Four old scopers

kjohn

kjohn

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
173   0   0
Location
SE Sask.
Top one is a Pakistan Ordnance Factory No.4 Mk.1 (Yes, it's a Mk.1, not at all common)
2nd down is an M1917 done up by BSA many moons ago. It was really ugly when I got it. Paint splattered on it, ugly wood. My friend Deaner brought it back from the dead. I am giving it the boiled linseed oil treatment. I put a Weaver V7-B scope on. Shoots like a dream.
Third down is a Churchill Gun Makers No.4 Mk.1 with a "Marksman" 4x scope. This one was in rough looking shape. Again, Deaner to the rescue. This one is also getting the linseed oil.
Bottom one is CZ rebuild/refurb, purchased by me in 1965. $10 Fisher-Dietz scope. This is the ONLY milsurp I have ever buggered.:redface:View attachment 159244
8mm-06, taken a fair number of whitetail over the years. Weighs a ton.

****Edited to reflect the actual order. :redface:

Although my main collection/pile is military surplus rifles, I have a weakness for old milsurp sporters. The middle two are the bulk of that selection. Although the pic doesn't show, the wood on the M1917 and the old Churchill are quite nice. The POF is a pleasure to shoot, and is quite accurate with factory sporting ammo. With hand loads and cast bullets, I often take one or more of these old-timers out and give them a run.
 
Last edited:
Some don't see the appeal of a period sporterized rifle. They just run around like their hair is on fire screaming about bubba. Ones that where done in 50-60s to fill the need of the working man that couldn't afford a purpose built hunting rifle have their place in history. I Iike them and nice thing is there are enough around so no need to cut up complete rifles to make sporters.
 
I like them, that's what got me started, a basic Parker hale conversion with a 4x my dad bought, I recently bought a Parker hale#4 and found the proper ba20/21 mounts, I also have an EAL they all shoot and I'm sure they've done their job on more then one occasion...
 
nice looking rifles . you will have to be extra careful with those old weaver V7s, as all the ones I see have loose lens now. the seals dryed out over time.
 
kjohn, those are all fine looking rifles to my old inexperienced eyes. I have several just like them in my safe.

As mentioned those rifles were the salvation of our sport in the two decades after WWII when the antis everything firearm related, including hunting, were getting a lot of press coverage. In many ways, those heady days were the golden years of firearms availability but by 1968 the US antis had already passed a firearms control act which severely limited the sales of firearms and ammo. Those same US antis pushed very hard in Canada as well. Their Mainstream Media was openly broadcast several hundred miles north of the border. The effect of those broadcasts was to establish politicians such as Warren Allmand in cabinet with his STRONG anti gun views. The Americans threw a LOT OF MONEY HIS WAY as it was legal back then. PM Trudeau 1 ran with that ball. MP Allmand kept pushing his anti firearms agenda up to his death in 2016 and was an active member in the Liberal insider circles until 2015.

I lived through most of that era. Along with others, I fought MP Allmand's efforts tooth and nail but by then, the SOCIALIST biased Professors in the Universities had enough time to warp the mind of their impressionable students to go out an teach the SOCIALIST anti firearms bias to their pupils. We see the results of those aberated seeds today.


Kjohn, I have a lovelyPOF No4 Mk1, POF No4 Mk2 rifle as well as a POF No4 Mk 1/2. Both are as well made as any No4 marks from anywhere in the world, maybe even better than some as they only used the best straight grain Circassion Walnut for their furniture. I find the tolerances are usually much tighter as well. Have you measured the bore diameter?? The main difference in these lovely rifles, built on ex Maltby equipment is that their bore diameters are made to accept the same diameter bullets and barrels used for their AK types and other Soviet models rifled in 7.62 mm. All three of my rifles measure out at .3095.

The Pakistan Ordnance Factory is far bigger and more important to the world than most people realize. Most would be extremely surprised at how many different types if munitions they make and WHO they supply.

Google them and check it out.

That's a nice little group you've shown there.
 
gaff said:
nice looking rifles . you will have to be extra careful with those old weaver V7s, as all the ones I see have loose lens now. the seals dryed out over time.
Click to expand...

Okay. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be careful with it. It may be a good candidate for a refurbishment, or retirement. I have other nice old steel Weavers to use.
 
The old scopes, I am told, were bedded and sealed with Canada Balsam, which has a nasty habit of drying-out and cracking over time. As soon as modern silicones were developed, scopes and other optics changed-over very quickly and the Canada Balsam became a thing of the past. Notably, Russian optics continued using Canada Balsam for many years after the rest of the world had changed-over. This is why you don't take those nice, sharp Soviet 10x50 binos outside when it is 30 below; Red Army wouldn't care if they fogged afterwards, they just chucked them and ran in another set. Those of us HERE have a Major Problem if the Balsam cracks.

Just FYI, there is a fellow HERE who can work with Canada Balsam. He happens to be a nice guy, a trained Optician AND a shooter. He has pulled off miracle repairs on old optics a couple of times that I know of.
 
kjohn said:
... Although the pic doesn't show, the wood on the M1917 and the old Churchill are quite nice. ...
Click to expand...

I disagree. I think the picture does show that the wood is quite nice. I think about stripping the wood on my Parker Hale No.4 Supreme and refinishing it with linseed oil. If I do that I'll be delighted if it turns out as well as your Churchill.
 
Yes you can tell the wood on the M1917 is very nice.

Fresh out of high school I was taking my first and second year of automotive in the evenings while working full time during the day then later on during the night. I was forced to sell my hunting rifle to pay the bills and my grandpa was nice enough to give me an old sporterized LB No4. It had the dreaded broken bolt head guide rail so you had to be careful loading it so the bolt head didn't jump out but it got me out into the woods and took a couple deer before I could afford something better. These old sporterized milsurps did serve a purpose and have their place in history for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom