Building a Classic Sporting rifle -update post #260

[hobophobe]

Funny how long it can take to organize. We moved 2 years ago and it finally got 3/4 organized this year.

I actually picked up a lee speed myself. A royal navy marked one with a new barrel and the sights soldered back on. Cleaned the solder up and re cold blued it in a few spots. Fitted a new widows peak style butt plate as the original was missing. Looks pretty good and it was well into my budget. Shoots 150s really well...had to figure out the front sight height myself. That was fun.

 

[hobophobe]

Not to hi jack! I see what the fuss is about though. Very nice, handy rifle to carry.

 

[Evanguy]

Well we are into the 4th year of this project and its still coming along.

i couldn't get over the location of the rear sight and also the leaf sight was too low compared to the ladder sight (they were on the same plane) and i could see the ladder in the main sight when there isn't any leaves standing.

so i made a new base that pushes the sight back about 28mm, also the leaf sight is now 0.100" higher than the ladder sight.

so now i still have to cut the dove tails in the base for the sights, and the cut the rear half of the dove tail on my rib back to the new correct spot.

this puts the rear sight back a bit and moves the ladder sight form being above the forend cap so make a cleaner look

i also got the parts ready for rust bluing, the barrel has all the solder cleaned off and the other parts are cleaned up and had the first stage degreasing done.

the sight base isn't finished yet and i will have to do some rounding of the edges and shaping.

 

[remington jim]

Evan You have a lot of Patience and Will on this project ! Good on you and still looking forward to seeing it completed . RJ

 

[Evanguy]

well, i got the sights fitted to the base, and the base fitted in the rib. I just hand filed the dove tails, they are 60*, i just use a triangle file with one side smoothed off on a diamond hone, so its cuts down to the very corner but doesnt cut the base any deeper.. the overhang of the dove tail are only 0.030" deep on each side, so it only takes a few minutes ot cut each side, i have a cutter for it but, it probably takes longer to set it up then to file them.


i also added 2 slot head screws under the folding sight, they are 6-32's. and I'm going to solder the base down as well but haven't done that yet.

i have a lot of pics of the same things, just different angles because I cant get it to look right in the pics, in person i really like it, in the pics it doesnt look as good.

the bottom 2 pics are the before and after they have a similar position/angle. i really like this new base a more, and it was worth the 9 hour setback (still need solder)

 

[DGY]

well, i got the sights fitted to the base, and the base fitted in the rib. I just hand filed the dove tails, they are 60*, i just use a triangle file with one side smoothed off on a diamond hone, so its cuts down to the very corner but doesnt cut the base any deeper.. the overhang of the dove tail are only 0.030" deep on each side, so it only takes a few minutes ot cut each side, i have a cutter for it but, it probably takes longer to set it up then to file them.


i also added 2 slot head screws under the folding sight, they are 6-32's. and I'm going to solder the base down as well but haven't done that yet.

i have a lot of pics of the same things, just different angles because I cant get it to look right in the pics, in person i really like it, in the pics it doesnt look as good.

the bottom 2 pics are the before and after they have a similar position/angle. i really like this new base a more, and it was worth the 9 hour setback (still need solder)

I think I like it just fine in the pictures so it must be perfect in real life!!

 

[Evanguy]

ive recently started working on my 500 Jeffery project again and that got me back into wanting to get this rifle finished.

i couldn't find any slow rust bluing and didn't want to try and source the ingredients to make one, so i ordered some "antique express rust bluing"
https://www.pjsproducts.com/express-rust-blue i just go the email with the tracking number so i should have it soon.

as soon as i get it i plan to blue the mag, bolt, barrel and rear sight and get this rifle assembled. i used a fast rush bluing on the butt plate, grip cap the tang, but i read it can cause hydrogen brittleness in high stress parts so i didn't use that on the barrel or bolt, if the finish is too far off ill reblue the butt plate, grip cap and tang with this new formula

 

[tiriaq]

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.
I've used that product with satisfying results.

 

[7055steved]

i couldn't find any slow rust bluing and didn't want to try and source the ingredients to make one, so i ordered some "antique express rust bluing"
https://www.pjsproducts.com/express-rust-blue i just go the email with the tracking number so i should have it soon.

