My next winter project.....Keeps me busy and sane, sorta. The action is a FN JC Higgins, bottom metal off a Mark X with the in the bow release, trigger is a Kepplinger, just ordered a MRC barrel today, the wood English Walnut. I still need to decide on sight hardware and rings, I'm leaning towards Mark Lee rings if available. Still undecided on steel buttplate or recoil pad, leaning towards a red pad. Undecided on a scope but likely a Leupold.

pretty.

we need an after photo.

Rob;

So if you do the 9.3 X 62, seems to me you're throwin' the same energy at something as the .338-06.  What's up with that?

900F

 Some progress and I almost managed to make firewood out of the blank. My first time inletting mauser bottom metal and I missed the center line on the rear. I should have used guides, amateur mistake. Thankfully the blank is wide enough to make it work but a real PITA.

Now the action.... I normally avoid hand held power tools but used a palm router to hog out some wood for the action. I kept it conservative but it was a real help and easy to control.

Wood is so great, how about a skeletonized metal butt plate with checkered wood showing thru?

BEAR

 waksupi, I hope it shoots well. I heard a few people had left MRC, maybe a rumor, but I hope their barrel quality doesn't suffer.

 Vapo, well I have a 338-06 and you're pretty much responsible for the 9.3 

 Well I got action inletted, no big mistakes but lots of room for improvement. The Kepplinger trigger is huge, sure takes up a lot of space not leaving much wood between the box and trigger. I generally consider glass bedding a failure to bed it right the first time but think I will and add cross bolts as well. The thin web of wood behind the box makes me a little paranoid with this cartridge. Maybe it's because it's my first mauser but I think I prefer working with model 70's. In any case have to practise to get better........ I'll glass it and do some odds and ends and send it off to be barreled, sights, band etc. and then finish inletting the barrel channel.

  Looking good Rob.  Keep the pics coming.

BEAR

If you have a local "friendly veterinarian" he could x-ray it for you before you begin!  I've used my vets e-ray for lots of projects.

BEAR

 Round two. Ordered this today. A piece of turkish. This project is over budget so I sold a few goodies I had stashed to pay for it.

Hope this stock works for you, it looks like a beautiful piece of wood.

 Waiting on the barreled action to proceed. Sucked to have to start over but this wood is a lot nicer to work with so not so bad.

 Barreled action arrived today. Back to work  

Rob;

Well, I'm glad to see that you're working under supervision.  Gee, I've got bent & missing slats in our mini-blinds too.  Don't know how that happens.

 900F

  I finally finished the inletting. Not a real good time to work on a gun as I'm busy with other stuff. I need to get some new files and re-shape the tang. This will be my first time doing this. Looks easy enough but that's usually a trap..... Then off to shaping the exterior.

Rob1,

Keep up the good work!

Can only offer this encouragement:

Had my 8x57 rebarreled to 9,3x62 last summer - Love the rifle and cartridge! - Best decision I've made on guns in a long time!

Rob1 wrote:  Thanks Ray. What have you settled on for bullets?

286 Nosler Partitions over IMR-4320 in Graf cases at 3.22" with CCI 200 LR primers leaving at 2,400 fps.

Until I get to Africa with it, It'll just be my favorite carry-around hog rifle.  So far no hog - Just one deer.

 Moving slowly, real busy at work and with home projects.  I had some time this weekend to do some rough shaping. It's starting to look like a rifle anyways. I also reshaped the tang a bit, first time and it went pretty good.

 Still slow I finally have the basic shaping done, now I need to sharpen up the details and inlet swivel studs. I wet the wood a bit to show the fiqure a little. I'm off for three weeks to recover from knee surgery so I hope to have it final shaped and sanded, sealed and ready for a recoil pad.

 I slopped on the last coat of sealer today. The pores should fill fast and easy on this one. I'll get a pad installed and let it dry a month or so before I start wet sanding.

 Almost done. It looks naked without checkering but here it is. I'll drop it off next week for the checkering, get some optics and she's done. I'll do some shooting with the open sights to get them on before the scope.

Rob;

That's a beautiful job well done.  Congratulations!!  I hope it shoots as well as it looks.

900F

Excellant!

Thanks for sharing the story!

Hey Rob,

I still want to see how the checkering comes out and some targets please.

Rob1 wrote:  I will Ray. I'm real curious on the MRC barrel. In reality it need not be a tack driver but it sure does make one feel good when they are.

I believe my Shilen barrel is capable of better than 1 MOA, but so far that's what I'm getting.  I've only worked with 3 bullets - 285 Prvi SPs (to reduce the reload work-up expense), 286 NPTs and 300 Swift "A".  Haven't shot anything with the 300 "A"s as I'm trying to find the beast that stops a 286 NPT from making 2 holes!

However, if I were to go for better accuracy, I'd try some 250 Nolser AccuBonds and/or that Hornady 286 spire point.

PS: I have some of the Prvi SPs leftover that I no longer need - You interested?

Rob,

Seems this guy is working up reloads for a 9,3 too:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4911043/m/3351034201?r=3351034201#3351034201 - http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/49110 43/m/3351034201?r=3351034201#3351034201

 Tikka, it's a 300 Savage made in the 1920's. Not real sure the model designation.

 Thanks Ray I'll check that link out.

 The rifle is finally done. Picked it up from getting checkered and mounted the scope. This is the closest I've been to being happy with the final result, learn more every time. I need to get some dies and get shooting. It's surprisingly light for what it is and will see a lot of time in the field.

That looks really good. Have you ever thought about doing this for a living?

Wing master

 Thanks guys.

Wing, I don't think so. Maybe one here and there to fund my own projects. I still need to improve a bit as well and learn to checker. After CB's is done I'm going to limit my projects so I have time to sit down and learn it. I also find it much easier and enjoyable doing something to my own tastes instead of trying to interpret anothers.

Very impressive. I am looking forward to seeing more.

Wing master