Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Recently acquired collection of 8

Hi all,

There’s probably an introduction section but thought it would fit in with this post (I tried to keep it short). I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and didn’t hunt growing up. I have a lot of hunters in my family but my Dad was never into it. Growing up we had an old Mossberg semi-auto .22 (tubular feed that always jams) and a single shot Cooey 12-gauge. About 10 years ago when I was in my 20's I started getting more into the outdoors and found myself tagging along with a buddy of mine on his grouse and deer hunts. This led me to usually borrowing guns from family or friends. This past season I wasn’t going to borrow anymore and finally buy either a muzzleloader or rifle.

My dad was talking to the neighbor at the lake and he was looking to sell his collection of guns, ammo, the whole works as he didn’t find himself hunting anymore. Details were sparse, but he had roughly 8 guns to sell and was looking for $1,200 (Canadian). Without knowing what they were I agreed and after a couple weeks of waiting he delivered them to my dad at the lake.
I ended up with:
1. Browning BAR 30-06 with a Redfield 2x7 widefield scope (believe it’s a 1977 Belgium but assembled in Portugal)
2. Remington 600 Mohawk .308 with older Tasco 3x9 scope
3. Savage Model 99 .300 (1930 takedown)
4. Remington 700 ML muzzleloader .50 cal with no name 4x scope
5. Thompson Center Renegade .50 cal muzzleloader with Simmons Deerfield scope
6. Remington 870 Express 12-gauge
7. Remington Wingmaster 870 12-gauge
8. 12-gauge side by side shotgun, some brand from Brazil (can’t remember the name)




As soon as I saw what I’d bought the wheels started turning as to what I wanted to change/fix on them.First I went to the range and tried to sight them in as best as I could in the one day I had at the range for the upcoming season. The little .308 Mohawk ruined my day, that thing kicks like crazy. I used the BAR for the deer season and got a nice buck. After the season was over the work began:

Savage Model 99
I contacted one of the members here to get a no drill scope mount for the Model 99 to put the 2x7 Redfield scope on it. Cleaned up the stock a little bit with some oil and called it a day. I will enjoy this gun but the hope is that my dad will get his hunter safety and give hunting a try, this will be his gun.



Browning BAR
Purchased a 3x9-40 Vortex Viper and installed it to replace the Redfield.



Mohawk
Pulled it apart to refinish the stock and added a decelerator recoil pad. I really didn’t care for carrying the BAR around in the bush due to weight and risk of damaging it so I want to use this gun for that. For that reason, I wanted something durable and fairly easy to repair so I didn’t use a stain and started with teak oil and a satin poly over it. I had low expectations but there was actually some nice grain underneath the old finish. From what I read online it sounded like they are supposed to have a beech stock but this looks like walnut to me. The trigger recall is on hold until the new ownership at Remington figures out how to handle it.
Another thing I noticed with this gun is that the barrel sits crooked in the stock and is touching on the left side. I’ve been reading a bit about free floating but as long as I can sight it in and it is shooting nice I don’t think I have to worry too much about this, or do I? It looks like there is a bump for the barrel to rest on that would have to be sanded away to free float, after I figure out how to center the barrel. This bump looks intentional though.




Wingmaster
Removed the old finish and added a decelerator recoil pad to this one as well. Stained the wood with a mixture of gunstock stain and a red chestnut stain I had at home. I wanted to try Tru-Oil on this one and still haven’t found an application I really like for this. I think the best so far has been a wadded-up cloth soaked in Tru-Oil and wrapped in a lint free cloth. I thought I was done with this process as I had it to where I was happy with it, aside from some nibs and streaks I figured I could wetsand out and apply a compound/polish to bring the sheen back but the finish must be a lot thinner than I thought as I now have cloudy spots where I must have sanded through with 2000 grit wet paper. I have lots of experience with automotive finishes but this is new to me and don’t see how I would have cut this deep with pressure I used with such a fine grit. Unless I heated up the oil and this is a product of that? Either way I guess I will have a chance to work on my Tru-Oil application again.




