The Adventurer's Gear Thread

[Mike K.]

In all honesty, my trusty New England Firearms .30-30 rifle fits the bill for all of my needs. And, if I want to go after any small game or do some wing shooting I simply swap out the barrel for a .22 Hornet or 12 gauge (then swap back to the .30-30 for the bigger stuff). It is the most versatile firearm I've ever shot.

 

[Yorker]

Repro 1895s are still made, CDNN.com has or at least had them, I think they were relatively cheap. You could then have it modified as outlined int he article I linked to- that portion wouldn't be cheap naturally... But Big Medicine is cool- how can you put a price on such a storied gun like that?

Another neat gun that has a real Colonial flair to it is the Lee Enfield. A year or so ago I went in a local shop and saw a very nice sporterized Lee Enfield, it seemed a bit expensive for a sporterized one but then I realized it wasn't, in fact, sporterized military but a purpose built Lee Enfield Sporter. Very classy bit of old British kit! I should have bought it, it went for more than twice the store price when they later put it on Auction Arms. :eusa_doh:

 

[J.A. Daub]

.303 & looking good in the field

Yorker,
You're right about the Lee-Enfields, the only thing that looks more like a light safari rifle should is a Lee-Metford that I got to handle, 26" bbl, dust cover, magazine cut-off, express sights and a dial aperture marked for 900yds along with what looked to be 28 lpi checkering. It sported fine floral engraving, beautiful walnut and W.J. Jeffery engraved below the Enfield Armoury mark. It also sported a price tag that was a bit out of my league at the time.

I've got a sporterized Mk.III* from B.S.A. that I like to take out in the field early in the season. I get a lot of strange looks from the guys I hunt with as I will show up in khakis, crepe soled suede boots, a tattersall shirt and waxed jacket when the uniform of the day is camo, denim and sweats. Remember, life's too short to hunt with an ugly gun! (or look like you escaped from the camo display at Wholesale Sports or Cabelas)

 

[Yorker]

They wanted around $425 for it and IIRC it was a BSA purpose made sporter or an LSA Express, I was a fool to leave it there. A beautiful gun, very 1920's.

 

[carebear]

On this tack, I just got my C&R license in the mail. (Where does one go to sell a kidney?)

On page 95 of the most recent Shotgun News I found this vendor with LOTS of surplus, including military boots and shoes.

http://www.colbubbie.com/

Be sure to check out the surplus brown shoes and boots.

If you don't mind, if you think of someone on the lounge who might find some of the stuff interesting, pass the link along.

I was kinda impressed but don't really know enough to judge.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Please forgive me sir, If I point out to you in the most humble manner and spirit of helpfulness that your enviable boots might not be laced in the most appropriate manner.

Viz this information for reference.

Thank you and have a very Happy New Year.

Mark
.

Mark, thanks for the tip! I will re-lace them properly immediately. That method does make a lot of sense.

 

[carebear]

Mark, thanks for the tip! I will re-lace them properly immediately. That method does make a lot of sense.

I wonder how many years of calf-denting lacing my (field) combat boots that way would have saved?

I'll have to try it.

 

[Story]

They wanted around $425 for it and IIRC it was a BSA purpose made sporter or an LSA Express, I was a fool to leave it there. A beautiful gun, very 1920's.

[echoing scream of pain] :eusa_doh:

For those that missed it, an article on Karamojo Bell, who took most of his dangerous game with light magazine repeater rifles (period venacular)
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showpost.php?p=466205&postcount=1055

 

[BellyTank]

I once had a late '30s Lee Enfield, which had had the, post-War, Antipodean
(and somewhat exotic today)conversion, to .303/.25.
Using the .303 cartridge case, necked down for a 1/4" projectile.

These (usually sporterised) rifles were used for deer culling in NZ and a lot of 'Roo culling in Australia(I bought mine from an old guy who was a contract deer culler in the '50s). They were part of a post-War firearms regulation,
which did away with(in law and in theory but not practice) the wartime round.

This makes for a bit of a Wildcat- a very flat shooter for the age, great for taking out a Thar on the next mountain, or that distant Kangaroo, on the other side of the Billabong.

Look here for a taste of the animal and the terrain- 60 years late but you'll get the idea-

http://www.ampleadrenalinhunting.com/hunting.asp


B
T

 

[carebear]

That sounds like a neat conversion, like the .25-06 in post-war Springfield sporters.

I'm continually surprised how mountains look like mountains at parallel latitudes. I've got buddies who guide sheep and goat hunters up here and their pictures look very similar. You really earn your animal in terrain like that.

Thanks for the link. :eusa_clap

I never understood the push to restrict "military" calibers in the stable (non-US) Western countries post-war. I can't see Aus / NZ worrying about some kind of armed insurrection (insurgents would want to capture Army ammo to use).

Even if it was a knee-jerk anti-Communism thing, with the conversion you describe, they just gave the theoretical Reds a longer range round to use. [huh]

 

[BellyTank]

Yes- going through the motions, I guess.
"Re-load-only ammo" must make things slightly safer...

B
T

 

[carebear]

Guess so.

I definitely have to add NZ to the list of places to visit. Just to see the "outback". (what is the hinterland called in NZ?)

 

[Trotsky]

On this tack, I just got my C&R license in the mail. (Where does one go to sell a kidney?)

On page 95 of the most recent Shotgun News I found this vendor with LOTS of surplus, including military boots and shoes.

http://www.colbubbie.com/

Be sure to check out the surplus brown shoes and boots.

