Finished my first Rifle.

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Last Post 25 January 2017
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Standard Member

30carbnut posted this 24 January 2017

Hello all, Hope this is the right place to post this if not please move or remove it. Well I have finally finished a rifle that I started back in September. No laughing Please or at least not too loud lol, I started out with very little machining and woodworking knowledge and a Frank De Haas book, it is not perfect by any means but I think it came out well. I do not like the color of the stock so I am going to strip it and start over (plain maple nothing fancy). I figure this was good practice because I plan on building a 45/70 G on another De Haas design. Oh by the way it was made from the De Haas Chicopee CF design with a few modifications of my own. I have shot around 100 standard (factory pressure) rounds through it after the proof pressure rounds with no problems with the function or any change in chamber or action dimensions. I did all the load work and proofing with J word bullets but now will start on what I originally built it for which was Black powder and Cast boolits. So what do you all think? bear in mind that this is a beginners first attempt at making a rifle from scratch.

.30 Carb

NRA Life member since 1976

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 25 January 2017

Nice work. I would be interested in your reason for choosing the .30 carbine (not a criticism, just wondering).

Here is a tip for staining maple. Since the grain structure of maple is very tight, it makes dyes & stains difficult to penetrate. But using diluted shellac will help. Take strait shellac and dilute it by 50% with solvent (denatured alcohol) and applied it to the stock. It will dry within a few minutes. Then you can apply your color. I would suggest an aniline dye, it will penetrate better than oil or water based stains. The best aniline dye to use would be the alcohol soluble type.

One more thing, we are a little snobby, lol, so no “boolits", bullets please.

David Reiss - NRA Life Member & PSC Range Member Retired Police Firearms Instructor/Armorer
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Standard Member

30carbnut posted this 25 January 2017

Thank you for the great staining info. The rifle is chambered in 30 WCF (30-30) my username is .30 carb

NRA Life member since 1976

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 25 January 2017

My mistake, but if you are a “.30 carb nut", I would like to hear more about your experiences with that cartridge as I have little to no history with it. Maybe you could start another thread about it. I have always wanted a firearm using that cartridge.

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Standard Member

30carbnut posted this 25 January 2017

Well I don't claim to be an expert on the .30 carbine but I do own one of every type that has been made, that I have researched since I first shot my Dads M1 in 1970 so I might do that!

NRA Life member since 1976

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 25 January 2017

30carbnut

Your rifle is handsome and I hope it shoots great. Here is the however... your scope mounting puts the cross hair height excessively high above the bore center. That is a clear disadvantage if you are familiar with charting bullet drop path relative to line of sight through a scope. That is why you don't see scopes mounted that high. They should be mounted with the smallest clearance possible and you have what looks like about 1” clearance between scope bell and barrel. Also that style scope base and rings looks completely out of place on your nice classic looking rifle.

Gary

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CBA Member

Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 January 2017

hey gary ...i am thinking that a high scope mounting actually gives a flatter trajectory as seen through the sight ..... at least at coyote hunting ranges ... might be a little drastic for squirrels tho .... of course i could be wrong .... again ...

ken

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 25 January 2017

However.................... I think if the scope mount works for you, it works for me. Beginner is what you stated, not professional doing this for 50 years.

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CBA Member

R. Dupraz posted this 25 January 2017

"Here is a tip for staining maple. Since the grain structure of maple is very tight, it makes dyes & stains difficult to penetrate. But using diluted shellac will help. Take strait shellac and dilute it by 50% with solvent (denatured alcohol) and applied it to the stock. It will dry within a few minutes. Then you can apply your color. I would suggest an aniline dye, it will penetrate better than oil or water based stains. The best aniline dye to use would be the alcohol soluble type"

Spirit stains work best for maple because they will penetrate the wood. Such as the Mountain Laural Forge brand. There are several different shades and colors and are specifically formulated for maple wood. .

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Standard Member

onondaga posted this 25 January 2017

Ken Campbell Iowa, I'll tell you and 30carbnut where you can verify this yourself with free to use software. Your sight height is from the internal center line of the scope tube ( this equals your cross hair intersection ) to the center of the bore for the software, Measure it. Enter your sight height and the basic variables of a load and compare it to a sight height that is one inch smaller. The bullet path doesn't change but the sight height determines the path you are looking at the the bullet path. A short sight height lessens the difference much more than a high sight does..Set the software to calculate for both and set the “sight in distance” for what is common, like 100 yards for a 30-30. Look at the predicted paths with both sight heights. This is what I am pointing out, it is just math and you will vividly see what I am saying. The software:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

You can select a sight height with bases and rings based on ballistics to manipulate their relationship but a high sight is not friendly to a rifle that is used at many target distances. Practical shooting distances with a 30-30 are actually better served with low open sights than a scope. But you want a scope so optimizing for that includes getting it as low as you can. Small bell diameter scopes mounted low will fit better doing the job well. A large bell diameter scope mounted high will not do the job so well.....run the numbers and see the proof yourself by how the drop and point of impact relate to the sight height when you click “calculate” and then look again at points of impact along the sight path .

You can do a lot of manipulating with the variables to optimize. My wanderings show that for a 30-30, sighting in so shots impact 1.25” high at 50 yards gives you the smallest mid-range trajectory for the power range distance of a 30-30 on Deer. This is useless if you just shoot targets at one fixed and sighted in distance but very practical for the hunter who will use the same sight setting for all hunting shot distances.

Gary

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Standard Member

30carbnut posted this 25 January 2017

Beginner at building a rifle, I have been shooting for over 40 years, hand loading and casting for 30, had a little training in Lebanon (1983) and I regularly shoot at 1000 yards for fun. Thanks for the suggestions.

NRA Life member since 1976

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CBA Member

David Reiss posted this 25 January 2017

Spirit stains work best for maple because they will penetrate the wood. Such as the Mountain Laural Forge brand. There are several different shades and colors and are specifically formulated for maple wood. .

Richard,

Alcohol based aniline dyes are basically the same as spirit dyes. Because aniline dye are usually referred to as a water based dye, spirit dyes are listed as another option to them. But when comparing spirit to aniline dyes, they are the same.One thing I didn't add is that all dyes are not very good at preventing lighting from UV rays. So it is best to use a finish high in UV protection. But in the end it almost impossible to prevent it. That is why you see most all products, including wood rifle stocks, left natural with a oil-based or lacquer based finish.

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CBA Member

R. Dupraz posted this 25 January 2017

You are right David, Kind of getting off topic here. Could be a whole new thread. But just will say that when building traditional ML's I have always used the spirit stains or similar as mentioned above for color and penetration on hard Maple. Followed by sealing with the desired finish.