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Musgrave Rifles
@ 05:26 pm (GMT) |
Gregory Parkin-SmithI would like to enquire if any members know much about the contemporary South African-make Musgrave rifles.Having grown up on a farm shooting Springbok and Kudu, initially with a Sako Finnwolf .243 and then a Sako Forester .308, I realized many other hunters used the Musgrave rifle, which had a very good reputation. The older Musgrave rifles are tough and reliable, many being handed down through the family. I recently bough a Musgrave Varmint with the VZ action in .25-06 that was on sale for half price, with part of the decision being nostalgia. That said, I know very little about the quality of the modern version with the VZ action, being based on the Mauser K98. I have just started reading Nathan's books and getting to grips with the limitations of the .25-06, so not sure yet if this particular rifle is a keeper, but an experienced opinion on the quality and accuracy of this rifle/action, on the understanding it won't be used for hunting beyond 300 metres (<400 yards). |
Replies
@ 09:04 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Musgrave RiflesHi Gregory, I have had ZA clients use our bedding kits with Musgrave rifles. The jobs have turned out well.The Musgrave's that I have seen have been a clean action design, very straight forwards. But I am not familiar with all models. I would need to see photos of your action in order to offer any further advice. Keep in mind that the .25-06 can be a bit finicky. After many years stuffing around with the .25 bore and with as many failures as successes, I believe the leade angle in the throat has a great influence on accuracy. Therefore, if you are having trouble with accuracy, it may be neither the action or barrel at fault and instead, the reamer used to cut the chamber. But it can be very hard to diagnose these things. |
@ 07:27 pm (GMT) |
Cor NepgenRe: Musgrave RiflesHi Gregory,I saw on the other thread you are also from Cape Town. Been quite a while since I've posted something but I do read a lot. To start with, you can have full confidence in the book series. If you read carefully and apply the information with some good fashioned common sense things tend to work quite well. I have also looked at the Musgrave rifles and know one or two owning new and old Musgraves. Friends with new rifles do own them in more forgiving cartridges such as the .30 06. That said, I have not really heard of anyone accuracy problems. For the most part, I think the stock design is nice with a good bore and barrel contour. I think it would be worth while exploring. I would highly recommend going through the accurizing process as set out in the book series. The bedding compound performs amazing and does as advertised. If you would like to have a chat over coffee or would like some help with the bedding compound feel free to ask. Worse case scenario, you learn a tone about your rifle, how things work and have a lot of fun doing so. Theres no need to rush, take you time read everything a couple of times and watch all Nathan's videos. Cheers, Cor |
@ 06:47 am (GMT) |
Thomas KitchenRe: Musgrave RiflesHI GregoryI can't really add much to the musgrave side of things only ones I hear about here is the occasional target rifle. Nathan just on your comment about throat angles if someone has followed all the steps in your book and everything else checks out fine but still having accuracy issues do you think it would be worth getting some one like Dave Manson to make a match style throat reamer in 257 (assume they don't exist off the shelf) and getting a gun smith just to lightly throat it with better angles. I guess the 25's are normally high velocity borderline overbore so these little things matter more. Be interesting to see if the 257 Roberts is as finicky Cheers |
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@ 08:02 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: Musgrave RiflesHi Thomas, you are quite right, its a velocity thing. Not so bad for Roberts users.A 1.5 degree leade might be more forgiving work but it shifts the throat forwards a heck of a long way when used over an exiisting throat. Better to start over with a fresh reamer with the leade angle built into it. This is another instance where a Brenneke throat might be useful. The trouble is, OAL is always a best guess until the chamber is cut. It is very hard to predict the outcomes of OAL's when changing angles. All we can do is take our best guess, try the reamer, then modify the length aspect if need be and then create a second revision. Hi Cor, very kind of you to offer support to Gregory. It has been wonderful to see guys helping each other after chatting here. |
@ 11:51 am (GMT) |
Grant LovelockRe: Musgrave RiflesI had the pleasure of working with a friend who was employed at the Musgrave factory for over 10 years. He told me how good the company was when run by the owner..... If I remember right he said the owner fell ill and sold the business to the Govt.... they put a Manager in and he managed to ruin the place shifting from making quality firearms to making wooden cabins and wooden propellers..... my friend remembers well how sad its demise was. Bloody shame really. |
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