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DWalt

SNs somewhat beyond the the theoretical highest SN published for the M81 are known. I have one of them (1950 coded).

DWalt

Optimum propellant choice depends greatly on the bore volume expansion ratio more so than the bullet weight. Larger bores usually do better with faster propellants, such as IMR 4198, which is a favorite in the .45-70. On the other end, it also works very well in the .223 Remington, and my most accur...

DWalt

I would think that 4895 and 3031 would be a bit slow for good performance with the light bullets. The WCs being faster would probably be better. For an IMR powder, 4198 is faster and should be good (my particular favorite propellant with the .223), or you might try BL-C or AA2230 (both are very simi...

DWalt

Not likely that any US-made .32 Remington ammunition was ever loaded using mercuric primers, as those were pretty much history worldwide by the turn of the 20th century, for many very good reasons. Afterwards, until the late 1920's, civilian ammunition was loaded with chlorate-based primers, which w...

DWalt

I can't cite the exact source, but one of the older issues of Handloader's Digest had a very comprehensive article of what factors have the most effect on grouping ability (bullet weight uniformity, powder charge uniformity, uniform flash hole diameter, primer make, case weight uniformity, and a bun...

DWalt

I took the M81 Grade B out to play for the first time today. I used my more-or-less standard load for the .300 Savage which is 37.0 grains of Hercules HiVel #2 and a 150 grain .30 M2 military bullet (I have LOTS of those). I also fired some lead cast bullet loads (165 grain spitzer, with gas check, ...

DWalt

I can't think of a shotgun or rifle barrel having an extension I have ever seen that did not have a separately-attached extension, either screwed on or sweated on the barrel, or by other means. It would be a challenging exercise in machining to make both from the same block of steel. Not necessarily...

DWalt

The stampings do not, to me, resemble the letter c at all, much more like a sideways u under magnification. Then there is the matter of the matching last three numbers. It would be an enormous coincidence to have the same last three numbers as those of the 1941 receiver SN had they not been stamped ...

DWalt

May be someone here that can cast more light on the subject, but the barrel extension appears to be marked .25-35. There are in fact some cartridges known having the .25-35 Remington headstamp legend, but those are not dimensionally identical to the .25 Rem auto. So there is a possibility that some ...

DWalt

OK, I attempted some pictures. Not great, but I have only a $80 point-and-shoot camera. The first one is of the left side, showing the sideways ouu and the last three digits of the receiver serial number is below it (which would normally be covered by the fore end). The ouu is hard to read even with...

DWalt

The sideways "ouu" is not followed by anything. The only other stamping is the last three digits of the SN, below the ouu. Wisner's website provides the following about Remington's numbers. BARREL DATE CODE - stamped on LH top rear of barrel after 1920 R.E.P. Remington proof mark (this mar...

DWalt

I'm guessing that the difference between the Lyman 1A and the 2A is that the former has the pivoted aperture, the latter does not. I assume the piece having two holes is intended to replace the barrel open sight. I had not seen that before.

DWalt

One of my recent postings covered my efforts on a M81 Grade B stock. This particular stock finish was not abused or distressed, mainly dirty, and I did not want to strip it. I cleaned it by wiping it down with straight mineral spirits, then applied two coats (with 4/0 steel wool rubbing between) of ...

DWalt

Tung oil is my favorite. But a couple of cautions - just because it says tung oil on the can does not mean the contents contain a drop of tung oil. The real thing can be found if you look for it. I have owned a quart can of the real stuff for well over 20 years, and have lost count of the number of ...

DWalt

I believe the tang sight I have is a Lyman 1A-AT. I removed it from the rifle for a thorough examination and can find no markings on it. eBay was helpful as there are several 1A sights made for other rifles listed for sale, with good pictures. I can't find any specific mention of the dual aperture f...

DWalt

Out of curiosity, I did some web searching to see if there was any solid information on Williams and his guns. While there is some, much of it is of about the level of detail to be found in Wikipedia, and fairly vague. However it does seem that while he was in prison, he made at least four different...

