There are a lot of guys who go out hunting or shooting to escape everyday life, and for some this means domestic bliss too. And fair enough. Everybody needs some downtime – a hobby or pursuit where they can unwind. However, there are also distinct advantages to shooting with your significant other, whether you’re a man or woman. And I said shooting with. Not shooting.
Learn new skills
I go out shooting with my wife a fair bit. And since she has taken up shooting sports we have tried out several clubs and different guns, and we’ve both tried things we wouldn’t have otherwise. We’ve also both found different things that we are good at.
Where I like to technically analyse every part of my shoot, from my reloaded ammo to the wind dope and projectile weight, my wife is very good at reactionary shooting – such as trap shooting. Which, if I’m honest, I’m hopeless at. With a bit of practice, I’m sure I could get the hang of it, but it’s not for me.
Establish yourselves
Shooting is a great way to bond as a couple. I’m not about to give relationship advice on my firearms blog, but suffice it to say that picking up a hobby and spending time together certainly doesn’t hurt when it comes to getting to know each other a bit better.
My wife shooting her .22 at the NZDA Auckland 100 metre range.
Become competitive
Whether you like to compete against yourself, each other or other participants, shooting sports are competitive. And the great part is, you don’t need to be particularly athletic or gifted to be moderately competitive at a club level.
This is a great way to enjoy the thrill of and success of competition, and will enhance your enjoyment of your shooting. Get out and try local competitions and learn more about the kind of shooting you like. You’ll also meet some great people who have plenty of advice to give.
Spend more money
Having a buddy on the spotting scope or putting up targets is another advantage.
Let’s be honest, every time you try and justify the cost of some new rifle part or reloading accessory – the last one you’ll ever need, promise! – it doesn’t go down too well. I know people you hide their hobby expenditure from their partner, using cash jobs to pay for ammo and new toys.
If your husband or wife is just as into their shooting as you are, it’s easier for them to understand why that new shooting rest or a higher magnification scope is actually necessary.
Share the load
If you’re out hunting or setting up targets on the range, it’s great to have a buddy around to help lug things about or give their opinion when necessary. If you’re shooting partner is your spouse, well, you’ve pretty much always got someone you can count on to help you on the spotting scope or skinning a deer.
It’s not for everybody, but for some, taking your spouse to the range or teaching them how to reload could be a great way to enhance your enjoyment of the sport you love.
Let me preface this by saying… How long is a piece of string? If you’re looking for the definitive guide on the all-time showdown between factory and custom rifles, you’ve got a long wait ahead of you. There’s no way to say one is categorically better than the other, but depending on your needs, one will suit you more than another. Here’s a quick run down on the two options.
Custom vs “Custom”
Well, maybe there are three options. There are rifles that are custom built by fantastic gunsmiths, or even several different people (i.e. barrel manufacturer, suppressor builder, stock maker, etc), and they can run into the tens-of-thousands of dollars. Chances are you’re not comparing a $35,000 rifle built on a Surgeon action to a Weatherby. So, realistically, these types of custom rifles fall outside of the scope of this discussion.
There are even the customised Remington 700s, Sakos and others you can buy direct from a gun store, which have been assembled with a host of accessories and a non-factory stock, etc, which offer “custom” rifles at lower costs and with a lot less effort. This a kind of middle-ground which, again, falls outside of the debate of custom vs factory.
Factory rifles
There are a host of incredibly good choices out there when it comes to factory target or hunting rifles. And the fact of the matter is, with modern production techniques and better quality control standards, many of these rifles are incredibly accurate out of the box.
Sako guarantees the Tikka T3 line to produce an MOA 3-shot group out of the box, and they boldly make the same claim with their T3 varmint and tac and 5-shot group. That’s pretty impressive. However, that doesn’t mean your new Tikka T3 Lite in stainless/synthetic will do that with any ammo you feed it. Bear in mind, Sako tests rifles with ammunition they produce themselves.
So, you may need to find just the right brand of ammunition, or even reload your own to get that level of accuracy.
The great thing about factory rifles is that if you look after them and keep track of how many rounds you put through them, you’ll generally get a pretty good resale value if you decide to switch calibres or clean out the safe down the line. Selling firearms is just foreign to me – I want more, not less – so I couldn’t really relate personally. However, for some, it’s a major benefit.
Another aspect of factory rifles, and this is one that I can understand, is that you have warranties and guarantees form manufacturers and retailers. If something goes wrong with a stock-standard rifle, you’re usually okay. Again, this comes down to incredibly efficient modern materials and processes – a lot of manufacturers are so confident, they will give you a lifetime warranty, even with their base models.
Custom rifles
A lot of firearm owners like to try and get more for less. They’ll buy a rusty old milsurp and try restore it, or even convert a P14 action from .303 to a .338 Lapua long-distance shooter. It’s this undeniable urge to make something better and more accurate – but cheap.
