A couple months ago I posted about converting my Dad's Mauser actioned 30-06 into a 9.3x62 that I would carry as my go to hunting rifle in lieu of a .375 H&H (http://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=32150&hilit=9.3x62&start=25).
I took that plunge and sold the .375 H&H, followed the collective advice here and had JES re-bore the existing barrel, and left the rifle with a gunsmith to tweak a few other things as well. I got the rifle back in the middle of snow skiing season so wasn't in a hurry to play with things, but slowly (emphasis on SLOWLY) started accumulating the rest of the setup. I found out last week that I drew the one tag offered for a Mountain Goat hunt in the northernmost Unit of Idaho, and suddenly had newfound interest and incentive to finish the rifle and shoot it. I picked up the scope I wanted (which was the incentive for selling the .375 H&H to begin with) and then it took a couple different tries with rings to get enough clearance for the bolt w/o being too much, but finally had everything in hand and put it all together this AM and shot it this afternoon.
Attached are a few pix. The rifle is fairly unique -- Dad had a gunsmith friend of ours build the rifle years ago for him, so he set it up the way he wanted: Mannlicher stock, 23.5" barrel, and a right hand bolt stocked for a left hand shooter (that's how he learned to shoot a bolt action, and it stuck with him even after left-hand bolts became a lot more available). I picked up a box of Norma 232 gr ammo to site in// break-in with, and have found the rifle a pleasure to shoot as a 9.3x62. I'm getting right at 1" groups right now at 100 yds and am very pleased. (With the new rifling, light barrel and long Mannlicher stock I wasn't sure what to expect -- once it's fully broken in and I play around with different holds, it's only going to get better.) I'm pretty excited to play with this during the oncoming summer, and can/t think of a better way to christen it than on a Mountain Goat in some country that my Dad dearly loved.
Anyway, thanks for all the advice last winter.
I took that plunge and sold the .375 H&H, followed the collective advice here and had JES re-bore the existing barrel, and left the rifle with a gunsmith to tweak a few other things as well. I got the rifle back in the middle of snow skiing season so wasn't in a hurry to play with things, but slowly (emphasis on SLOWLY) started accumulating the rest of the setup. I found out last week that I drew the one tag offered for a Mountain Goat hunt in the northernmost Unit of Idaho, and suddenly had newfound interest and incentive to finish the rifle and shoot it. I picked up the scope I wanted (which was the incentive for selling the .375 H&H to begin with) and then it took a couple different tries with rings to get enough clearance for the bolt w/o being too much, but finally had everything in hand and put it all together this AM and shot it this afternoon.
Attached are a few pix. The rifle is fairly unique -- Dad had a gunsmith friend of ours build the rifle years ago for him, so he set it up the way he wanted: Mannlicher stock, 23.5" barrel, and a right hand bolt stocked for a left hand shooter (that's how he learned to shoot a bolt action, and it stuck with him even after left-hand bolts became a lot more available). I picked up a box of Norma 232 gr ammo to site in// break-in with, and have found the rifle a pleasure to shoot as a 9.3x62. I'm getting right at 1" groups right now at 100 yds and am very pleased. (With the new rifling, light barrel and long Mannlicher stock I wasn't sure what to expect -- once it's fully broken in and I play around with different holds, it's only going to get better.) I'm pretty excited to play with this during the oncoming summer, and can/t think of a better way to christen it than on a Mountain Goat in some country that my Dad dearly loved.
Anyway, thanks for all the advice last winter.
