing checkering ;-)? | |||
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I do a little scratching on stocks, but if I had to checker for a living I would not be buying very many pre-war sporters. John | |||
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Ben's birthday was last week. Looks like he is happy.  We had a little trouble with the blue on the receiver so I ended up just parkerizing the receiver. The balance is rust blued so it has a bit of a two tone look. I figure if it is good enough for winchester 70's and 52's, it is good enough for this.  | |||
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Nice work. ________________________________________________ Maker of The Frankenstud Sling Keeper Proudly made in the USA Acepting all forms of payment | |||
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John, His expression makes it all worth while. Butch | |||
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If I could make a suggestion. Since you put so much time & effort into that rifle make a custom trigger guard for it & get rid of that horrible factory guard. Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
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The nicest post I've seen on the 'net in a long time. Great job! The look on his face is priceless! (I too would do something about the trigger guard though.) | |||
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Nice job! How about I send you my M98 that I have been whittling on and give it the same treatment? I promise to send you a card every Fathers Day. Have gun- Will travel The value of a trophy is computed directly in terms of personal investment in its acquisition. Robert Ruark | |||
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Benjamin is very fortunate to have a dad like you. It's all about memories. Rusty We Band of Brothers! DRSS, NRA & SCI Life Member "I am rejoiced at my fate. Do not be uneasy about me, for I am with my friends." ----- David Crockett in his last letter (to his children), January 9th, 1836 "I will never forsake Texas and her cause. I am her son." ----- Jose Antonio Navarro, from Mexican Prison in 1841 "for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Arbroath April 6, 1320-“. . .It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” | |||
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I know I know, need to do something about the trigger guard. I had a pretty solid deadline I had to make on this and just didn't have time. I actually had it reshaped into a pretty attractive contour, but when I put it all together you could not pull the trigger far enough to release the bolt, so I had to bend it back closer to the original contour. At least I inlet it into the bottom of the stock, rather than just sitting on top like remington had it. :-) Thanks for the kind words, mow to start planning his next rifle. John | |||
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Great project, well done! NRA Life Member, Band of Bubbas Charter Member, PGCA, DRSS. Shoot & hunt with vintage classics. | |||
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Great job, and a great thoughtful gift for your son. I am motivated now to do the same with my old Win. "Boys Rifle". DW | |||
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If you could locate a US Krag trigger guard, it makes a perfect compliment to a fine job like yours. | |||
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That looks very nice good job ... can tell by his grin he is in love with it.... Is that a remington 514 ??? | |||
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The results remind me of the .300 Savage Rem 722 someone showed recently. It is amazing just how handsome these old Remingtons become with a bit of checkering, a refinish and a nice forend tip. I think I'm going to start looking for one. Jerry Liles | |||
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Last year I must of had every 22 known to man come through my shop. Everthing from rebluing to repairs. I thought that it would be nice to collect 22 rifles working or not just for a collection. There were so many made over the years. Very nice job! That young man will treasure that for the rest of his life. I still remember the first 22 I got. Blagg Rifles, Eastern OR | |||
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I would not change the trigger guard at this point. It is a special rifle for a special occasion and should remain unaltered. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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