A New Old Gun

[MountainDon]

Somehow I felt I needed a new old gun    and so I satisfied the urge with a Czech VZ.24 8mm Mauser. I tried it out last weekend in the mountains and determined it seemed to shoot straight. Tomorrow AM we'll head for the range and see for sure. K will come along with her Puma 454/45LC. We'll kill some paper together.

[Virginia Gent]

Very nice gun. It looks to be in wonderful condition, so I'm sure you were correct when you said it shoots straight. The Mauser is a very accurate rifle.

[Windpower]

The Czech 98's are amoung the best


the 8 X 57 can be loaded way up too

the standard ammo in the US is pretty annemic because the earlier 8 X 57 had a slightly smaller bore (.318 instead of .323 IIRC)

you can get near 30-06 energy and they will typically shoot 1 inch at 100 yards -- mine does

There are some nice trigger assemblies too

good one Don

[MountainDon]

Thanks windpower. It's a good shooter.    The sights are factory set starting at 300 meters. Once I figured out how high it was shooting at 100 yards I could get them in the black. I got 2 - 4 inch groups when I was careful, which for my eyes is darn good. That was with 150 gr Romanian surplus ammo made in 1972. Fifty-five rounds of that. Next I ran 35 Yugoslavian 196 gr surplus, made Nov 1956. I could feel the difference in my shoulder. It shot a bit higher and did about the same on groups. Every single round fired with no problems.

To end the rifle session I shot 5 Wolf brand 196 gr, new non-corrosive boxer primed load and 5 Sellier & Bellot 196 gr. For all I know those are the same stuff in different boxes; same head markings and they produced very similar 2 inch groups, better than the mil-surplus stuff. More $$ too, mind you.

In case anyone is interested and for what it's worth, the Yugo stripper clips are much nicer than the Romanian. Both the Romanian and the Yugo came loaded on 5 shot strippers, but the Yugo slid into the magazine much easier. With the Romanian I was at the point where it seemed easier, less trouble, to remove the ammo from the stripper and load the rile one at a time. Maybe it's me? But the Yugo slipped into the magazine with real ease.

Now I have to decide if I want to buy a spam can of surplus, or buy more of the Wolf or S&B, save the reloadable brass and go that way.    

One thing I'll admit to is the Romanian 150 gr is much easier on the shoulder if all you are doing is killing paper.

I'm also thinking of trying a Mojo aperture sight. It mounts in place of the stock rear sight so the firearm can be returned to original condition and leave no trace.

[MountainDon]

I should mention my son made better groups than I did with his 36 year younger eyes.

I also got to shoot his recently acquired Garand M1 and fell in love all over again.   

[poppy]

Your new/old rifle looks a lot better than my German K98 (Nazi marked Soviet capture).

When I first bought the rifle, 8mm ammo was $2 for a box of 20 brass cased rounds on stripper clips.  It still hasn't come down to that pre-election level, but ammo prices are starting to creep downward.

Gotta like the old battle rifles.

[MountainDon]

Thanks, Poppy. I doubt we'll ever see 0.10 a round again.    Best we can do is probably reload although I'm thinking about picking up a couple spam cans of the Romanian 8MM. $183 at cheaperthandirt; 0.27 a round.  


I have misplaced the target paper with the best grouping, but this is pretty indicative of my efforts today. Those 10 shots are all within a 3 inch group. I'm happy enough,   although I over corrected for height. And am too far right.





I know it says pistol target but I can at least see these things with the unaided eye.  

[Mike 870]

Awesome, congrats on your new purchase.

[Redoverfarm]

Since we are on the discussion of old guns I thought I would just throw this in.  Several years ago my dad bought me a Savage/Anschutz .22 which I have used throughout the years.  Now that my son is beginning to be an avid hunter I have let him use it.  Come to find out that the price of the gun has rose considerable since I got it. My son has a friend that he hunts with and his father is a gun dealer/taxiderm.  He looked it up and WOW it is valued between $1,500-$2,300.  I guess I should retire it to preserve the value.

[MountainDon]

Everyone may look at this differently. I'd say maybe be more careful with it, but use it as well. Like it does not  gets carried around behind the seat of the truck or used or ordinary plinking. Is it a single shot target or match model? Those are a pure joy to shoot and if I had one I would use it at the range every so often.

picture?

[Whitlock]

Since we are on the discussion of old guns I thought I would just throw this in.  Several years ago my dad bought me a Savage/Anschutz .22 which I have used throughout the years.  Now that my son is beginning to be an avid hunter I have let him use it.  Come to find out that the price of the gun has rose considerable since I got it. My son has a friend that he hunts with and his father is a gun dealer/taxiderm.  He looked it up and WOW it is valued between $1,500-$2,300.  I guess I should retire it to preserve the value.

