I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt22 Titanuim Rifle

While noodling about on 'tinerweb this morning I discovered that Lawrence Precision, who are famous for their titanium moderators also make this  2.3 Kg mountain rifle. 

From Titanium. Drool.

In order to create a unique Rifle, we have started from the ground up. Using our own unique super light receiver, built from High Strength Aerospace Grade Titanium, our super strong lightweight Carbon fibre stock, Match grade barrel and trigger, we have created an ultra light and accurate rifle.

Proven reliability and performance, weighing a mere 2.3 KG* 

When incorporated with our Titanium Sound Moderators and Scope Mounts, this produces a unique ultra light winning combination.

The tantalising combination of exquisite machining, Titanium, and Carbon Fibre really does it for me. This is a 100% custom rifle, not an assembly of parts, all the work of one man. Let us not discuss tawdry things such as the price and four month build time. 

Mr Lawrence only makes Short Actions, and suggests; 
.243 Win [aka 6mm08]
6.5 Creedmoor 
7mm08 

I've also seen a .308, for me its the magic of the 6-7mm range. With such a light rifle I'm veering towards the .243 BUT at 100gr it's at the top of its bullet weight range, whereas the other two are at the bottom of their's. Obviously there are lots of other factors to be considered. What would you choose and why?

More soon
Your pal
SBW 

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt21

On friday I spent the day with author, historian and storyteller The London Poacher. His opportunistic days of hunting the water corporation's lands are long gone, these days he's the groundsman's friend protecting east london's golf courses from green-eating coney's. He showed me round his battery of petite rifles including a very nice Anschutz in .22LR, with a barrel that seemed to have been bored from a locomotive axle, that has taken a rabbit at 168 yards. Obviously such a discovery lead me to the Anschutz site where I found this little jewel - their new Biathlon style 1727 hunter in 17HMR bunnywhacker.

Ohh ohh ohhh radial ball-lugs AKA the Fortner action, a la Heym SR30!
The price seems unconfirmed at this time but looks as though it'll Blaser money. Ouch, and Ouch again.  'Champagne tastes and a beer income' Bah!

Maybe ISSC will come to the rescue?

More soon
Your pal
SBW

Unboxing Review: Fallkniven TK6

[Drum Roll] For the first time in the history of the SBW blog, ladies and gentleman, bushcrafters, hunters, foodies, boys and girls: something from the 'I Want One' series has actually dropped on to the doormat! I know! I can't quite believe it myself! My friends at Eden Webshops have been kind enough to let me have a Tripple Krona 6 to play with.

The Totally Objective, Scrupulously Fair and Unbiased bit 
The TK6 is one of the lesser-spotted Fallkniven's. I know a few people who want one, but no one who's seen or handled one, and I'm guessing that's because of where they fit into the Fallkniven range. Most of us started by buying an F1 and then looked at the range and either went for something bigger as a camp knife (S1) or the WM1 as a neck knife. The now 'hens teeth' 'posh F1' with the Micarta handle is highly regarded, the TK2 is a bit more 'Bushcrafty' so the TK 5 and 6 haven't found as much traction with the knife buying public in the UK.

I've always wanted a little-big-knife; something smallish but very strong, I tried the Bark River Mikro Canadian II - loved the blade shape but loathed the fit and finish, and found the blade just a bit too small. There are lots of nice folders out there, not many of the nice ones currently within budget, and the hassle of taking them apart to clean them after beast-processing duty kind of puts me off.
Truthfully, despite what I might say from time to time, I'm not done accumulating fixed blades!


In the hand - first impressions
Petite. Petite yet muscular. The TK6 feels quite heavy for it's size, and is sharp enough to pop hairs off my arm going with the lie of the hair! Very Sharp!! There's a noticeable palm swell that I'd not picked up looking at the pictures. The bolster-to-blade fit is seamless. The fit between the Thermorun and steel could be better although it wouldn't be a big job to sand it out.

Specification
Total length: 6.9" (175 mm)
Blade length: 3.15" (80 mm)
Blade thickness: 0.18" (4,5 mm)
Weight: 120 g (4.2) oz
Steel: 3G which is  Fallkniven's proprietary name for a lamination of  VG2-SGPS-VG2.
Hardness (edge): 62 HRC - yep sixty effin' two!!
Handle material: Thermorun AKA Grippy Black Plastic
Sheath(s): Fold-over black leather or Zytel (a cast plastic)

Design
The TK or Tripple Krona [three crowns] series are a celebration of Swedish knife design and are somewhere between Fallkniven's more utilitarian knives [F1-S1 ect.] and the ultra high-end Northern Lights series. The Fallkniven design philosophy is immediately present; super trick steel, and a thick laminated blade, with a convex grind.

Steel
The 3G knives have a reputation of being slow to blunt and then equally slow to sharpen. Being a lamination of three pieces of steel they are incredibly strong allowing the use of very hard steel in the ore without the risk of cracking. The centre section of the lamination obviously forms the cutting edge and is Super Gold Powder Steel, a super trick steel from Japan that can be hardened to 62 HRC. Which is A LOT harder than most knife blades so its not going to lend itself to easy field maintenance. But on the upside it should still be sharp by the time you get home.

Handle
The TK5 comes with Cocobolo scales, personally I'm not a believer in Cocobolo as a material for knife scales, some people are allergic to it, and in comparison to other timber it's just not that good looking. I want my knives for field use, not as drawer queens that are just for looking at and occasionally fondling.  I've always wanted to pimp one so a TK6 with its Thermorun handle seemed like a better bet.

