Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Mauser build for my son

African Blackwood is an excellent choice. And doing a grip cap treatment in the same species would be an elegant touch, given the species. I'm in the middle of doing a Richards Microfit for a Mark X, and I had to cut off the Bubinga forend and grip cap (sometimes referred to as African Rosewood except for the fact that it is not a Rosewood). I REALLY didn't like the look. Currently fitting a nice piece of Macassar Ebony for the tip and grip cap.

The Macassar is probably a little more stark in contrast, but the stock I'm using warrants it. This link is a pic of the tip, the Macassar, and the Bubinga I cut off.

[img]https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KsY5as8b-Xbx4r_9MXXmg0e-SLMAaQTX/view?usp=sharing[/img]

All that and you left it at a 45?

All that and you left it at a 45?

I started hunting with my dad when I was a kid. At the time his rifle was a sporterized 1917 Enfield. He had done most of the work himself, minus having the sight ears ground away and some chrome plating done. He told me about ordering a new stock and sanding it to finish. I remember the gun well. The stock, while not bad looking, did look like a well used bar of soap. He had added a forend tip at 45* and a grip cap and white line spacers all around.

Fast forward to the weekend....I took the stock to his shop to use his bandsaw to cut the tip off the grip (his bandsaw is is really nice and big, mine needs a new blade and I just didn't want to mess with it for this). I'm sitting with Dad and my Brother in the shop, I'm carving carefully on the stock and we are talking about what I'm doing about the forend and grip cap. Dad keeps telling me about the sled he has for his saw and how we can cut a 'perfect' 45 for the forend and even cut one to match on the grip. I politely decline, and he goes on to say he has some thin maple for spacers and even some plastic sheets he had for knife handles in red white and blue that might 'look good' and make it look 'slick and fancy'.

I love my Dad, even when he's wrong.

Sadly the 'Old Enfield' got stolen years ago.

I think that what you believe you understand is indeed correct.
As far as your questions, honestly I can't answer them but I will comment on them and remember this is from my perspective and there are many other perspectives.

This is a Mauser and will be a hunting rifle, not a target rifle. It is my personal belief that a true 1.5 m.o.a rifle is all that is needed in a hunting rifle. I have taught my children to hunt the same way I hunt, by first enjoying the experience even if no game is taken, and second to have respect for the game and realistic expectations of yourself and your equipment. To that end I don't believe I am capable of ethically taking game past 3-400 yards, although I can shoot farther and hit the target quite often. At 400 yards a true 1.5 m.o.a. rifle will hit within 6 inches of where I point it, and that's good enough for hunting. It won't win any target competitions that I know of though. I have tried to instill in my children the same level of responsibility. If at some point my son decides he needs to be able to take longer shots on game, I will advise him to get a different rifle. Actually I'll advise him to practice stalking, camouflage and patience first and after that if he still thinks he needs to make longer shots to possibly get another rifle to do it with.

The truing of the action that you speak of are, in my opinion, much more appropriate to a target rifle where those modifications can make the differences in tenth's of inches needed. And in this case, I don't have the capability to make them. I also have to keep in mind that this is a sporterized military action. It was never made to the tolerances necessary to make the modifications you ask about worthwhile.

One thing you asked about I will do to an extent, but from the point of view of reliability. The fixture I made in the lathe to face the receiver had another function. I bored it out on center while in the lathe and then turned a concentric shaft to fit perfectly in it. The end of the shaft I have threaded to accept a screw. With that fixture I can screw it into the receiver and use the brass shaft to face the boltface while the bolt is locked to the action. This will (I hope) help make feeding smooth and reliable. I can also use the fixture with a flat disk attached to the shaft to face the inner "C" face I think it is called where the barrel actually tightens against. This will keep the breech of the barrel flat and concentric to the receiver, threads, bolt face.

There are several little things like this I'm doing because I can and they don't take much effort. I'm not going for blueprinted at all.

Someday I think I would like to build a rifle that I do the 'full meal deal' on, but if I do it won't be on a Mauser.

The Bubinga treatments were aggravating, but the maple spacers made it worse. Those had to go as well.

Sniggly, please don't take my comments as criticism for your rifle. If they came across that way I sincerely apologize. The thought I was trying to convey was that we all have opinions of what looks good or right, and we are all correct.

A question for the group....

Should I reinforce the wrist? Now is the time to do it if I'm going to do it. I was thinking of drilling a hole and using either a short piece of all thread or a carbon arrow shaft and epoxy. Is it worth it, considering it's really not much trouble to do. Or is it worrying about something that isn't a concern?

A question for the group....

Should I reinforce the wrist? Now is the time to do it if I'm going to do it. I was thinking of drilling a hole and using either a short piece of all thread or a carbon arrow shaft and epoxy. Is it worth it, considering it's really not much trouble to do. Or is it worrying about something that isn't a concern?

Why?