I know I shouldn't but I'm having a hard time not coveting this rifle as it comes together. Duane Wiebe is building this one for a friend of mine. The hardest part is that all the pieces were mine and I let my buddy have them so he could get started a little quicker - now I'm having second thoughts.

That sure was nice of you!

You GAVE him a G33/40?

Forrest
Great looking in progress pics. Looks like your buddy may be shorter than you. Maybe it's just the camera angle.

So that where the bottom metal went I wanted to bum till mine came in

Its going to be a nice rifle.........you friend has good taste.

ForrestB
may I trouble you for additional photos of the area in red.

I'm working on an octagon barrel now in 300 H&H and want to add some type of quarter rib.....it appears as though I might get some ideas from this rifle.

BTW...it's looking beautiful.....lucky guy!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
ForrestB
may I trouble you for additional photos of the area in red.

I'm working on an octagon barrel now in 300 H&H and want to add some type of quarter rib.....it appears as though I might get some ideas from this rifle.

BTW...it's looking beautiful.....lucky guy!

Yes! Please more pictures of the rib! That looks nice, very nice.

Nice bolt handle also!

quote:

Originally posted by ireload2:
You GAVE him a G33/40?

He has a nice ranch...so I try to stay on his good side.



Actually Gunmaker, his measurements are exactly the same as mine - 14" LOP (that'll come in handy when this rifle turns up missing). I'm pretty sure that pad is just on while the stock is being shaped. I don't see the inletted spur on top and I think this rifle will have a 1" leather covered pad when finished.

The bolt handle came from Half Moon and was engraved by our own Roger Kehr.

The barrel is from Ralf Martini. I thought I had some pictures of it before installation, but I can't find them. This barrel is octagon to round with a quarter rib that drops to a low full-length rib. The quarter rib section of my friend's barrel is almost exactly like this other barrel that Ralf built for me (but without the claw mount foot).

Forest,

Is the barrel a half octagon to round with integral full rib or a full octagon with rib?

Did Duane do the machining on the barrel and if so what does he charge for this?

Corbin,
Duane has built barrels like this one for me but this particular barrel is from Ralf Martini. This barrel is octagon to round with a quarter rib that drops to a low full-length rib.

You should email Ralf to discuss options and pricing.

Ralf Martini
martini-hagn@shaw.ca
1264 Jim Smith Lake Rd
Cranbrook, BC V1C 6V5
Canada
(250) 417-2927

Mark Stratton also does work of this quality, so you might want to check with him also. He's posted some great photos of the barrel he's making for the Searcy Scholarship Rifle.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/347103474/p/9

Forrest,

You gave the pieces parts & action to a friend.....? Man I gotta get me some better friends!

Fantastic looking rifle. What caliber is he going with?

Oh, and a HELL of a nice buck there Forrest!

Regards,
Dave

It looks like both of you are excellent gentlemen with whom to be acquainted!

Generous of you to help with his project, and genderous of him to let you enjoy his ranch.

Sounds like a good trade -- actually sounds like a good friendship.

Nicely done!

Forest, the things I like most on your rifles are the balance between the metal work and the wood. Your eye is drawn to the whole. I just can't say anymore, they speak for themselves.
Butch

quote:

Originally posted by DavidC:
You gave the pieces parts & action to a friend.....? Man I gotta get me some better friends!

Fantastic looking rifle. What caliber is he going with?

Oh, and a HELL of a nice buck there Forrest!

He's a great friend, but I'm not THAT generous. He has a barrel on order with Martini and I'll get that barrel when its finished. I'm still waiting for Waffenfabrik Hein to build one of their M-series Mauser actions for me, so I don't need the barrel just yet. The guys who really come out ahead in all this are Duane and Ralf- they get CASH!

This rifle is a 270 Win. I'll try to post some more photos as the project comes along.

quote:

Forest, the things I like most on your rifles are the balance between the metal work and the wood.

Thanks Butch, I'll pass along the compliment to the guys who actually do the balancing act. I wish I could get a part time job just sweeping the floors in Ralf's or Duane's shop. There's nothing I like more than seeing a quality rifle take shape.

Forrest,
You can be forgiven. Virtually anyone who has ever seen your full stocked 7X57 covets that rifle. You managed to live through our hunt last year by not bringing it. Smart move.

The "tame" deer photo (which I believe the aforementioned 7X57 was laying over?) is very nice and reminds me of a story. When my daughter Autumn and I went to Africa in 2002 she shot an impala and of course we took photos. When she attended the U of Washington she joined a sorority. After some urging from a girl from a hunting family she brought a pile of photos to school to show her friends. One girl saw the photo of her with her impala in a similar pose. A girl remarked that the animal was so pretty and asked why it was so tame. Autumn replied that it was so tame because it was so dead.

Very nice! But I've never seen anything Duane built I didn't think was 1st class all the way.

Thanks for sharing.
Terry

Forrest,
Where is the tag on that buck??
My brother has a saying about rifles like yours.
They look so nice the deer want to get killed by them.

For a second I thought I recognized the house in the photo. I hope you didn't accidently back up because everything in that photo has points.

What's a "tag"??

I'm from East Texas, we don't use no stinkin' tags. I don't even have a tag on my truck.

Forrest,

You are truly a gentleman! And your friend must be one too to have received such a fine gift from you.

Good hunting!

What a fantascimous rifle!!!! I love it.

I'm a bit curious why some of the "gunsmith experts" have not commented regarding the "sudden" cutting in front of the chamber (which forms the beautiful octagon).

There is another thread, where the depth of screw holes in the chamber area is discussed... If I understand correctly (from various sources), max "chamber" pressure is not achieved until the bullet is somewhere downstream... So why don't these same folks raise a flag due to the "drastic" cuts immediately in front of the chamber? Would these cuts not represent a danger?

(Just an ignomineous ME asing yet another insipedous question!!!!!) (please IGNORE my spelling, por favor!)

(edit: I am not trying to hijack the thread or take anything away from this masterpiece. Please PM me with responses to my 'ignorant' inquiry!)

1SH, I had exactly the same “insipid†question when I first saw Ralf’s barrels. He gave me an intelligent sounding answer detailing the exact minimum wall thickness in the chamber area and how this was .XX inches thicker than had been used in barrels for other high-pressure cartridges for many decades and I shouldn’t worry about it. I don’t remember the details, mostly because I quit worrying about it after he gave me an explanation that seemed reasonable. I do know I’ve seen some pre-war German and Austrian barrels so light and thin that they make Ralf’s current barrels look like they have a target taper.

I'd love to hear some opinions from some of the metalsmiths here.

Hey look another messy bench! I was going to clean mine but....I think not. Those are some great pics Forrest. Always good to see Duane's work in progress!