I've used this product on quite a few refinishing projects and I'm always happy with the results! 8 or so passes always seems to work for me. I get a little antsy around 5 cuz it starts looking done, but then check it in bright or sunlight and it's still a little see-through in spots. Love this project thread BTW!

 

[jamesharrison]

Are you going to nitre blue the small bits so they stand out from the "crowd"?

 

[Evanguy]

Are you going to nitre blue the small bits so they stand out from the "crowd"?

Yeah basically every part that isn't CCH will be blued with this same stuff. I do want it all to match.

 

[jamesharrison]

Nitre bluing is not the same as rust bluing.
Have a look here:
https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/restoration-services/nitre-bluing/

 

[bearhunter]

Evanguy, your skillset, sense of proportion, and patience are astounding.

I'm very impressed.

Thanx for the pics.

 

[Evanguy]

Nitre bluing is not the same as rust bluing.
Have a look here:
https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/restoration-services/nitre-bluing/

Oh ok I see what you mean. I figured that express rust bluing was the nitrate blueing. But I wasn't thinking properly.

I've done hot caustic bluing on a receiver and small bits before that turned out very well.

I haven't tried nitrate blueing yet.

 

[jamesharrison]

Express bluing may be nitrate bluing, but it is not nitre bluing.
When I used it, it starts as salts & you heat it up until it melts in a lead melter, then immerse the parts hung on wire in the molten salt.
It looks quite sharp when used in conjunction with CCH parts.

 

[tiriaq]

Years ago I worked in an auto electrical parts factory. We blued spark plug shells by immersing them in molten sodium nitrate. Dip in cleaning solution to get rid of oil, rinse in water, shake water off, then into the molten nitrate. Gave a durable attractive finish, an alternative to plating.

 

[Evanguy]

ok I'm going to have to look more into Nitre bluing, i do like the color, and it would go very well with the CCH.

seems like an easy enough process described by both Jim and Tiriaq

i use it for the receiver screws and maybe the mag cut off and bolt head, possibly the tang

 

[Twan]

ok I'm going to have to look more into Nitre bluing, i do like the color, and it would go very well with the CCH.

seems like an easy enough process described by both Jim and Tiriaq

i use it for the receiver screws and maybe the mag cut off and bolt head, possibly the tang

It can be done with a flame as well, depending on the part - I think there's a decent video of it being shown by Westley Richards in a video on youtube.

 

[Evanguy]

so i got the Antique express bluing from Pj's and got the parts blued, but the barrel and mag need a few more coats. the parts are at 7 coats now. all the small parts look fine bit the biggest 2 need more. they seems to be a bit brown and i can still see some lighter spots in the bluing. I'm not using distilled water, so that may be part of the issue or they are hard and need more coats. the mag has a gold line of silver solder, i do find that appealing.

i plan to do 5 more coats in the barrel and mag. i may strip the butt plate, polish it and re blue it. you can still see file makes in it and it and it doesn't look as good as it could.

I'm also thinking of sending this stock to Chris or Wayne to have it darkened and then refinished. it seems a bit light colored for the CCH look. but ill wait and see when the rifles is fully assembled

 

[Evanguy]

I ended up getting quite a bit of work done on this rifle. there is minimal things left to do before its finished.
- i need to install the extractor and spring in the bolt head
- blue the ladder section of the rear sight
- i need to cover the cocking piece with a bake on clear coat
- file "v" in to the leaves of the rear sight.

i flame blued the visible screw heads, bolt head latch and mag release. (oil blackened the other screws)

i only had a SMLE rear trigger guard screw and its too shot for the LEC receivers so i added a little flat head screw from the other side its about 3m long, sits flush wit the receiver and allows me to clock the screw heads. (seen in the second last pic)

the final specs of the rifle are
7 lb 5 oz
39" OAL
19" Barrel
14" LOP
6+1 capacity
chambered in 6.5x53R

there are some brownish patches on the barrel and mag parts in the direct sunlight, it mostly looks black but at certain angles it get a brown tinge to it. I'm going to leave it for now. i don't mind it.

I'm going t try and get a few better pics of it one of these days. i feel it looks better in person then the pics.