Canadian M1917 Restoration

jonh172

jonh172

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Hi everyone, just wanted to share my latest restoration.

I started with a Canadian stamped Eddystone complete action I found. At first I only planned to slap a barrel onto it and sell it for a tiny profit.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c43/jonh172/Mobile%20Uploads/20181103_100740_zpsx6nkn###.png


Because It came with the perfect sporterized barreled action that would donate its barrel, I started to like it and thought maybe I would keep it.

The sporter action had the ears crudely removed but no holes drilled for scope mounting. The barrel was surprisingly like new, full length and hadn't had any rear sight mounted. The date happened to line up with my receiver as well. (08-18)



That barrel had to be the hardest barrel I have ever tried to remove and I have had some doozies, but this one blew them away. I almost cut the receiver off of it but finally got it before going that route. I even tried to sell it all so it could be someone else's problem!!
I gave it one last go and finally broke it free!

With a light skim in the lathe the barrel timed very nicely and I installed it with no further incidents.



I was able to check headspace right away and it sits at 2 thou over min. What a relief after the grief the barrel removal gave me.

Figuring I would never find a Canadian stamped stock I still was on the fence if I was going to keep it.

As luck would have it, a buddy found me a beautiful Canadian stock and that sealed its fate in my collection.

All that's left is hand guards and sling swivels and she back to her old glory.

 
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purple said:
Those Eddystone barrels have a reputation of being a rear bear to get off. Worth the effort and its nice when you get a good result.
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Im truly surprised nothing broke on me trying to get it off, i figured I would either snap a barrel vice bolt or crack the receiver!
 
jonh172 said:
Im truly surprised nothing broke on me trying to get it off, i figured I would either snap a barrel vice bolt or crack the receiver![/QUOTE]

If you are planning to re-purpose that action (or sell to someone else) it should be magna-flux checked for cracks, lots of those Eddystones cracked with such hard to see cracks that many of them went unnoticed (from one of the Brownell's Gunsmithing Kinks series of books). A buddy and I re-purposed (we thought of ourselves as customizers back then, commonly called Bubba'ing here now) a few from all three manufacture's and did discover 2 out of half a dozen or so Eddystones with cracked rings. we didn't magna-flux as the commercial guys did but kind of rigged up our own "inexpensive Redneck crack finder" method...we submerged the action ring in white gas or methyl hydrate (what-ever we had at the time ) for a couple of days , then dryed the outside with a cloth and then submerged it in a bowl of dry flour for a couple days. when you remove the action, the dry flour will just fall off, if there is a small crack there will be a thin line of flour sticking to the ring where the liquid seeped from the crack.
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Some variations on the theme of checking for cracks in a receiver which may not be readily apparent;

1. Immerse the receiver ring in gasoline or methyl hydrate. The liquid will quickly evaporate from the surrounding surface while it remains to be seen in the crack.

2. Hold the stripped barreled action by the barrel and give the receiver a whack with a piece of hardwood or a screwdriver handle. A sound receiver will resonate like a tuning fork whereas one that is cracked will sound like a dull thud. I habitually give any new to me MILSURP this check after I've stripped and cleaned it.
 
purple said:
Some variations on the theme of checking for cracks in a receiver which may not be readily apparent;

1. Immerse the receiver ring in gasoline or methyl hydrate. The liquid will quickly evaporate from the surrounding surface while it remains to be seen in the crack.

2. Hold the stripped barreled action by the barrel and give the receiver a whack with a piece of hardwood or a screwdriver handle. A sound receiver will resonate like a tuning fork whereas one that is cracked will sound like a dull thud. I habitually give any new to me MILSURP this check after I've stripped and cleaned it.
Click to expand...

Excellent point that I overlooked, as the conventional wisdom way back when was that most of the ring cracks were happening when those super strong barrel installations were done, not when the barrels were removed.
 
Thanks for tips fellas! I will be employing that tuning fork technique from now on.

That action was a Remington action if that matters.

It will not be repurposed on a rifle but rather as a tool to aid in the inlettting of future stocks.
 
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