Who is this guy sitting behind Walter, trying to enjoy his constitutionally-protected right to finish his coffee in peace?
As always, actual in-the-know answers would be far out, man.
And if anyone says it's Knox Harrington, I'll cut off your Chonson.
I just noticed this whole pile of shoes on the steps. What's that about?
I anticipate the usual fatuous quips in response (please don't disappoint me on that - after all, this is my first post here), but the straight dope would be interesting too, if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
I recently acquired this.45 caliber Miroku Ultra-Hi black powder flintlock.
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It has what appears to be a non-trivial crack forward of the trigger guard and extends underneath the rear barrel band. It seems the previous owner "fixed" it by smearing some kind of putty into the crack.
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I cannot imagine what might have caused this. Nothing appears to be out of sorts with the barrel and lock plate, &c. but I have not disassembled it yet, so I cannot say how extensive the crack / damage is.
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If it is just the stock, I suspect I could replace that for less than $100, but I am curious as to whether this is a common issue with these, and if anyone here has any thoughts on what I am looking at?
A couple of the old girls laying out and getting some sun, with their second application of Tung oil.
From front to back:
1942 Springfield M1 Garand
1918 BSA SMLE Mk. III
1916 Winchester P 14
1914 Steyr M.95 (stock only)
1943 BSA No. 4 Mk. I
Unfortunately, I didn't take a post-oil picture of the SMLE, which is too bad because I used RLO on this one, and I want to take note of any color change over the next few months.
The M.95 is part of a cleaning project I am doing on a wall hanger that I will post some pictures of, soon.
They sat out for about 5 hours on a breezy, sunny, low-humidity afternoon. Afterwards, the glossiness largely turned to satin, and they were dry to the touch.
This is the cleanest SKS I have ever seen. Bought it from a guy who was liquidating his collection (less than 500 beans), including accessory pouches, cleaning kit, and oiler.
The N prefix makes it a Zastava, late-70s production. It's all matching, but also has some force-matched electro-penciling on the trigger guard and behind the rear sight. I am unsure what to make of that.
Otherwise, it looks practically new.
I would be happy to have any thoughts on this.
It is asked a lot by folks just getting interested in collecting and maintaining milsurp rifles. And I know there are just as many answers as there are questions regarding how to maintain the wood on an M1 Garand.
Because it was asked in another post, I have listed below the steps I take, this time with two pics: before and after I treated it (parched, and then juicy).
I'm sure others have some perfectly valid approaches that differ from this, and I would love to hear thoughts on this. But...
HERE'S WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING:
These days, I am using Hope's Tung Oil (was a recommendation on Amazon) and I have used it on a bunch of rifles. I found it to be very easy to work with, and it dries much faster than anticipated. I recommend it.
STEPS:
1_ I use a dust / tack cloth to remove dust, etc. from the wood. If you need to clean more thoroughly, use diluted warm soapy water, with a damp (not wet) cloth.
2_ With a clean, dry towel, apply the tung oil liberally to all wood surfaces. Don't worry if it gets on the metal.
3_ Let it soak in for about 10-20 minutes, then with another clean, dry towel, wipe off the excess. Don't be bashful - wipe it off, so you just have a bit of a glisten to the wood. Thin coats dry faster, and don't leave any pooling or sticky residue.
4_ Let it dry, like this: Ideally, it is a sunny, low-humidity, breezy day, and you can leave itboutdoors for the afternoon. But you can alsi dry it indoors with a fan blowing on it. If you have a UV / grow light, shine that on it as well, and let it sit overnight.
The popular wisdom is to give tung oil at least 24 hours to dry, but I have found this process will get it dry to the touch in about 4-6 hours, though if you can, give it 12 hours.
You can repeat this 1-2 more times, depending on how thirsty the wood is, and I'd do this all again in 6 months or so, depending on how dry your climate is, and how often the rifle gets handled.
I look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks, and will be happy to learn something new about this topic, myself.
To commemorate D-Day, I just started rewatching "Band Of Brothers" this week, and was reminded of this picture I took last winter, which was inspired by the experiences at the Seige Of Bastogne. I wanted to share it, in honor of the unbelievable fortitude and toughness of those men, and what they did.
I just acquired this Winchester P14. The bolt does not match the receiver, but that is not important to me, and overall I am happy with this rifle. I am now going down the very enjoyable rabbit hole of decoding it's history.
The volley sights are missing, so I presume it went through the Weedon refurb. I am not sure what else was involved with that.
It was then demilled and relegated to Drill Purpose. Presuming I am correct, I imagine this occurred sometime after the refurb, or else why go to the trouble of the refurb to begin with, but perhaps I underestimate the power of British military bureaucracy...
Happily, it was later resurrected, and fitted out with a Criterion barrel, which appears to be minty fresh. I do not know what those patched cuts are on the right side of the stock below the receiver, but I believe they might be part of the demilling procedure.
I read the production date can be found on the barrel, beneath the handguard, but I have not gotten that far yet.
I would be very happy to learn anything anyone can tell me about it.
Last picture is of this P14 with an Eddystone Model of 1917, for comparison.
I just picked this up on GB for 200 beans. It's pretty used up, and I knew that going in to it, but I felt that might free me up for a little creativity...