Being broke as it's good sides

T

tatou

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Montreal
What do you do when you can't afford a new toy.... you turn to the safe and dig out old unfinished projects.....
I've had this MLE in the safe for like 5 or 6 years now...
The barrel was cut to 25 inches with an ugly home made front sight, the stock was cut very short and had an ugly peeling varnish.
When i first got it i had looked for infos and the only model i could find with a 25 inch barrel was the Australian Rilfe Club Pattern...so i went that route.
Back then forends were not that rare and Numrich had some reproductions for Mk III's inletted for the volley sight, i bought one and converted it by shaping the front end and filling the areas a MLE stock didn't have.
I then left it in the safe until now lol
I just finished what little was left to be done on the wood and dyed it with leather dye to match everything. The butt stock and handguard are walnut, the forend beach wood.
I finished it with several coats of BLO.
The action was stiff and sticky so i took everything appart and gave it a good clean... probably the first time in 100 years by the looks of it...
The barreled action still has a very nice blue and the action is now smooth and fast.
I just finished it this weekend.
I think it turn out good...good enough for me :)


 
You did well, and I can't think how anything better could have been done with it given that "The barrel was cut to 25 inches with an ugly home made front sight, the stock was cut very short and had an ugly peeling varnish."
 
Thanks guys :)
BlackPowderBurner, no i have not shot it yet... i still need to solder on the front sight, if i did it would probably fly off lol
So i have all winter to learn and practice on scraps... so i can test shoot it next summer.
MLE having thicker barrels i'm guessing and hoping it's a good shooter.

I dont have a before pic but this is pretty much what it looked like, i bought both rifles at the same time.
Only difference is the length of barrels...one was cut at 25 the other at 20 inches. Currently turning this one into a ''carbine'' clone.


On this one, the 25 inches barrel, they had made this to screw the barrel to the chopped forend. I just left it there but obviously did not used it.
So on top of cutting it they also dovetail it....



This is the wood before staining to match.
The butt was already sanded and no stamps where left...
I used Fiebings leather dye just like Englishman_ca explained to me... the result came out nice. I just love that technique.
He's been a great help with this rifle and the other ''carbine'' i have.
 
Nice work! I keep all the poor old LE's that we get traded in or sold to us. Never know what a body might need some day.:)
 
silverfoxdj said:
You must have put in a fair number of hours on it good stuff
Click to expand...

Surprisingly not that much... the metal was/is still in great condition, the only parts i retouched was the tip of the barrel, a few screws that were buggered and the front volley sight (a Numrich reproduction, i didnt like the way it looked)
Wood repairs is easy for me but they were done 5 years ago. The worse is the drying time for the dye and BLO, 4 for the dye and 14 for the BLO...one coat a day.
Magellann, leather dye penetrates instantly and the first coats dry VERY fast so that's great. Only drawback is the recess areas are harder to get to so i used a small brush. It's alcohol base so it flows like...well, alcohol...

kjohn said:
Nice work! I keep all the poor old LE's that we get traded in or sold to us. Never know what a body might need some day.:)
Click to expand...

Yep...anything can be saved...it's just a matter of time and patience.

BlackPowderBurner said:
You'll have to give us a range report when it finally goes out! Since the barrel was cut, have you looked at re-crowning?
Click to expand...

The cut and the crown appeared to have been ''well'' made so i'm hoping it is ok... but i am no gunsmith and this is totally out of my league.
 
tatou said:
Surprisingly not that much... the metal was/is still in great condition, the only parts i retouched was the tip of the barrel, a few screws that were buggered and the front volley sight (a Numrich reproduction, i didnt like the way it looked)
Wood repairs is easy for me but they were done 5 years ago. The worse is the drying time for the dye and BLO, 4 for the dye and 14 for the BLO...one coat a day.
Magellann, leather dye penetrates instantly and the first coats dry VERY fast so that's great. Only drawback is the recess areas are harder to get to so i used a small brush. It's alcohol base so it flows like...well, alcohol...



Yep...anything can be saved...it's just a matter of time and patience.



The cut and the crown appeared to have been ''well'' made so i'm hoping it is ok... but i am no gunsmith and this is totally out of my league.
Click to expand...

Nice outcome in any event
 
Magellann said:
I'll have to try the leather die on my next project. Finding some will probably be the hardest part.
Click to expand...

I bought it off eBay from a UK seller, US sellers will also ship but i find that most often UK get's here faster.
I used Fiebings dark brow, alcohol base. It has a subtle reddish look to it.
 
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