- Messages
- 4,210
- Reactions
- 6,918
Once again I acquired a Remington Model 722 in order to obtain a different gun. (This one came with the Jeffery Mannlicher highlighted here: https://www.northwestfirearms.com/threads/was-the-first-mannlicher-really-a-mannlicher.433029 )
I took it in with a cannibalistic attitude: I've always wanted to have a .25 Souper (.25-.308) and the 722 is a perfect platform for any short-action custom gun. This specimen was .300 Savage and I already had a 722 .300 Savage (mentioned in a thread regarding a 721 .270) as my "Puzzle Gun" with three operational and calibrated sighting systems all period correct for the gun. One more reason I could give myself license to butcher this.300.
But the 722's are fast disappearing for just this reason. They are being carved up and parted out primarily for the superb action (better than a 700 toward my tastes). Junker guns are going for "operational rifle" prices just to get the action. And this was a NICE one. With "Ol' Bob" (the .257) in the works for major reconstructive surgery, even the stock on this .300 was being eyed with carnivorous intent. It was all there and nearly perfect, with no customary "cut-out" for a receiver peep, and only period-correct swivels installed. Aluminum Remington buttplate extant. That stock would instantly solve a LOT of problems for "Ol' Bob".
IF I intended to "restore" him. I did not. Rather, "Ol' Bob" was a candidate what car guys might call a "Resto-Mod". I brought him up to full speed with dynamite optics, glass bedding and floating to give the .257 Roberts (with modern loadings) all the attention it deserves as a high-performance long-range cartridge for plains hunting. I saved the horribly abused wood and got rewarded for doing so by just looking at it. Originality for "Ol' Bob" ended there.
So the little .300 languished. Finishing with "Ol' Bob", I dug out the nice .300 and really gave it a once-over. I couldn't butcher it any more than I could cut the leg off a good lookin' dog. Denatured alcohol cut through decades of cigarette and wood smoke coating on the wood. It rivaled the figure on "Ol' Bob", but the factory dark oil finish would not be violated. Really only two injuries to the wood existed: a rather distinct indentation near the left side of the receiver ("I TOLD Fred NOT to put my new rifle in his Jeep rack!") and some shallow, repetitious looking "pry marks" suspiciously associated with the ejection port (I TOLD Fred I didn't WANT to try his "hot loads"!) Both were evident of post-war mishaps the owner would not want to hold himself responsible for on such a well cared-for rifle.
And the only sights were the factory buckhorns. Helluva hunter owned this rifle, and I'd bet it never failed. Scope base screws (ALL screws for that matter) had never been turned. Since 1949. You do the math.
We can make him better. We have the technology...
...and "Ol' Bob" donated his eyes to his older brother. The .257 came with a VERY iconic and revolutionary scope (and would have been retained if "resto-mod" wasn't the goal). If you are not familiar, this is the scope that turned the rifle optics field on its ear:
The Weaver K4-60B with range-finding reticle (a pioneer optic introducing a centered-view reticle independent of adjustment). If sights fascinate you as they have possessed me, here's a good blog entry about this remarkable scope
www.vintagegunscopes.com
A horizontal stadia wire was beneath the crosshair in the view. NOT to indicate "18 inches like the chest on a deer" (on this fixed 4x scope) like later versions of range-finding scopes, but rather the common increment of 12" or one foot (at 100 yards). A chart was issued by Weaver noting popular factory loads and point of impact (departing from the center crosshair) for your cartridge. (Field testing was STRONGLY' and properly recommended: something often missing from modern "drop tables" that junior shooters too often believe they can rely on). The system worked and built a strong reputation on kills worldwide.
I was going to send it off to Vintage for an overhaul, tossed it in the freezer three separate times and got no Cumulus cloud inside when it came into a warm room, so put it (and the "period correct" Beuhler mount and rings) on the little .300. I felt sort of guilty turning those untouched plug screws out of the receiver. 4x is more than enough magnification for almost all applications (except a "racehorsed" Roberts), and would grant the little .300 some extra reach if not bettering its undoubted previous successes. 1956 is the debut year for the K4-60B, and this makes perfect sense that a workin' man buyin' a 722 in 1949 might just have to wait until 1956 to buy the best scope he could find.
(Or, like this previous owner he would kill more deer and elk than all his buddies with only his buckhorns and NEVER need a scope.)
"A pair to draw to." Winter projects focused on Remington 722's: "Ol' Bob" was a Resto-Mod, and "The little .300" didn't need much to make it perfect. The Weaver K4-60B was a milestone in American optics. Note the 1.25" tooled leather civilian sling to match the swivels...military style, civilian manufacture (it's 1949 for cryin' out loud!)
