My Corona...Finally

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The last bit of copper was quite stubborn. Bore looks very nice - couple of spots of etching from just laying around forever. You can see this at the muzzle.
Headspace check out nice and tight. The bolt lugs had very little wear, hardly any finish had been rubbed off. So either they are not engaging, or this rifle really hasn't been fired all that much. Using a tiny bit of 800grit lapping compound, and turning the bolt in just twice showed 80%+ engagement on both lugs!
BTW, an old 30-06 case cut in half, with an extra garand trigger spring inside makes the perfect tool for even pressure when lapping lugs.
The bubba that decided to sporterize an otherwise new or minty surplus rifle likely didn't care for the way it shot. I can't imagine it performing well in this setup - that band was clamped tight against the barrel with a brass shim underneath.

Wouldn't ya know the brass shim has a name and street address on it (no city). Time to do some sleuthing.

EDIT: well, that was easy. Age 76 in Big Fork, Montana. Phone number is in the book. Maybe I'll give him a call? Nah...I'll write a letter - on the matching typewriter

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I pulled my extra stock out of the box. This one is unmarked - last 2 I did were marked with the "K" and bomb on the nose, and were stained too. I wrongfully assumed this one would be the same. This one looks it's age, is unstained, but the key parts of the inletting are nice and sharp whereas the last 2 came a bit rough (dull tools at keystone?)

Here is where we are starting...


There is some damage on the top left edge of the forend. Not worried. The handgaurd will hide some of it, and will look it's age otherwise.
Couple of small knots in the wood, one with a deep gouge right in the middle of it - between the cross bolts. It will need filled in smooth. I especially like the 2 side-by-side on the front of the comb. These will give it lots of character.
Screw holes coated in some type of compound - large butt plate screw hole shows part of it dried into a plastic like film.

Initial test fit shows action holes are aligned, and everything is straight. Tang clearance already perfect. Even the magazine seems to drop in perfect - not loose but not tight either. All we need to do is balance the 3 horizontal surfaces - tang sits a bit high. I think it's gonna turn out grand!

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finished shaping the outside. There was about 1/8 inch excess around parts of the butt plate, and the left side behind the band was quite fat, curving inward and then the handgaurd had an overhang that was significant. I'm pretty happy still. The damage on the top left edge was reduced significantly, and is now much less unsightly, and even passable as normal service use.
Here is a butt-wipe down with turpentine.

I'll proceed to finishing with my own red-oil (raw linseed oil with alkanet root)

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few coats in now. I put it on in the evening, letting it sit overnight before wiping off the excess first thing in the morning. I'll do this all week, then once a week for a month. Matching the hand guard takes some consideration. For that, I use a home-made stain of alkanet root soaked in alcohol. I lightly stain then start the first few coats of oil on the stock and see how the color develops. I then make some dilutions of the stain and wipe on the hand guard until the color comes close to the wet appearance of the stock (after its first few coats), then start oiling the hand guard with untinted RLO. The wood on the hand guards always seem to absorb more color than the stock. After this all dries over a few months, I'll rub in a light coat of BLO (hardware store variety). On the open grain and with its quick drying time, this produces a nice even patina resembling an original 80 year old hand-worn finish, where the red oil and/or alkanet stain reproduces the natural color of 80 years of oxidation.

Hats of again to member rcathey I think it was who shared a pdf and put me down this path with alkanet root.

EDIT: some progress pics. That small split in the knot on the right hand side was filled with epoxy...you can use a bit of your powdered alkanet root to color the epoxy. See you in a couple months with final pics and a range report!

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On to the range! I think I'll make the kids lug the matching typewriter to the firing line to take range notes. Need some pictures of the rifle with the typewriter too.