The grandkid's gun

[Shootist43]

Those of you that have been around a while have no doubt read about my fascination with the 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser and the fact that I've purchased one for each of my grandkids. A couple of years ago Michigan changed its' laws regarding youth hunters. Now youngsters 10 years of age can hunt under the immediate supervision of an adult. The problem with the gun however is its' overall size. The solution was to get the barrel and stock shortened. To further reduce recoil I had a muzzle brake installed. However when my 8 year old grandson tried it on for fit, the wrist was way to large for his small hands. I got a hold of Von Gruff and asked him how to reduce the wrist from 6 &1/2 inches in diameter to something a kid could handle. I chickened out and bought a Boyd Thumbhole Featherweight Laminated stock with a 12& 3/4" LOP. Boyd has a caveat stating some final fitting would be required. That proved to be an understatement. The Timney safety (on the side like Winchesters etc.) took me about 5 hours to inlet. The bottom metal required additional work as well. It took me about 3 hours of careful filing, chiseling and sanding but the end result is something I can live with. Sorry for the poor quality photos, cheap camera.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Excellent looking Art! That grandson is going to be one happy little guy!

 

[One Day...]

What !?!?!? You are saddling another poor innocent kid with an antiquated, obsolete, bad caliber good for nothing, when you could have been enlightened and given him an infinitely superior, modern, brand new design, superior ballistics, latest technology 6.5 Creedmoor! Argh, shame on you Art! LOL

+1 on the old Swede and +1 on getting the next generation into shooting & hunting. The bottom inletting is looking good. How much does the entire rig weigh?

My first grand kit is still too young (2 year old), but the rifle his Mom learned on is waiting for him...

Sako Forester .243 Win. Rifle with Zeiss Diatal C 4x32 and home-shortened stock to 12.5" length of pull

• One Day...
• Sep 28, 2018
• 3

 

[BRICKBURN]

Good luck

 

[Shootist43]

For those of you that are curious, that is an old Weaver K4 sitting on top of the Swede. Surprise, surprise.

 

[Art Lambart II]

Great job Opa, Trip loved it.

 

[nztimb]

That is going to work

 

[JakeH]

Looks great to me! A boy’s first real rifle is something to be cherished. I’m still hunting with mine, restocked of course. And a great choice of caliber too!

 

[Ridgewalker]

For those of you that are curious, that is an old Weaver K4 sitting on top of the Swede. Surprise, surprise.

My last K4 the lenses finally came loose maybe 30 years ago. I used a Redfield 4x for another 15 years, then sold it with a Remington 700 30-06. Regretted it ever since. Except when varmint hunting (prairie dogs) or testing loads, I rarely turn my scopes up over 4-6x.
The K4 was one of the best in its hay day!

 

[Shootist43]

I bought a bunch of K 4(s) off eBay. some were perfectly clear, others a bit cloudy. I sent the cloudy ones to Iron Sight and had them rebuilt with duplex reticles. While at Iron Sight, the adjustment mechanism gets repaired as necessary and lubricated, then filled with nitrogen and resealed. They come back just like a new scope. I read somewhere several years ago that if a K 4 was being built today it would cost around $800.00. I look at the Swedes as being "old school" so putting an old school scope on them and shooting old school Nosler Partitions just seem to fit. I don't shoot or hunt at long distances but I do know that my old Swedes will give a Creedmoor a run for its' money at 250 yds. or less.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats to gunsmith and new hunter

 

[Edge]

Looks good!

 

[CAustin]

Looks like a good job to me sir!

 

[7x57Joe]

Looks good to me Shootist your grandchildren are blessed.
Most everything I have is old school so I'm in full agreement with your scope choice. The old Weaver's were built like tanks. I have several among other brands but, never feel disadvantaged when using one. Wish I could find a couple more in really good condition with the Micro Trac adjustments.

 

[Shootist43]

7x57Joe, buy the scopes on eBay and send them off to Iron Sight if they are not up to your standards. Make sure to get toe "old" ones built in El Paso TX. If the ad doesn't mention El Paso or you can't see it in a picture walk away from it.

 

[Shootist43]

My youngest grandson "Trip" and his dad took the rifle to the range yesterday. This was his first time out with a 6.5 x 55. He is 8 & 1/2 so he has a little time to practice. His dad fired tow shots on a separate target just to make sure the shots were on paper the handed it to Trip. You can see that his dad (Art Lambart II) was making scope adjustments along t he way. We are both pretty proud of the lad. See the attached file.

 

[CAustin]

My youngest grandson "Trip" and his dad took the rifle to the range yesterday. This was his first time out with a 6.5 x 55. He is 8 & 1/2 so he has a little time to practice. His dad fired tow shots on a separate target just to make sure the shots were on paper the handed it to Trip. You can see that his dad (Art Lambart II) was making scope adjustments along t he way. We are both pretty proud of the lad. See the attached file.

View attachment 274969

We may have to take that youngster on a safari yet Art!

 

[Art Lambart II]

@CAustin that would be the plan, we are trying to convince @Shootist43 that he needs to hunt Mr Spots and Trip could shoot the bait for him. That sounds like a perfect Grandfather / Grandson hunt to me but so far Shootist43 is not seeing our vision.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Art, I agree with Art II that you need to hunt Mr Spots and let that grandson shoot some bait! Come on now! That sounds like a great three generation hunt! (Easy for this old man to say eh?)

 

[Shootist43]

I am anxiously awaiting those three generation hunts. Before even considering the "vision" mentioned above Trip needs a little more time to develop his shooting skills, which I am 100% positive he will do. There will be stateside hunts for sure, probably limited to hogs and deer. At the moment we are looking into the possibility of taking Trip to Argentina next year on our hunt for Red Stag but most likely he will be an observer. Trip has been bowhunting with us for three years as an observer so he isn't a neophyte in that respect. In short a three generation African hunt isn't out of the question but in reality will be a few years from now.