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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 2, 2018 18:11:02 GMT
Sure, the Swiss used Sweedish ammo, the Sweeds used German, the Germans used Russian, and the Russians used Japanese. It was Japan that used the Swiss ammo.
What's so hard to understand about that?
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Post by Horsie on Dec 2, 2018 20:34:34 GMT
Pretty much. I've discovered that gun stores around here staffed by older guys tend to be knowledgeable about hunting guns, but that's it. They're usually completely lost when it comes to surplus rifles, but that doesn't stop them from knowing everything.
I've been told (at a different store, in another province) that putting 6.5mm Swedish through a rifle chambered for 6.5x55mm, or vice versa, risks a catastrophic failure. When I said they were the same cartridge, it was just a labelling thing, I was told it wasn't, and I was going to get someone hurt if I kept telling people they were the same.
At that same place I asked if they had any K31s, at the time the civilian version of the Sig 550 had just been made prohibited, and I was told "Sir, we don't sell prohibited firearms, that'd be illegal."
"No, you're thinking of the Swiss Arms rifle, designed in the 1980s, I'm talking about a bolt-action from the 1930s."
"We do not sell prohibited firearms. You're asking for a machine gun, God only knows what you want it for, but we don't sell illegal guns."
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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 2, 2018 21:32:13 GMT
I'd say go somewhere else but I get the impression that your choices are limited.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 2, 2018 23:36:50 GMT
It depends on what I'm looking for. If I'm trying to find something you'll likely get in a hunting store I'm shit out of luck for other options, if I'm looking for surplus guns, or ammo (especially for old service rifles), I go to a surplus store in town, the guys I deal with there are pretty knowledgeable and don't talk out of their ass.
The place where I was warned about putting +P .38spl or told that 7.5x55mm doesn't exist is the sort of place I go mostly to look for really good deals on used guns, they do consignment there and in my experience they tend not to make recommendations on what you should ask for a gun. I bought that mint S&W 2206 for $300, I got a nice single-shot BSA target rifle for $150, at one point they had a Webley W.G. that came in the original wooden box with tools, cleaning rod, and oil bottle, several front sight blades of different heights, and the thing looked like it'd never been touched, the bluing was immaculate.
Someone beat me to it, I'd have bought it even if I didn't have the money to spend, it sold for $900.
Here's some photos of the Hi-Power;
As you can see, bluing is probably +90%,, the spots with the most wear are the edges of the slide and frame, especially the right side up near the muzzle.
And I put this together too;
It's actually a lot shorter than it looks, it's got a 16" barrel, I think the stock just makes it longer. It's got a government profile barrel, 3 prong flash hider, and the irons off an HK416. I'll have to see if I can borrow someone's fishing scale to get the weight, but it must be around 6-7lbs.
The sight picture is great, since the rear is a round peep and you naturally align it with the round front sight protector. Zeroing elevation is a pain in the ass though, the drum with the sight apertures is threaded onto a central drum that rotates into 4 positions, they're held together by a pair of spring loaded detents. You have to compress the detents into the central drum so you can thread or unthread the sight drum to adjust elevation;
The detents are in those two little grooves in the middle, and you don't push down (that'd be too easy), you push them in towards the centre, which is easy with the sight adjustment tool;
But that's like $120Cdn, and none of the places that carry them will ship to Canada anyway, so I'm using a haemostat instead.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 3, 2018 1:08:02 GMT
The serial number on that browning is very interesting. It seems to be a "T" designation from between 1964-1968, but the number is much higher than any resources I have for 1968(by a factor of 11k). In 69 they started to stamp the year as the first two digits and designated the Hi-Power with a "C" instead, but I think they started that mid year. Still, your number is higher than what Browning has on record. Though I'd probably just call it a 1969 and chalk it up to a record error, might be one of the last "T"s which would make it an interesting piece. Israel would have been a large buyer at the time and it does have a lariat loop, which is a feature they typically demand for their police and service sidearms, so it not a stretch to say it's Israeli. Although they weren't the only ones who would want that.
I love that style of HK site, but 120 bucks to adjust the elevation is a bit steep. Not to mention once you're dialed in the tool becomes useless.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 3, 2018 3:13:08 GMT
That'd be if it was one made for Browning Arms Company of Utah, this was one of the guns sold directly by FN;
FN's serial numbers are a fucking mess, there's no info about anything prior to WW2, and after the war the serial numbers were all over the map, apparently customers placing a large enough order could specify a serial number range they wanted. From what I've read online, the best way to date a gun with matching serial numbers is to look for the date marks on individual parts and inspector's stamps, you can narrow it down, but it seems like it's very difficult to get a precise year of manufacture with FN guns.
