My new Lady want a rifle for Christmas!

[303Guy]

[smilie=w:

My new lady asked me to build her a rifle for Christmas!

[smilie=w:

I took her out shooting with the hornet and the 22. She's very short and had to shoot with the butt stock over her shoulder and couldn't get her eye to the right relief but she hit her target just the same. It's going to be a challenge to fit a rifle to her.:roll:

[crabo]

What are you thinking of building? It seems like the youth CZs might be a great starting point.

[JeffinNZ]

What will she use it for Pete? I think the idea would be to get something to do the job and make it fit her. My suppressed .32-20 Martini is a tad short for my gorilla length arms but I left it that way as it fits SWMBO well. The sacrifices we make......

[Bad Water Bill]

I think a Stevens with a custom stock might be a good way to go.

Once she starts shooting a mild cartridge and wants to go a little bigger another Savage bbl will be easy to screw in place AND will fit right in the bbl channel.

I can go from 204 up in 10 minutes. Or from 243 to 30-06 in the same time. Savage makes some very accurate toys right out of the box.

Yes I do have 9 different bbls here so I know it works.

[Wayne Smith]

True, Bill, but he's in NZ, gonna depend on what's available to him there. CZ might be more available or maybe something Japanese. I'd be looking at youth stocks and probably something like a .243 if the Savage/Stevens platform isn't available.

[Houndog]

If Mama wants a new gun for Christmas You better get BUSY and build or buy her one! You ain't got that long to make it a reality!

BTW: ASK her what SHE wants and follow her wishes as close as humanly possible! She'll come closer to being happy with it and if it turns out all wrong you will be in a slightly better position not to be blamed for whatever's wrong! Bill's suggestion for a Savage switch barreled rifle has a lot of merit! By changing barrels and bolt heads you can have almost any centerfire caliber she wants at substantially less cost than many other brands.

[wild thing]

Be careful if you get a tee shirt with a bulls eye on the back.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Initial signs are good but NEW lady=don't invest too much. Save the good stuff for when she has been by your side through some thick and thin.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

could you enlighten us on what firearms brands and availability are in NZ

do you just walk into the local gun store pick a gun off the rack fill out a form and walk out the door with it as we do here or is it a longer process

what if any surplus is available

[Dean D.]

My wife really likes her cut down 6.5 X 55 Swede. Just an idea.

[Norbrat]

It's going to be a challenge to fit a rifle to her.:roll:

Here's a chart from the NRA Gunsmithing Guide which may help to work out length of pull for a smaller person.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/1091450a622202d22b.jpg

If she is happy with a .22 for starters, there should be plenty available to cut down for her.

[bob208]

in oz. he may be able to get her a .310 cadet. or an action and built something on it.

[MBTcustom]

Nah, youneed to build her a 303 pygmy and paper patch it for her.
As far as fitting the rifle to her, what I do is observe when someone mounts a rifle that fits them. There is a relationship between the tip of their nose and the knuckle on their thumb. I use that distance as a guesstimator to get the LOP right. When someone is comfortable with a rifle, it radiates that fact when they pull it to their shoulder. I suppose I should develop or use a measurement system, but I haven't missed it yet.

[frkelly74]

I have a nice mild mannered 6.5 Japanese that I am going to shorten one day. My wife is not interested but the daughters might be. It is a good low recoil / high penetration cartridge. 35 Remington Brass can be adapted to use in it. I still need to do something about the really stiff trigger pull though

[Hamish]

Nah, youneed to build her a 303 pygmy and paper patch it for her.


My thoughts exactly. In the process of cutting down a MkIII monte carlo for the wife. Makes me rather ill as I don't think *I* will be able to shoot it comfortably. :roll:

After all, (ahem) you *are* 303Guy. :bigsmyl2:

[MBTcustom]

I'm doing a rifle build for a member here. He brought me a sweet little Savage 340 in 30-30 in trade for services rendered. I was thinking "man! what a sweet little rifle! This will be a perfect truck gun!" I took it inside to show Mrs goodsteel. She took one look at it and said "hey that's just my size! I want to have a rifle too."
So I spent the next 10 hours fitting and stoning the action (it had a little problem) and cutting the stock to her LOP.
I do believe I got a bigger kick out of the way she took to that rifle, than I did from getting it in the first place. Of course, she still has yet to shoot it but I don't think it's going to be an issue because I will work up some Unique loads for it and she will enjoy it a lot.

[RU shooter]

Or to get all mushy and lovey have her decide what she wants and spend quality time working on it together as a project. She might get a good sence of accomplishment and better feeing that it's HER rifle if she had a hand in the making of it .

[wv109323]

It seems like an ideal time to buy one that you think would satisfy her needs. And then buy one that is totally wrong for her usage. The one that is wrong for her should be one that you have had your eye on for a while.

[303Guy]

Or to get all mushy and lovey have her decide what she wants and spend quality time working on it together as a project. She might get a good sence of accomplishment and better feeing that it's HER rifle if she had a hand in the making of it .:drinks:

Thanks all. We can get anything we want here. We just walk in, pick up our choice, show our firearm licence, pay and walk out. Our trick is that firearm licence. It forces some gun safety and law knowledge and filters out crims and crazies and those with family violence tendencies - or tries to. It's like a drivers licence and works the same way. It's a great system.

I had previously bought a single shot 22 like the one I modified for my great nephew - the one in my avatar - with the idea that I might need it one day. It's her project gun. The second gun will be one of my 303's. I like the idea of the Pygmy! As for calibre/cartridge changes? Well, slipping the butt stock onto another Lee Enfield is as easy as.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/CalebsRifle.jpg
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/CalebRifle016-1.jpg

I shortened the barrel and re-profiled it to make it lighter. That's a semi-overbarrel silencer. That little rifle has taken a piggy.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/Piggy-1.jpg

The next one will be a full over-barrel.

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/VoereSuppressorFitting-1.jpg

[1Shirt]

Great chart Norbrat, hadn't seen it before! Thanks!
1Shirt!