Closer to making rifle purchases - can ya'll look & comment?

[Ranch Dog]

Adding a "fly" to the ointment!

Here is a Zastava M85 22 Hornet on Gunbroker. You can see it has the unfinished walnut stock that Tru-Oil will make it "POP"!

It closes today and I keep telling myself that I don't need a 22 Hornet but I do love the Mini-Mauser so it is up to you!

[RBHarter]

I wrote a great post ......... it didn't post .

The fine points of the 7x57 aka 7mm Mauser are that it is an old cartridge. As such it is rated at 48,000 psi . It's original loading was for a 175 gr round nose fmj . Kilamajro Bell used it extensively for elephants, ok he probably cheated as compared to Joe Bawana but after you kill 15-20 you should be getting good at it.
There are jacketed bullets of 120,139,150,160 and 175 gr available and the 1-8 twist generally found in the 7x57 is plenty to stabilize even a Spitzer at 175 gr. The heavies can be run into the mid 2300s with a 24 " bbl while the 120s can reach 2900. The 139s will all but match the 06' or 308 150s . In modern actions +P loadings can be safely used ,not that these loads would be a threat to a 98' action. If you happen to get a 1-9.5 twist the 175 gr Spitzer is marginal for stability. As a cast shooter it has the preferred long neck and moulds are readily available in 130-168 gr weights and moulds designed for the 27 cal family are perfect for paper patching.
Since we are hand loaders 4350 and 4831 make nice full case 40k loads while 4859 can be run up to the top speeds with most of the jacketed bullets.
I will admit that it does give up a little bit of BC to the 6.5 but for the parts/tools availability and shelf ammo availability (a reference I hate) it is a superior choice with the broader range of bullet weights available.

Rigby was so impressed with the cartridge that some examples of a 275 Rigby can be found and are in fact just the 7x57 Mauser in a tuxedo but it will give the boys at the rage something to talk about.

[DaveInGA]

Adding a "fly" to the ointment!

Here is a Zastava M85 22 Hornet on Gunbroker. You can see it has the unfinished walnut stock that Tru-Oil will make it "POP"!

It closes today and I keep telling myself that I don't need a 22 Hornet but I do love the Mini-Mauser so it is up to you!

Oh crap de dog its! I was afk today between giving blood at the dr's office, dealing with the nasty anti-biotic the urologist gave me (Cipro - that stuff will kill every single bacteria in your digestive system in a day and a half. Plays total havoc, give you the runs, etc. NO FUN AT ALL! I hate the stuff!) so I haven't felt like doing much.

I haven't been able to find the .22 Hornet in a CZ rifle in the configuration you provided a link to, only the American version. I would have much preferred that rifle. Nice Monte Carlo stock, true Mauser action with the signature Mauser bolt release. If I had seen this, I would have jumped on it like a frog into a pond.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I always liked the Zastava Mini Mausers the best, even above the CZ rifles. CZ's were my second choice and in this one, you can see why.

Look at that pretty piece of Turkish walnut. Steam a little bit to remove the handling dings, let dry, rub up with steel wool to burnish the wood and remove the raised hairs, use a little spirit stain to bring out the grain more, use a little spirit (alcohol based) stain to bring out the grain more (I'd use my own personal mix, probably add a tiny bit of red, hand rub with raw linseed oil, several coats, burnishing and wiping down each time, cover that with pure tung oil, several thin coats, then last, but not least, hit it with a coat of wax, preferably something thinned down with lemon or orange oil so it smells real nice. And it's ready to
go.

Ya'll do know that True Oil is a Varnish, yes? It hardens and provides a beautiful shine. But it has a negative: It doesn't let your walnut stock breath as well as a plain base oil, so if you don't watch it close, it may move on you. BTW, boiled linseed oil has some similar properties and won't turn that beautiful red brown over time that raw linseed oil will. It's what you see that's the red brown in a lot of the WWII military, civilian and older gunstocks.