What projects are you guys just itching to have put together?

I'll tell you about one of mine, and this one has been brewing for a very long time. I have under construction right now what is to be an O'Connor-style .270 Win. with an English walnut stock, ebony forend tip, recessed fluer de lis checkering (NO ribbons!), two-screw Biesen grip cap, Biesen trap buttplate, and pedestal-type sling swivel bases.

The metalwork is based on a Model 70 action with a 23" Kreiger barrel, Blackburn bottommetal, built-up and checkered bolt release, reshaped tang, custom, made-from-scratch scope bases for Leupold rings, and a new bolt handle with two checkered panels. I've had this metalwork completed and stored away for more than five years, just waiting to be stocked.

Going back as far as twenty years ago, I've tried to have just such a custom rifle built to my my specs on two different occasions, but for various reason these projects failed. This one should finally see the goal realized--I hope!

AD

Sound very interesting. Who's doing the work?

I just received information from Jim Wisner that he has completed the last two parts for my 505 Gibbs(barrel band front sight and barrel band sling swivel). Now all the wood and metal is complete and it is my turn to have a go at it.

Good luck with your project. Great choice for caliber and action for a custom sporter.

Roger, I had Mark Penrod put the metalwork together with the idea of James C. Tucker building the stock, which he agreed to do, and he's had my buttplate, gripcap, etc., on hand for quite a few years.

Then Jim went to work for Rigby down in Paso Robles, and was so committed to his work there that he simply couldn't do much, if any, stockwork on his own, but we stayed in touch just the same, and I always had this feeling that someday he'd be able to build a stock for me.

Recently, Jim quit Rigby, moved to Medford, which is a five-hour drive from my house, and started building stocks again on his own. He called and asked if I still wanted him to build a stock for that .270 metal and I couldn't say "yes" fast enough!

After a lot of looking and digging, I found a quarter-sawn blank at Dressel's that I felt was what I wanted, so I sent it to Tucker for approval, and his opinion was that the blank was mechanically "textbook" so we were ready to go with the basic ingredients.

This last Monday, I drove to Medford to meet with Jim for a fitting, etc., and we had a fine visit and attended to every little detail in terms of custom fitting, checkering pattern details, etc. It was time well spent, and Jim Tucker absolutely and beyond question truly knows his stuff. What a pro.............

AD

Top flight, all the way.

Can you visualize what would happen if a customer sent a Zischang-Borchardt action to Griffin & Howe circa 1925 and had a sporter made in caliber .30-40 Krag. Not your everyday custom rifle.

Always loved the way the Springfield 03 looked and promised myself that someday I would have a rifle built on that action. Well thanks in large part to Chic Worthing, Jim Dubell, and Roger Kehr that dream is comming true. Thanks to Chic's post a week ago we all got to see metal work Jim performed on my action. Chic also picked out a beautiful piece of Walnut for the stock. Chic assures me that there is a mandatory fondling and druling period the barreld action must go through prior to making the stock. Roger did an absolutely great job on the bolt knob and will get another oppertunity to apply his magic.

Specs
Double Heat Treated Springfield Armory 1903 900,000+ serial number. Dayton trigger, Ed Lapur 3-pos safety retaining the cocking knob, Mc Farland 4-pannel bolt handle with engraving by Roger, Jim Dubel modified Springfield bottom metal, Shilen hand lapped barrel, Custom bases, Talley rings, will get a Zeiss 3-9X scope, chambered for 30-06.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=676585&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=21&fpart=1

Of course I was able to locate a good deal on a sporterized 03A3 that I am now thinking of having made into a 9.3X62. Very Similar specs but with a 2.5-8 power Leupold.

Any bets on who does the metal work ...

Allen and I are thinking a lot alike here, is that good or bad Allen?

My current project is a G33/40 with 23" cut rifled barrel, 1/2 round 1/2 octagon with the skeleton grip cap but mine will have a recoil pad cause I am a wimp. It will also have some type of custom bases to fit Talley rings and am thinking of a Leopold 2.5X8.

Have a piece of walnut purchased, maybe Chic will post a pic and of course he will do the stock work and Jim Dubell will do the metal work, with Mark Stratton to make up the barrel.

No time frame on this project, I am going to take my time and get it all right. Wait did I just say no time frame? With an excuse like that Chic will never get it done!

I have this CZ 550 action that I fondle often. Since I'm saving for a car it's gonna take a while to get a nice quarter ribbed barrel for it...

Allen,

My stuff is very small time, but it fun for me none the less.

I am building a 404 jeffery, using a mdl 70 classic action, Pac-Nor barrel, Dewight Marshall in Refugio Texas is putting the barreled action together. Not sure on the wood or the pattern, I have several blanks, and will not doubt get Mike Kokolus to turn whatever I decide on. I havent bought the sights yet either, not sure on that yet either.

CZ 550 in 416 rigby, just restocking with English Walnut, Mike Kokolus turned the stock on his CZ pattern. I have the bottom metal inletted, but havent started on the top yet.

