My Custom .308 Norma Magnum Build

Jud96

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This is a thread I'm starting to follow along with the custom .308 Norma Mag I'm building with my Dad and Uncle. We are doing all of the work ourselves and I'm really liking the project. It is my first time ever building my own custom rifle. I have helped my Dad do simple work before but never anything like this haha. My Uncle has been doing gunsmithing and building rifles for 40+ years so he is a great man to learn from. My Dad does small time work but built guns in the past so he also is great to work with. I am open to any questions or discussion. Thanks

Here's the Specs:

ACTION: Sporterized Winchester Model 1917 Enfield with floor plate straightened, rear sight ears milled off, stripper clip guides milled off, action trued and lugs lapped, and contoured for a Redfield Remington Model 700 LA one piece base.

BARREL: Hart 1:10 twist, 6 groove, cut at 28" with a custom contour that measures .720 at the muzzle with a target crown

STOCK: Richards Microfit AAA grade American Black Walnut with Rosewood tips and
maple spacers, with extra wide forearm. We are going to do modifications to it in the future once the action and barrel are fully inletted into it.

TRIGGER: Dayton Traister 2-7lbs adjustable with cock on open conversion kit


CAM00318.jpg
First picture shows the action and barrel just threaded together by hand sitting in the stock so we can inlet it. Once we get the reamer in we will chamber it and tighten the barrel down in the barrel vise.

CAM00319.jpg
Next picture is a downward look onto the front of the action and a portion of the barrel showing the contour at the breach.

CAM00322.jpg
This is just a picture of the unfinished stock in the gunsmithing vise while we were inletting.

CAM00324.jpg
Here is a picture that I took showing my Uncle inletting the barrel and removing excess wood in the barrel channel.

IMG950086 (3).jpg
The last picture should have been in the front, but I got everything mixed up haha. It just shows the barrel in the lathe after it had been cut, contoured, and crowned.

This is my first time making one of these threads so I hope I have done everything right haha. Thanks
 
Haven't posted in awhile, but the rifle is finally done and all it needs now is a scope. Took awhile to finish because we were all pretty busy the past year and we waited 3 months for new blueing salts to come in! But the Norma is all done and below are some quick pictures I took of her.
 

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This is a thread I'm starting to follow along with the custom .308 Norma Mag I'm building with my Dad and Uncle. We are doing all of the work ourselves and I'm really liking the project. It is my first time ever building my own custom rifle. I have helped my Dad do simple work before but never anything like this haha. My Uncle has been doing gunsmithing and building rifles for 40+ years so he is a great man to learn from. My Dad does small time work but built guns in the past so he also is great to work with. I am open to any questions or discussion. Thanks

Here's the Specs:

ACTION: Sporterized Winchester Model 1917 Enfield with floor plate straightened, rear sight ears milled off, stripper clip guides milled off, action trued and lugs lapped, and contoured for a Redfield Remington Model 700 LA one piece base.

BARREL: Hart 1:10 twist, 6 groove, cut at 28" with a custom contour that measures .720 at the muzzle with a target crown

STOCK: Richards Microfit AAA grade American Black Walnut with Rosewood tips and
maple spacers, with extra wide forearm. We are going to do modifications to it in the future once the action and barrel are fully inletted into it.

TRIGGER: Dayton Traister 2-7lbs adjustable with cock on open conversion kit


View attachment 32245
First picture shows the action and barrel just threaded together by hand sitting in the stock so we can inlet it. Once we get the reamer in we will chamber it and tighten the barrel down in the barrel vise.

View attachment 32246
Next picture is a downward look onto the front of the action and a portion of the barrel showing the contour at the breach.

View attachment 32247
This is just a picture of the unfinished stock in the gunsmithing vise while we were inletting.

View attachment 32248
Here is a picture that I took showing my Uncle inletting the barrel and removing excess wood in the barrel channel.

View attachment 32251
The last picture should have been in the front, but I got everything mixed up haha. It just shows the barrel in the lathe after it had been cut, contoured, and crowned.

This is my first time making one of these threads so I hope I have done everything right haha. Thanks
First "rule of thumb",,,, do no stock work until the metal work is complete. That includes having the barrel torqued in to its final position. I'm NO fan of 'cock on opening' conversions. Doesn't Timney offer a trigger for the 1917? Richards Micro has nice pretty pics on their web site, but the quality of their wood leaves much to be desired. There are much better sources for pre-inletted wood stocks. JMO, from a guy who's 'sporterized' many military actions.
 
First "rule of thumb",,,, do no stock work until the metal work is complete. That includes having the barrel torqued in to its final position. I'm NO fan of 'cock on opening' conversions. Doesn't Timney offer a trigger for the 1917? Richards Micro has nice pretty pics on their web site, but the quality of their wood leaves much to be desired. There are much better sources for pre-inletted wood stocks. JMO, from a guy who's 'sporterized' many military actions.

My Uncle has been smithing for 40+ years so he knows what he is doing. The rifle is done and you can see how well it turned out. I converted it from cock on closing to cock on opening and it works flawlessly and the trigger is a crisp 2lbs. The stock turned out excellent, but if you know how to finish a stock, you can make anything look good. The Richard's stock required only minor inletting in the action and was a very nice piece of wood in my opinion.
 
That is a pretty rifle. It's one of the great things about working with guns - if I were going to sporterize my Enfield I don't know that I would choose any of the same specs that you have, but I really like it. The fact that it was a family project just makes it that much more special.

Did you figure out the scope you want on it? If you have a chance would you mind posting a pic of the underside of the finished action and trigger area?

Really nice work.
 
That is a pretty rifle. It's one of the great things about working with guns - if I were going to sporterize my Enfield I don't know that I would choose any of the same specs that you have, but I really like it. The fact that it was a family project just makes it that much more special.

Did you figure out the scope you want on it? If you have a chance would you mind posting a pic of the underside of the finished action and trigger area?

Really nice work.
Thank you! The rifle is definitely different than any other Enfield I have seen and I wanted it that way. I really like how it turned out and like the finish of the metal and wood. I also decided to leave the bend in the bolt handle and jeweled the follower, bolt, and extractor. I am not sure on a scope, but I'm thinking about going with a classic looking scope to match the polished and fancy look of the rifle. As for a scope, I would like either a Leupold VX-2 6-18x40 or VX-3 6.5-20x40 with target knobs. I like Weaver scopes as well and may consider like a V-16 Classic or Weaver Super Slam. I also am a fan of Vortex, but I think the Vortex scopes look a little too tactical and modern for this rifle haha.

How does it shoot? I have two barrels chambered for the 308 norma magnum. Both shoot very accurate.
No I have not yet shot it yet. I am just waiting on getting a scope, then I will test it out.
 
Very nicely done and a great family project. I've always been a fan of the model 1917 and have owned several, one actually had a Hart barrel chambered in 308 Norma.

The stock looks great and I've always liked the look of the bent bolt handle. I recently parted with the last one I had thinking I was never going to do anything with it. Seeing yours makes me wish I hadn't. Great job!
 
Very nicely done and a great family project. I've always been a fan of the model 1917 and have owned several, one actually had a Hart barrel chambered in 308 Norma.

The stock looks great and I've always liked the look of the bent bolt handle. I recently parted with the last one I had thinking I was never going to do anything with it. Seeing yours makes me wish I hadn't. Great job!

Thanks a lot! I am really happy with how it turned out!
 
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