What is the advantage of the one piece bottom metal? Is it for look's or stiffnes? I saw a Sunny Hill$$ on a friend new custom rifle and could not justify spending more money instead of using the factory one and then again I new to custom rifle world.

One advantage is the one piecers are easier to bed. Another is no torque on the action from that middle screw.

Bottom metal is a very critical part in my estimate. If it's made of good, milled-steel construction it's far stronger than the factory aluminum stuff, which I've seen break on hunts due to unforseen mishaps.

It also plays a role in keeping the magazine box clean and free of debris. With quality bottom metal, the floorpate (by design) forms a protective seal that keeps dirt out.

Another valuable attribute of good bottom metal is that then latch is far stronger and more secure than the factory assemblies usually are. This avoids the chance that the floorplate will open uder recoil and dump the contents of the magazine box on the ground. Needless to say, this can have deadly implications under certain circumstances.

Stylistically, first-rate bottom metal also determines the look and style of the rifle in a very big way. For example, you can take a military 98 Mauser action and do nothing but remove the factory box/bottom metal assembly, screw in a first-rate aftermarket setup (like Sunnyhill's) and all of a sudden the sow's ear starts looking more like a silk purse.

I always specify special bottom metal when I order a custom rifle. It's never a mistake, and it's always worth the money you invest in it. Rifles are like horses, marriages, and children: The more you put into them, the more you get out of them.

AD

I agree with Allen....but that is not to say the original bottom metal on a M-70 or a Mauser is not usable and they can be modified very nicely, but I normally just use Blackburn bottom metal on all my customs unless a particular gun such as my JP Sauer that I'm restocking, needs to keep the origenality as close as possibel...It will use the original bottom metal, double set triggers etc. the two piece bottom metal on a M-70 Win is very usable on say a plastic stocked or laminated stocked rifle etc...it would however hurt the value of a full blown custom rifle...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Ray,
I ordered Blackburn bottom metal for a mod 70 in 270 that is being rebarrelled and restocked to be a nice 9.3x62. This project is taking time but it's coming along nicely so far.

Stu,
Now thats a gun to make me shiver and break into a cold sweat..I built one for myself just like that a couple of years ago on a pre-64 action with a round knob grip and a piece of exceptionally red claro that I had been hording for a century....It was a dandy little rifle but Bill Cauthen who posts here from time to time lets his sweet little wife fanagle me out of that gun, and she hammered a nice Buffalo with it. One shot and down in 40 yards....

I am building another 9.3x62 as we speak on a Jp Sauer with a 20" oct. full ribbed barrel on a single C ring Mauser action, butterknife bolt. I'm stocking it in the original Obendorf style, round knob grip, panels, schenable forend. It will be set up for irons, but it has claw mounts and will sport a 2.5 Leupold Alaskan..I should be finished in a month or so..It's in the shaped French walnut stock now...Will be the first short barreled gun that I have owned for 20 years, but thats the way it came, and I probably need a short gun anyway, yeah right!...

The French walnut on this piece is not real fancy but it is the absolute hardest piece of wood that I have ever worked with it actually shines under the knife cut..was very hard to inlet...It will be stable as a diamond. harder than woodpecker lips...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com