I finally finished a project I've wanted to do for some time - a scout style rifle in 7.62x39 Russian.
The donor rifle was an old Eatons Cooey Carcano in 6.5x54MS calibre. The old stock was crap, but the metal bits were all in good+ condition. Rather than retain the Carcano enbloc feeding system, I choose to convert it to magazine feed while I was at it. Turns out that Norinco JW-103 magazines fit in the Carcano mag well with minimal metal work. I used a two-groove barrel from a stripped Lee Enfield No 4 Mk 1 action I had laying around, and re-chambered it using a PTG 7.62x39 SAAMI spec reamer. I retained the barrel stub from the Cooey conversion, and threaded the new barrel into that until I reached proper headspace. The rear notch of the JW-103 magazine design allowed me to modify the Carcano's clip latch to act as a magazine latch. All I had to do was fabricate/harden a small triangular piece and silver solder it to the latch. I cut down and shaped the original follower housing to make room for the magazine. At the rear of the trigger guard I welded in a small metal block to provide just the right opening for the magazine. Because the 7.62x39 cartridge is shorter than the original cartridge, I made a spacer out of Delrin for the front end of the mag well. The top of the spacer is contoured to guide the rounds into the chamber. I also re-contoured the bottom and rear of the trigger guard on my mill, both to reduce weight and give it a more sporting appearance. I decided to swap the Cooey double-set trigger for a regular two-stage military one.
Once fabrication was complete, I zinc parkerized the re-barreled action and finished it in KG Gun-Kote (spray on, heat cured finish). By mixing flat black, gloss black and gun metal blue Gun-Kote, I was able to adjust the colour/sheen to match the finish on a 2.5 x 30mm scout scope I bought for this build. I modified a Weaver scope mount designed for a T/C Contender. The front of the base had the perfect contour for the barrel diameter, but the rear end needed some inletting on my mill to make it fit. I drilled/tapped one 8-40 screw into the existing rear sight base on the barrel stub, and drilled/tapped two more screws into the barrel well past the chamber. A little blue Loctite, and it's not going anywhere. The finished barreled action was hand fit into a walnut Ria stock from Boyds, free floated and glass bedded. The stock was hand finished to a satin sheen with multiple coats of polymerized tung oil from Lee Valley.
I am very happy with the end result. With the scope and an empty magazine, it weighs just shy of 7 lbs. With careful hand fitting, it feeds, extracts and ejects perfectly.
Given that I was recycling a first world war rifle and second world war barrel for this project, I figured I should be happy with "minute of pie plate" accuracy at 100m. Therefore, I was quite surprised with the results from my first trip to the range. After a few warming/fouling rounds, I was able to get a four-shot .695 inch group at 55m using American Eagle/Federal 124 gr FMJ ammo (with one flyer). I shot several follow-on groups that were not quite as tight, but still good enough to take a white tail. I plan to test several more loads at 100m distance on my range next trip. I'm hoping to find a load that will allow me to get 2 MOA (or less) consistently.
All in all, a fun project with results that exceeded my expectations. Now, what to do with that other Cooey Carcano and pile of parts in my basement...
The donor rifle was an old Eatons Cooey Carcano in 6.5x54MS calibre. The old stock was crap, but the metal bits were all in good+ condition. Rather than retain the Carcano enbloc feeding system, I choose to convert it to magazine feed while I was at it. Turns out that Norinco JW-103 magazines fit in the Carcano mag well with minimal metal work. I used a two-groove barrel from a stripped Lee Enfield No 4 Mk 1 action I had laying around, and re-chambered it using a PTG 7.62x39 SAAMI spec reamer. I retained the barrel stub from the Cooey conversion, and threaded the new barrel into that until I reached proper headspace. The rear notch of the JW-103 magazine design allowed me to modify the Carcano's clip latch to act as a magazine latch. All I had to do was fabricate/harden a small triangular piece and silver solder it to the latch. I cut down and shaped the original follower housing to make room for the magazine. At the rear of the trigger guard I welded in a small metal block to provide just the right opening for the magazine. Because the 7.62x39 cartridge is shorter than the original cartridge, I made a spacer out of Delrin for the front end of the mag well. The top of the spacer is contoured to guide the rounds into the chamber. I also re-contoured the bottom and rear of the trigger guard on my mill, both to reduce weight and give it a more sporting appearance. I decided to swap the Cooey double-set trigger for a regular two-stage military one.
Once fabrication was complete, I zinc parkerized the re-barreled action and finished it in KG Gun-Kote (spray on, heat cured finish). By mixing flat black, gloss black and gun metal blue Gun-Kote, I was able to adjust the colour/sheen to match the finish on a 2.5 x 30mm scout scope I bought for this build. I modified a Weaver scope mount designed for a T/C Contender. The front of the base had the perfect contour for the barrel diameter, but the rear end needed some inletting on my mill to make it fit. I drilled/tapped one 8-40 screw into the existing rear sight base on the barrel stub, and drilled/tapped two more screws into the barrel well past the chamber. A little blue Loctite, and it's not going anywhere. The finished barreled action was hand fit into a walnut Ria stock from Boyds, free floated and glass bedded. The stock was hand finished to a satin sheen with multiple coats of polymerized tung oil from Lee Valley.
I am very happy with the end result. With the scope and an empty magazine, it weighs just shy of 7 lbs. With careful hand fitting, it feeds, extracts and ejects perfectly.
Given that I was recycling a first world war rifle and second world war barrel for this project, I figured I should be happy with "minute of pie plate" accuracy at 100m. Therefore, I was quite surprised with the results from my first trip to the range. After a few warming/fouling rounds, I was able to get a four-shot .695 inch group at 55m using American Eagle/Federal 124 gr FMJ ammo (with one flyer). I shot several follow-on groups that were not quite as tight, but still good enough to take a white tail. I plan to test several more loads at 100m distance on my range next trip. I'm hoping to find a load that will allow me to get 2 MOA (or less) consistently.
All in all, a fun project with results that exceeded my expectations. Now, what to do with that other Cooey Carcano and pile of parts in my basement...
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