DWalt

If you do make up some .30 Rem from .30-30 brass, let us know how it went. I think I made up maybe 30 rounds that way, then bought 100 cases from that outfit in Oklahoma City (Reid's?), and found 40 more fired brass cases from the 1930s (in boxes) at a gun show. That 170 cases will be more than I an...

DWalt

I would like to see a detailed drawing of the workings of the actual prison carbine, not necessarily a generic patent drawing. I would think that the entire chamber would have to float, as the floating chamber principle depends on gas from the case mouth forcing the chamber rearward against the bolt...

DWalt

Am moving along on my cleanup of the stock wood. I did notice something stamped on the receiver, at the bottom in front of the magazine. It appears to be "+ B B" (without quotes). Any idea what that might mean? It doesn't seem to be a dating stamp. Maybe another designation of a B grade? C...

DWalt

The M1 Carbine does not use the Williams floating chamber, but a gas-operated tappet piston at about the midpoint of the barrel which acts upon an operating rod. The American Rifleman had an article about the carbine several years back, in which it was stated that Williams had very little to do with...

DWalt

Just a couple of items. First, if you can keep below the maximum cartridge OAL, any bullet will be OK. But as noted, it may not function at maximum load if the bullet is light. That may not always be the case, and the only way to know is to try different powder weights and types for the bullet you w...

DWalt

Most of the rifles seen in the old western movies are 1892s. However, being historically accurate was not a high priority in those days, and you would see the actors using them in movies set in time periods well before the 1892 was even manufactured, even in movies set during or just after the Civil...

DWalt

Much of Texas deer hunting can be described as being more like shooting fish in a barrel anyway. Most leases have stands, and automatic feeders draw in the deer close to them for easy shots. Senderos are cut in brushy areas, and it's just a matter of shooting the deer from a stand when he crosses th...

DWalt

Thanks for the forestock information. I knew it was not original when I bought the rifle, but I figured a -B marked receiver with an original -B buttstock, plus the peep sight, made it worth the price, especially with the metal finish looking pretty good. Both of the other M81s I have (1950 in .30 R...

DWalt

Maybe they are not particularly common now, but at one time trigger shoes had the purpose of providing a wider grooved surface for the trigger fingertip pad to engage. That had the effect of providing a feeling of a lighter trigger pull. They were most commonly used on target guns. I have a Winchest...

DWalt

It's not a modified trigger, merely a trigger shoe held on bu two setscrews.

DWalt

Not too bad. With open sights, from a shooting bench, my M81 in .300 Savage will typically print 5-shot groups of about 3" center to center at 50 yards. That translates into 6" at 100 yards. Many of the local deer hunters have the belief that if you can hit something about the size of a ba...

DWalt

Nice to know I didn't screw up on the price too badly. I put the first coat of DOF on the fore end earlier as a test. It looks great, but is a little blotchy in spots. It will take at least one more coat which I will apply tomorrow. DOF is very thin, unlike the boiled linseed oil products such as Li...

DWalt

Unlike my previous Model 81s which had considerable finish defects, the wood finish on this one is pretty good. Therefore, I am not planning to strip it clear down to the wood. What I plan to do, when I get around to it, is to wipe the wood finish down with mineral spirits to clean off the surface c...

DWalt

If anyone has a lathe and knows how to use it, .30 Rem cases can be made without too much trouble from .30-30 brass. I made a posting here on how I did it. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1229

DWalt

It does have a double border around the grip checkering. I am sure the wood is of the correct quality level for a B grade as it is very nicely figured. Plus of course, the receiver is stamped as 81-B. I have not yet removed the buttstock to check if the serial numbers match, but at present there is ...

DWalt

I have a nice lace-on leather recoil pad I have used on my .45-70 Marlin 1895, looks pretty classy. I bought it some years ago when the old Sportsman's Warehouse chain was still in business, but I imagine those pads are still available. As I have commented earlier, I find the M81 in .300 Savage is p...

DWalt

I just bought this one today. It is in .300 Savage, and from SN it has a 1941 DOB (just like me). It's in very nice condition with only a little bluing wear on the front of the receiver adjacent to the fore end. As you can see, it is missing the factory rear sight but it has the screws. My question ...

