Saving Pvt. Tommyt

[tommyt654]

Steve and CWS,Thanks for the replys,CWS they are Arisaka's another on my list as Dad was in the Pacific theater as a fighter pilot .I think maybe that Mannlicher Italian job may have been a Carcano. another gun on my list and the rifle that killed JFK for those in the know. I'm far from done collecting and a few other rifles still elude me,but the Garand was one I had shot as a kid as my fathers friends had a few and I still remember getting knocked on my *** more than once shooting one as a youngster and now finally have one that the more I look into it the more I realize how fine a rifle it is and in extremely good shape. A good friend (retired USMC) with whom I shoot with regularly visited today and was amazed at how good the condition of mine was w/respect to the bore and muzzle. He has a neighbor that deals in vintage rifles and we carried it over to let him give us a profesional estimate. His vast knowledge led me to believe I'll die with this one as he stated quite clearly I was a thief and should be shot with my own weapon for getting a rifle in this condition for what I paid and offered $1700 cash on the spot after examining it. I really enjoy shooting,(its relaxing to me)as much as woodworking as well as fishing a great deal, just finding as I'm getting older the days are getting shorter it seems

http://www.surplusrifle.com/carcano9138/index.asp
http://www.surplusrifle.com/arisaka/index.asp

[cwsmith]

Tommy, thanks... the years have warped my memory, obviously; so it's good to be reminded of thier proper names. (Makes me wonder how many old song lyrics I no longer get right too! )

Back when I was a kid, living at home with my folks, the rifle was referred to my it's negative slang "the *ap rifle" (apologies). It wasn't until a few years later that I remember the name and obviously since screw up.

I do remember it as a model 90 though as I had given it's description to a neighbor of my in-laws, who was a retired police detective and a bit of a collector. The rifle came home from the Pacific where my father had served in the Army. About all I knew of his service was that he was there, had seen combat and would never talk or even answer questions about it. His service picture showed him as a staff-sargeant, two or three rows of service ribbons, and two gunnery medals with multiple bars. None of that was ever in the house that I ever saw. The rifle I found in the back of their closet when I helped repaint their bedroom in my early teens.

Dad just handed it too me, said I could use it for drill practice (manual of arms), but was never to fire it, and he never wanted to see it!

I stripped it down, cleaned gobs of cosmoline out of it and off the stock. While the steel seemed to be of good grade and fairly nicely machined, the stock was terrible, almost a softwood of some kind and it was pretty well dinged up with a crack running back across the forearm. The bolt-action had a cover-plate, a steel butt-plate, and everything was in good shape except that the right-side of the front site shield was snapped off and of course the "Chrysanthemum" was filed off.

I wish I had taken that rifle with me when I left home, as today it is missing and no one seems to know what happened to it.

The most powerful rifle I've ever fired was a 45-70. A friend of mine had one (back in the 60's). It was a single-shot "breach-loader"... IIRC, you had to unlatch the top breach, swing it up on it's forward hinge, insert the cartridge all the way into the chamber, close and latch the breach cover. Oddly, I don't remember if it had a bolt or a hammer, which needed to be cocked. I only fired it a couple of times, as it would heavily bruise my shoulder. The first time I fired it, it knocked me down.

Lastly, you are correct about the Italian carbine, it was similar to that used in the JFK assanation. A good friend of mine used to get catalogs from some place called "Surplus Sales"... may have even been "Nebraska Surplus Sales". All kinds of WWI- and WWII-era weapons for hardly any money at all. They had all kinds of "belt-gear", bayonets, etc. I think just about everything was under a $100. Enfields, Mousers, and similar "European" weapons seemed to be abundant back then. I don't recall any Japanese or Chinese weapons though.

Thanks again,

CWS

[chopnhack]

Tommy, I was looking around at ammo prices and was shocked to see 30-06 selling for what 50 bmg was only a few years ago shocking. I haven't shot much in recent history, but used to reload my own 9mm. Only gave it up because the crimping stage never seemed to be tight enough...

[tommyt654]

Yup, ammo prices are ridiculous right now,but that'll change hopefully in a while,What type of crimping die were you using on the 9mm,I'd recommend a Lee if you can find 1

[chopnhack]

Yup, ammo prices are ridiculous right now,but that'll change hopefully in a while,What type of crimping die were you using on the 9mm,I'd recommend a Lee if you can find 1

Actually I had a Lee Pro 1000. I gave it to a friend who had a budding interest in marksmanship. I don't recall what I paid for it, but I had bought that over a decade ago. I probably reloaded close to a thousand rounds before life changes had me putting a garbage bag over it and pretty much moth balling it for a long time!

My rounds were made with either Vhit or Winchester powder - I still have the containers in the garage but I doubt that after this long they are worth a hoot. Also still have a few trays of primers. The main problem I would have was stove piping and blast from the muzzle (think fire more than pressure). I always assumed that the crimp was never tight enough allowing unburnt to travel down the barrel, not getting enough compression to cycle properly but still enough to put the bullet down range adequately enough.

[tommyt654]

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclien...w=1280&bih=623 , google is your friend

[chopnhack]

So much time has elapsed since then that I dont know what to attribute the problem to. One of those threads you linked interestingly enough said that the crimp does nothing for holding the bullet in place, its all achieved by the case being tapered... I don't buy it completely, but it was an interesting thought. It could have been the charge or even my overall length.

[tommyt654]

Yea,lots has changed in recent yrs regarding reloading,currently I'm looking at getting new dies,crimps, etc for the 3006 and with all the new advances in propelants as well as lead(bullets) it may take a while to sort thru all the BS to figure out what to get eventually