highpower3006
New member
I recently completed a restoration on a sporterized 'A4 that I picked up from a pawn shop a couple of months ago. Normally I wouldn't have attempted such a resto as I know from experience they can get very expensive and on a garden variety '0-A3 it certainly wouldn't have been economically feasible. But, an honest to God 'A4 in my mind is a different animal.
I had known about this particular rifle for a few months now, but the pawn shop owner hadn't wanted to sell it until a few days earlier. What finally drove me over the edge (appropriate wording eh?) was that my son had called me about a NOS WWII replacement C stock he had picked up for a song at a yard sale. I badgered him into selling it to me and shortly after he and I worked out a deal on it, I went to the pawn shop and made a deal to buy the 'A4.
What I started with:
And so it began. I had some of the bits in my collection of junk I have accumulated over the years, but I still needed things like a correct bolt, scope/rings, handguard, etc.. The original barrel had been cut back to remove the front sight index grooves and finding a correctly dated barrel was one of the harder items to locate, but I was finally able to source one.
Fortunately, the Redfield scope base that came on the rifle is the original one, but I did have to buy a set of correct WWII 3/4' Redfield scope rings. All of the rest of the metal parts like the buttplate, bands, bayonet lug, etc., are NOS as is the handguard. I sure as heck am not going to pay the ridiculous money that is being asked for a real M73B1 scope, so until I can find a decent condition Weaver 330C, I will make do with a regular old 330.
I sent the action and barrel off to Warpath Vintage to have the new barrel screwed on and have the receiver and a couple of other bits refinished.
As always on these sort of restorations, the devil is in the details and the question becomes just how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go as far as originality goes? I know that it will never be an original rifle again and I am okay with that. I am just happy to have it in the first place and am also happy to have been given the opportunity to bring this one back to it's original look. The sporter that it had been turned into was nicely done, but I cared less than nothing for it as a hunting rifle.
Currently, besides the scope, I will need to find a more correct NOS (or as close to that as I can get) small bow trigger guard instead of the large bow that is currently on it. I have a nice small bow guard, but it is Parkerized and since everything else on the rifle is the original factory Du-lite blue, I will need to get one that hasn't been refinished. the sling that is on it is a post war example, but I have a correct WWII web sling on the way.
I had known about this particular rifle for a few months now, but the pawn shop owner hadn't wanted to sell it until a few days earlier. What finally drove me over the edge (appropriate wording eh?) was that my son had called me about a NOS WWII replacement C stock he had picked up for a song at a yard sale. I badgered him into selling it to me and shortly after he and I worked out a deal on it, I went to the pawn shop and made a deal to buy the 'A4.
What I started with:
And so it began. I had some of the bits in my collection of junk I have accumulated over the years, but I still needed things like a correct bolt, scope/rings, handguard, etc.. The original barrel had been cut back to remove the front sight index grooves and finding a correctly dated barrel was one of the harder items to locate, but I was finally able to source one.
Fortunately, the Redfield scope base that came on the rifle is the original one, but I did have to buy a set of correct WWII 3/4' Redfield scope rings. All of the rest of the metal parts like the buttplate, bands, bayonet lug, etc., are NOS as is the handguard. I sure as heck am not going to pay the ridiculous money that is being asked for a real M73B1 scope, so until I can find a decent condition Weaver 330C, I will make do with a regular old 330.
I sent the action and barrel off to Warpath Vintage to have the new barrel screwed on and have the receiver and a couple of other bits refinished.
As always on these sort of restorations, the devil is in the details and the question becomes just how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go as far as originality goes? I know that it will never be an original rifle again and I am okay with that. I am just happy to have it in the first place and am also happy to have been given the opportunity to bring this one back to it's original look. The sporter that it had been turned into was nicely done, but I cared less than nothing for it as a hunting rifle.
Currently, besides the scope, I will need to find a more correct NOS (or as close to that as I can get) small bow trigger guard instead of the large bow that is currently on it. I have a nice small bow guard, but it is Parkerized and since everything else on the rifle is the original factory Du-lite blue, I will need to get one that hasn't been refinished. the sling that is on it is a post war example, but I have a correct WWII web sling on the way.