DWalt

I would think using 4320 in that loading might be OK. 4320 is slower in burning rate (that's actually not the correct term, but I'll use it) than 4895, so the MV would probably be a bit below 2000 fps. Results might be better with a gas check bullet. One problem that's often mentioned regarding cast...

DWalt

In my opinion, the main drawback of the .300 Savage in the Model 81 is that i would describe the recoil as being brutal, especially from the bench. You would not notice that so much in a hunting scenario. Due to the anticoagulant blood medication I take, I must use a "Sissy Bag" (and there...

DWalt

The Lyman cast bullet handbook contains a wealth of information about bullet casting and reloading cast bullets, and provides a huge amount of reloading data to boot. I don't know if it is still published, as mine is probably over 20 years old. I never got into bullet casting. Too labor intensive, t...

DWalt

I know a lot about them - I have 4 - one of each variation known. I have never had any problems, but I fire them very little. Not too difficult to tear down, but I imagine parts are very difficult to find. I have understood (but not experienced) the most common parts breakage is the locking breech f...

DWalt

I think most reloading manuals still list data for the .300 Savage. .308 loads (and ballistics) are quite similar, but if you use .308 data (and there is really no need to), start on the low end. I use 37 grains of 3031 with a 150 grain bullet. Some prefer a bit slower powder like 4895.

DWalt

H4831 is much too slow in burning rate to be efficient for use in a small capacity case such as the .30 Remington. Faster propellants such as 3031 and 4895 (or their ball powder equivalents) will perform much better. Even faster propellants would probably work better when using lead bullets (2400, I...

DWalt

That shouldn't be too much of a problem. But I hope you don't have difficulty in replacing the tang screw when you go to replace the buttstock. That can really be frustrating. See my post on that topic if it happens to you.

DWalt

Unless struck by the hammer, the firing pin should not protrude at all. Before going to all that trouble, try a primed case in the chamber first and see what happens. There may well be something causing the firing pin to stick forward - maybe it's bent or something, if you are certain there is no se...

DWalt

In fact Teddy Roosevelt took along a Model 8 (in .35 Rem) on his 1909 African expedition. See: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1260

DWalt

Not too difficult to make up Pb bullet loads for .30 Rem that function, and I have done so (I have some postings here about that someplace - repeated below). The issue I had was their truly terrible grouping performance, and I was using commercial hard-cast lead bullets intended for the .30-30. Good...

DWalt

Ans don't forget about the looming UN gun (anti-gun) treaty - This sort of incident makes those in the US Senate who wouldn't normally go along on approval think twice for political reasons.

DWalt

I would be more likely to believe it was related to hammer-sear engagement. One way to tell would to look at a primer for a round that did not fire on bolt closure to see if it was dimpled more than very slightly. Might pull the bullet and dump the powder from a casing (or reprime a sized casing), p...

DWalt

Virtually all CAS shooters load their own, and CAS loads are light. Two reasons - 1. CAS is a timed game, and there is less recovery time with light loads. 2. CAS has velocity restrictions for revolvers and rifles - I think 1000 fps for revolvers and 1200 fps for rifles - Also, only lead bullets are...

DWalt

I have owned only one Model 73, a rifle in .32-20, ca. 1890. Cosmetically, it was pretty good (but not collector grade), and the bore was badly rusted, so it couldn't be fired as anything other than as a noisemaker. At the time (this was about 30 years ago), I could have had the barrel relined for $...

DWalt

The best advice I can give is to use only the recipes provided in reputable reloading manuals, keep your cases trimmed below maximum length, and do not exceed cartridge OAL. Then you should never have excess pressure problems. I'd add that, if at all possible, neck size only to counteract any excess...

DWalt

Why is a collectable firearm dangerous?

DWalt

Plus that god-awful sling swivel on the forearm. One could easily sand down the butt pad to the proper profile, but if you are going to do that, you might as well start with a new rubber pad, one that does not say Mossberg. I don't think it is underpriced by any means.

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