Actually, parts for these guns have reached the price points where reproductions are starting to come on the market.
Quality will vary, of course, and these parts won't be cheap... .
All those owner having to restore butchered military rifles.
Sporteriztion was highly profitable, and a scam. While many did convert cheap old military rifles, when you add up the cost of gunsmith work and components, the final price of a well done rifle was equal, if not more, than the cost of a factory new Rem M721 or equivalent. This is an example of a professionally gunsmithed Rock Island 03. The receiver serial number is in the series of unfinished receivers sent to Springfield after WW1, and then made into a complete military rifle.
It has an original military barrel, and that is OK for rock blasting, but it is not as accurate as a well made match barrel of the period. Nor, as well as some of my period factory barrels. It was false economy to have it sanded and blued. Too bad the owner did not install one of these
A number of owners tossed all the military hardware and installed the action in one of theses
sometimes did a stock and barrel job, but the barrel job tended to lead to low scope bolt handles, etc.
Sometimes the action came with a new barrel
But, these military Mauser actions were not built for high pressure cartridges. The standard 8mm and 7mm Mauser load was 43,000 psia up to WW1, and the WW2 load was 46,000 psia. The 270 Win, of course a 308 Win, operates above the proof pressure of the original action, making conversions to these higher pressure cartridges inadvisable. And I regularly upset those who have 300 Win Mag conversions, or any conversion with a 60,000 psia cartridge on old original military actions, by stating I consider those rigs risky. Upset owners never come back with data about the longevity of pressure vessels operating above their design and construction limits. Instead I get ignorance, superstition, and denial. But, this is something I am curious about. Just how many 10 to 20 thousand pound pressure cycles above the original cartridge, should a military action, of unknown former usage, survive. For that matter, how many pressure cycles should any pressure vessel survive above its proof pressure requirements.
Fire extinguishers are required to be periodically pressure test verified. This is the fixture and notice the wall in the back ground.
The fire extinguisher is in a water bath, and the extinguisher itself is filled with water. Then pressure is increased for the water inside the extinguisher. When the extinguisher is under pressure, it expands, and displaces the water in the fixture. That water is measured and compared against standards. If there is too much water dispelled, the extinguisher pressure vessel is weak and dangerous.Sometimes the extinguisher fails the pressure test.
to protect the test tank, and the operator, there is a blow out valve in case the extinguisher ruptures under pressure, this valve is facing the wall in the upper picture.
and the paint blasted off the wall is due to the number of extinguishers that have failed.
