R. FAMAGE pawnshop-sporter project

[professrh]

I posted a bit about this rifle, a 1952 Colombian-arsenal refurb to 30-06 that someone on this end stock-cropped and D&T'd, before the incident. I've been working a lot on it since, and am beginning to get somewhere, I think.

If I can figure out how to post photos, I'll put up a kind of work journal.

--Prof

[professrh]

Here's what it looked like when I got it. Note the black paint applied at the arsenal, and (if you can see it) the uneven way the stock forend is cut.

[professrh]

I wouldn't have bought it if the bore wasn't good.

[professrh]

At some point, I took it to the range and shot this target (at 50 yards, with iron sights) using 1) my handloads for the Garand, and 2) surplus HXP ammo. The groups overlap, but seemed promising

[professrh]

So I put a scope on it. I had to use rather tall rings to clear the bolt (the original sporterizer ground the bolt handle a bit, but didn't bend it. ETA: The mount set I used was the Warne Maxima for unaltered 98 Mauser. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/12829 ... ered-matte

[professrh]

At some point, I touched up the muzzle crown with a brass screw and some valve-grinding compound.

[professrh]

Still to come:
sending the bolt off to have the handle bent by a pro (link: http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/boltman/bolt_work/ ), stripping off the arsenal black paint, touching up with cold blue, stripping the stock, refinishing with BLO, and improving the stock fit with brass shims.

[bobvz]

I picked up one from a pawn shop too. It was in a Siles sporter stock (web split) and had a real nice forged bolt handle. Barrel was cherry inside but badly pitted outside. My 'smith at the time sent it to a barrel shop in Georgia where they contoured it to a slim sporter contour and eliminated the pits. It was D&T'd and a 3-9x40 scope was mounted. I repaired the stock. It is a perfect lightweight '06 and holds 1.25 in groups all day with handloads. Not bad for a re-bore military.

[professrh]

I picked up one from a pawn shop too. It was in a Siles sporter stock (web split) and had a real nice forged bolt handle. Barrel was cherry inside but badly pitted outside. My 'smith at the time sent it to a barrel shop in Georgia where they contoured it to a slim sporter contour and eliminated the pits. It was D&T'd and a 3-9x40 scope was mounted. I repaired the stock. It is a perfect lightweight '06 and holds 1.25 in groups all day with handloads. Not bad for a re-bore military.

Any sense of what yours started out life as? Mine is stamped in various places with letter "C" acceptance marks, which suggests (according to Ball) that it may originally have been a Steyr m1912 carbine. The 23.25" barrel ( ) has evident wrench marks, but came to me covered in the same flaking black paint as the rest of the action. Arsenal replacement? Or maybe it grew a bit? (Or I'm way off base).

--Prof

[professrh]

IN April, after I mounted that Lyman scope, I did some load development. Discovered that 1) the rifle hated H 380 any way I served it; 2) the rifle is generally quite a picky eater, and 3) with the right loads, it showed promise.

150-grain Speer Hot-Cor SPs over IMR 4064 / 100 yards:

165-grain PPU BTSPs over IMR 7383 (aka RAD 78; shout out to RapidRob) / 100 yards:

Of course, I was troubled by the flier at 4:00 on the first target, by the two (much wider) fliers at 3:00 and 4:00 on the second target, and by the fussiness of the rifle generally. Decided, for starters, to get the scope down closer to the barrel, as I pretty much had to stand on tiptoe to see through it to the target in the current configuration.

I sent the bolt to the boltman (as noted above), who told me his expected turnaround time was 1-2 months. It's been about six weeks.

[professrh]

In the absence of R. FAMAGE load development to work on (no bolt, no shoot), I decided to epoxy bed my Venezuelan heartbreaker (I posted about this one a few years back, and will follow the FAMAGE posts with a more complete update on this one).

Using a spare, rather buggered-up Chileno stock I had lying around, I did the project and learned a bit about stock fit and bedding, and didn't destroy anything. At some point, I also came across this excellent write-up about bedding (with shims) a Mauser for accuracy: http://www.mausershooters.org/k98k/SC_tips2.html (scroll down)

I decided to shim-bed the Venezuelan in its "original" (read "Spanish") stock. Accuracy was much improved.
ETA: link to Vene-project thread: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=372

Before (50 yards, iron sights, Buffalo Arms .287" 154-grain SP handloads):

After (50 yards, iron sights, Buffalo Arms .287" 154-grain SP handloads):

This was promising. I made a note to self for the FAMAGE project--further down the road.

[professrh]

Meanwhile, I decided to strip off the flaking black arsenal paint from the R. FAMAGE barreled action and other metal. It came off pretty easily with acetone and elbow grease.

Of course, it had been hiding something:

I studied up on cold bluing and worked out a process using brake cleaner to degrease before and between applications, and boiling water to rinse before and after each application. After seven coats, I oiled with G96 and followed that up with high-temperature automotive grease, which I wiped off with a rag til the metal felt grease-free. I did not treat the action at this time, only the barrel.

[professrh]

Next I took on the stock, which had been cut down (unevenly at the forend), sanded, and slathered thickly with some kind of oil finish that had crazing in places. I stripped the wood using EZ Strip (it took several applications).

This done, I got out the wood knives and sanding blocks and carefully reshaped the forend. I finish sanded it with 400-grit, then--with a Q-Tip--applied a little Old English scratch hider to make the cut-and-sanded wood match the rest.

Finally, I applied four coats of BLO.

At some point in there, I also touched up the action with four coats of cold blue, applied as above.

Finally, I adjusted the stock fit by cutting shims (from brass plates I was given some years ago by Felix Mophandle). For now (as this is something of a trial-and-error process which will need some range time to verify and refine) I have shims between the recoil lug and the cross bolt, under the tang, and under the trigger guard at the rear action screw. More on this after I get the bolt back and can do some shooting.

For now, the reassembled rifle looks like this:

[Calfed]

Nice work, professor. Looks great!

Would like to see the results when you get your bolt back and can do some load development.

[professrh]

Thanks, Calfed.

I look forward to getting the bolt back and starting the new load experiments. I bought a bunch of 175-grain RNSPs in 7x57 a couple of months back, and will see how those work in the Venezuelan. I have high hopes, and not only because they're relatively inexpensive. Gotta say, though, the Vene really likes those .287" fatties from Buffalo Arms. . . .

--Prof