The Guns We Own

Interesting assortment at the gun range this morning :

- 9 mm CZ EVO 3 S1 carbine (the gunclub authorizes shoulder weapons at the pistol range if chambered for a handgun round).
- .357 S&W Model 686
- .45 SS Colt Series 70
- 9 mm SIG P 210
- 9 mm Browning Hi Power (mine)
- 9 mm CZ 85
- 9 mm P 018 Bernardelli
- 9 mm CZ 75 Shadow

Here is a photograph I took today. This is one of my current project guns. I have had it a long time, but never spent the time to get the kinks out of it. In general, it works very well and is quite accurate, but there were a few nagging things like a plastic mainspring housing. Took me three replacements to finally get one I was satisfied with.

- Ivan.

Ivan1GFP said:

Here is a photograph I took today. This is one of my current project guns. I have had it a long time, but never spent the time to get the kinks out of it. In general, it works very well and is quite accurate, but there were a few nagging things like a plastic mainspring housing. Took me three replacements to finally get one I was satisfied with.

- Ivan.

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Nicely done, good luck with it

Ivan1GFP said:

Here is a photograph I took today. This is one of my current project guns. I have had it a long time, but never spent the time to get the kinks out of it. In general, it works very well and is quite accurate, but there were a few nagging things like a plastic mainspring housing. Took me three replacements to finally get one I was satisfied with.

- Ivan.

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Gotta love a 1911. Nice

1911s are a lot of fun. I spent about an hour and a half tonight tuning the trigger on this beast.
Besides the Delrin (nylon) mainspring housing, the trigger has been the greatest single source of issues. In reality, it all turned out to be a single problem: The sear spring.

Trigger was great when I first got this gun. Break was clean and felt light. I did not have a trigger pull gauge at the time, so I can't quote a number. The problem I was chasing initially was that the magazines would not fall free from the gun if the slide was locked open. After a LOT of checking, I found that what was causing the interference was the sear spring was getting pushed into the magazine well by the mainspring housing. Adjusting the bends solved THAT problem but then caused other problems with changing trigger weight and resistance of the grip safety. Adjusting the trigger weight the first time was a pain especially without a gauge.
It needed adjusted again when the new steel mainspring housing was installed. (The mainspring housing on a 1911 straightens the sear spring and applies pressure to the trigger and sear. With two new mainspring housings, I had to do this twice.

At the conclusion of tonight's work, the average weight of the trigger is now just over 3 pounds 11 ounces average. I would have wanted about 2 ounces lighter, but I will settle for what I got here.

- Ivan.

When Im old enough I want to by a Winchester model 70 in 308

space dodo said:

When Im old enough I want to by a Winchester model 70 in 308

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What in particular about the Winchester Model 70 do you like?
You do know that there have been a couple different versions of the Winchester 70 action over the decades, right? Some are controlled feed, some are push feed. I don't happen to own one so I can't get any more specific than that.

- Ivan.

Here is a Kimber Classic Stainless that I was last working on very early this year. It is circa 1998 manufacture and I have had it just a bit longer than the Gold Cup. It is one of the earliest stainless steel guns and is amazingly accurate. I have also had lots of issues to correct with this gun, so have not run more than a couple thousand rounds through it. I had originally wanted an adjustable sight version but I bought this at a show because this gun was tighter than any of the other guns I had found.

On this Kimber, all the changes I have made are externally visible. The first change was to replace the glass fibre Chip McCormick trigger with a Magnesium / Titanium one. Everyone else does Aluminum, so I figured I would be a bit different. Look is the same though. At about the same time I replaced the mainspring housing with one by Wilson Combat. It took two tries to get that one right. At first I tried their wedge shaped one which looked cool but just did not feel right in the hand. Second one was just flat with fine checkering. It actually fits just a bit better than the EGW mainspring housing and checkering feels finer. The grip panels were replaced with Rosewood versions at nearly the same time. It has been so long I forget what the originals looked like.
That was over 20 years ago. Fast forward to late last year when I noticed that the slide stop was getting beat up a bit. Magazine followers were riding past and jamming the gun. It is a Metal Injection Molded part and I finally replaced it with a EGW bar stock part. The original grip safety also was moulded a bit crooked which had bothered me for a long time, so I finally replaced that with a Kimber upgrade part. New part has a memory bump which I don't really like, but it is small and is seen more than felt, so it isn't such a big deal. The part is also hollow underneath, so grinding the bump down isn't really an option.

This gun is a Series 1 without the Swartz firing pin safety found in Series II guns, but has a rather odd assortment of parts. Its firing pin has cuts for both the Swartz safety AND the Colt Series 80 firing pin safety even though the gun has neither. The firing pin stop is cut for clearance for Series 80 parts. The original grip safety is narrowed to clear Series 80 parts. What is even more strange is that the NEW Kimber replacement grip safety is also narrowed to clear Series 80 parts when current production Kimber guns use a Swartz safety and need a different configuration of grip safety!