I've encountered a lot of shit like that; why am I going to spend $100+ on a special tool I'm only going to use once in a blue moon when I can just make something work for the same price as a cup of coffee? I don't think I even paid for the haemostat actually, I think my mother took it from the hospital for something and I got my hands on it and stuck it in my toolbox, for just such an occasion.
My buddy has one of those prohibited Swiss Arms/civie Sig 550 rifles with the same style of sight, I fell in love with it since it's just so simple and effective. The type I have doesn't use a notch for the 100m sight and apertures for 200-400m, it uses apertures for all 4 positions.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 6, 2018 21:18:32 GMT
I remembered I got a bag of assorted springs for something a while ago, I got a short one and stuck it inside the recoil spring in the Hi-Power. I had to try a few before I got one that added some weight to the slide but didn't fully compress before the slide was all the way back.
I've still got the proper springs on the way, both a standard and heavy weight spring, but I'm hoping this'll be a suitable fix to hold me over until those arrive next year.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 7, 2018 20:48:33 GMT
It works just fine with the extra spring, I didn't try it with 124gr (apparently that was what the Hi-Power was designed for), but I put a whole box of 115gr through it without any issues.
It's pretty accurate too; rapid firing at 20m I was putting every round inside the 8 ring on a small pistol target, and most of them were within the 9 ring.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 9, 2018 3:57:32 GMT
wordweaver3 ; I just ordered a fuck off big can of Ballistol, have you ever used that?
I only discovered it recently, and if you can get past the smell it's probably one of the better gun oils out there, I've been using it on some of my old rifles, and I finished a stock recently with a final coat of this stuff. It doesn't displace water, it mixes with it and still forms a protective film, which I think is better if you expect your gun to get really wet, in that case a displacing oil would itself probably get displaced right off the gun. I don't know the exact freeing temperature, but it seems like it's really low, I've oiled some tools with it and left them in my truck, and even at -15C it's still liquid (one of it's advertised uses is to prevent locks from freezing).
You can also use it to clean minor wounds and infections, and apparently it might work as deer bait too.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 9, 2018 5:25:32 GMT
That's more of a European thing isn't it?
I've never used it. I've never even seen it in a store. Though if it smells anything like PB Blaster I probably wouldn't use it.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 9, 2018 5:48:17 GMT
Yeah, it's what the Germans used in both world wars, though a lot of online firearm places in Canada have started carrying it, and one of the stores I go to all the time has little 2fl.oz glass bottles of it.
Not familiar with PB Blaster, but this stuff smell like liquorice, but kind of wrong, like cheap absinthe I guess. I know some people don't like it. If it's in a thin film it's not very noticeable, but if you do like I did and spill a whole bottle down the back of your shirt you'll notice.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 9, 2018 6:20:18 GMT
PB Blaster smells like if you mixed every chemical in your garage together. It penetrates rusted bolts like nobody's business, but the stink is just too much.
Plus the stuff melts styrofoam like the wicked witch of the west.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 9, 2018 7:30:11 GMT
I've heard it's corrosive on skin too, not something I'd use for anything. I have a paint stripper gel that's pretty bad, it'll eat through latex and nitrile gloves pretty quickly, the fumes are awful, it'll remove several layers of paint at a time and even draw oil and cosmoline out of wood, but somehow it's safe to use on wood.
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Post by Horsie on Dec 16, 2018 22:08:17 GMT
Just got rid of a couple of rifles I don't use any more, I've paid for a Finnish M39, I'll pick it up later this week. I've always wanted one, they're a Mosin-Nagant if a Mosin-Nagant was actually a good rifle, but they're not common in Canada and they tend to be more expensive than I'm willing to pay for most surplus bolt-actions.
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Post by wordweaver3 on Dec 20, 2018 6:23:11 GMT
My Mosin is actually pretty solid with one key exception, the magazine doesn't feed worth a damn. It's not rimlock either. For some reason it doesn't position the ammo correctly so if I try to cycle after firing the case will flip up. Instead of going into battery it basically does a handstand which jams the mag up something awful. I can avoid this by pushing down on each round right before closing the bolt which will position it correctly. I thought about picking up an M39 magazine just to fix that issue. Something that Smith Sights sells for 65 bucks.
Which rifles did you sell?
Only asking so I can browbeat you for doing so.
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