Restocking a 98 interarms mauser 257 wby, with English Walnut stock I bought from bargin page at Great American gun stocks, its kicking my ass but getting closer, you get what you pay for.

"Someday"....

A 318 Westley Richards built to look just like a 1930's english rifle.

2mp

Those parts look like they would make a very classic rifle. Would you care to elaborate on them further. Whose trapdoor buttplate and grip cap is that, and also that classy looking tang sight?

By the way, is your book any closer to being published?

Many thanks

My rifles are not nearly as refined as most others. I prefer simpler styles and thus most would perhaps not care for them.



I am in the process of building a 1903 Springfield sporter that will use the original military barrel because it shoots so well. It has been recontoured a bit and a band type front ramp by Lyman has been added. The action has been drilled and tapped for both scope mounts and also a Lyman 48 receiver sight. It has a new bolt handle and a two position Wisner side swing safety added also. Warne lever rings will be used on the Leupold 4x scope. All the metal work was done by Dennis Olson. The stock will feature Europeon Classic flavour and have a trapdoor buttplate to store the removable sight arm from the receiver sight when the scope is in place. It will also store a filler slide that will replace the sight arm when the scope is attached. It will feature a Brownell or Fisher grip cap, I haven't decided which one yet.



The other rifle I am presently working on is also a pre-64 in 270 Winchester. It is being given a facelift including a new stock cut in the "Supergrade" style. Although it was not actually a Supergrade originally, I have aquired enough parts to make it look like one and will will do this as much as possible. Again all metal work including reshaping the tang and filling the hole in the bolt knob was done by Dennis Olson. He will also profile both stocks from patterns I will furnish. The Model 70 presently has a B&L Balvar 8 on it and for the present time it will stay on there in keeping with a rifle of that era.



These two will complete my three classics.



pre-64 in 270

Mauser 98 in 7mm Mauser

Springfield 1903 in 30-Govt-06



They will all be used for the greatest part of my hunting.

Mine would have to be the shotgun Im hoping to start soon.

Lets see....

L.C. Smith 12 gauge 32" barrels

Jim Dubell is truing up all the metal and has already put a long tang on the trigger guard.
Im stocking it in a piece of incredible english walnut from Dressels. Skeleton butt plate.....straight grip stock...

Roger Kehr will to a 50% coverage engraving in Victorian Scroll if I remember right.
Doug Turbull will do the color case work. I will rust blue the metal.

Then its off to the trap range.......

Why, Allen Day, you old softie! And here all along I thought you were just Mr. Practical. I suspect one day when you're sitting in a cold North woods, the feel of that English is gonna warm both your hands and your heart. Way to go....

My dream rifle is anything Roger engraves and Chic stocks...that's pretty wide open, I guess.

MKane160 aka BigDogMK

Bill Soverns got my itch going for my first love and that is shotguns. My son and I currently have 2 LC Smiths in the works and a Belgian s/s that needs some tightening before we stock it. It is on my list of my own guns that seem to even take longer than my getting Howard's done.

I will post a photo of his blank tomorrow, if time allows. It is a fantastic piece of turkish that he bought in Reno.

Howard, where did you get the G33/40??? You can't keep secrets like that from me.

My gunsmith is just about done with my most recent project, a Ruger #1 458 Lott stocked in maple. Then I plan to have him checker a Brno ZKK 223 I posted pics of recently, which will complete everything I have in progress.

I still have lots of walnut blanks and project guns in the safe though. Next I plan to improve the stock on a Whitworth 375, refurbish a factory engraved FN Deluxe, possibly restock one of my Oberndorf 10.75s, or I may restore a Remington M-31 skeet gun. Decisions.

Idared,



The action is a Borchardt sporting action that was bought as a rifle before WWII by a gentleman in Oregon, he pulled the stocks and barrel to make a varmint rifle and never got around to it. I�ve had it going on twenty years, these things take time. The buttplate is an original one used on classic sporters from before the war. The sight is Axtell, the wood took a long time to find. Not everyone knew what I was looking for when I say 1920�s G&H. A little figure in the butt with good but plain grain flow. Jerry Fisher understood and sent this blank up. The pictured set-triggers (Zischang) were made by local gunsmith and friend John Wills. The barrel and chambering reamer are at hand, it may be a rifle someday.





>>>By the way, is your book any closer to being published?<<<< Darn good question, sometimes it feels like an anvil around my neck. It looks like for the short time a book of collected articles (45,000 words & Pictures) dealing with the pre-1940 custom makers might see light this fall or winter if all goes well. The big book awaits more research.

The first rifle I ever shot was a Winchester 74 .22 autoloader owned by a cousin. Last year at one of the PA gun shows I came across one with amazingly well figured really gorgeous feathercrotch wood - must have slipped into the production line by accident. I am thinking of having this made up into an ersatz Super Grade with ebony tip, black Winchester grip cap, factory QD swivels and checkering copied from my 1941 Super M70. The only sour note is the stamped trigger guard and I might use a Krag guard, although Winchester, if anyone had ordered something like this, would not have done so. Steve Nelson is willing to do this job, his checkering abilities are non-pareil. A long range possibility would be to find a rifle with the rare factory bolt head peep sight to put into this stock. And even to have interchangeable .22LR and .22 Short barreled actions.

