So I skipped the shoot and went to a gunshow today

[Salt Flat Swindler]

I went to the gunshow at Del Mar today instead of going to a shoot today. I went to a match earlier this month so I thought I would take the day to stock up and see if there were any deals.

 

I was shopping for my usual tastes, Savage 99s, Winchester 94s, and Winchester 92s. I found plenty of 92s but I want one in 32-20 and decent shape for under a grand and apparently that isn't going to happen. I found a few 99s but I want one in 30-30. I looked at plenty of 94s but couldn't find one to my liking, until I got to one of the last booths in the show.

 

I found a Winchester 94, in 30-30, from 1958, for $450. Great condition, bright shiny bluing, smooth wood, the barrel was filthy but cleaned up nicely. It has what appears to be a surplus WWII sling on it and a redfield 2x scope. I took the scope off to clean it and noticed the barrel has the usual taps for the scopes. Other than that I think I ended up with a fantastic rifle. It also has a peep sight which seems strange that would be on the rifle with the scope.

 

Does the sight picture for the peep sight requite the rear sight? I haven't used one before. The front sight looks different than the one on my 1964 model. Any suggestions on what to do with the taps in the barrel? I suppose I need to find screws for them and cut them to fit. The scope makes it hard to use for SASS and makes the rifle rather heavy for a 20" carbine.

 

There is no other rifle I'd rather have at my side when flying the ALCAN or traveling around the back country.

[Smithy]

That's what bugs me with Marlins (the tapped holes on the receiver). What I've done with my 92 safety and other misc. holes is to weld them over and polish them smooth. Most being of stainless so finishing wasn't a problem but a little touch of blue could fix things up as well. Smithy.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

Brownells sells plug screws made specifically for this purpose. If you give me some time, I will figure out the hole sizes that were tapped on my '92 and get back to you. I have to find my thread pitch gauge. They will probably be the same.

 

If you can't wait, go top the Brownells site and look up plug screws. They sell a universal kit for a lot of money with a big variety, or you can order packs of a specific size.

 

P.S. They sell plug screws for Marlins too.

 

P.P.S. Regarding the peep sight, it depends. You cannot use a receiver mounted peep sight for a CAS main match rifle, it has to be tang mounted. However, I suppose you are not going to use a 30-30 for a main match rifle. In any case, you use the peep sight instead of the rear sight. This means that when sighting through the peep sight, the rifle's rear sight cannot be in your field of view. If the peep sight is low enough that using it properly means the barrel mounted rear sight is in the way, remove the rear sight. You can fill its dovetail with a filler piece, also available at Brownells. The alternative is to replace the barrel mounted rear sight with a folding rear sight, so you can fold it down out of the way when using the peep. This method works with a tang mounted peep sight that you can fold down out of the way when using the barrel mounted rear sight.

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

Saw you mentioned the Savage 99. Oh how I'd love have a Savage 99 in 300 Savage.

[Salt Flat Swindler]

Saw you mentioned the Savage 99. Oh how I'd love have a Savage 99 in 300 Savage.

 

I found one yesterday in 300 Savage that was in great shape. It had a scope that flipped to the side so you could use the peep sight mounted on the tang. Feller told me the last thing it shot was a bear. If I hadn't gotten the '94 I may have looked at the '99 a little more since it was also priced well.

 

Since my rifle had a scope mounted over the rear sight, the rear sight has been removed and the dovetail filled with a wedge of steel that has been tapped for the rifle scope. All in all it looks like I'll have four taps to fill so I'll see what brownells has to fix them. The peep sight is a lyman sight and it looks like it was installed along with a new front sight, I'll just have to see where it is sighted in to.

[Willy B.SASS#26902]

It looks like I had a real good weekend.

I shot our match yesterday in a three hour window between showers then had some incredible elk chili made by our range master Greybeard for lunch, All in all a great day.

Then today I went to the Delmar Gun Show and of all things found a 1899 Savage in 303 savage, The owner wanted $400 for it and when I asked if he had any wiggle room on it said "What have you got in mind" I offered him $300 for it and I'll be darned if he did'nt take it' He said he had no use for it.

I've spent all afternoon trying to figure out whats wrong with it and so far haven't found anything, The blue looks too good to be true I thought it was a reblue but there's no blue in the couple pits I can see and the lettering is strong doesn't look buffed, The stock is also beautiful and fits the metal perfectly, I've been soaking the bore with kroil and I'm starting to see strong lands I haven't gotten down to the groves yet. At first the magazine would'nt return but a little kroil on it has it working fine. I think for the first time in my life I might have found a real closet queen. I'm still not sure it just looks too good to be over 100 years old. At any rate it should be a good shooter.

Willy B'