BP Dave
05-20-2023, 11:12 AM
From 1966 to 1968 I lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where my father, an air force pilot, was in a non-flying assignment in command of a radio intercept detachment. He befriended the local police captain, and he must have mentioned his interest in firearms, because Captain Preecha brought him an SKS carbine that had been recovered by the police in a firefight with guerillas.
314222
The buttstock had been shot off right behind the wrist—I remember its splintered end, and you could see the partial bullet hole. My father had a new buttstock made by a local woodworker, and I recall him mentioning that he left it sitting in his office for a period of time, making sure it didn’t warp, before paying the craftsman.
In those days rebluing of old military guns was "the thing to do," and my father had fabricated his own bluing tanks, so upon our return stateside the SKS unfortunately got the treatment. There was no 7.62x39 ammo or brass to be had back then, so he scrounged and converted. I have one box of Berdan primed brass squirreled away that another pilot had “found” somewhere in Viet Nam and brought back to him. The rest was converted from 6.5x54 Mannlicher brass—he had somehow scrounged a couple hundred of those made by RWS. I was still a kid then, and full-size .30 caliber rounds kicked more than I liked. But the SKS was perfect for me, and I loved to shoot it.
314223
In those days 7.62x39 dies were not a regular stock item—I don’t know who else made them, but they were a special order from RCBS. Because he was an underpaid military officer with three kids, it seems he only ordered the sizing die, and from going through his stuff, it appears he shortened a .300 Savage die for a seater.
Which brings me to the point of this post. The RCBS die came with only one neck expander, and that was for .308 bullets. When I recently decided to get the dies out and load some rounds, I discovered that it was just a little too small for a .310 bullet. So I wrote to RCBS through their website, told them I had a 1968-vintage sizer with the undersize expander, and asked if I could purchase the larger expander. They wrote back and said they were sending me a free one under their lifetime warranty. It arrived a short time later.
314225
That’s not quite fair to them. My father was killed at An Loc in 1972 when his C-130 was shot down, so the lifetime warranty had expired. But I thank them for it—that was a really, really nice thing for them to do.
314224
My thanks to RCBS, and on Memorial Day I’ll lift a glass to my father, and another to a fine company.
314222
The buttstock had been shot off right behind the wrist—I remember its splintered end, and you could see the partial bullet hole. My father had a new buttstock made by a local woodworker, and I recall him mentioning that he left it sitting in his office for a period of time, making sure it didn’t warp, before paying the craftsman.
In those days rebluing of old military guns was "the thing to do," and my father had fabricated his own bluing tanks, so upon our return stateside the SKS unfortunately got the treatment. There was no 7.62x39 ammo or brass to be had back then, so he scrounged and converted. I have one box of Berdan primed brass squirreled away that another pilot had “found” somewhere in Viet Nam and brought back to him. The rest was converted from 6.5x54 Mannlicher brass—he had somehow scrounged a couple hundred of those made by RWS. I was still a kid then, and full-size .30 caliber rounds kicked more than I liked. But the SKS was perfect for me, and I loved to shoot it.
314223
In those days 7.62x39 dies were not a regular stock item—I don’t know who else made them, but they were a special order from RCBS. Because he was an underpaid military officer with three kids, it seems he only ordered the sizing die, and from going through his stuff, it appears he shortened a .300 Savage die for a seater.
Which brings me to the point of this post. The RCBS die came with only one neck expander, and that was for .308 bullets. When I recently decided to get the dies out and load some rounds, I discovered that it was just a little too small for a .310 bullet. So I wrote to RCBS through their website, told them I had a 1968-vintage sizer with the undersize expander, and asked if I could purchase the larger expander. They wrote back and said they were sending me a free one under their lifetime warranty. It arrived a short time later.
314225
That’s not quite fair to them. My father was killed at An Loc in 1972 when his C-130 was shot down, so the lifetime warranty had expired. But I thank them for it—that was a really, really nice thing for them to do.
314224
My thanks to RCBS, and on Memorial Day I’ll lift a glass to my father, and another to a fine company.