That Ugly Rifle III

Y'all remember that ugly rifle I bought as a BAG day gun, and me having to take it apart and clean all the paint from it.

Here's the before picture.

I was able to get the paint off using naptha and 0 grade steel wool without damaging the blueing. I started looking for stocks and realized that I was going to need a few parts, like a magazine, follower, spring, some action screws, so I called Savage Customer Service and told them that I had a project action I'd like to rehab, and asked about my options.

The young lady told me that the rifle left the factory as a synthetic stocked, detachable magazine, .308 rifle, a Model 11 FCNS. She said that she could ship me all the parts, unless I wanted something different. "Something different?" I asked.

"Sure" says she. "You can make it anything you want it to be. Wood stock, synthetic, box magazine, floorplate, anything you want."

So, we talked about least-cost options and she started listing parts that I'd need. She gave me a very attractive price on the parts I'd need and I gave her a credit card number and told her to ship it out.

It's now a Model 11 FNS. Synthetic stock, blind magazine, the basic Hunter model rifle. The box came in yesterday and I put it together this afternoon after work. Here's the after photograph.

That's a little better, don't you think? I think it's great, and will make a nice addition to my collection. If you've ever got a question about a Savage firearm, call Customer Service and talk to the nice people there. Tell 'em PawPaw sent you.