Ford: Houston Eats Questions

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:48:46 GMT, "Ed Huntress"
<net> wrote:
 
Ed..that item came this week, while I was on the road.

Its absolutely gorgeous!!!! Many many many thanks! and I shall indeed
put it to good use. Im already starting to collect the other bits and
pieces to put something proper, pretty and usable together.

I indeed owe you one.

Respects and regards

Gunner


"Anyone who cannot cope with firearms is not fully human. At best he
is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe and not
make messes in the house."
With appologies to RAH..

"Gunner" <net> wrote in message
news:com...
 

Just as a reminder, the deal here is that the thing was originally a
full-size, late-19th-century BSA .577/.450 military action that was
recovered from surplus (probably with 100,000 others just like it) for the
purpose of Britain's rough equivalent of our DCM: the Miniature Rifle Clubs.
It appears that they belt-sanded the old receivers and re-blued them.

I never checked the history of this, but my guess is that the intention of
the notch was two-fold: to enable the use of a small, modern peep sight, and
to disable the action for high-power use. The cartridge originally used by
the MRC for this service was a very small, special centerfire cartridge made
expressly for the purpose. I don't recall the designation but it shouldn't
be too hard to find. It is NOT the .310 Martini Cadet. It is considerably
smaller.

Later MRC conversions used .22 rimfire. My memory is failing me on this but
my vague recollection is that it was originally accomplished simply by
offsetting the barrel with a bushing. Later, IIRC, they bushed the bolt and
installed a different firing pin that was itself offset.

The subject is one for real specialists. There are still some around, in the
UK as well as the US. Maybe Australia, too.

In any case, it's an historical curiosity. If you decide you really like the
action, finding a full-size, unmodified one in good shape shouldn't be
difficult. They were selling them at Navy Arms in NJ for $19.95 to $35.00 in
the late-'80s.

Have fun.

--
Ed Huntress
(remove "3" from email address for email reply)