Hello

[LEAD POISON]

Nice avatar!
Oh Yeah I forgot. Welcome.

[Bhamm]

I finished my 30-06 Mini today. I have had most of the parts for a drop down gas cylinder conversion but have not had the time to convert the Mini. I had to drive 240 miles round trip to Sparks Nevada where I took my lower band for machining. I decided to use Jack, from JRA Gunsmithing in Sparks because he was easy to talk to on the phone, and he is a Master Gunsmith (a dying breed). He machined the part while I waited and I was back on the road in thirty minutes for very cheap.

I was using the "builder" lower band from Standard Parts, but it would not work without milling some material off the face and making it thinner so the gas ports would line up.

It was worth the drive and the part came out beautifully. I really like the way the rifle came out, and I prefer it over my mag fed Mini.

I also filled the original rear sling swivel and used a 1903A3 sling swivel, which I inlet into the side of the stock to match the BM59 front swivel. What do you think?

I got much of my inspiration from this very forum so thank you all.

Bhamm

[Punch The Clown]

Nice job. You definitely have skills. Tim machines a band for the Mini-G that is flat in the front. The BM59 or Greg's Builders Band are too thick for the Mini-G as you found out. You could have saved a 240 mile drive but there are times you just need a road trip. Beautiful rifle.

[Bhamm]

Thank you PTC.

I wanted to do everything locally and try to keep it within my control$ My Mini was a First Gen build and I wanted to be there when everything was fitted.

Really I just wanted to drive. Told my wife it was a "must do" situation.

I am really disappointed in local gunsmiths. Unless you are asking to mount a scope base on a Remington 700 or other simplistic job, they have no clue what to do with real metal machining. Jack had a full machine shop and showed me barrels and cylinders he was making for custom revolver jobs. It's nice to deal with professionals (like Tim) and get what you ask for.

[Eli]

Most people don't want to pay for 'real' gunsmithing any more. My father was working on a 6.5 Jap project - building a bull barrel .308 - and the costs were ridiculous. The barrel cost nearly what a Remington 700 ADL cost, the projected cost of the stock was enough to buy two Remingtons. With CNC production of new guns, out-of-the-box accuracy that could only be dreamed of 50+ years ago, etc., it's fast becoming a dying profession.

Eli

[Shug]

I think the part of the profession that is dying is that of the assemblers and part swappers. A lot of the true value-added smiths have multi-month backlogs of work. Professionals who service the part of the market that caters to those who want (and are willing to pay for) high quality custom or restoration work should be pretty secure for a long while. It's the same thing that's happened in other professions, where the low end work gets automated and/or commodotized and rendered unprofitable, but high-end work remains very profitable for the smaller number of professionals who have talent, a work ethic, and understand their customer base. I'm not arguing whether that trend is good or bad, but just that it exists and is driven by market realities.

Back to the original poster's project: What did you do for an oprod for your project?

[Old Guard]

Welcome, Nice to see another guy whom is not afraid to tackle re-working rifles...Nice work on your Mini-g from what you posted...

[Bhamm]

"Back to the original poster's project: What did you do for an oprod for your project?"

I had Tim bend mine straight. Same length as regular Mini op rod.

Bhamm