American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 91 Winchester M70 Rifle Customization
Two days later, Lin Yu'an received a call from Earl.

"Lin, tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., at the 'Old Gun Barrel' bar in the west of the city, I'll be waiting for you. I'll take you to meet an old friend."

"He's willing to build you a real Winchester M70 by hand."

Lin Yu'an knew that the old friend Earl mentioned, Hopes, was a living legend in the Texas and even the entire United States gun manufacturing circle.

This man, nearing eighty years old, was one of Winchester's top firearms technicians, having participated in the improvement and customization of several classic M70 models.

After retiring, he opened a small private gun workshop in a town outside Austin, providing customized services only to those who truly understand and cherish guns.

Lin Yu'an was filled with anticipation; this was a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with the craftsmanship and culture of firearms manufacturing.

The Winchester M70, custom-made by Hopes himself, is far more valuable and significant than mass-produced products in stores.

The next morning, Lin Yu'an arrived at the "Old Barrel" bar on time. Earl was already waiting there, still dressed in faded denim and with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Let's go, Lin."

Earl succinctly led Lin Yu'an to a seemingly inconspicuous, even somewhat dilapidated, red-brick warehouse.

The warehouse's iron gate was tightly closed, and a rusty sign hung on it, bearing the words "Hops Precision Machining" in faded paint.

Earl stepped forward and knocked on the iron gate.

As they entered the workshop, a mixture of gun oil, metal cutting fluid, and sawdust hit them.

Several precision lathes lay quietly in the center, and the walls were covered with various firearm blueprints and specialized tools.

An elderly man with gray hair, wearing reading glasses and greasy overalls, carefully grinding a trigger assembly in his hand, looked up at the sound.

“You’ve come, Earl.”

When Hopes saw Earl, he simply nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Lin Yu'an.

"Is he the person you're talking about?"

"Ah."

Earl responded and then said to Lin Yu'an, "Hopps, the retired chief gunsmith from Winchester, tell him your request."

After saying that, Earl walked to the side, lit a cigarette, leaned against a huge tool cabinet, and puffed away.

Facing this legendary gunsmith, Lin Yu'an said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Mr. Hopes, I need a Winchester M70, bolt-action, .300WSM caliber."

"Primarily used in Alaska, it needs to cope with all possible weather and prey, requiring absolute reliability and accuracy."

Hope put down what he was doing and carefully wiped his hands with a cloth.

"The requirements are very high. Let me make it clear first: I only make classic products here. I have no interest in those fancy polymers and adjustable cheek rests."

"I make guns that can be used for a lifetime and passed down to my grandchildren."

"Hops, this is exactly what I want."

"Come with me."

Hopes seemed fairly satisfied with Lin Yu-an's directness and began a customized material selection and design journey with him.

"The soul of a good gun begins with its bolt."

Hops took a Winchester M70 "Former Type 64" controlled-feed breechblock from a wooden cabinet, its metal gleaming coldly.

"This is a blank, unfinished, controllable feed mechanism."

"The claw-shaped extractor can firmly grasp the bottom of the cartridge case like an eagle's claw, ensuring that the bullet is stably and reliably fed into the chamber in any extreme position without jamming."

“I will ‘fine-tune’ this bolt with extremely fine polishing paste to ensure that every lock is flawless.”

Hopes led Lin Yu'an to a huge precision lathe and pointed to several heavy metal bars wrapped in oil paper.

“These are top-grade Krieg match-grade stainless steel barrel blanks, 416R steel. I will precisely machine them to 24 inches according to your requirements.”

He then explained in detail: "The processing begins with using a specially made gun drill with an internal coolant channel to drill a straight inner hole in a solid steel bar at an extremely slow speed."

"Then comes the reaming, using a more precise reamer to enlarge the inner hole to a precise size of .300 caliber, with tolerances controlled to within one ten-thousandth of an inch."

"The most crucial part is the rifling. I will use the most traditional 'single-point hook cutting method' to rotate and advance inside the barrel, cutting away only a few tenths of a micrometer of metal each time."

"After cutting one rifling groove, the angle is adjusted, and the next one is cut. A total of six perfect rifling grooves need to be formed, and this barrel takes several hours on the machine."

"This process is very slow, but it ensures that the depth, width and helix angle of each rifling groove are perfectly consistent, which is incomparable to the modern mass production 'broaching' method."

Hopes led him to a pile of wood-scented blanks.

"Then, there's the stock. My custom-made guns are only allowed to have wooden stocks. If you want engineering plastic, you can go to a gun shop."

Lin Yu'an answered without hesitation, "I want black walnut wood."

"Good taste."

Hope stroked a piece of black walnut wood blank with tiger-stripe patterns and a deep color.

"For this A++++ grade wood, I will first have you assume various shooting positions and use professional tools to accurately measure your arm length, hand shape, neck length, and cheek-touching habits."

"The grip will be engraved with a non-slip diamond pattern. Each diamond is hand-lined and hand-carved to ensure sharp edges and a firm grip."

