From the Wife's Collection
My wife-mate enjoys collecting and shooting curio and relic firearms, primarily rifles. She enjoys the rifles most because they have more wood to bear the scars of use.
Yes, she seeks out the battle scarred Mausers. Several times I have intercepted a sale in which she was forking over $150 for a Turk that would cause a Khyber Pass pawnbroker to blush with shame. I don't get angry when sellers do this, I just explain to her that the same rifle is available for $80 less elsewhere. She might like battle beaten wood, but she likes a bargain better. As we walk away from the table or counter, the price usually quickly drops to acceptable limits.
Many are surprised at what these old war horses can accomplish. I remember a couple of years back when she took the old Lee Enfield to the range and out shot the good ol' boys scoping in their deer rifles. Carteach0 had a similar experience over the weekend. How sweet it is!
Yes, she seeks out the battle scarred Mausers. Several times I have intercepted a sale in which she was forking over $150 for a Turk that would cause a Khyber Pass pawnbroker to blush with shame. I don't get angry when sellers do this, I just explain to her that the same rifle is available for $80 less elsewhere. She might like battle beaten wood, but she likes a bargain better. As we walk away from the table or counter, the price usually quickly drops to acceptable limits. Many are surprised at what these old war horses can accomplish. I remember a couple of years back when she took the old Lee Enfield to the range and out shot the good ol' boys scoping in their deer rifles. Carteach0 had a similar experience over the weekend. How sweet it is!
Labels: Gun Collecting, Mil-Surps
posted by Xavier at 2:53 PM
8 Comments:
I love showing up hotshots with pristine high-buck 'deer rifles' (usually in magnum calibers starting with 3 or better) with my 1899 Swede M96.
It gets worse when I tell them I paid $75 for it.
Regards,
Rabbit.
No big trick to it. The average Mil-surp shooter will fire more in one range session than the average Remchesterby shooter will shoot in a year.
Just the way it is.
Shucks, I have a scoped Mauser big game rifle that only gets 40-50 rounds a year through it. Of course, it shoots those into tight little groups, because anything else would be embarrassing.
Oh, are we talking about Smellys now? This blog is really ringin' my bell. Here's a day at the range "sighting in" my No.4:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2974/no4fi9.jpg
The top is 50 yards. After banging around the front sight, I switched from the mic rear to the 300 yard "battle" aperture, then I shot the five shot group with some commercial Mk VII ball.
The bottom is 100 yards, a switch again to the 300 yard fixed sight, a shot, and a knock on the front sight again... then five shots of Remington 180s.
There was a wind blowing across the range (guess which direction), and all were shot elbows on the bench, both eyes open.
This was from a couple of years ago, when I shot 80 rounds in one session. So I guess it explains the mediocrity. I can't wait to hand load the .303 -- I just wish I had the time to go to the range more often!
If you were designing a rifle, you probably wouldn't design it as Lee did...
Until you saw the Cannuks give up trying to kick the handle of their beautifully designed and fantastically engineered Ross open, and throw it into the mud where it belonged,
Or German troops discard the rifle to pray for, its receiver ring hopelessly full of mud,
I don't know what the french did
but all picked up a fallen soldiers' battered and decades old smelly and started shooting again.
Until the guys in the North west Frontier Province got their patterns made for turning out AKs, the gun of choice was the smelly.
Acceptance criteria new was 4" 100 yard groups. Most do a lot better and will do it long after everything else is so full of mud it can't be used.
Help, can you identify this action?
Here
Thanks
billy budd,
I regret that I am not a student of rifles. It looks like a Mauser, but I am not able to say just which one.
Xavier
Without a closeup of the markings on the receiver ring or left side wall, it'd be hard/impossible to distinguish one large ring action from another...
Golden State had a bunch of rifles built on FN commercial actions, AFAIK.
Thanks guys, It looks like a K-98 bolt that has been converted though it lacks the safety. I will keep looking as the search is an education in iself.
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