- Ivan.

If you want a Winchester 70, stick to ones made before 1964. There are newer ones that are controlled feed again but they are still not as good as the pre 64 made firearms.

I would not mind one in 7x57 Mauser, the finest cartridge ever.

.30-06 is a comparable round to the 7x57mm (which is also my favorite).and is easier to find in stores (at a much better price, too).

wlewisiii said:

I would not mind one in 7x57 Mauser, the finest cartridge ever.

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GrauGeist said:

.30-06 is a comparable round to the 7x57mm (which is also my favorite).and is easier to find in stores (at a much better price, too).

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Love that 7x57! Right at home in my '95 Chilean.

I have a WWI era Waffenfabrik Steyer 7x57 with the AustroHungarian Imperial crest that's been in the family since the end of the Great War.
It's been a primary hunting rifle for generations and I myself have bagged game with it in years past.
It is 100% original, deadly accurate iron sights and bears scars of savage trench combat.
In recent years, I've retired the old warhorse to occasional target plinking at the range, since it's over 100 years old, and it occupies a prominent spot in the rifle cabinet.

wlewisiii said:

If you want a Winchester 70, stick to ones made before 1964. There are newer ones that are controlled feed again but they are still not as good as the pre 64 made firearms.

I would not mind one in 7x57 Mauser, the finest cartridge ever.

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For sure pre 64s are sought after, theres been a huge gap in quality control but I believe the newer ones are built by FN which are pretty good. I would take a pre 64 first then a recent 70

Space Dodo's choice of a Winchester 70 in .308 isn't a bad idea, especially if the idea is for a heavy barrel target gun. It is a much more practical caliber than a 7 X 57 unless your idea is just elegance.
I own just one gun in 7 X 57 and have only shot it a few times since I bought it. Ammunition just isn't that easy to find. .308 is available from many sources.

- Ivan.

Ivan1GFP said:

What in particular about the Winchester Model 70 do you like?
You do know that there have been a couple different versions of the Winchester 70 action over the decades, right? Some are controlled feed, some are push feed. I don't happen to own one so I can't get any more specific than that.

- Ivan.

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a pre 64 if possible, however i hear the new ones manufactured by fn are almost the same and a lot cheaper.

Pre '64s were collectors items over 30 years ago.They are/ were excellent rifles but you are paying a premium for what you are getting.
30 years ago drilling 4 screw holes for a scope mount in a model 70 that didn't have them from the factory (and a lot didn't) was worth about $400.00 off the value of the rifle.
Less popular calibers can bring a real premium as there is a much smaller number to satisfy the collector demand.

I used to do a lot more hand loading. That makes ammo availability a lot less important.
However you are still dependent on supplies. And in the US that means that things like the 7 X 57 may be just a bit harder to deal with.
Loading 7 X 57 is no more difficult than .308, you just have a much larger selection of bullets in .308.

Once you have a supply of cartridge cases you are set for quite a while as with neck sizing and backing away from max loads you can easily get 10 reloading from each case.

Torch said:

I believe the newer ones are built by FN which are pretty good.

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If you want a "classic" at a bargain price, keep your eyes open for a JC Higgins 50 series rifle in the popular calibers of late 1940s-early 50s. They were Sears Roebuck's "Marshall Plan" to help get FN back on their feet after WWII by opening the chauvinist American sporting market to a quality "foreign" product at an affordable price.
Mauser 98 action, custom chrome-lined barrel, excellent iron sights, but drilled and tapped for a scope, elegant wooden stock; what's not to like?
Gun shops tend to dismiss them as "cheap old Sears junk", as a lot of the JC Higgins line were, but these are gems. Mine is a .270 tack driver that came with a Leupold 4x9 scope for $325 after they dropped the price "to free up shelf space". "Hell, son, I could sell that scope new, by itself, for that price if I could get it".

It's interesting to see which manufacturers made firearms for retailers.
For example, Western Auto stores had their "Revelation" line, which were made by several manufacturers, like Savage, Marlin, Mossberg and Hi-Standard.

JC Penny's line was "Foremost" and was manufactured by Hi-Standard, Marlin and Savage.

The above mentioned Sears brand "JC Higgins", actually had quite a range of manufacturers: Hi-Standard, Winchester, Savage, Marlin and Browning (FN) and more.

You can't go wrong with picking up these store brand firearms, to be honest.

I have a Revelation bolt action .22 and it's a nail-driver.
I also have a JC Higgins .22, though I haven't fired it since 1970 or so, when my Dad was teaching me to shoot.
Dad had it all those years in it's original box (complete with the Sears price tag) and when he passed away in 2012, I inherited it - I beleive I posted a photo of it up-thread back then.

We had a Sears brand 22 and 12 ga. Pump when I was growing up. Both worked well. These days the lower cost but good quality Turkish makers seem be filling the niche.

Unfortunately getting a gun lisence in SA is not exactly easy