Many people try, and many people fail. The old adage “cheap, accurate, reliable – pick two” still stands true. However, not all is lost. Many backyard tinkerers find that they learn more about gunsmithing, rifle maintenance and internal or external ballistics by working on their own firearms than if they bought an out-of-the-box MOA-shooter. It gives you a more holistic view and respect for firearms, and generally makes you a better shooter. The more you know about how your rifle works, the better you can work with it.
This modified Mauser bolt action was a lot more work, but is a joy to shoot.
What I have found with my own projects, from JW-15s to Swedish Mausers, is you’ll probably spend enough money in the end to have bought a tack-driving factory rifle. So why would you do it?
The initial outlay is low. Three or four hundred for an M38 in 6.5×55 which might need a lot of work to be great, but at least in the meantime, it’s still good.
It’s a project. If you yearn to create your own sub-MOA rifle and constantly look up the latest Boyds’ rifle stocks or DPT muzzle devices, then this probably for you.
It’s unique. Hey, it’s the gun you built, not the one Howa, Marlin or Remington made. There’s a certain amount of pride in this, and you can make it look and feel the way you want.
Individual needs. Hey, if you need a bush gun – cut down a .303. If you want an odd-looking F-Class gun, try your hand at “improving” an old Mauser. The best part is never feeling bad about cutting into the steel – coz it only cost $250.
Who wins?
Well, if you want a reliable, dependable and accurate rifle to take hunting or to the range, you could go and get yourself a Tikka T3 Lite in stainless/synthetic for less than $1200. Chances are your home-improved P14 or Model 1896 is going to end up costing you more with a new/improved stock, bedding, barrel and chambering, suppressor, bases drilled and tapped, etc, etc.
Floor metal from 1943 looking fresh and ready to go.
However, if you want something unique that you can enjoy working on for months – or even years – pick up a donor action to work with. Even an older (pre-1964) M70 or Remmy 700 is fun to use. And the best part is if you buy a complete milsurp, you can probably enjoy shooting it “as is” to start with for very little outlay.
I’ve heard many Tikka T3 owners say their rifle is “boringly accurate”. And that is high praise for any manufacturer. So, at the end of the day, if you want to drill tiny holes into paper or leave gaping exit wounds in deer at 400 yards – get the factory rifle. If you want to feel like you earned your way to shooting sub-MOA or making long-distance kills, a project might be on the cards.
Firearm maintenance is different for everybody. For some it’s a sacred ritual after every trip to the range or field, and for others it’s a chore that’s completed as quickly as possible. Either way, the products we use play a big part. I’ve always liked Hoppes No. 9. To be fair it’s not the best cleaner on the market, but it works – and has done so for over a century.
Development of Hoppes Bore Cleaner
However, according to the Hoppes, it’s this very legacy that has resulted in the new synthetic blend. I say new, but it’s been around for a couple years now. Compared to 110 years – it’s still fairly new I guess. While the original No. 9 was developed to deal with the corrosive nature of the, then, new smokeless powders on the market and used by the military. The new synthetic blend is claimed to be an advancement with the modern firearm in mind.
Hoppes’ website says that the new blend is safe on the materials used in modern guns – and let’s be honest, things have changed in the manufacture of firearms. The manufacturer also states that it is biodegradable and non-flamable – not what you’d expect from your average gun cleaner. It’s nice to know that not everything in your garage is harmful to your health and the environment – so that’s a plus. It even smells the same – and you know you love the smell of old No. 9.
Superior penetration is another claim made by Hoppes, and this is something that you should get excited about. I’m one of those gun owners that likes to run a wet patch through before storing firearms, and a dry patch through when taking them out – given time to work in the bore, you’d be surprised at how much more fouling will come out. So I really appreciate the fact that the new blend is thicker than the old one.
New and improved
The Synthetic Blend says so on the label – so you won’t get confused.
The higher viscosity of the new blend means it’s more cloying – it clings to the inside of your barrel better. A patch will still clean it out, but what I’m talking about is the ability of the cleaner to work it’s way into the grooves and stay there. You’ll notice when you wet a patch that your cleaner on your fingertips is thicker and stays there if not wipe off, whereas you’d barely notice the old No. 9 and it would evaporate or dry fairly quickly. You may also notice reside when you retract your cleaning rod – more proof that the cleaner sticks where you put it.
I do like Hoppes, and will continue to use the new synthetic blend. I’ll have to do another test against some other bore cleaners in the future, but in the meantime, this is one I’ll stick with.
Spend any time exploring gun forums and corners of the internet dedicated to military surplus firearms, and you’ll quickly encounter the opinion that Mauser’s bolt design is the standard by which all other bolt actions should be judged, and that most subsequent “improvements” were purely cost-saving modifications.
