Newly completed custom Bob

E

efw

Handloader
Jan 17, 2011
617
0
A buddy of mine got a great deal on this almost complete but abandoned custom. Ironically it was exactly as I'd have done it (save perhaps stock & barrel contour) so when he offered it to me for a son I couldn't resist. The Swede BM unit was stock military, the root of the bolt knob needed tidying, and it was in the white.

I haven't had a good experience w/ cheap blue, didn't have the cabbage for rust blue, and was contemplating Cerakote when a friend brought over his Metalife plated rifle. Seeing it and reading the info available on their site (link below) I was/am sold!

Mike McCabe contoured the trigger guard for me, and a local guy finished off the knob weld.

Blueprint:

Yugo 48 Intermediate Mauser action
S&K Rings & Sculpted Bases/Rings (all plated)
Dakota 3- position "M70-style" safety
Custom knob
#3 CM Shilen 1-in-10" twist tube trimmed to 21" chambered to .257 Roberts
Boyd's Classic Nutmeg laminate
Mahovsky's Metalife Plating
M8 6x 42mm w/ Euro #4 reticle

(I purchased a silver VX-II 3-9x 40mm which came with a Plex reticle, and was forwarded to the custom shop for a LR hunting reticle and it'll go on this rifle when it returns)











Contouring of the Swede BM unit:



cartridge designation:



Today on 1st range visit:





1st 2 groups on paper; 100 gr SGKs & IMR-4350 showing promise!



Planning to work up 100 gr NBT & Solid-Base loads for Mi deer and 110 NAB &115 NPT loads, the best of which I'll take with me to the Black Hills of South Dakota where my 11 yo son and I are whitetail hunting in November!
 
Goodness that is a purtty rifle! Mkes me wish I would have left mine in the white, rather than blueing it. How'd things work out with the Boyds stock? That is great looking finish. What bolt shroud and safety did you use. Officially jealous of that. CL
P.S. And in .25 Cal. too!!!
 
Very handsome, Eric; and it looks as if it will be a shooter! Bonus! You've done well.
 
Try IMR 4350, 46 grains will get you to over 3000 fps, even with the short tube. Nice rifle, BTW! I use BR2 primers and Nosler cases in my .257 Roberts, FN action. You should be able to find a sub-MOA load with that cartridge.
 
That looks really good, it will be a great gun for your son. The 257 Roberts covers a lot of different hunting, nice.
 
Wow! Very nice rifle Eric! That is a truly awesome build and on a Mauser makes it that much cooler too!

I imagine it'll shoot really well too once it settles in. Way to go. Great cartridge!
 
Very nice Eric.
I use the same load as Charlie for 3000 fps and sub MOA accuracy

JD338
 
Thanks for the compliments gentlemen!

This is actually my rifle. My 11 yo has a Bob on a Turk w/ lighter taper barrel, and my 8 yo has a Swede on a LR Steyr 98 w/ carbine-length #2 taper & lighter weight aluminum "in-the-bow" Parker Hale BM unit. Will prob drop into a High Tech Spec for him.

I think that 46 gr load was one of the 2 pictured. Jon Barsness calls that his "go to load" in the Bob. I'm going to try Hunter as well.

Rig as pictured weighs a whopping 9 lbs 14 oz?
 
Eric that is a great looking rifle :wink:. I bet with a little load development it will be driving tacks!!!

Blessings,
Dan
 
I am one on those people who was already on earth when the .243 came out in 1955. In Maine where I lived, any local thought for uses of the 100 grain .243, was that it was for shooting wharf rats at night or perhaps sea gulls, while pulling traps, certainly not for deer and such animals. We did not have a moose or much of a bear season then so these animals did not count. A few local people owned .257 Roberts but they shot the 117 grain round nosed bullets for hunting deer. No one owned a .243 but city slickers who did not know anything anyhow.

The .257 Roberts had already been around for 20 years and was a proven gun with the 117 gr bullets for deer, plus the .250-3000 Savage had been around by then for 40 years and was a proven deer killer with 100 grain .25 caliber bullets but mostly for guys who were better shots and good enough at woods craft to get closer to deer.

When the Marketeer's at Winchester told people that the .243 was for deer, the locals figured they were trying to sell a pig-in-a-poke to Highlanders (city people) who did not know anything anyhow! So the locals kept using their .30-30's and .300 Savages. to kill deer. Life went on pretty much like this until the start of the Viet Nam war, when they issued 5.56 (.223) rifle to soldiers to kill men.

This was about the time that most people became aware of kinetic energy and wound profiles from fast, small bullets. This awareness of smaller caliber and fast bullets learned in the late 1960's pretty much changed the shooting world forever. All of the sudden, the 100 grain .243 bullet was for big game.
 
Mighty fine looking rifle there EFW. I like everything, the stock, the Mauser action, the custom barrel, the chambering... It's NICE.

Your 1:10 twist barrel should handle the 115's real well. They shoot great from the 1:10 twist on my .25-06, and have proven very deadly on game as well.

Congrats on a really nice rifle!

Guy
 
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