Shooting Enthusiasts

[Servant68]

The rifle with the scope and the laminated wood stock. Tell me about that.

It's a Mel Smart built custom rifle based off of a Winchester pre-`64 Model 70 action and one of his proprietary Accra-Bond laminated stocks. It's chambered in .35 Whelen and was built for my dad in the 90's for moose hunting in Canada. He gave it to me in `98 for Christmas.

Mel died in 2003 but the company he helped found, Kilimanjaro Rifles in Kalispell, MT still offers a rifle similar to mine. I had to research all this recently because I wanted to make sure my insurance covered my firearms and had no idea how much the .35 Whelen was worth. A similar Kilimanjaro rifle starts at $17,500... Needless to say I no longer take it hunting. Don't understand having a rifle worth as much as my pickup, but I can appreciate the skill in crafting it.

 

[Shane R]

It's a Mel Smart built custom rifle based off of a Winchester pre-`64 Model 70 action and one of his proprietary Accra-Bond laminated stocks. It's chambered in .35 Whelen and was built for my dad in the 90's for moose hunting in Canada. He gave it to me in `98 for Christmas.

Have you fired it? And, if so, did it perform noticeably better than mass-produced rifles?

 

[Servant68]

Have you fired it? And, if so, did it perform noticeably better than mass-produced rifles?

With my dad's reloads, it will shoot sub-MOA groups at 100yds. About 3/4" groups. And the action is butter smooth. It's hard to describe but the difference is like riding in a Bugatti vs. a 90's Hyundai...

 

[Shane R]

With my dad's reloads, it will shoot sub-MOA groups at 100yds. About 3/4" groups. And the action is butter smooth. It's hard to describe but the difference is like riding in a Bugatti vs. a 90's Hyundai...

I got a chuckle because I currently work in used cars. I've experienced the 90's Hyundai, but not the Bugatti.

I had a No.4 Mk.1 Enfield, and it was a good shooter, but the action got stiff when it was hot. I also had a Czech Mauser, and it was a good shooter, but the sights were only adjustable with a mallet and punch so I never quite got them centered -a shooter had to know which way the rifle tended and adjust with "Kentucky windage."

I went to the national matches in 2013 and I was scheduled to shoot the National Vintage Rifle Match. I had brought the Enfield along (having parted with the Czech Mauser many moons before), but my father offered to let me use his Mosin-Nagant. Now, I had fired that rifle before and thought the recoil was excessive and the trigger was poor (the Enfield had a sweet trigger). Well, I went to the match and did well enough through the first stage. But then, the magazine spring decided it was tired and gave out during the rapid fire stage (the worst possible time) and I had to single-load rounds and only got six away (out of a standard of 10). Then we shot standing-off hand (or un-supported), which was my weak discipline. Anyhow, I finished a little outside of the bottom 5 that year. What was more infuriating is that the boy who won junior champ shot right next to me with a 1903 Springfield. His younger brother was at the same station and shot a Swiss Straight-pull, and was middle of the pack.

I really liked that Enfield. My father bought it for me as a birthday present one year, when they were still about $90-100 and I wanted a center-fire rifle. But he had (improperly) adjusted the bolt at one point so that the action consistently tore brass -and the magazine wore out. I have a Serbian Mauser copy now, and an SKS, and those are my service rifles. I have no particular desire to buy an AR15 at current prices.