Remington 700 ML muzzleloader
I have read bad things and good things about this gun. I’m not sure which direction to go with this one. I carried it around in muzzleloader season and always had to check to see if the #11 cap fell off the nipple. While shooting it at the range I got gasses in my face and it is not the easiest to clean. But I also read a lot of these issues can be solved with a quality 209 primer conversion (Badger Ridge). I would upgrade the scope (maybe another fixed 4x or 2x7 or 3x9) but it could be made to be a good shooting gun and more then enough for what I need.



Side by side and Renegade
I might sell these two. I don’t think I will ever have the need or want to use the Renegade and I likely won’t have a use for the side by side. Based on what I’ve read about them is that they are cheap and not very good and therefore it might not even be worth it to sell. Just a little bit of cool factor.



Any feedback or advice on these guns that I came into possession of would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I'd get some CVMW bottom metal for that 600.....

For $1200 you made out like a freaking bandit!

Dunno what you used for hearing protection but my Remington 660 kicked like an angry mule until I got a good set of muff to eliminate the noise. Then that 660 became a pussycat to shoot. he 660 isn't much different than the 600 other than having a 20" barrel rather than 18". I also had a 600 Mohawk that I gave to a friend for his first deer rifle. Both were chambered to the .308 Win.
Paul B.

You did well! Congratulations!

Yep you did great!! Good job on “cleaning” them up they look nice!

PennDog

You did very well!!

Your information about the Renegade being cheap and not very good couldn’t be more incorrect.

You stole that collection! Wow.

Ditto with godogs on the renegade there good working guns, for what you paid you don't have any money in it. When using true oil cut the tru oil with a little mineral spirits while wet sanding first 3-4 coats this will help fill the pores and after 10 coats or so it will look nice. Try to be more objective on the double till it actually fails you. Realistically the guns you bought would have totaled 3k at a dealers so be happy as that's what the seller wanted and you got a good deal. Good luck. Mb

I thought he may have been talking about the side by side double. The Renegade is my favorite black powder rifle.

Good deal man!

Outstanding collection of firearms. And some great work from you!!

Any chance you have a warrant for your arrest?

Amen

Good advice on the Tru-oil..

You got some nice firearms at a killer price. Get the 209 conversion for the M700ML and you will be good to go. I had a .54Cal and it was a shooter.
Nice job on the clean ups too.

Great input.

Didn't realize there was a metal replacement for the plastic on the 600. This is on the list now.

I'll pick up some mineral spirits for my next go around on the Tru-Oil. Read about doing that online but wanted to give the product a try as-is.

And I you're right, I was referring to the sxs not the Renegade. The brand is Boito and I believe it was sold at Kmart.

I actually had my first opportunity to speak to the guy that sold me the guns yesterday as I dropped off some garlic sausage and smokies for him. He had never fired the 700 ML it was part of an insurance claim and always used the Renegade. He had taken a few moose and elk with the BAR and that was his baby. Ended off by telling him if he had the itch to go hunting again we could arrange it so he could borrow a gun.

The 99 is a beauty and worth what you paid by itself, more actually. Don't refinish it or only some oil over the original finish.

If you want quicker build up put on a couple of coats of spar varnish, one thinned and then the second full strength. The Tru Oil will bond fine or you could do a scuff coat to improve adhesion. I hand rub Tru Oil and it eliminates the runs and drips that an applicator can create.

that barrel channel thing is pretty common in 600/660's. the machine they used must have needed some tweaking. rather than mucking with that stock, i'd look at maybe getting a hogue or something and play with free floating to see how it works. my 600 didn't need any tweaking, it just shoots little groups all day. but the stocks on those are kind of like a 2x4. they are an acquired taste. i love mine but its a 350 and its abusive on the face when shooting.

The Renegade looks to be the single trigger hunter model.
The sxs looks to be a Boito

I do believe Ashland had special runs of TC single trigger, based off the Renegade and New Englander. They had shorter bbls.