As a big fan of the small-ring Mauser variants, especially in the super-accurate Swede, it was only a matter of time before I started pulling apart my Husqvarna M38 to see what I could improve. Most Mauser bolt mods are bent handles to allow for scope clearance – something which has been covered ad nauseam all over the place.
So, instead of going over the same ground about oxy-acetylene torches, vices and hammers to get your military Mauser into sporting condition, I’m instead going to look how to reduce lock time by shaving some material off the cocking piece and firing pin. As always, remember that modifying your firearm is dangerous/irreversible/stupid, etc.
What is lock time?
Lock time is the minuscule period of time between when you pull the trigger and when the firing pin crushes the primer to set off the powder inside the cartridge. In other words, how long it takes the firing pin to travel to the primer from the time it is released by the pull of the trigger and the disengagement of the sear. The term lock time comes from the age of muskets – flint locks and wheel locks – the time it it took for the lock to work.
Essentially, the longer the lock time, the more likely it is that the shooter’s natural movements will move the rifle off target. The other period of time that is quite significant is how long it takes the bullet to leave the barrel, as again, the shooter can move slightly during this time.
So, naturally, it’s in a shooter’s best interests to have as short a lock time as possible. Modern bolt actions are incredibly quick compared to old military surplus rifles, and the chief ways in which lock time can be decreased are through eliminating excess material which causes resistance, friction or drag, and making modifications to the main spring, or replacing it and/or the firing pin. There are a few “speed lock” products out there, which are kits aimed to help you reduce the length of travel of the striker, and usually the trigger pull as well. Often, they will also convert your cock-on-closing Mauser to a cock-on-opening action.
Personally, I quite like the cock-on-closing action on older rifles, as it allows you to “feel” more of the chambering and extraction process – a real plus for reloaders.
Removing material
This is something you can’t afford to do wrong, especially if you’re working on a rifle with hard-to-replace parts. Fortunately for me, I had recently bought a replacement bolt due to a different issue and had some good parts on the old bolt to work with.
If you’ve spent any time on Mauser-related forums, you’ll have come across Dutchman, or Dutch. A very knowledgeable gentleman with his own website dedicated to everything Mauser. I came across one of his posts, in which he showed the modifications that were made to cocking pieces and firing pins in order to produce the bolts for the super-accurate CG63s and CG80s. With this as inspiration, I set off on my own bolt-modification adventure.
I removed the thumb piece on the back of the cocking piece to reduce weight and drag, and made the firing pin short enough to match. As you can see in the picture below, the previous owner of this rifle cut down the main spring to decrease cocking effort on the rifle, but this can lead to unreliable firing and pierced primers, so I’ll be swapping that spring for the one on the blued bolt I recently bought.
Modified Mauser firing pin.
As you can see in Dutchman’s post, there is more material that can be removed in order to reduce friction, as he shows some rifles with scalloped bolt sleeves. Whether I attempt this or not is still yet to be seen, I’d like to see the difference this makes first before going any further. The sear engagement on the cocking piece can also be altered according to his pics, but it looks like a welder would be needed to reinforce the sear engagement section. There’s also the fact that you’ll need to case harden this section again, as a cut-up sear piece will quickly wear away, creating a dangerous firearm.
I’ve opted to leave this bit for now, as I’m planning on replacing the factory trigger with a Timney trigger in the near future. I want to see what it’s like with the new bang button, before I go and make any permanent changes.
It’s all about the looks
The flush fit of the cut firing pin is much more attractive than the thumb piece.
Well, not all about the looks, but it does play some part. I’ve got to admit, the cut down cocking piece looks a lot more modern and svelte than its military-style counterpart. I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that this rifle was not in collectors condition when I got it from the previous owner, so it is purely a project – no one is cutting up a pristine M38 here!
Another thing I wanted to do was break up the solid black of my rifle. The “new” bolt I bought had been blued and combined with the matte black paint job I did on the action and barrel, it was starting to look pretty boring. For a bit of contrast I took the un-blued extractor and extractor collar from the original bolt and added it to my new hybrid monster. The end result is a little bit of flair, with no real practical relevance. Be warned though, that while the extractor is easy enough to remove, the collar does not spring back into shape nicely for you to put teh extractor back on. You’ll need to hold it shut while sliding the extractor over – which isn’t easy without the armourer’s tools. I used a pair of circlip pliers, which while tricky to do, managed the job in the end.
The blued bolt body creates a contrast for the polished extractor and extractor collar.
If you’re putting together a rifle for the first time, or you’ve just bought a package deal that was loosely thrown together, you may not be aware of the intricacies involved in proper scope mounting. One of the questions often debated in forums all over the internet is whether or not to apply Loctite to scope base screws, and if so, which colour to use?
