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1870 Vetterli .41RF
WearyTraveler
Member Posts: 2,006 ✭✭✭
During a basement clean out I found a Vetterli M78 .41RF rifle that cleaned up very well and all of the numbers match...except for 1 'small' problem.
Either the bolt or the receiver seems to has warped slightly and the bolt now hits very slightly to the 7:00-8:00 area at the bottom of the chamber and will not close. I can remover the loading mechanism and push down hard with a screwdriver while closing the bolt and 'force' it in, but it isn't functional like that.
The rifle is pretty cool and I was thinking about keeping it and shooting it if I could find the ammo or convert to center fire as some people have done.
Is it recoverable? Or is it now a 'parts gun' for another owner?
Either the bolt or the receiver seems to has warped slightly and the bolt now hits very slightly to the 7:00-8:00 area at the bottom of the chamber and will not close. I can remover the loading mechanism and push down hard with a screwdriver while closing the bolt and 'force' it in, but it isn't functional like that.
The rifle is pretty cool and I was thinking about keeping it and shooting it if I could find the ammo or convert to center fire as some people have done.
Is it recoverable? Or is it now a 'parts gun' for another owner?
”People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
- GEORGE ORWELL -
Comments
Disassemble the bolt also, to see if perhaps if sometime in the past. Bubba has worked is magic on the bolt, by screwing something up, by tinkering with it?
There is plenty of info on the net to show how to put the bolt together and convert to centerfire. Parts are often found on Ebay.
As far as shooting, Lee makes dies and Prvi 8 Lebel can be used to make brass. Making cases is time consuming requiring trimming annealing and fire-forming, but cases last forever. I can go into detail on how to make cases if your interested.
I use either 310gr or 250gr round nose lead bullets sized to .430 and
47gr of compressed black powder. I enjoy shooting mine, but since the action is weak, I stick with what the gun was designed to shoot and that is black powder. You will find smokeless loading info online as well, but IMHO, its dangerous considering design of the action.
The Swiss made a number of different variations of the Vetterli. I don't know if yours is the same, as this pic I got off the net? From your description of your problem. The most likely thing to me, is the extractor is causing the problem. Try removing the extractor, and see if it has any bearing on your problem.
Disassemble the bolt also, to see if perhaps if sometime in the past. Bubba has worked is magic on the bolt, by screwing something up, by tinkering with it?
I tried it in various states of assembly including no firing pin or extractor. It was still off by just a bit to the lower left.
I'll try it again and see.
I doubt if the receiver is bent and the lifter should not interfere with the bolt. it could be many things. Even the bolt assembly could be put together wrong.
There is plenty of info on the net to show how to put the bolt together and convert to centerfire. Parts are often found on Ebay.
As far as shooting, Lee makes dies and Prvi 8 Lebel can be used to make brass. Making cases is time consuming requiring trimming annealing and fire-forming, but cases last forever. I can go into detail on how to make cases if your interested.
I use either 310gr or 250gr round nose lead bullets sized to .430 and
47gr of compressed black powder. I enjoy shooting mine, but since the action is weak, I stick with what the gun was designed to shoot and that is black powder. You will find smokeless loading info online as well, but IMHO, its dangerous considering design of the action.
I'm probably going to sell or trade it for something more my style as I'm not a reloader. Any idea of the value? The bluing is gone, the gun was covered in surface rust and I had to use it to remove and clean it so it would need rebuling, but overall it seems to be in very good condition.
quote:Originally posted by chiefr
I doubt if the receiver is bent and the lifter should not interfere with the bolt. it could be many things. Even the bolt assembly could be put together wrong.
There is plenty of info on the net to show how to put the bolt together and convert to centerfire. Parts are often found on Ebay.
As far as shooting, Lee makes dies and Prvi 8 Lebel can be used to make brass. Making cases is time consuming requiring trimming annealing and fire-forming, but cases last forever. I can go into detail on how to make cases if your interested.
I use either 310gr or 250gr round nose lead bullets sized to .430 and
47gr of compressed black powder. I enjoy shooting mine, but since the action is weak, I stick with what the gun was designed to shoot and that is black powder. You will find smokeless loading info online as well, but IMHO, its dangerous considering design of the action.
I'm probably going to sell or trade it for something more my style as I'm not a reloader. Any idea of the value? The bluing is gone, the gun was covered in surface rust and I had to use it to remove and clean it so it would need rebuling, but overall it seems to be in very good condition.
In the condition you described, I would say it is worth about a couple hundred. They made around 200K of all models and many were imported here and sold cheap. You can get more than that if you part it out.