Bubba Has Outdone Himself!!!!!!!!!!

[dverna]

I would think about turning it into a .45 ACP for cast bullet shooting. That limits chamber pressure to 21k psi.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/637/1 has .45 Auto liners. A sixteen inch barrel would cost $130 and make a sweet cast shooter. No bolt work needed. Make up a single shot adapter for the magazine out of a piece of HDPE. Or, if you have some talent, adapt a magazine for it (like the Rhineland conversion?). You should be able to hand chamber the barrel with a rental reamer for $50.

I am a bit cautious and would not want something that anyone could chamber a 50k psi cartridge into even if a few folks may think it is safe.

[Eddie Southgate]

I wouldn't shoot it but I know plenty who would . Ain't worth the risk in my opinion .

[todd9.3x57]

BUBBA'S FINEST GUNWERKS

[Plate plinker]

Some Bubbas just disgust me.

[M-Tecs]

BUBBA'S FINEST GUNWERKS

Hopefully he made a YouTube video so others can learn his skills!!!!!!!!!! I have seen and repaired some truly bubba masterpieces but I do believe thing this takes grand prize as "Budda Maximus" king.

[ulav8r]

I do not plan for this rifle to ever leave my hands in a condition to fire a round; regardless as to any repairs made. It will leave me as a parted rifle.

We can never be sure about what will happen in the future. You might die suddenly and not have a chance to part it out. After that who knows what will happen to it. Unless the hole was drilled into the barrel shank it should be safe as is but welding could destroy the heat treatment if the weldor is not experienced with welding heat treated 4140 steel. I don't have the knowledge or skill to do it properly so I would not recommend it. Maybe it could be done but I would not knowingly say it would be safe to do so.

Your good intentions to use it but not pass it on would be no protection if it ended up hurting someone.

[Rapier]

Everyone that does repairs has a book of horrors. This is interesting, but not the worst I have ever seen of Bubba’s little shop of horrors.

[Hannibal]

There is no chamber pressure in that part of the receiver. Bubba's mess is primarily cosmetic.

[john.k]

Yep,If I needed another rifle,I would TIG weld up the missing metal,and refinish the ring.......anyone experienced in welding preheat,heat controll,post heat would not weaken the overall structure of the gun.....there is no prsssure issue at the front of the ring,and the whole structure takes a tensile load of around 8 tons.......very low stress for alloy steel of that massive size.

[copperlake]

Yep,If I needed another rifle,I would TIG weld up the missing metal,and refinish the ring.......anyone experienced in welding preheat,heat controll,post heat would not weaken the overall structure of the gun.....there is no prsssure issue at the front of the ring,and the whole structure takes a tensile load of around 8 tons.......very low stress for alloy steel of that massive size.

This is true and what I would do. Be aware that welding up that big of a hole will likely collapse the ring a bit from shrinkage, or not. If it were mine, and not having a receiver tap, I'd do it with the barrel in as a heat sink with the aluminum round I have turned to the bolt diameter for the rest of the heat sink. I've welded up plenty of funky mount holes and it really isn't that big of a deal. If you do that, your gonna need a bottoming tap to re-tap (not removing the barrel).

[Pirate69]

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions. This is the way I am going at this time.

1) I will not repair it at this time. I want the damaged area to be a constant reminder that it is be a low pressure rifle as long as I own it.

2) I will not pressure test it with a full powered commercial round at this time. I have found a 5 grain Red Dot 309-160-2R load that is has given me a 1.75" 10-shot group at 50 yards. Eight rounds were within 1.25". Per QuickLoad, chamber should be about 8,000 psi and a velocity of about 950 fps. This is going to be a rifle to shot off-hand with iron sights at steel.

3 It will be parted one day. But, first some fun with it.

[flatnose]

This is a job for J-B weld.!!!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

BUBBA'S FINEST GUNWERKS

Looks like quite a bit of elevation in that there base. He must have been going for long range!

[uscra112]

BUBBA'S FINEST GUNWERKS

Damn. Even FARMERS can weld better than that!

[elmacgyver0]

Damn. Even FARMERS can weld better than that!

What I don't understand is why anyone would do this.
After market no gunsmithing scope mounts for the Mini-14 are readily available.

[Winger Ed.]

After market no gunsmithing scope mounts for the Mini-14 are readily available.

Yeah, but why waste money buying one when you can find stuff on the floor to make your own?

[Texas by God]

Bubba's fee for that custom work was at least a 12 pack....

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[fatelk]

A Sportsman 78 is a plain version of the very strong model 700. If it fails from 1/8" deep grinding on the forward reciever ring; then it wasn't safe to begin with. In my humble opinion.

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I agree. The close-up photo makes it look worse than it is. I think the actual structural integrity of the rifle is weakened only minutely, and well within the margin of safety built into the design. I wouldn't bother me to shoot it with store-bought ammo, but that's just my opinion. Were it mine, I'd have it welded up by someone who really knows what they're doing, just like several of the experienced guys here suggest.

Relegating it to light cast bullet loads only is erring on the side of caution, but if that's what you want to use is for, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Winger Ed.]

Bubba's fee for that custom work was at least a 12 pack....

Good point.
I know I wouldn't let anybody do their welding project with my jumper cables and truck battery for free.

[uscra112]

Bubba's fee for that custom work was at least a 12 pack....

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Looks like he demanded payment in advance, and drank most of it before he fired up the welder.