Well, I made the rookie mistake of driving three and a half hours to do some target shooting after reassembling a rifle I had coated with a nice new finish. I completely forget to Loctite to the scope bases. I sent a few factory rounds down range to foul the barrel, and got a group size under 2 inches at 100 yards. Sounds about right.
I then painstakingly went through shooting 3-shot groups with my reloaded ammo (I was working up a new load), and watched in absolute horror as my groups opened up to 3 or 4 inches. Thinking I may have overheated the barrel, I gave the old shooting iron a rest and threw some lead downrange with a few other toys while it cooled off.
Taking up the prone position again I looked forward to drilling some really expensive Sierra Matchkings into ragged little holes 100 yards away. No such luck. I was shooting groups that opened up to 7 inches. What the…? I could not figure out how I had screwed up this batch of reloads so badly. Until I adjusted the scope settings for a friend of mine to shoot at 50 yards. Wait – was that a bit of wiggle in the scope mounting? Indeed it was. I had managed to get about $50 worth of ammo down range with no particular success before I realised that my loads were fine – the scope bases had come loose.
Don’t make my mistake
Frustratingly, after driving home for three and a half hours I noticed the blue bottle of Loctite sitting on my gun bench, like a big fat “I told you so” from the universe.
In short, don’t make my mistake – Loctite your scope base screws. I took a perfectly good 1-inch shooter and turned it into a minute-of-dinner-plate loser by forgetting this simple step. And I’m sure my scope didn’t appreciate flopping around like that either.
Make sure your threads are completely clear of debris or grease when you do this. And while some people say red Loctite is okay to use, I prefer to use blue – I find it is much easier to remove. While you may not take your scope bases off regularly, if you want to upgrade or change to a 35 MOA rail, or whatever, you’ll wish you had used the blue variant.
The SKS is an immensely popular rifle in New Zealand. Whether it’s for budget-conscious hunting or recoil-reduced plinking, there are plenty of reasons to have one or two of these fun-makers in your gun safe. However, if you’ve picked up your favourite communist rifle and found that the grouping is out, you’re going to need to invest in a front sight tool – something I’ve recently done. Here are my do’s and don’t of this process.
This is what you should do when buying a front sight tool
As you can see I have filed down the inside edge of the tool to fit around the hooded front sight.
You should definitely shop around. How much are they at the gun store – 50 bucks? Forget that. Go to Quartermaster Supplies and pick one up for $20. Most tack-on accessories for milsurp rifles can be found there for cheap. I paid $28, including all tax and couriered to my work. Sure beats paying almost twice as much at some of the big-name stores, and wasting time and petrol too.
You will probably need to file down one edge of the tool. I think these would fit an AK-style rifle without it (don’t have one on hand to check), but you’ll definitely need to shave off one of the inside edges of the U-shaped device, so that it can accommodate the round post-protector ring. This took me all of 5 minutes with a file, and a quick sand to debur. Just one edge is fine – you can flip it around to adjust the other way.
Sighting in should be done with the FORS principle in mind. That is Front Opposite, Rear Same. If you move the front sight to the left, the point of impact shifts to the right. If you raise the post, the POI will move down. If that just doesn’t make sense, check out the video below. This guy explains it fairly well – and it’ll save me repeating myself.
This is what you should not do when buying a front sight tool for the SKS
Do not try and drift the sight across with a hammer and punch. I have – naively – tried this, and not only is it frustrating, but you’ll soon end up with scuffs all over your bluing and you probably won’t move it much in the end. Spend the $28 – it’s worth it.
Don’t adjust your front sight while the gun is loaded. Seriously. Load one round at a time when sighting in if you have to, but don’t put your hand near the dangerous end of the rifle, and your body or face over the action when it’s loaded. Doesn’t that just sound like a recipe for disaster? The best safety is an empty chamber.
Don’t try and sight it in alone, unless you want a long and frustrating day at the range. Get someone on a spotting scope telling you where you’re impacting – it’s easier, and it’s always nice to have company.
You shouldn’t assume one shot is enough to determine where the rifle is shooting. I prefer to shoot a group of two or three before adjusting iron sights on a rifle like this at 100 or 200 yards. If it was a scoped target rifle on a bipod, with a more accurate round, then yes, one shot would be enough to figure out where to move your POA.
And lastly, don’t sight in with your plinking ammo and expect it to be spot-on with your good stuff. Sight in with the ammo you need to be most accurate with. The difference isn’t much, but the SKS can sometimes need all the help it can get when it comes to extracting every last bit of accuracy out of it. At least most bullets are of a similar weight and diameter when it comes to the SKS, so there won’t be a great deal of difference.
