doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com what's on your project list ?

Michael's resurrected post below on his Sharps Borchardt reminded me that I have almost the same project in pieces. I bought a Borchardt action from Al Story (Borchardt Rifle Co) a year or two ago. I found NOS Axtell Sharps windgage front sight soon afterwards and the tang sight staff came from Buffalo arms. This action already has a removable upper tang to replace for the integral sight base. The circassian walnut stock came from hunterbid.com. Now I need a barrel, time and more money ... ughh ...


What are you working on ?

... Joe

I'm working on a 318 Westley Richards built on a 1909 Argentine action. It's a direct copy of the classic Rigby medium bores of the 20's and 30's.

well, I tend to work on projects in parallel so that nothing gets done. But this is the latest project acquisition. Probably not the best buy of my life. I bid on the following from
an Amoskeag silent auction.

"1487. U.S MODEL 1903 SPRINGFIELD SPORTERIZED BOLT ACTION RIFLE serial #865566, 30-06, 26" barrel with an excellent
bore. The Johnson Automatics tapered barrel with muzzle brake, receiver and magazine floorplate retain about 85-90% blue finish and
show light to moderate scattered oxidation on the balance. The extractor is devoid of finish and also exhibits oxidation. The bolt assembly
retains 85-90% of an armory applied parkerized finish. The sporterized smooth pistolgrip American black walnut stock rates very good plus.
The buttstock features a cheekpiece, a Monte Carlo comb and ebony grip and forend cap and black plastic buttplate. Rifle comes equipped
with a Swift Yukon 3-9X32 scope and leather sling. Rifle will need mechanical attention as the striker will not drop (gun doesn�t fire)(for
�Garand man�). (25485-9)"



Johnson Automatics 1903

Well the description was a bit misleading, on the bright side it is a Johnson Automatic 1903 sporter. At some point, someone must have
removed the earlier model Lyman 48 on it, which leaves a big gap, and they must have lost the bolt on it and replaced it with a military
surplus bolt. And the grip cap and forend tip are plastic and not ebony. But I scrubbed the rust off and have another bolt that
I picked up on gunbroker years ago that looks good with the rifle and headspaces correctly and the striker will fall when the trigger is pulled.
I've got a Lyman 48 base without any innards (Thanks Gary), so now I have a challenge to make the innards for the base and just use a slide blank. Oh, well, I will have a nice
sense of satisfaction when I bring this rifle back to life.

As always my project list is long.

At the head of the list is a High-Wall I need to put a Smith .32-caliber barrel on and have stocked. Building another bench-rest .32-40.

Two Borchardts

Three four 1903's that need conservation-restoration

These are the ones that just come to mind, there are more.

As you can easily see by the following, I like projects. In my case:

actions hanging on the wall - 3 1903s, 2 Mausers, 1 high wall, 1 low wall, 1 trapdoor

shooting but not completed - 1 Martini Cadet, 1 low wall, 1 high wall, 2 Mausers, 1 Krag, 1 1886 Win, 2 1903s, 1 1897 Marlin, 1 1888 Commission

Have all major parts but need action: 2 Martini Cadets, 1 high wall

Needing TLC and minor restoration - 1 1903, 1 1897 Win

BTW I could be talked out of about half this jun....er uh, about half these jewels (grin), especially the parts needing actions. PM if interested, thanks.
Regards, Joe

Putting my recently purchased, circa 1930 Springfield Armory 1922 M1 .22 Hornet back into a proper original stock and hardware.

Putting my recently purchased , National Match star gauged barreled action into a period Pre war classic style sporter stock.

Finish up the conversion and restock of a Stevens 45 to a 52,,at least I think it's a 52..DST, loop lever, #4 BP,,

A Ross 280 Sporter needing a couple of small parts to hold the floor plate on. Other than that it's probably better left as-is than re-doing anything. The War-time steel penney cut in half and used as a front sight blade is quaint.

1910 M/S full stock rifle. Claw mounts missing from ring and rear recvr. Very early rifle w/ full length rib bbl. Barella/Berlin marked
Probably just fill the voids and leave it iron sighted.

Winchester 92 SRC pistol grip 44wcf. Finish up the restock & checker.

S&W 38-44 HD rebored to 44sp.
S&W Triple Lock 44sp w/ bbl cut to 4 1/4". Great condition except for the hacksaw job. It'll go to 3 1/2"

Aug. Jung SxS D/R 9.3x72r needs metal restored, have it partially done. Has claw mounts & rings. Came with Lyman Alaskan scope installed.

A german sidelock D/R that I can't even remember the maker of now. 9.3x74R. Needed left firing pin repaired and new pad.
BBl should be redone as someone from the Fred Flintstone school of gunsmithing adjusted the front claw mount with what appears to be a small rock at one time.
Came with it's rings and German 'scope.

Remington Model 8 'C' grade to restore.

Colt Bisley restoration
A 'baby' Luger project (maybe),,or maybe it'll just remain as a parts slug.

.. 6 or 7 muzzle loader rifle projects

and on and on,,,,


Is this what retirement is supposed to be for?

It beats three things:
1. being underfoot around the house
2. working
3. breathing dirt

After I sold my triple-lock I always thought that if I found one with a bad or cut off barrel I would fix it up. Tell me more, is it a target model?

Well my main project seems to be to outfit my son and grandkids and assorted relatives. My 7x57 mauser and Mod70 featherweight and Dad's Bernadelli Gamecock have moved as have a couple of .22s and the pre64 270 featherweight is going to a nephew as a present for completing his surgery residency.

There is a 30-06 Griffen and Howe style Springfield in the works by a board member that is going to be my rifle and only my rifle (hah) but it isn't ready yet. It is going to be beautiful. I recently acquired a service grade M1 Garand from the CMP and it has been fun cleaning up the old soldier and shooting in local matches. I've become quite fond of it and suspect it is my deer rifle this year. The only other current project is a .44 Magnum Ruger Flattop that needs to be worked over and converted to .45 Colt.