A "Handi " Weekend

[Tentman]

Hello Guys

Down here in New Zealand can be a bit frustrating as we can't get all the goodies that you folk up in the USA can.

So my barrel stubbed handi in 303-25 needed a new fore end, and a wet weekend here was just what I needed.

Here is the result - its my first ever go at stock making, but all in all I'm quite pleased, it was supposed to just be a pattern for something better to follow but maybe I'll keep it.  It's still to be sanded and finished but there's always next weekend for that !!



I used a local timber, its really a bit soft for stockmaking but it was what I had to hand, and as it won't be checkered I think it'll be ok.  I cut the blank into 3 pieces and laminated them back together for a bit of stability in a long stock.

This rifle is nice and short and I can see it becoming my favourite carry rifle in the mountains (all up weight as pictured is exactly 7 lbs), so it had to resemble a mountain rifle, and what better to copy than those used in the Austrian alps - a Kipplaufbuschen I think is the term.  Hopefully it'll get me a chamois here too.

I started to copy the schabel from my Brno (CZ) 452 22 rf but it sorta got away on me a bit, they are a lot harder to do than they look.  I didn't have a spare plastic forend spacer, so just used wood right up to the action - which is why the fore end is quite full there, I didn't want any really small bits that would break off.  I'll use penetrating epoxy on this area to impove the strenght of the wood.

I had to make a barrel band to hang the fore end from, and getting that tapered caused me a few headaches.   I also made an extra band at the muzzle, the wood is real thin there (it is thinner than it looks in the photo) and the rifle will get hard use.

Now all I have to do is finish working up loads and shoot it, then we'll go hunting.

Cheers - Foster

[Stan in SC]

It really looks great.You did a nice job.You mentioned the caliber as 303-25.Is that a fairly common caliber in NZ?I'm very familiar with .303 as I have several but have never heard of a 303-25.

Stan

[Tentman]

Hello Stan - 303-25 was never real common here in NZ, but there was a smattering of them, and dies come up reasonably regular.  They were much more of an Australian thing, the 303 was illegal there for a time, so everyone had alternatives made up for SMLE actions.  The 303-25 in a strong rifle is somewhere between a 250 Savage and a 257 Roberts.

Cheers

[petemi]

Beautiful rifle!  I hope you get your chamois.  A buddy in Florida makes beautiful stocks from Australian Pine, which he says is a harder softwood.  I was wondering what you used.  Pete

[EVOC ONE]

Very nice.  You did a great job, Tentman. 

Be sure to send photos when she's finished.

 

[MSP Ret]

great looking forearm and gun Tentman, all in all I would say you had a very productive weekend, Congratulations and please more pictures, when the forearm is completed (with the barrel bands on as well) and with the game you take with it....<><....

[Markus]

Are you brave enough to attempt a stock? I can't figure out a good way to do it with the tools I have. how did you make the barrel bands? That forearm looks great though. Hunting NZ is a dream of mine. I hope to visit some time in the next couple of years though.

[NAM70]

Nice looking gun Tentman! I'm in the process of re-doing the wood on my Handi. Just reshaping the butt stock somewhat but leaving the shape of the forearm as is. I like the way yours is turning out. Good luck with it.

[db22]

Tentman -- What a great job you did!  Is the new forend stained, or is your wood that color naturally?  I re-finish all my NEF stocks, and find the yellow birch is a bit hard to stain down to the shade of walnut. 

Your chambering sounds interesting -- the .303 case would be a perfect start for wildcat cartridges in this type of rifle.  Are reloading components easy to buy in NZ?  Supplies in my part of the US have been erratic for the last six months or so, due to the escalating cost of metals, and perhaps also the demands of the military.  Most rifle primers were unavailable here in western Wisconsin for some months -- I just managed to find a box of 1000 CCIs yesterday.  As MSP Ret noted, we will be interested to hear more about your rifle and hunting in NZ.  Thanks for posting!

[stimpylu32]

Tentman

Nice looking forarm and am glad to see you are getting your brass problem worked out . should be a great shooter .

stimpy

[quickdtoo]

Very nice work Foster, looks great!! 

Tim

[Tentman]

Thanks for the positive comments.

As far as I know there is no shortage here of basic reloading components, but I only buy in modest quantities, and there are not really any big discounters here, so you take what comes in terms of price.

The wood I used on the fore end is Rimu, which is a NZ native, its not really a great timber for stock work, but is light and works easily.   That is it's natural colour in the picture, I wouldn't go so far as to say Rimu is "pallet wood" (a lot of very fine furniture is made from it here) but I choose it cause it'll stain up to look the same eventually.  The Fore end is at the "ready to sand" stage, I have to get it sanded and get some finish on it. 

The barrel bands were made from various bits of stainless steel pipe I had in my shop, generally I wouldn't use stainless as its a bear to work with, its a lot harder on tools than mild steel, but as the barrel was stainless . . . it seemed right!!

The biggest thing was the barrel channel, somewhere I read that in stock-making, it is important to have the tools to be able to "hog out" the big lumps quickly enough so one doesn't get frustrated with slow progress.   So I made a tool out of a round Stanley "surform" rasp to do barrel channels and it worked real good.  I'll post up a picture tonight.

Cheers - Foster

[sonof_perdition]

Kiaora Tentman.  Your forend project looks great!  I recently purchased a 22-250 Handi Rifle.  I love it.  Right out of High school I spent a couple years traveling the world and wound up in New Zealand for a couple of years.  I miss it there.  It was probably one of the best places in the world I have been to.  I never made it down to the south island but my favorite place is Mt. Maunganui in Tauranga.  I had a flat there with the most incredible view. (not actually on the mountain but accross the bay on the other side of Tauranga.)  Ever since my return I have been craving a Kumara!!!

Anyhow, great job

[PHATINJUN]

I like it and as a handiholic I like different . I have been thinking of some thing just about like that since I got my old 22Hornet with the full Manilicher stock. I would like to do the 357 mag that way with brass. Very nice job. Kurt

[Saloon slug]

A .303-25 that's awesome. Did you straighten out the case? what is your shoulder angle? I have read about a few of the wild cats based on the .303 case.  I would like to have a .303Epps.

[Tentman]

Hi

The 303-25 is a very non standard wildcat, just about every reamer made must have been different I think (well here at least).  My smith warned me that his reamer had been regound to try to match the dies made by Simplex (Australian) but as it turned out his reamer was quite diffrent in the shoulder area than my set of Simplex dies.

If I had thought about it a bit more (and if I did it again) I'd use a 257 roberts reamer (either standard or improved) and make a rimmed version using 444 marlin brass.  This would be much easier to get load data for, reamers are more common, as are dies.  The 303-25 has just too many variables.

Cheers

[fish280]

very, very nice. the .303 case is perfect for the handi. still wishing for a .303 or 30-40 krag handi ...

[45carbine]

Hello All
Nice handi and a classic cartridge. Well where i came from anyway (australia). The 303-25 was the first center fire I came across so figured everyone had them. My understanding of their existence, was that new sporting rifles from the states were really expensive compared to mass produced 303 rifles that had been re-barreled. from memory a gun smith in South Australia "sprinter arms" did a lot of these conversion.
303-25, 303-22 are the most common I have heard of although 303-270 has been written up a few times.

If someone was interested I could find some contact details for Sprinter and he may be able to supply a barrel or required reamers etc? the only hiccup could be the firearm laws in Australia with regard to importing and exporting. Something i know very little about.

Can't wait to see a handi/chamoi pic. Can't be to many of those around.