At a recent match I picked up another Ballard receiver that was mixed and matched parts and in that batch of parts I got a forged receiver, a single trigger breech block and an early Brown lever…  The receiver had a feature someone in history performed, they added a hole drilled and tapped like a Stevens for the takedown feature.  Friends have accused me of building a rifle around an action screw I’ve picked up so this isn’t nearly as extreme…  This did get a different breech block (old and abused), a double set trigger configuration, several of my parts for internals, a true mother of fence post butt stock and a barrel got used that’s been kicking around our places since 1975… (the UPS label has that date on it)  I believe it may have been the very first barrel blank I ever bought… when I was a teenager I had a minor itch to build a rifle in high school shop class, (back when we did those kinds of things) but at the time, I was hooked on fumes, (gas and perfume) more so than smoke, (gunpowder and cigarettes) so this idea faded into oblivion.  When my dad passed a few years ago my siblings and I divvied up several boxes of plunder and I’m just getting around to going through a few more of the boxes…  The barrel is a Shilen, 30 cal. 28”, 1:10, CM, and I’ve wanted to build a 30-30 Wesson as an offhand rifle for some time so this gave me the nudge.  Like many of my projects I put myself under pressure - with just over a week before my next scheduled match, a strong eleven days away.  I was sure I could get everything together and shooting with a day or two to spare – it just meant that there may not be much time for sleep in that time frame – my regular work load got busy again, probably because of my absence from going to other shoots? It’s a vicious circle…   
Well, here we are operating in the 11th hour, making a new breech seater, casting bullets, trying to make time to slip to the range, work on some loads, fix the bugs that come up, make a few last minute changes, maybe make a forend and use a screw to attach it?  I do have a backup, the rifle I’ve been shooting the last 3 or 4 matches, but it’s time for a change…  We'll see how the cookie crumbles.
GT

Greg,
They say that if you want to get something done, give a project to a busy person!

Looking at your Harris scores kinda proves a rifle doesn’t need to look good or even be finished to shot well!
Bob

GT,

I bust my ass to just make up a forend to go to a match, and in the same week, you made a whole rifle with all the bells and whistles. I'm impressed!

Schutzenbob wrote on Aug 19^th, 2026 at 3:51pm:


Bob,
Don't be too impressed, you finish your's and it looks nice -  appealing to the eye, just like Mr. Warren does.  Mine rarely see a finish and when they do, not all the scratches are sanded out, fits are never as nice of a mate as they should be and truthfully, it matters very little to me.  I build for function and performance.  A few of the rifles I have finished out - an extra hundred hours or more - then taken to a match and used, suffer bumps and dings.  It does nothing for my focus or stress level, so why go the extra hours to have the effort wasted?

This build will be going to a match this weekend with at least a few rounds down the pipe.  I guessed on some loads, using N110 and pills cast from an early Ideal mold that drop at 175g, velocities were around 1400 fps, shot off bench sticks with no rear support.  I shot a few rounds while the wind was still up, 8-10 mph.  Just before the sun set it changed direction and dropped off to almost nothing.  It's showing some potential...   It may get a forend yet before I leave.

Johhny, 
The scope is a 10x Lyman STS with a 1/4 MOA dot.
GT

No Wes, this is the receiver I picked up from Russ there.  Haven't had time to put the Peterson back together yet.  Only needs an extractor and buttstock for it...  Too many Ballards, not enough hours in a day.
See you Friday