Chinese stock

This I believe is the stock shown in Meek's engraving book. Michael mentioned it in the thread about carved stocks. He was looking for the metal when he passed.

Where have you been?The seller is jojodo - Joe Dobrinski who is liquidating some of Michael's stuff. Scroll down and find the thread.

1903 sprngfld fans should really be interested in the goodies up this time around…
Lyman 48s and all sorts of 1903 parts!
this should get you there…
http://www.ebay.com/sch/jojodo/m.html? jojodo ssPageName=STRK%3Anull%3AMESOI&_geositeid=0&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

Steven,
What? Of course I know this, how else would I have attached the ebay link.....

I was just pointing out that the stock Joe is selling is the one from Meek's book.

Oh good, sometimes the obvious is too obvious for my pea brain

Who was it that was making dummy Lyman 48 slides a couple years ago?
The one in the auction is up to $180 with almost 5 days left.

Whitey made several and offered them here. Joe Harz bought some. Both men have left the range though and I don't know who has them now. Shouldn't be too hard to make one though.

Jerry Liles

I'm glad I took advantage of Whitey's craft. $180???

Yeah, and I'm not so sure that one on eBay isn't one of Whitey's.

Howe-Whelen Sight
This is really cool in my opinion. I don't have an springfields but if I did I would own this. I just may have to make one for a Winchester M70. Way sick...to use terms of today.

make one????

If anyone wants the Howe Whelen sight they better jump. Finding them as a available part is very, very difficult. As far as making one....the drawing alone will give you a headache. The drawing is pretty easy to find and if you look you will see why they are not made by anyone. Complexity is about like a watch.

I agree Gary. Two words doesn't quite cover it.
Cool as they are, the weight and wind resistance must make for glacial lock-time?!

Steven,
If the standard cocking piece is use, and it doesn't appear to be different in the pics, why do you think the sight would add lock time?

I agree the sight is bulky as designed however that is where re-design and improvements come in

Gary,
A quick look on the web did not reveal any drawings, can you assist with a web link to the drawings you are refering to?

If you have access to a lathe and a mill, and are willing
to make shortcuts, making one wouldn't be that hard. It
looks like the sight on ebay actually uses a Lyman slide.
You can save yourself a lot of time by starting with
a bolt shroud and modifying that. I tried to make something
for a Mauser. I got a lot of it done, then life (actually twins)
and other projects interfered. Here is what the Mark I version
looks like





I think if I come back to it, I will put a Redfield slide on it.

If you have any questions, send me a PM

Lynn, the drawing can be found in James V. Howe's "Modern Gunsmith".

Thanks Gary, unfortunately for me I do not have a copy of that book.
I would appreciate any help anyone can do to send me a copy of the page/pages?

I checked my Modern Gunsmith, it has detailed drawings of all the parts plus a history of how it came to be. It entails 4 or 5 pages, I can scan them and email the scans if you want them. looks very complicated to me.

James, Thank you, I sent an PM with email address.

I'd be thrilled to see a modern made Howe/Whelen sight complete and finished with micrometer windage and elevation. I'd be even more impressed to see one that was somewhere approaching financial viability. An "Improved" version I can't imagine??

I'd say, this is a wonderful opportunity to buy one and I expect this one will bring a substantial sum, but considerably less than it would cost a professional to manufacture.

Best to begin with the book, considered a standard text for those interested in quality gun work, I believe much easier to come by and considerably less expensive than the sight.

here's a free download http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=27137

You will have to look up the sight on your own...

There are certainly other ways to build a cocking piece aperture
base utilizing any number of slides, etc. PhysDoc's is a great example. From a study perspective I hope to add one of these (original configuration,on a rifle) to my collection someday. To build one of these in the original pattern, I am out. I have the equipment but not the time. I am so slow that I cannot imagine how long it might take. From a using perspective the Rigby pattern is my favorite cocking piece sight and practical to use. It is lighter and I think that matters with all of these variations hanging on the rear of the bolt. All that said it is hard to improve on the Lyman 48, and the Hoffman patterns whether cross dovetailed or the flip up that are rigidly mounted to the rear bridge. Great historical story of Howe-Whelen collaboration.

Thanks Steven for sharing the link. The download went well and I did own both of those books until a few years ago when I gave my copies to a young man who wanted to learn about gunsmithing. It was a good move for me and him.
As to making these sights, about the last thing I can think of that I would want to go into business doing is making sights (however taking up the gunsmithing trade in general ranks right up there )
The problem is what would you make and for which gun, definitely not 1903's they are along with the 98's are obsolete for anything other then the connoisseur custom rifle builders. Maybe M70's but that's iffy also. Remington 700's....not on your life. Ruger...the next good rifle they make will be their first (IMHO).
If I make one it will be one and only one and for one of my M70 rifles only. I do not copy someone else's blueprint. Its not about making stuff for me its all about design.

Back to the stock.

Michael was always curious as to why we have not see more of these, so there alone I believe is where the curiosity was.

i

Steven said it once, I think it is worth repeating. "glacial lock-time?!"

I would agree that the lock time is "glacial", however I must qualify that by saying it would be the same as a standard 1903 Springfield, since the firing train mechanism for this sight setup and that of the standard rifle are unchanged. The Howe-Whelen parts do not include a cocking piece or any other firing train parts. It is only a modification to the bolt sleeve/shield.
On the other hand, the other sight pictures, shown above, of the sight mounted to the back of the cocking piece will definitely show a decline in lock time because of the added weight in the firing train.

Its really great to see the fine prices folks are willing to pay for the very nice items that Michael collected.

LRF....absolutely!! Like I said better jump on it.

I agree Joe is doing a very fine job of disposing of some of the smaller items in Michaels collection of gun parts. I was going to bid on the Borchardt stock and forearm even though it was right handed and I am a southpaw, but it soon zoomed way out of my Pension pay grade.

Harry

Thank you All for your compliments. ... and patience while I sort through Michael's items and try to post lots that make sense. I have been pleasantly surprised, in some cases very surprised, by the values of his items.

As you can imagine, Michael had an incredible research library. Many of you have watched a hundred or so books listed and sold on eBay already, but there are many, many more to go. I have to try to incorporate 10-20 books in every auction going forward.

My wife refers to my auction listings as my "part time job", following my full time job in an office -and responsibilities as a father and husband. The opportunity to handle and research these items and flip through Michael's books has been incredible.

I sometimes laugh to myself because I am reminded of a memory from last year when Michael and I were helping sort through the estate of a fellow gun collector and gunsmith, John Wills. Michael stood in John's gunroom shaking his head and said, "You know ... John and I had a deal that whoever died first, the other would be responsible for taking care of the other's gunroom. ... BUT I was supposed to go first!" ... and he laughed. Now I am standing in Michael's gunroom and home office shaking my head and thinking, "nice work fellas ... now both of you have stuck me with both your gunrooms!" But seriously, this has been an incredible opportunity both wives have given me and it's something I wouldn't turn away.

Thank you to all of you for your support by continuing to watch my auctions. I appreciate the help from many of you in correctly identifying items that I mis-labeled or didn't identify correctly.

Thanks again ...
Joe D

Joe, Having done some ebaying for myself and more for others I know that it can be very time consuming. Your doing a fine thing. I would consider myself lucky to have a dedicated friend like you.

This thread has taken several turns, all for the good, but
for a while we were discussing the Howe-Whelen sight. For
those interested, here is another interesting bolt shroud sight.
If you are thinking of making one, there are a lot of pictures
from different angles.

bolt shroud sight

Another of interest from the past
You might want to review this from back in 2011