Some of you guys may recognise this from earlier threads.
Back in 2004 I bought this sporterised Kar98k as potential deer rifle.
The bore seemed ok and to begin with it shot reasonably well.
We had bedded the stock to stabilise it and I then went ahead and had the bolt handle forged and bent and the receiver drilled and tapped for a Leupold bridge mount and rings.
This was the result:
But after some shooting it became clear that the stock was inherrently unstable.
A previous owner had got oil in the bedding area and without a lot of hacking it was pretty useless.
I also was tired of seeing the extensive pitting on the bbl and wanted it cleared up.
On top of that a local gunsmith found that the front inch or so of the bbl was pretty shot out so what it needed was removing and a re-crown.
So I decided to get the rear sight sleeve removed, the bbl shortened and re-crowned and the bbl and action powder coated to fill in the pitting and tidy it up.
I also bought a Choate sporting stock that was a "drop in fit".
That was the theory.
I have to admit, it did look better:
It shot ok but not being bedded I was concerned both about damaging the stock and long term accuracy.
The powder coating also did not fill in the pitting.
It showed up just as badly and I'm not even sure it sealed the metal.
I tried bedding it myself with help of a friend but it still wasn't right and I didn't want to risk ruining the stock so I left it for a bit.
Finally, I decided to swap the Tasco MagIV 3-12x40AO on it to my Martini Hornet and fit a Bushnell 3-9x40......only to find the damn bolt handle wouldn't clear the bell!
So it got put to back of the locker until my temper improved and I decided what to do with it.
I usually get a bit of money around Christmas and as a rule it usually makes it toward a new rifle or some shooting gear.
Last year it helped buy the T3 9.3x62 and it has bought other rifles before.
This time I decided that since the 8x57 had a decent stock and was a good action that it deserved to be finished properly so I would consolidate and finish a rifle instead of buying another one that I would have to feed.
But it needed a few things......a new bbl, a better trigger, being bedded properly and the bolt handle needed shaving to clear the Bushnell.
So I compiled a list of stuff:
- a 26" stainless bbl chambered to 8x57JS of as heavy a contour as the bbl channel could fit (I like long bbls and my sweat is really acidic so stainless is better)
- a Timney trigger (a friend had given me one for nicks)
- the action beadblasted and heavily blued dull
- the bolt handle shaved/modified
- a proper glass bedding job
And after chatting with a pro-shooter friend on a number of occasions I decided to give Keith Bridgeman at Sprinter Arms in South Australia a call and get a costing.
When everything was worked out the price was right.
The only thing now was to convince the missus to let me send it in early so it would be back JUST before Chrissie and I'd have time to load and dial it up for the hunting trip I'm doing in early January '09.
In the end she couldn't really stop me as she'd done a pre-emptive spend on a couch last year.
I sent the rifle off this afternoon so it should arrive mid-next week.
And I can't really complain about my wife.
Despite the fact she doesn't like guns and would be overjoyed if gave up hunting and I sold the lot tomorrow she stayed up until 2:30am last night fabricating a box to post it in and I "helped" her.
Anyhow, it should be a cracker of a rifle and I'll be getting Keith to put a medium length throat on the chamber so it will accurately shoot 150gr pills.
A firm load of ADI AR2206H (H4895) will push a 150gr to about 2950fps and that is good hog or feral goat medicine.
In fact, it's a good all round load for anything short of sambar deer (which are elk size), camels, scrub bull (feral cattle) or water buffalo and it's has a max PBR of about 280yds.
I'm also getting the stainless bbl bead blasted to make it dull......better for stalking.
I admit 26" is long but I can always have it cut back to 24" or 22".
You can't lengthen it if you want it longer though.
I'll post some pics when it returns.