Hi, what is with the Winchester hate?

[Flyer]

I have a Danish parts kit and a well worn Winchester receiver and I want to put them together.

I got both cheap, the kit was bought from an estate, evidently at original cost from the 90s or early 00s. I haven't cleaned out the barrel yet but I think it might be an unissued VAR barrel that was built, racked and then demilled. The receiver was also cheap because it was missing about 90% of its finish and has some fairly pronounced machining marks.

There were other more expensive receiver choices when I was buying, including some nice Italians which would have made a convincing Danish Garand but I grew up down the street from the Winchester Mystery House and I need a Winchester rifle in case of zombie apocalypse. I'm not really in to lever actions or hunting style bolt actions so the Garand is perfect.

I never looked in to Garand Building, I thought it was more involved than a FAL but looking now it seems like with a little luck my headspace will be OK and all I need is a barrel vise and receiver wrench to screw it together.

I think I will try to make a receiver wrench with an oak wood insert to protect the exposed portions of the receiver. I think I can make a simple barrel vise too. That should be far less expensive than buying.

It looks like my barrel gets hand tight about 20° from straight up so it looks like my shoulder is where it needs to be. I'm taking that as a sign that my headspace might be close.

I'm going to do more testing to measure the distance from the end of the bolt to the barrel shoulder with a go gauge in the chamber and the distance from the end of the bolt to the front of the receiver. That should tell me if my headspace will be too loose. If the headspace looks tight, I will look at mildly lapping the bolt and reaming the chamber.

One thing I need to do is disassemble the bolt. That looks like a pain. Is there an easy way?

Any way, I know my Winchester looks rough but it's a battle rifle, what's the big deal? I have seen people mention that Winchester's can command a slight price premium over a Springfield which scarcity might explain but they aren't that scarce. It seems like maybe it's just some good natured ribbing over the rough finish that Winchester's have compared to a Beretta or something.

All I know is that I expect to have a very ruggedly handsome Garand after I get it refinished and with the VAR barrel it should be a shooter too.

[Eli]

It's easy, I assembled my BM59SL in under 2 hours. Choice of tools is up to you, I'll let others chime in.

Eli

[Flyer]

Hi, is every post moderated or can I get approved?

I'm not a spammer.

[jak]

One thing I need to do is disassemble the bolt. That looks like a pain. Is there an easy way?

http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/...boltgroup.html

http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/...boltgroup.html

[Eli]

Hi, is every post moderated or can I get approved?

I'm not a spammer.

I approved the first, I usually approve them. I'm not sure what it takes for the software to accept you as real.

Eli

[Prince Humperdink]

I love the rough,"ugly"Winchesters over all others.I don't need smooth,and "pretty".

[Flyer]

OK, today I will go to the local surplus store that seems to keep some USGI odds and ends to see if they have a combo tool.

[musketjon]

The ONLY tool needed for bolt disassembly is a large, flat blade screwdriver.
Jon

[Flyer]

So, I got the barrel bore and chamber cleaned out. It looks nearly pristine, nice and shiny, no pitting.

I had a set of metric plug gauges (don't ask) and the 7.62mm (0.30000") passed easily. 7.63mm (0.30039") would not go in at the chamber end. It would go in about 1/2" at the muzzle.

Looking at the muzzle, it looks like something was in there scraping the lands and a few spots in the grooves. The scraping is light and I don't think it is bad. If it doesn't shoot up to my high expectations, I might get a recessed crown but I'll have to shoot it first.

Next I disassembled my bolt and cleaned the bolt face. Thanks for the screwdriver tip, it worked perfectly.

Now with a set of digital calipers, the distance from the barrel shoulder to the end of the bolt was 4.329", 4.340" and 3.347" with an empty chamber, go gauge and no-go gauge. That was measured with the depth gauge portion of the calipers. With the bolt inserted in the receiver and held back against the lugs, the distance from the back of the bolt to the front of the receiver was 4.336". That was measured by the main jaws of the caliper.

There might be measurement error there because I was measuring with different parts of the caliper but that suggests that once I torque the barrel in to the receiver, I should be 0.004" short of closing on a go. If I lap the bolt maybe 0.001" until the contact is equalized, I should still have a few thou to cut with a chamber reamer.

So the course of action is to make a receiver wrench and then decide if I should buy barrel vise inserts or make a Garand only barrel vise. I'll torque on the barrel, check headspace, lap the bolt, check headspace and ream the chamber if necessary and then send it off to get re-parkerized.

I wonder if anyone has measured how much a Garand barrel stretches from torquing in to the receiver?

Mine is about 20-25° away from vertical when hand tight. If it was a FAL I would think it is perfect.

I might be buying a pull through chamber reamer unless the barrel stretches just right to headspace.

[Orlando]

A large cresent wrench will work for a receiver wrench. I used one several times befroe I had a real wrench made