Dad's Seven

This is my Dad's formidable old rifle. It is an Obendorf Mauser, serial number 6643, and started out as an infantryman's rifle for World War One. It was originally in 7 millimeter, and Pop, like so many returning GI's of WWII, picked it up from some other Veteran who had liberated it from the Kaiser. Dad succumbed to the fever of the 1940's, which was to customize a fine-shooting German rifle into something that suited...him. Not anyone else, necessarily... just, him. He stocked it in a Bishop's plain walnut stock, complete with cheekpiece for a simple scope, and in the classic Griffin and Howe style. He put a simple Weaver scope on, first in 4X, then a 'big' one...the Weaver V5. Pop was a deadly shot with it, and would help out the other guys when they were about to end their season without filling their tags.

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Here is Dad when hunting with his buddy, Mack Stirman, in Colorado.

Mom thought it would be a fun thing, to take Dad's picture while he was washing his tired feet.

He was very amused.

Here is the only shot we have of the two old Mausers back in the 1952 era of Colorado hunting....

This is Mack Stirman, Dad's very favorite hunting buddy. Also, his minister. Here Mack is packing in a little skipper deer that he killed. The deer is not amused, but was tasty.

Dad had made this rifle into the very first 7 millimeter magnum that we had ever heard of, by sending the barreled action to P.O. Ackley, with instructions to craft new dies and chamber for a cartridge based on the old Holland and Holland belted case. This way, Pop could get a good deal more power out of the rifle, for shooting at the Colorado distances. In 1962, Remington Arms came out with the hot idea of a commercial 7mmMagnum, and Dad simply rebarrelled his 'Wildcat', as they called his brainstorms. I had the work done for him, and had it reblued as well. Pop was not happy, though, because the gunsmith's had put in a replacement trigger that was not near as good, thinking that the old man would never notice the difference. The old man did, and I bought him a Dayton-Traister target trigger, plus a wide shoe...nothing worked. Dad seemed to just give up on his old favorite rifle, and handed it to me to shoot in some matches conducted by the Franklin Targeteers, in Franklin, New Hampshire. That was when I fell in love with 'the old girl'. I handloaded for her, and found that she would win me matches if I shot only at the head on the standard deer targets...and that was what the best competition was doing, anyway, as the head counted for 5 points. 3 shots....15 points. Miss just a little, offhand at 100 yards, and goodbye, baby. Thanks for coming by.

THE ELK HUNT

What kicks off this story, I suppose, is today's re-investment of thought and energy into the venerable old Mauser, because I decided to go on an Elk Hunt. Notice that this is captitlized... because I have only ever dreamed of going on such a venture... and, what rifle do you take to Colorado? No .243 Winchester, or even the cute little 6.5 mm Mannlicher-Schoenauer. I have to take something that will shoot flat and hard, for a long distance. Elk are tall, heavy deer, much larger than Whitetail deer. So---I picked up Dad's rifle and noticed that time had not dealt well with it. The recoil pad had sagged completely out of shape..the old Weaver scope had clouded up,and the whole package needed a tune up.

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Here is what I did: a new Pachmyer recoil pad...a glass-bedding job, a new scope, AND---boys and girls, I found a set of double-set triggers, such as was used on fancy German hunting and sniper rifles, and had them installed by a local young gunsmith, Mike Falvella. The stock is still plain, but the whole thing has completely changed character....in a good way. Here are some pics:

Here is the new Pachmyer recoil pad...and yes, it HELPS, with the heavier bullets and calibers.

You might take note of the scope...a Burris 3X9 Fullfield...still not a Cadillac among scopes, except in its brightness...

Notice the 'Classic' lines of the stock...Pop had good taste, and the rifle still feels 'right'. The white spacers are passe, but authentic 1940's and '50's.

The piece de resistance is the go button on any rifle. Unless, of course, you are a gorilla, like my son, Russell, who likes 15 lb. triggers. Those give me hernias...but the set trigger is the sniper's edge, and I understand that today's Austrian Mannlicher sniper models still offer them. They were first on the Crossbow...and now, a nice set is installed on Dad's Seven.

Just thought you would like to know all this, or you likely wouldn't have gotten this far...and there is the fact that I needed to pass on some family history to my kids and Grandkids. Thanks for listening...and wish me luck with Pop's old rifle, please.

Thanks, Pop. I love you. Hope you like the additions.

Peace