OT: Took an axe to a rifle ...

[86er]

... sort of kind of. Actually it was a saw and a file. I was given an old Springfield Savage single shot .22 rifle. One of my boys likes the Cricket he has but the other wanted a "wood gun". I cut the stock to 10 1/2" and cut the barrel to 16.25". I then re-crowned the barrel with a brass bit and lapping compound. A dovetail was made with a square file and a triangle file and the original front sight was re-installed. The gun weighs 4 pounds and still groups little clusters, especially at 15 yds where we sighted it in at. It fits my boys just great!

[pokey]

i did that to an old mossberg, my boy turns 16 in a week, and he still shoots it.

ok, so i coerced my son to go shooting this afternoon. took the chopped mossy.

looks like this.

P4180364.JPG

a 3 shot group @ 50 yds. she'll still shoot some.

P4180373.JPG

don't mean to steal your thread, just made me think of my son, almost ready to leave the nest.

[Old Ironsights]

Amazing how handy those "kid's" .22s can be as a "Truck"..er... "Subcompact Car" gun.

Really, a Henry Minibolt, Cricket or chop job like that will be useful for a very long time - especially with all the specialty .22 ammo out there (like .22 Super Colibri)

[octagon]

How did you arrive at the 10.5 inch figure?

[rjohns94]

Well done. You going to checker the "butt plate"?

[awp101]

Sweet!

I've always heard you can do a crown repair using a brass screw. I never believed it since in my mind the brass is softer than the steel but it appears you can...

[Old Ironsights]

How did you arrive at the 10.5 inch figure?

Probably to keep it long enough to not get him in trouble with the BATFE for making a "Short Barreled Rifle"...

[86er]

We're going to groove the butt plate for now. I had my son hold the rifle and put his cheek on the comb. I measured 2 finger widths from the tip of the comb to his nose. This gave me 10 1/2". The OAL is within legal parameters. He can now shoulder the rifle properly and see the sights. This gun has a hand detachable screw on the rear sight. It comes off in a snap. We took it off and shot hand-thrown soda cans with .22 shotshells. Then we put it back on and shot squirrel targets with .22 shorts. So far, so good!

[quietman]

First, great job cutting down the rifle, looks great.

Wanted to mention, if you aren't going to butt plate it, lightly round off the edges around the end of the stock. The plate protects the corner of the wood to keep it from splintering if it gets dropped, etc.

Lightly rounding the edges gets rid of the sharp corner that contributes to the splintering if the end of the stock gets bumped on a hard surface (especially at an angle).

[kimwcook]

Quietman, great information for anyone to know or remember, but, Joe (86er) makes shotguns. Not sure if you were aware of that.

[huntress]

Nice job! Your boys will have a lot of fun with it! Can't wait to hear about all of their hunts with it.

Sandy

[.45colt]

Good job,I bought one of those rifles from a co-worker years ago for $10. It was a fun accurate little gun. I shot a bunch of fox squirrels with it. another Friend had a Young Boy and it found a new Home. .

[Rusty]

Any young man that likes "wood guns" is OK in my book.


Be sure to save that piece of the stock you cut off. you can put it back on when he gets older. Of course the same can't be said for the barrel.

[Old Ironsights]

I actually just swapped out a rarely used Henry Survivor .22 for a stainless Henry Mini Bolt so my nephews would have somthing to plink with when they visit.

Makes a fine mini truck gun too...

[stretch]

Backyard gunsmithing in the finest American tradition!
Lot s of guys iwth time and no money did amazing things
years ago, and some still do today.

Yankee ingenuity - make do.

You did a nice job.

-Stretch

[Tumbleweeds II]

I've noticed, now that I wear trifocals, that I can see a peep sight pretty well with a really short stock. I may just have to get one of those. Guns with recoil, maybe not, but .22s and .32-20s, yep!

[Ysabel Kid]

Joe -

Congrats - it looks great. Nothing better than a "customized" gun from one's father!

Y2K with his first gun...



Y2K's Lil' Sister with her first gun...

[papabear]

Nice work Looks good

[pokey]

whoops

[octagon]

Thanks 86'er for the info.

[piller]

Hope both boys have a lot of fun.

[FWiedner]

I built a little .22 for my boy about 20 years ago. Bought a Springfield Model 15 and cut back the barrel to 18", cut the stock to about 10 1/2" LOP. I drilled the mount holes for that base into the receiver with my Craftsman.





Made that butt-plate out of 4 layers of sheet aluminum.

He grew into it and then right back out again.

He used to love going to the range and "ringing the bells" (Shooting miniature steel silouettes).

Good memories. Your boys are going to have great adventures with that little rifle.

[Old Ironsights]

...He grew into it and then right back out again.

For the life of me, I don't understand that one.

I'm lovin' the heck out of the Mini-Bolt I bought "for the Nephews'"... It particularly likes the 30gr "hyper velocity" Aguilas...