Thread: Classics corner and vintage rifle reviews

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so rim is same as 30/30 uncle Wiki spilt the beans on this one...the specs arent too shabby either,could do much better reloaded for strongish action. seems its been AIed too....

Yes it's a useful small deer cartridge

The 303-25 would beat it hands down
But a 25-35 short rifle in an 1885 would be a nice walking rifle

a 7mm waters necked down again to 25 to create a .25/30 in effect would be more in between the two and rather useful too I suspect ..could a fella run a neckless 30/30 into the .25/35 chamber and create a monster????with a sharper shoulder to headspace on.....
the options are endless if you have capability to also make dies with chamber reamers.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

a 7mm waters necked down again to 25 to create a .25/30 in effect would be more in between the two and rather useful too I suspect ..could a fella run a neckless 30/30 into the .25/35 chamber and create a monster????with a sharper shoulder to headspace on.....
the options are endless if you have capability to also make dies with chamber reamers.

@Micky Duck anything can be done if you're mad enough

I believe the 25-40 krag is also a thing

Yep the 25 krag appeared in 1905 Charles Newton of 250 savage fame and a whole range of other proprietary flash cartridges supposedly came up with it.

I had a bit of down time in the workshop while I wait for my 222 Rimmed projects retaining compound to cure

So I ripped into this Stevens 044 1/2 32 Long rimfire.
Converted the breech block from RF to CF. Not so easy on this model but a good result and for the location perfect.





I had to re cut the 32 RF chamber to 32-20 CF.
Pretty weird reaming out rusty swarf, but it cut a nice enough chamber.

Tested the firing pin strike and protrusion.



I had to make a new lever pivot pin, New barrel location screw stud, re shape the extractor tip and fix the ejector spring and plunger.

But the first test fire was a great success considering the bore is not great.



But sadly at this point I ran out of ammunition and I loaned my dies to someone who's currently out of the country.
I think @Tedz50 has some ammo aside for me.

Turns out it was a cool little filler project that filled in a wet day.
Now I can get back on to the 222 Rimmed tomorrow

man do I have a place just taylor made for that rifle....... where my short trebly goes for walks,wallabies under 50 yards is the norm...the mighty .270w is a bit overkill and small quietish rifle is nice.
awesome work as always.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

man do I have a place just taylor made for that rifle....... where my short trebly goes for walks,wallabies under 50 yards is the norm...the mighty .270w is a bit overkill and small quietish rifle is nice.
awesome work as always.

@Micky Duck Yes it's an ideal walking vintage rifle for inside 50m

Only problem is it doesn't have any sling mounts on it. Typical of a lot of USA vintage rifles.
So I will need to make a no drill sling for it

bump......

My Field's Patent 450 no1 Express got a new roller bearing main spring fitted today



Fantastic circa 1880 rifle and everything you would want and need in a decent stalking rifle EXCEPT it has an over 10 pound trigger pull

So rather than play with the sear surfaces I decided a lighter main spring was the answer.

So I made a new one by hand from spring steel.
Thinned down all the main sections by about 50% thickness
Added a micro roller bearing instead of the plain bearing on the original.



Refitted it into the action which means a full strip down and build up
Trigger pull is now well under 6 pounds and reasonably smooth and crisp.
Ideal for a fast 450 BPE

That’s the best thing I’ve seen on this forum all year.

Well you need to be able to make decent flat and folded main springs a new firing pins if you are going to own these old rifles.

Very few worth while rifles don't need one or both of those parts replaced.
That's the reason most cheaper guns aren't worth fixing.
If both are broken in a cheap rifle it's just not worth the effort.

Here are a couple of classic Remington rifles

A circa 1870 Rolling Block no1 Sporting Rifle in 44-77
This is a genuine Buffalo Rifle ( Bison for @Marty Henry )
A caliber that well pre dates the 45-70 and would have been responsible for shooting a lot of buffalo/ bison

A very tricky caliber to feed but I have shot it today and promising results.
9 lb 8 oz so nice to shoot but pretty powerful

The other is a no3 Hepburn 40-70 Sharps Straight.
Side lever falling block circa 1882.
A very nice example and again a very challenging cartridge to reload for.
Getting closer to shooting it and dies coming from Australia.
Rifle is in excellent condition and has a very good bore.

I do like the stock on the Hepburn, that checkering is still so sharp.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

I do like the stock on the Hepburn, that checkering is still so sharp.

The Hepburn is a very tidy example and I expect it to shoot very well.
Nice smooth strong action
Absolutely superb trigger
Very good bore

So no excuses if I can't shoot it well

And neither has even been cosmetically cleaned yet
They will both scrub up better when I have time