lejarretnoir
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- 162km from Connaught
Since others have wrote about their Lee Enfield conversions, I'd figure I'd do mine.
Mine started off as a partly bubba'd Spanish Mauser 1916 in 7.62 NATO considered in fair condition with rust and pitting. My purpose was to build a 7.62x39 rifle for under $200 including a new barrel that would be accurate and fully utilize the cartridge to its potential. A rifle to practice with cheap surplus and use good handloads for hunting. Mission accomplished, but this is a gunsmith project, not something you would pay a smith to do.
Barrel is 21" "in the white" and .308 grooved instead of .311. My reamer is PT&G SAMMI throated for .308, similar to the old Ruger throat. This would allow me to use Czech surplus ammo.
I obtained one of those Numerich Arms mag kit which they will export to Canada, but not the barrel unless you go the permit route. You could always modify the original follower and spring, but I might want to put this action back to .308 based case later.
I originally chambered and headspaced this barrel for a Swede action with nice sporter stock, bent bolt/scope and thus needed a spacer for the Spanish action between the barrel and receiver. This way I could screw it on either action and go with it. The spacer is just a washer machined to fit and mate the barrel square to the receiver. I don't want to ruin the case hardening on the action.
I prefer the Spanish action as it comes with a hinged floorplate.
Action was drilled and tapped with a B-Square mount, original trigger set to single stage and 4lbs.
Mag well was designed for the 7.62Nato so I machined an aluminum block and epoxied it in. The plastic one that came from Numerich was designed for the longer Swede box.
Extractor is a Swede one that had enough meat to work it down to accept the 7.62x39 rim. Other than that, no other mods to the bolt needed.
I sporterized the original military stock and added a forend tip, epoxied in matching wood for the handguard and sling slots, bedded, free floated the barrel, stained and shellac. More work than necessary, but no cost to me.
After some load testing I had sub MOA 3 shot groups with Hornady 123gr V-Max and H4198 with just the Bushnell red dot. I'm sure that I could squeeze some more with a good scope.
Czech milsurp would get 1.5 to 3". Wasn't expecting any better with the Czech ammo, but had a few rounds misfire. Yep, need a stronger firing pin spring with that ammo. Those primers are hard!
Not sure if I'll cut and weld or reshape the bolt handle yet as this rifle will be used mostly for plinking and short range deer/brush gun with a red dot. The barrel and action will get a coat of Krylon to cover a lot of marks and protect the finish. Cases will feed and extract, but I found that you need to pull back firmly to eject the cases or they will plop into the loading port. A longer ejector would cure that, but as long as you don't baby it everything works as it should.
Overall, I'm please with the results and enjoyed putting this together. I think anyone else could do this themselves if you have the know how.
Mine started off as a partly bubba'd Spanish Mauser 1916 in 7.62 NATO considered in fair condition with rust and pitting. My purpose was to build a 7.62x39 rifle for under $200 including a new barrel that would be accurate and fully utilize the cartridge to its potential. A rifle to practice with cheap surplus and use good handloads for hunting. Mission accomplished, but this is a gunsmith project, not something you would pay a smith to do.
Barrel is 21" "in the white" and .308 grooved instead of .311. My reamer is PT&G SAMMI throated for .308, similar to the old Ruger throat. This would allow me to use Czech surplus ammo.
I obtained one of those Numerich Arms mag kit which they will export to Canada, but not the barrel unless you go the permit route. You could always modify the original follower and spring, but I might want to put this action back to .308 based case later.
I originally chambered and headspaced this barrel for a Swede action with nice sporter stock, bent bolt/scope and thus needed a spacer for the Spanish action between the barrel and receiver. This way I could screw it on either action and go with it. The spacer is just a washer machined to fit and mate the barrel square to the receiver. I don't want to ruin the case hardening on the action.
I prefer the Spanish action as it comes with a hinged floorplate.
Action was drilled and tapped with a B-Square mount, original trigger set to single stage and 4lbs.
Mag well was designed for the 7.62Nato so I machined an aluminum block and epoxied it in. The plastic one that came from Numerich was designed for the longer Swede box.
Extractor is a Swede one that had enough meat to work it down to accept the 7.62x39 rim. Other than that, no other mods to the bolt needed.
I sporterized the original military stock and added a forend tip, epoxied in matching wood for the handguard and sling slots, bedded, free floated the barrel, stained and shellac. More work than necessary, but no cost to me.
After some load testing I had sub MOA 3 shot groups with Hornady 123gr V-Max and H4198 with just the Bushnell red dot. I'm sure that I could squeeze some more with a good scope.
Czech milsurp would get 1.5 to 3". Wasn't expecting any better with the Czech ammo, but had a few rounds misfire. Yep, need a stronger firing pin spring with that ammo. Those primers are hard!
Not sure if I'll cut and weld or reshape the bolt handle yet as this rifle will be used mostly for plinking and short range deer/brush gun with a red dot. The barrel and action will get a coat of Krylon to cover a lot of marks and protect the finish. Cases will feed and extract, but I found that you need to pull back firmly to eject the cases or they will plop into the loading port. A longer ejector would cure that, but as long as you don't baby it everything works as it should.
Overall, I'm please with the results and enjoyed putting this together. I think anyone else could do this themselves if you have the know how.
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