"The surface of the gunstock will be soaked in oil and polished. A thin layer of heated linseed oil or tung oil will be applied and left to sit in a temperature-controlled room for 24 hours to allow it to fully penetrate." "Until the surface of the gunstock has a velvety, understated, deep luster that shines from within the wood and is completely waterproof."

Hopes continued, "As for the triggers, I'll replace them with the top-of-the-line racing triggers, like Jewell or Timney."

"The trigger pull can be precisely adjusted to your most comfortable 2.5 pounds, and the firing is crisp and clean with no extra travel."

In the following days, Lin Yu'an became a regular at Hopes Workshop.

Earl also came a few times. He just sat quietly to the side and watched, occasionally exchanging glances with Hope. He seemed very satisfied with Lin Yu'an's performance.

Lin Yu'an is not just a customer, but more like a student eager for knowledge.

He watched as Hopes transformed cold metal and rough wood, step by step, into a work of art full of soul.

With Hopes' permission, he even personally participated in some simple tasks, such as oiling and polishing the stock.

His knowledge of mechanical engineering allowed him to fully understand the principles behind these processes.

His unparalleled focus and hands-on skills gradually earned him a genuine appreciation from Hope, the reclusive old gunsmith.

Finally, on a sunny afternoon, Hope solemnly took a brand-new rifle out of its custom-made gun case and handed it to Lin Yu'an.

It lay there quietly, like a sleeping work of art.

The deep blue sheen of the gun body complements the smooth walnut stock, and every part fits together perfectly, exuding both mechanical beauty and the warmth of handcraftsmanship.

Lin Yu'an lifted it up and placed it on his shoulder.

The stock of the gun fit his cheek perfectly, and the walnut wood, which had been soaked in oil countless times, felt warm and smooth to the touch.

The size and angle of the grip are just right, and the overall center of gravity and balance of the gun are perfectly balanced!

"Go give it a try, kid."

Hopes pointed to the private shooting range behind the estate.

Lin Yu'an performed a simple zeroing calibration, then loaded a .300 Win Mag bullet, pulled the bolt, and it went as smoothly as Dove chocolate!
He took a deep breath, aimed at the bullseye a hundred meters away, and lightly placed his index finger on the trigger, which had a trigger pull of only 2.5 pounds.

"boom--!"

A deep, resounding bang! The powerful recoil was absorbed steadily by his body through the perfectly fitting stock.

He could clearly feel that there was a clean, sharp bullet hole right in the center of the bullseye.

Lin Yu'an didn't stop. He pulled the bolt again, and the hot cartridge case was steadily pulled out and ejected by the claw-shaped extractor. A new bullet was smoothly pushed into the chamber.

"Bang!" Another shot.

The second bullet hole is right next to the edge of the first bullet hole.

"Bang!" The third shot.

The three bullet holes form a tight triangle on the 100-meter target paper.

Earl, who had been standing at a distance, finally showed a barely perceptible smile on his tense face upon seeing the result.

He stubbed out his cigarette, knowing he hadn't misjudged the person.

"Kid, not bad." Earl walked over, his voice calm.

"To shoot like this at a stationary target at 100 meters means you have a good gun and a lot of talent. But wild prey won't stand still."

"Let's go, I'll take you to a place where you can really unleash your full potential."

Earl took Lin Yu'an to a private shooting range on the outskirts of Texas that simulated complex terrain.

Over the next week, he underwent a "three-lesson instruction" training program, which consisted of practical shooting skills training for U.S. military snipers.

He would have Lin Yu-an lie down and shoot immediately after strenuous exercise.

"There's no time to calm your heart on the battlefield; you have to learn to use the rhythm of your heartbeat! The instant your crosshair sways with your heartbeat and passes the center of the target, fire decisively!"

Under Earl's guidance, Lin Yu'an practiced repeatedly and gradually mastered how to adapt to the swaying of her body when her heart was pounding like a drum, so as to complete accurate shooting.

"In the wild, anything that can stabilize your gun is your friend. Quickly finding and using them is a basic survival skill."

Lin Yu'an began using various irregular objects as support, shooting at targets at different distances from unstable kneeling and standing positions, and he quickly mastered the technique.

Earl pointed to the flags fluttering in the wind in the distance and said, "This is the last lesson I will teach you, and the most important one."

"In the wild, the wind is your biggest enemy. You must learn to roughly judge the wind speed and direction by observing the swaying of leaves and the movement of dust on the ground."

Instead of teaching Lin Yu'an complicated formulas, he imparted some practical tips and tricks.

He also demanded that Lin Yu'an memorize the bullet drop of his gun at 200 meters, 300 meters, and 400 meters through extensive live-fire shooting.

Lin Yu'an's enhanced physical abilities and spatial awareness, amplified by his cheat system, played a crucial role at this moment!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(I've included quite a few pictures in this post because I like each one more and more the more I look at them.)

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(End of this chapter)