Mike, that Borchardt action with the scalloped frame is absolutely outstanding.

I have a origanal 1941 remington 720 enfield awaiting to be restocked and rebarreled. Also have a old cutomized remington model 30 that needs redo.
These are the only remington rifles I own and they are mauser type extractor rifles. The rest are mausers and m70s

GSP7, original unaltered Rem 720s are edging into the collector category, getting valuable, and you might want to think twice about customizing one.

Allen,



I am having a .404 built on a mauser 1909 Argentine action...I will have it heatreated and carbourised, it has new bottom metal made from one piece of steel, opened up in the rear in the appropriate manner, a straight english bolt handle and a 3 position Dakata safety. I have a lothar Barrel #1450 and will have it cut to 23 1/2" I am having a Qtr. rib and 1 standing and two folding leaf sites. wood & engraving yet to be decided.



Metal work is being done by Bob De'Vries & I think I will have Ross Waghorn do the stock...he will be dearer than others but he is very good. Stock will be coming from a gentleman whom has great blanks called Vardy...Bob is sending me there to choose one and will tell him what is required due to the calibre etc. and he will have some for me to choose from I suppose.

Big Dog, I think that there's a solid place for "practical" fiberglass-stocked rifles as well as fine wood, and I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

But I'm at the point where I have all of the fiberglass-stocked rifles I'm ever going to need or be able to use for hunting, and my current battery is the best I've ever had.

So from now into the forseeable future, I'm going to catch up on some fine walnut-stocked custom rifles that I've been hankering to have put together for a very long time. After the .270 is complete, I'm going to have a .280 Remington finished that's also been in the pipeline for a very long time.

But my ultimate project, the one I'm most looking forward to, really began for me with the March, 1973 issue of "Sports Afield". I was not yet sixteen years old when that issue first came out, but inside was an article that would change the way I looked at rifles forever. The article was called "The Classic Magnums" by John Jobson, complete with a photo of Jobson's fine custom Al Biesen Model 70 .375 H&H, and his Model 70 in .300 H&H with a stock by Byrd Pearson. The photo wasn't the best, but even so, that was a fetching pair of rifles! I pledged myself to have my own set of "Classic Magnums" custom stocked in fine walnut someday, but some thirty years later, I still don't, nor I have I ever tried to get the project started.

So to finally fulfill the dream, I'm asked D'Arcy Echols to build a pair of his Classic grade rifles in .300 H&H and .375 H&H for me. He has a couple of my Model 70 actions stored away for the project, plus blanks of English walnut, special custom bottommetal, detachable rings (for the .375), red Pachmayr recoil pads, etc. I'm not sure when he'll be able to get these rifles done, but by and by he surely will, and these will represent my own personal 'ultimate' custom magazine rifles.

And, yes, I'll take them hunting. I plan to especially use them in Africa, and I'll plan a full-fledged safari around them as soon as they are complete or at least nearly complete!

It's funny how boyhood dreams can haunt us until they are realized.........

AD

Allen, that D'Arcy project sounds like something I would love to have for myself. When I decide to comission D'Arcy to build a rifle for me, it'll probably be in 300 H&H. I have a pre-war Model 70 in said caliber that Chic reworked the stock for me and it is absolutely perfect in my view. I plan to take it to Africa with me in June of next year alsong with that ex-pesky Ruger 416 Rigby that Mark Penrod tuned for me. You'll have to keep us posted on the progress of your dream rifles. jorge

Jorge, I've always loved the .300 H&H cartridge, but I have taken no game with it -- just paper!. It performs much, much better than certain long-expired gunwriters have ignorantly stated in the past, and in this regard Jack O'Connor was the worst of the lot, sad to say. You will do very well with your .300 H&H in Africa, of that I'm certain!

I'll post photos of this stuff when I get it done. The .270 should get finished fairly soon, as in less than six months, but the .300 & .375 might take a couple-three years!

I've been patient this long, so a few more seasons won't hurt anything............

AD

Vigillins..... My Rem 720 Action is origanal but when I got the rifle it had a poor attempt at a custom stock on it(cracked and ugly as hell) and either it is rebarreled or recontoured super thin light barrel in 270.

The action is drilled and tapped with buehler bases rings and a bearcub scope, otherwise the action is in great condition. It was not a US dept of navy award rifle , but it was a commercial one.

Allen,

Well having achieved most of what I sot with the 300 & 375, I'm in a some what relaxed state, Oh there is a slight pestering for a 338win. litter mate for the other two but that may wait, I have some hunting to do. I was sure pleased with the 375 on the peninsula it was right at home. And I cant wait to get back.


Many Thanks

HBH

By the way, for anyone who would like to see a photo of why Allen thinks that Jim Tucker is such a good stockmaker, they need look no further than pages 31 and 34 of their copy of Custom Rifles in Black and White by our own SDH.

Even SDH himself, also a very accomplished stockmaker in his own right, thinks Mr. Tucker's stocks are "truly special".