The "I've got a new gun thread"...

[safetyfirst]

New to me, Remington 870 express magnum, section 2. Also a section one wingmaster in gorgeous walnut. They're going to undergo a "process" tomorrow and one of them will then be for sale. This is the before photo.

[safetyfirst]

OMG. MY EYES MIIIIYYYYY EEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYIS

So i built this out of an express magnum, a wingmaster and a selection of tactical nonsense.

Quite a transformation.

I was going for "space marine"

[WelshShooter]

You know you're packing serious heat when your mag tube is longer than your barrel!

[safetyfirst]

Ah... I'm hoping for some kind of muzzle brake choke tube to finish it off...

[ovenpaa]

Harrrr! The deal is done and I am now the proud owner of one of these things, the Sako 75 Varmint chambered in 22-250. I was lucky enough to be able to hold onto it for a week which gave me a chance to stuff a bore scope up it and test fire it. It has had one owner from new who we know, the barrel is firecracked and the throat is eroded yet when I tested it I managed sub MOA at 100m/109 yards with a worst 5 shot group of 0.7MOA and best under 0.5MOA so a good honest rifle with the heavy Varmint barrel. The rings are medium Optilock so I need to find a set of low to bring things down.

The 'scope is a 10x50 KAPS SA (Metric) with BDC and I might even machine a new drum for it with my drops, alternatively I could just zero it an inch high at 100 and point and squeeze as a 50 grain Vmax tends to be quite flat at 3,950 fps to 300+ yards. The good thing about the KAPS is it is Mils and the turrets go in the same direction as my PMII plus the glass is every bit as good.

The bipod was used for testing and zeroing the 'scope and will be binned in favour of a sling. I have to admit this rifle is already a real favourite and I cannot wait to get it out across land

[Alpha1]

Nice rifle. How would you go about working out the drops for making a bullet drop compensator. Do you mean the actual turret with new marking or the inner bit. I have different drop compensators for my Kahles I can swop them out depending on calibre. But they came from the manufacturer.

[ovenpaa]

Zero the rifle at a known distance and chronograph it. Now shoot again at a second known distance, typically I would use 100 and 450-400 yards for a cartridge such as this one as it will never be used for serious distance stuff. Make sure you are out on a still day and double check.

Head off to JBM Ballistics (Online) or use your favourite ballistic app to confirm your real life data and fill in the gaps taking note of temperature and altitude.

Machine a new turret which is easy enough as they are very simple on the KAPS, I usually machine a mandrel and cup to hold them if I am making a handful.

Fit the new turret with a strip of masking tape around it and carefully mark on the distance hash marks by counting the clicks from your zero point.

Remove the turret and pop it in the lathe and use a sharp lathe cutter to scribe the marks, this is done by touching onto the drum ring, wind forward a few thou and then wind forwards and it leaves a very neat and sharp line. You can remove any burrs with some very fine wet and dry or similar.

Now you can paint or anodise the turret and either fill the previously cut marks with white paint or re-scribe them again as they will be easily visible. Alternatively as the KAPS drum can be rotated it is as easy to paint/anodise first and then scribe the lines. You can now engrave/stamp or press the figures along side the hash marks.

Job done.

As an alternative the people who do my laser engraving have a rotary fixture so they could accurately laser engrave hash marks and distances for very little cost whilst I wait, downside is it is a 250 mile round trip these days.

[Blackstuff]

OMG. MY EYES MIIIIYYYYY EEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYIS

So i built this out of an express magnum, a wingmaster and a selection of tactical nonsense.

Quite a transformation.

I was going for "space marine"

How much work was it to get it to take AR stocks? Presumably you'll now have to use it with a raised optic as you won't be able to get your head down along the rib?

[DaveB]

Presumably it's got a new barrel as part of the neutering process. A Canuck pal of mine also has an early Tula which he loves.

They are very cheap in Canada (some are under 200 Canadian Loonies), coupled with a magwell adapter to take advantage of a ruling of the the use of "pistol mags" and you can have a nice fun to shoot and cheap to run rifle there, they are also popular in New Zealand and American's can't get enough of them (though russian one's never come there now and other supplies are running dry since chinese stuff was also stopped in 1993).

The SKS is a great everyman's rifle at the end of the day.

Yes, very popular here in NZ. I bought my Chinese copy a few years ago for NZ$380 - still in the cosmoline. Many of them have the bayonet removed (and the attachment ground off) and the magazine reworked to only hold 7 rounds, then you can own it on a A-Category licence.

[safetyfirst]

OMG. MY EYES MIIIIYYYYY EEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYIS

So i built this out of an express magnum, a wingmaster and a selection of tactical nonsense.

Quite a transformation.

I was going for "space marine"

I've been thinking more about this, does anyone have an old steady-cam mount so I can go full colonial marine?