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It is 57 days till we leave for Africa and I finally got the young blokes .243 back from a rebarrel and some modifications.

The old factory featherweight barrel had had its day so I sent it off for a new 22" tube. While there I had our gunsmith fix the broken web between the trigger and magazine well with a brass cross bolt. He also modified the two position swing safety so that the bolt could be dismantled easier and fitted an interruptor to the rear of the magazine feed plate so the bolt could not close on an empty magazine. More of a DG rifle feature I know, but the young bloke can get used to it now.

Finish on the stock is very basic, stripped, one coat of boiled Linseed Oil and then three coats of Semi-gloss spray estapol. The original stock was rather badly knocked about.

He rust blued the barrel and the bolt handle to which he added stippling to the top and bottom of the knob (His personal signature of his work.)

Once home I fitted Medium height Warne Maxima 30mm rings to the factory bases so the Zeiss 2.5-10x42 Victory scope could clear the bolt handle.

I really like this scope. It has a No. 8 reticle with fine inner cross hairs for accurate varmint shooting and thicker wider posts for target acquisition in low light.

Load development will now follow. I couldn't find any Nosler 100grain Partitions in two of the closest gun stores (We live in the outback) but I have found some Barnes 85 TSX and 100 grain Remington Premium Core-Lokt bonded projectiles. Whichever shoot the most accurately in this rifle will be taken to Africa.