.308 survivor as a youth African gun

[dadof14]

I bought a .308 survivor for my 12 year old son for our Namibian plains game rifle but it is still too heavy (7 1/2 lbs with scope, not the 6 1/2 advertised by NEF) and the length of pull too long and the scope mounted too high for him to get a proper cheek weld.  I got it for him because he is a leftie and thought it would be easier for him to use than my Remington Model 7.  Should I just get him another NEF .308 in youth handi-rifle stock configuration or just have him get used to using the right hand Model 7?  Or should I get the stock chopped and replace the scope with iron sights?  BTW, I'll be taking my Ruger .338 WinMag for my part in the hunt.

[myarmor]

Welcome to Graybeads. Unless it's not up to par in the accuracy department, I don't see why you would need to go pick up another Handi for him....hummm..that is of course your slowly becoming a Handiholic
Anyway, why not just order a youth wood Monte Carlo stock to replace the Survivor stock?
Or if you want to get the weight down still, get a Youth Synthetic stock and build up the comb with some padding and a neoprene shellholder.
Do you live in Africa?
-Aaron

[dadof14]

Thanks, Aaron, for your reply.

Getting a Monte Carlo stock and shortening it might be the answer.  Being new to the gun (had another Survivor in .45 Colt/410 previously) I wasn't aware that stocks could be interchanged.  Now I can see some interesting combinations possible with this platform.

Next weekend we'll be taking our Africa battery out to get more proficient with them.  My boy will be after warthog, jackal, and maybe hartebeest.  In Africa, he'll probably be shooting with the aid of shooting sticks (bi- or tripod).  We'll shoot with those aids at the range then we'll see if he still needs to have the Survivor altered.

Other possible remedies to the high scope problem would be:
a.  mounting a Leupold VX-L on it  (nope, too expensive)
b.  mounting a ghost ring sight
c.  mounting a Williams receiver sight
d.  mounting a Leupold Scout at intermediate eye relief

I have a Marlin .45-70 GG that had both the ghost ring and the scout scope but I took off the scope because I found that I could acquire the target faster with the ghost ring (especially in low light or thick brush).  Does anyone have any experience with either the ghost ring or the scout scope on the Survivor?

I live in Oregon and have hunted Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.  This will be my first time in Africa (hopefully not my last).

dadof14

[quickdtoo]

Welcome to GBO!! Like Aaron said, there are many options available, see the FAQ and Help sticky, most of the stocks available are listed in the 2005 Retail Parts Price list, one of the nicer stocks is the checkered Topper Dlx youth stock, I have one that I've used on my .45-70 BC with a scope, it would work great for a young fella and is very nice looking.

Also, see the hammer modification link in the FAQ, there are a couple options listed in it, I've mounted a scope in Weaver low and extra low rings just by changing the hammer profile.

Here's a pic of the Topper stock, the matching forend is checkered also and shaped the same as the standard Handi wood forend.

Tim

[myarmor]

I forgot about the Topper Deluxe, stocks. They are nice.
If I were going to take a Handi to Africa, I would surely polish the chamber....ya don't want a shell to stick at a bad time, that is unless it's an extractor model?
I wish you and your son a good hunt, sounds like a blast to be sure
I would love to go down there and take my share of game.
What loads are you going to be using?

[dadof14]

Thank you all for the tips.

Never hunted a warthog before I'm not sure what load my son will be using in his .308 Survivor.  It'll be a factory round, though.  Probably be Federal 165-grain TB Bear Claw.  I've heard about Remington's Managed Recoil cartridges but I'm not sure that it would be up to stopping an angry and determined warthog charge.  Of course I'll be backing him up with my .338 firing Federal Premium 250-grain Nosler Partition and whatever our PH will have.  My quarries will be a greater kudu, Burchell's zebra, and an oryx.

On polishing the chamber - you probably jinxed me.  I put in an empty shell and promptly got it stuck tight.  I had to get my old G.I. issue steel ramrod to push the shell out.  During my last two trips to Alaska all I took was the nylon bore snake.  Of course I didn't have any extraction problems on any of my guns.  I'm going to take the steel ramrod to Africa.

dadof14

[dadof14]

my son wanted me to post his webpage on his up coming Africa hunt.  hopefully he'll have some photos of trophies after he gets back from Namibia

http://www.angelfire.com/pq/dcathy/nathanhunt.htm