I have that same gun and it was the gun that I lerned to shoot with. I once took out a varmit at 150 yadrs with it.
I love that old gun and even with the high value I will never stop shooting it.

Nice Gun Don

[MountainDon]

Well, it's now in pieces...



I kept seeing and feeling cosmoline come out of the handguard wood when warm. So I stripped it down and found lots still in between the receiver and barrel and the stock and handguard. The plan is to clean her up good and refinish the wood. Maybe glass bed it.   

[MountainDon]

The newly stripped wood. I didn't bother removing the bayonet lug. There's a pin that needs to be drilled out and then replaced with a new one. Seemed pointless.




Question... Do the two dovetailed pieces in the handguard serve some gunsmithing purpose? Or are they some sort of repair? Anyone? Here's a closeup of one of them.



The two dark streaks appear to be epoxy glue dribbles. There were a couple others I've already cleaned off. Now I need to sand it smooth and decide on what to use for the refinish.  

[MountainDon]

See new poll at top of topic. 5 day run.   

[Redoverfarm]

Don I would opt for an oil finsih.  I have a 1903 Springfield (30-06) and it is easly repaired.  The finished will look sort of flat but it is best suited for wet weather and brush hunting.

[MountainDon]

Well, I closed the poll. The correct answer is a trip through the dishwasher. I received a "what the h---" when K found it in there with some dishes.

The VZ.24 is still unfinished standing in the corner. I'll have more time when we're back to work in January.

I received a new old accessory for it today.    A genuine Czech VZ.24 bayonet and scabbard. It's in pretty good shape for 67 to 85 years old. Jason could not find a frog though so I'll have to search for one.



Also newly arrived is another new old gun of Jason's, a Springfield 1903. It's a model made in 1919 and probably has the original barrel as it's stamped 12-18 (Dec 1918). The bore is still in great shiny sharp shape so it likely never was shot much. It appears that the wood was refinished at some time as the cartouche is faint. It's a late enough serial number to be in the safe to shoot range and the headspace checks out great.

[poppy]

Don, that's a very nice looking '03.  I'm jealous. 

[Redoverfarm]

Don here is my 03 that I had mentioned.





And this is the Savage Anschutz .22





But the prettiest woodwork in the stock would have to be my Model 70, 22-250

[MountainDon]

I'd like the Anschutz      The 70 does have nice woodwork.

As for the '03, we'll forgive you for it being sporterized.       They do make good shooters; it looks like a nice one.

My son and I have gotten into collecting military arms, myself in a small way, he with a little more vigor. He has a C&R license. He has his Garand M1 that he got through CMP. It's almost perfect with new wood and barrel. Then he has his new parts AR that looks like an M-4 and another that is representative of the late 60's early 70's M16, built with mostly original parts. Now the '03 that covers WW1; the later ones have differences and we'd like to find a nice '03A4 sniper model. He has a Mosin Nagant sniper rifle with the Russian scope mount holes drilled

Next on his want list is a Krag 30-40, but it can't be sporterized. We've seen a number of sporterized ones around here, but it must be in original military form . I would like to find a model 1873 Springfield Trapdoor in rifle or carbine form.

[peternap]

I'd like the Anschutz       The 70 does have nice woodwork.

As for the '03, we'll forgive you for it being sporterized.        They do make good shooters; it looks like a nice one.

My son and I have gotten into collecting military arms, myself in a small way, he with a little more vigor. He has a C&R license. He has his Garand M1 that he got through CMP. It's almost perfect with new wood and barrel. Then he has his new parts AR that looks like an M-4 and another that is representative of the late 60's early 70's M16, built with mostly original parts. Now the '03 that covers WW1; the later ones have differences and we'd like to find a nice '03A4 sniper model. He has a Mosin Nagant sniper rifle with the Russian scope

Next on his want list is a Krag 30-40, but it can't be sporterized. We've seen a number of sporterized ones around here, but it must be in original military form . I would like to find a model 1873 Springfield Trapdoor in rifle or carbine form.

If you run across a good Krag barrel at a decent price, let me know Don...please.
I've got an itch to build a single shot 30/40 which is really a rimmed 06.

[MountainDon]

I'll let Jason know to keep his eyes open. He's always looking someplace for stuff.

[flatdarkmars]

The CMP has new Criterion .30-40 Krag barrels for $199.95 through their E-Store.  All the usual CMP purchasing requirements apply.  Surplus Krag barrels are next to impossible to find.

[MountainDon]

Don, that's a very nice looking '03.  I'm jealous. 

Our son Jason has pretty good taste.

[MountainDon]

I reassembled the Czech VZ24 today and here it is with it's newly oiled splendor.

I used a medium dark walnut stain and tung oil. Several coats, I forget how many. Then it came out too shiny for my likes so I buffed or scrubbed the surface with some extra fine steel wool.

[poppy]

Very nice, Don