TradeCraft wrote:Also a fan of the Marlin 1895. Something about 540gr of lead that gives me the warm and fuzzies...

Neat picture...but is there really no room in the cabin for the rifle? It just seems like a pretty harsh environment for a gun, no matter how it's constructed. A Watershed rifle case seems like a reasonable investment for a $700 rifle. Not criticizing, just curious. I only have one strut so tying stuff on the outside isn't much of an option. Maybe there's virtues to it I'm unaware of.

Hammer wrote:
Neat picture...but is there really no room in the cabin for the rifle? It just seems like a pretty harsh environment for a gun, no matter how it's constructed. A Watershed rifle case seems like a reasonable investment for a $700 rifle. Not criticizing, just curious. I only have one strut so tying stuff on the outside isn't much of an option. Maybe there's virtues to it I'm unaware of.

Taylorcraft F19. (large) Dog, case of beer and a weekends worth of camping/survival gear for two in the baggage. Not sure what about our Alaskan air could potentially harm a stainless rifle; I mean, I assume it's a bit more robust than aircraft fabric. I've got a gun boot, but this is much simpler. Same setup for my skis and splitboard.

I dunno, maybe you're just trolling?

Ha! That's a full plane alright...

It's the splashing and splatter that accompanies landing and taking off, along with the rubbing against the strut that seems harsh. I'm not trolling...just curious when I see people carrying their gun on the strut.

Notice tape on end of barrel, that far out is clear of most prop, wheel slinging crap. My rifle gets the same if not more abuse as I drag it around camp/woods. I have a nice Airframes gunboot mount that I use. It is a good place to store rifle in camp. My wife gave me grief about it last weekend when we went for a fly-around, said it was blocking her view!! 160 hp cub don't care about weight drag that much but in a T crate ounces matter a bit more.
DENNY

Also for those interested, these Voile ski straps are unsurpassed when it comes to strength and tightness for securing loads.

TradeCraft wrote:Also for those interested, these Voile ski straps are unsurpassed when it comes to strength and tightness for securing loads.

+1. Used these for years with skis and now on anything that needs securing.

There's a guy who I think is on BCP named Cameron Lawson who started TitanStrap, which makes a similar offering.

Looks like a good way to get your rifle stolen, should you leave the airplane unattended without packing it along.

FWIW there's a guy I used to see flying his SC around who always had a rifle boot strapped on the struts.
Little bit of posing in that instance IMHO, considering that this was in the semi-urban Puget Sound area.
Might be handy for your AR if you were forced down in the inner city, but otherwise.....

hotrod180 wrote:Looks like a good way to get your rifle stolen, should you leave the airplane unattended without packing it along.

Yeah, I should probably just start leaving it at home, locked in the safe. Lots of thieves out here in remote, airplane-only access locations of Alaska.

I'll just bring my wooden slingshot next time I go deer hunting and definitely won't secure it to the wing strut

TradeCraft wrote:Also a fan of the Marlin 1895. Something about 540gr of lead that gives me the warm and fuzzies...

Can you fire this from the cockpit? It looks like an ARVN Bird dog mount.

PapernScissors wrote:

TradeCraft wrote:Also a fan of the Marlin 1895. Something about 540gr of lead that gives me the warm and fuzzies...

Can you fire this from the cockpit? It looks like an ARVN Bird dog mount.

Now that's an STC I can get behind!

I love everything about those pictures. Love the Marlin, love the packed airplane. We are definitely the same tribe.

Gonna be my new sidekick:

Wanna take a guess:

gbflyer wrote:Wanna take a guess

460 S&W...?

.458 WinMag?

looks to be .430-440 bore, but I see something wrong with the way you built the rifle. The danged bolt handle is on the wrong side!!

.458 SOCOM. Similar to 45/70 with the lighter bullets. The barrel started life as a very old 1.15" Douglas blank 30" long a friend of mine gave me. Figured since the Savages are so easy to mod I'd give it a try. Whittled it down to a manageable contour and shortened to 18" and rented the reamer. Still waiting on brass and dies, no factory ammo available in JNU. I'm concerned about how it will feed as it's an old blind mag staggerfeed short action. I will figure it out one way or another.

Serves very little use but fun anyway.

gbflyer wrote:.458 SOCOM. Serves very little use but fun anyway.

I like that attitude. I'm not a hunter but I love to shoot. The more drama the better.

gbflyer wrote:.458 SOCOM. Similar to 45/70 with the lighter bullets. The barrel started life as a very old 1.15" Douglas blank 30" long a friend of mine gave me. Figured since the Savages are so easy to mod I'd give it a try. Whittled it down to a manageable contour and shortened to 18" and rented the reamer. Still waiting on brass and dies, no factory ammo available in JNU. I'm concerned about how it will feed as it's an old blind mag staggerfeed short action. I will figure it out one way or another.

Serves very little use but fun anyway.

Awesome. So it's a Savage short action that you're repurposing? Anything special about the bolt that has to be custom for the .458?

Zzz wrote:

gbflyer wrote:.458 SOCOM. Similar to 45/70 with the lighter bullets. The barrel started life as a very old 1.15" Douglas blank 30" long a friend of mine gave me. Figured since the Savages are so easy to mod I'd give it a try. Whittled it down to a manageable contour and shortened to 18" and rented the reamer. Still waiting on brass and dies, no factory ammo available in JNU. I'm concerned about how it will feed as it's an old blind mag staggerfeed short action. I will figure it out one way or another.

Serves very little use but fun anyway.

Awesome. So it's a Savage short action that you're repurposing? Anything special about the bolt that has to be custom for the .458?

Not a repurpose per se, as the Savage barrel nut platform lends itself well to a switch barrel. I have 22-250, .243, .308, and now the .458 barrels this one can wear. 6.5 Creed in the works. A few minutes with a nut wrench, barrel vise, and a headspace gauge and it's something else. A real space saver in the safe.

The SOCOM utilizes the same .473 bolt head as the others on my list. The bolt head can also be easily changed on the Savage to utilize other sized case heads.

Anybody else shooting a 6.5 PRC?