If you don't mind, if you think of someone on the lounge who might find some of the stuff interesting, pass the link along.

I was kinda impressed but don't really know enough to judge.

Just a word of warning on Col. Bubbie: he likes to misrepresent his stuff, alot. Plus exchanges and returns are a royal pain. Not many of my reenactor mates have had good luck with this outfit.

 

[carebear]

Thanks, that's just the kind of good scoop I was looking for.

 

[Mojave Jack]

I was at the grocery store yesterday with my new Akubra Riverina on, when the lady in front of me did a double-take. She said, "I like your hat! I usually don't like men's hats, but you look really good in that." I thanked her, of course, but didn't tell her that made my day! So, thanks again, Mike; I'm already getting compliments!

 

[carebear]

I was reading on one of the gun forums I used to spend a lot of time at (until the hats drew me away) and found a post about a gentleman in Vietnam who does custom water buffalo bone, horn and mother of pearl (well, that's not water buffalo of course) stuff.

He does handgun grips, but also eyeglass frames (in vintage shapes), shaving brushes, , hair pins, jewelry and chess sets.

You know where I'm going.

Custom freaking buttons.

Bone and horn, made to your order? This guy made perfect 1911 grips from the spec, before anyone sent him a pair to model from.

His reviews on The High Road (the aforementioned gun forum) are sterling.

Here's the link to his site.

http://www.handicraft-vn.com/shop/

Feel free to share this around, maybe we can get him hooked up with the custom clothes guys.

 

[Alan Eardley]

We had a couple of No. 4 Mk.1* rifles (i.e. a US or Canada-made post-SMLE service rifle) with this conversion when I was in the Army Cadets in the early 1960s. Good for target shooting, but not legal for competition in the UK.

In the post-war period, experimenting with small calibre military cartridges became a British pre-occupation. The No. 4 rifle was replaced by a lighter version (by almost 2 lbs) with a shorter barrel (eventually called the No. 5 or 'jungle carbine') which used the Enfield .303 round and consequently suffered from high recoil with an impressive muzzle flash (Hollywood directors would have loved it!) and consequent poor accuracy without any advantages of lower ammunition weight. It was found to be unsatisfactory even as a peace-time weapon and the plan to replace the No. 4 rilfe completely with the No. 5 never went ahead. The obvious thing to do (I am told by an old friend who worked for the Ordnance Factory where the ammunition was designed and made) was to chamber the No. 5 for a lower power round with a faster burning propellant. The American M-2 automatic carbine had proved the worth of such a round in tests, but the British wanted to take a more radical view and gave British and Canadian designers <edited later - and Polish, sorry!> a free hand in producing a new set of automatic individual and squad arms. The TADEN MG and the Thorpe and Janson rifles resulted as the favoured designs. Various rounds were produced in the experiements, including the .25/.303 that BT mentions and even (I believe) a .20 before a .280 (7MM) round was adopted for the proposed standard. I would guess that the .25/.303 No. 4 rifles and rounds originated at this time.


Alan

I once had a late '30s Lee Enfield, which had had the, post-War, Antipodean
(and somewhat exotic today)conversion, to .303/.25.
Using the .303 cartridge case, necked down for a 1/4" projectile.

These (usually sporterised) rifles were used for deer culling in NZ and a lot of 'Roo culling in Australia(I bought mine from an old guy who was a contract deer culler in the '50s). They were part of a post-War firearms regulation,
which did away with(in law and in theory but not practice) the wartime round.

This makes for a bit of a Wildcat- a very flat shooter for the age, great for taking out a Thar on the next mountain, or that distant Kangaroo, on the other side of the Billabong.

Look here for a taste of the animal and the terrain- 60 years late but you'll get the idea-

http://www.ampleadrenalinhunting.com/hunting.asp


B
T

 

[Curt Dawson]

Rifles of the era

To stay with in the era you can go with sportized military rifles such as mausers,springfields,enfields and other nations rifles.Your other choices are marlin,savage and winchester lever actions.And as mentioned the ruger#1.
Rifles of the time of manufacture are available but are getting harder to find because of collectors.Also the scopes of the time period were usually only 3/4" dia.Most relyed on iron sights,either peep or barrel mounted.
Conversions to wildcat cartridges was no more uncommon then that what it is today among the dedicated hunters and shooters.Also conversions to H&H belted rounds were popular especially the 375H&H mag. in the 1917 enfield.
Good Hunting to all.

 

[Rooster]

I came across a M95 winchester in British .303 the other day. I believe it was made in the 1920's. I don't think I've ever seen a M95 chambered for .303 before.
You can still find NE calibered double guns for less than 10K if you look hard. You won't buy any of the big name makers for that cash though.

 

[Baggers]

The last No.1 MK III I picked up a couple of years ago was a 1943 dated Australian Lithgow Arsenal rifle. Someone had Sporterized the forearm, but the metal looked good and the receiver was milled to accept a magazine cutoff. After some begging on the Enfield Collectors Forum for a cutoff and some wood and scrounging around in the spares box it now looks a lot closer to it's original issue configuration, but I sure would like to find a set of coachwood furniture and perhaps some Aussie marked metal bits to complete the transformation. Still, it looks great with a 1940 Mangrovite '07 bayonet mounted on it.

I think I still have the shortened forearm gathering dust somewhere, perhaps I should dig it out and rub some linseed oil into it. Then I could use it for some "big game hunter" pictures.

Cheers!