I took it in with a cannibalistic attitude: I've always wanted to have a .25 Souper (.25-.308) and the 722 is a perfect platform for any short-action custom gun. This specimen was .300 Savage and I already had a 722 .300 Savage (mentioned in a thread regarding a 721 .270) as my "Puzzle Gun" with three operational and calibrated sighting systems all period correct for the gun. One more reason I could give myself license to butcher this.300.
But the 722's are fast disappearing for just this reason. They are being carved up and parted out primarily for the superb action (better than a 700 toward my tastes). Junker guns are going for "operational rifle" prices just to get the action. And this was a NICE one. With "Ol' Bob" (the .257) in the works for major reconstructive surgery, even the stock on this .300 was being eyed with carnivorous intent. It was all there and nearly perfect, with no customary "cut-out" for a receiver peep, and only period-correct swivels installed. Aluminum Remington buttplate extant. That stock would instantly solve a LOT of problems for "Ol' Bob".
IF I intended to "restore" him. I did not. Rather, "Ol' Bob" was a candidate what car guys might call a "Resto-Mod". I brought him up to full speed with dynamite optics, glass bedding and floating to give the .257 Roberts (with modern loadings) all the attention it deserves as a high-performance long-range cartridge for plains hunting. I saved the horribly abused wood and got rewarded for doing so by just looking at it. Originality for "Ol' Bob" ended there.
So the little .300 languished. Finishing with "Ol' Bob", I dug out the nice .300 and really gave it a once-over. I couldn't butcher it any more than I could cut the leg off a good lookin' dog. Denatured alcohol cut through decades of cigarette and wood smoke coating on the wood. It rivaled the figure on "Ol' Bob", but the factory dark oil finish would not be violated. Really only two injuries to the wood existed: a rather distinct indentation near the left side of the receiver ("I TOLD Fred NOT to put my new rifle in his Jeep rack!") and some shallow, repetitious looking "pry marks" suspiciously associated with the ejection port (I TOLD Fred I didn't WANT to try his "hot loads"!) Both were evident of post-war mishaps the owner would not want to hold himself responsible for on such a well cared-for rifle.
And the only sights were the factory buckhorns. Helluva hunter owned this rifle, and I'd bet it never failed. Scope base screws (ALL screws for that matter) had never been turned. Since 1949. You do the math.
We can make him better. We have the technology...
...and "Ol' Bob" donated his eyes to his older brother. The .257 came with a VERY iconic and revolutionary scope (and would have been retained if "resto-mod" wasn't the goal). If you are not familiar, this is the scope that turned the rifle optics field on its ear:
The Weaver K4-60B with range-finding reticle (a pioneer optic introducing a centered-view reticle independent of adjustment). If sights fascinate you as they have possessed me, here's a good blog entry about this remarkable scope
Vintage Gun Scopes — The Best of the Most Famous, the Weaver K4-60B
No other scope topped more rifles during that period. It was the most popular and is still the most famous hunting scope ever made.
www.vintagegunscopes.com
A horizontal stadia wire was beneath the crosshair in the view. NOT to indicate "18 inches like the chest on a deer" (on this fixed 4x scope) like later versions of range-finding scopes, but rather the common increment of 12" or one foot (at 100 yards). A chart was issued by Weaver noting popular factory loads and point of impact (departing from the center crosshair) for your cartridge. (Field testing was STRONGLY' and properly recommended: something often missing from modern "drop tables" that junior shooters too often believe they can rely on). The system worked and built a strong reputation on kills worldwide.
I was going to send it off to Vintage for an overhaul, tossed it in the freezer three separate times and got no Cumulus cloud inside when it came into a warm room, so put it (and the "period correct" Beuhler mount and rings) on the little .300. I felt sort of guilty turning those untouched plug screws out of the receiver. 4x is more than enough magnification for almost all applications (except a "racehorsed" Roberts), and would grant the little .300 some extra reach if not bettering its undoubted previous successes. 1956 is the debut year for the K4-60B, and this makes perfect sense that a workin' man buyin' a 722 in 1949 might just have to wait until 1956 to buy the best scope he could find.
(Or, like this previous owner he would kill more deer and elk than all his buddies with only his buckhorns and NEVER need a scope.)
"A pair to draw to." Winter projects focused on Remington 722's: "Ol' Bob" was a Resto-Mod, and "The little .300" didn't need much to make it perfect. The Weaver K4-60B was a milestone in American optics. Note the 1.25" tooled leather civilian sling to match the swivels...military style, civilian manufacture (it's 1949 for cryin' out loud!)
