I bought a winchester modle 70 375 h&h a couple of years ago with a wood stock and blued barrel. It's a gorgeous gun and I'm very happy with it. I've been giving a lot of thought lately to a bear hunt in AK in the future, and I'd rather not buy another rifle if I can. What can I do to make this rifle AK ready? I've heard about teflon on the metal parts, but heard that there might be a new process that is even better than the teflon. Can I wrap the wood in camo tape, or is this just a completley inappropriate rifle for the AK elements, and I should start looking for a stainless sinthetic?
Well it can't be a completely inappropriate rifle for hunting Alaska, as blued rifles with wood stocks have been around a little longer than the SS and synthetic, and have definitely killed more game in Alaska.
I would think that if the wood is sealed well and you thoroughly lubricate the metal before and after hunts, and you don't go out hunting in a monsoon, then you should be fine.
You could mitigate the rust issue of the blued action with paste wax and lots of break free, but I would definitely do something with the wood stock. Minimum would be to aluminum pillar bed the action and free float the barrel.
For a little more money, you could get the metal coated with "Black Ice" - a teflon finish that is fairly bullet proof. And a quality synthetic stock.
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I used Chris with Aquila Firearms to work on my rifle. He did the KG GunKote on the entire gun, muzzle break, and glass bedded it for me. He was excellent to deal with, and he did great work. I would send another rifle to him anyday. You can kinda see the color of the coating in the pic. He coated the scope for me too.
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I bought a winchester modle 70 375 h&h a couple of years ago with a wood stock and blued barrel. It's a gorgeous gun and I'm very happy with it. I've been giving a lot of thought lately to a bear hunt in AK in the future, and I'd rather not buy another rifle if I can. What can I do to make this rifle AK ready? I've heard about teflon on the metal parts, but heard that there might be a new process that is even better than the teflon. Can I wrap the wood in camo tape, or is this just a completley inappropriate rifle for the AK elements, and I should start looking for a stainless sinthetic?
Red Lion is on the right track! I lived and hunted in Alaska for three years with blued guns that had walnut stocks. Never had a problem!
First, I used alcohol to clean off all oil/grease from the mainsprings, strikers, bolt interiors, bolt lugs/locking recesses, and all moving trigger parts. Then I relubed everything with Dri-slide, a molyebdenum disulfide powder contained in a carrier agent that evaporates. This prepared the guns to operate at temperatures below -50F, and they did. I took all the barreled actions out of the stocks, and coated the steel parts with R.I.G. everywhere that they were covered by the stock wood, then reassembled them. Then, Iused Birchwood Casey SHEATH on all exposed metalparts and in the bore. Stocks were waxed with five separate coats of Johnson's paste wax.
At the end of each day hunting, I wiped any water off the guns, swabbed the metal with a SHEATH-coated rag,swabbed the bore & chamber with a SHEATH-soaked patch, then put them in a gunny-sock if they were to be stored. NONE of my guns suffered any rust or corrosion and none had any wood damage either, in three whole years up there.
I would still do it the same. Of course, I am prejudiced against plastic stocks and baked/painted on metal finishes. None of this fancy stuff is necessary, anyway. The degreasing and relubing with a dry lubricant is only necessary if you intend to hunt in months of extreme cold - anything below -20 F.
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I bought a winchester modle 70 375 h&h a couple of years ago with a wood stock and blued barrel. It's a gorgeous gun and I'm very happy with it. I've been giving a lot of thought lately to a bear hunt in AK in the future, and I'd rather not buy another rifle if I can. What can I do to make this rifle AK ready? I've heard about teflon on the metal parts, but heard that there might be a new process that is even better than the teflon. Can I wrap the wood in camo tape, or is this just a completley inappropriate rifle for the AK elements, and I should start looking for a stainless sinthetic?
Red Lion is on the right track! I lived and hunted in Alaska for three years with blued guns that had walnut stocks. Never had a problem!
First, I used alcohol to clean off all oil/grease from the mainsprings, strikers, bolt interiors, bolt lugs/locking recesses, and all moving trigger parts. Then I relubed everything with Dri-slide, a molyebdenum disulfide powder contained in a carrier agent that evaporates. This prepared the guns to operate at temperatures below -50F, and they did. I took all the barreled actions out of the stocks, and coated the steel parts with R.I.G. everywhere that they were covered by the stock wood, then reassembled them. Then, Iused Birchwood Casey SHEATH on all exposed metalparts and in the bore. Stocks were waxed with five separate coats of Johnson's paste wax.
At the end of each day hunting, I wiped any water off the guns, swabbed the metal with a SHEATH-coated rag,swabbed the bore & chamber with a SHEATH-soaked patch, then put them in a gunny-sock if they were to be stored. NONE of my guns suffered any rust or corrosion and none had any wood damage either, in three whole years up there.
I would still do it the same. Of course, I am prejudiced against plastic stocks and baked/painted on metal finishes. None of this fancy stuff is necessary, anyway. The degreasing and relubing with a dry lubricant is only necessary if you intend to hunt in months of extreme cold - anything below -20 F.
making my blued gun "alaska" ready