Sheath
You can have a choice of Fold-Over leather or Zytel sheaths. I know the fold-over sheaths have both their fans and detractors, I'm not that fussed either way myself. The Zytel sheaths are truly spectacular in their fuglyness proving that even utilitarianism can be taken too far. There is a whole cottage industry devoted to making sheaths for Fallkniven knives, with some of the guys, like Martin Swinkels, making really nice work. My plan for the TK6 has always been to pimp it out and give it a matching sheath.

Value for money
Sure Fallkniven are asking quite a lot of money for what is basically a mass produced knife, the F1 isn't the crazy bargain its once was, but is still a lifetimes worth of knife for around a days pay.
The TK6? Yes you could buy a very nice knife from one of the less well known makers for the same money, but you wouldn't get the laminated super steel. The TK5's price puts you within reach of a true custom knife bespoken to your requirements. But as the knife I most wanted to commission would be a TK5 clone anyway and G3 is only available from Fallkniven I'm using the TK6 as my starting point.


As regular readers will know I don't really care about the initial purchase price: I've been cash rich and [as now] I've been cash poor.  When I've had the money I've been pleased to be able to afford good kit, when I've been broke I've been pleased that I have good kit.
Some of the good kit that I bought a while back is now two and even three times what I paid for it. My pal The Northern Monkey said no to an F1 at forty quid back in the day, and now they're a hundred and twenty, expensive is relative, quality isn't.


I'm planning on the TK6 being 'another lifetimes worth of knife'. So having used up the other 'value is what you get' mantras in previous posts I guess I'll just have to repeat the words of a man wiser than I

'I spent most of my money wining and dining northern tarts, [and buying boutique outdoor gear]. The rest of it I just frittered away.'

Edenwebshops sell all the cool brands of knives, and somehow are quite a lot cheaper than most suppliers, very nice guys to deal with, warmly recommended.

Better go and put that first heart-wrenching scratch on it.

More soon
SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt19

Now this is seriously cool, and for once not only something I cant afford but something that isn't on sale at all. Hopefully that will change an it'll go into production. I want one!

We've all seen small wood and wood gas burning stoves, we've all seen them with electric fans, but this puppy uses no batteries AND generates electricity to power your gizmos afield!

For More Click Here


More soon
SBW




http://biolitestove.com/Full_Demonstration.html

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt17

Partially in response to Colorado Caster and the mighty Josh of Lands On The Margin commenting on the high-ticket nature of the I Want One series, and partially as I'm hoping to vist New England during shotgun season, abet on a severly restricted budget. I thought it was time to have a look at slug launchers. As luck would have it The Gun Nuts at F&S were doing a round up of possible options. In a land were firearms ownership isn't controlled [much] economies of scale mean some handsome deer-slayers are available from new at prices even I can occasionally afford.

The Harrington and Richardson Ultra Slug Hunter Deluxe

Priced around a feasible $300 and claimed to be a 'true tack-driver', this single shot shotgun has a 24" fully rifled heavyweight barrel. Which if my understanding is correct will offer favorable harmonics and better long-range accuracy.

It's offered with a 'walnut-stained' American hardwood stock in the Monte Carlo style to promote rapid eye-to-gun alignment. 12 and 20 gauge versions available, and even comes with a set of scope mounts.

Interestingly Harrington and Richardson use their own proprietary design of Ultragon™ rifling to guide the plastic 'sabot' or casing that encloses the slug trough the barrel. This is designed to make less impression on the slug than the 'lands' of conventional rifling and should greatly increase accuracy. 

Of course this post wouldn't be part of the I Want One series if we didn't top it off with a Schmidt & Bender Zenith 1.1-4x24 a snip at $1699. Perfection.

Happy 4th of July Folks

SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt16

Can you tell what it is yet?

I know I said I fancied a Blaser R93, but from the same factory there's another rifle. The Mauser M03. Also with interchangeable barrels, but this time it has a conventional bolt throw and a proper drop out magazine. Being the kind of numb-nuts who managed to drop a round into the undergrowth from a high seat I appreciate a drop box. [Yes of course it clanged off a rung on the way down]. 


Not cheap: but little on the I Want One list of kit lust is.  You can wash yourself with an old car washing sponge, a bucket and a length of hose, but dropping a few grand on a nice bathroom changes the ablution experience. After one too many wasted evenings re-installing Windows 98 I flashed up for a Mac book and never looked back. While you're paying a premium for design, you're getting some those well thought out touches that pass the Doh! test and make life a little better. 

With the Blaser you get a sence of the-rifle-re-thought, with the M03 its more a best of: De-cocking safety - not just blocking the release of the firing pin but taking the tension off the spring - making the rifle inert even with one up the spout, a 'Set trigger' meaning it has two sensitivity settings; one where it breaks at  just under 1 lb and on the other setting at just over 4 lbs - less squeeze for still hunting from a high seat with something to rest the rifle on, or more squeeze for greater safety for stalking. Not a light rifle in anybody's book, at almost nine pounds with a scope. But that's no bad thing for still hunting from a high seat, or from a bipod, and gives a nice, fluid, smooth movement when swinging the rifle at a moving boar. Never going to be called a mountain rifle though. Although, already on the website as vaporware: at some yet to be disclosed time in the near-to-distant future there'll be a Dural aluminium alloy action model that's 400 grams lighter  - nice! For the steel actions Mauser offer all the finishes you'd expect: coated, coloured, or engraved to the depth of your pockets. 

Barrels are available in all the usual caliber's from .222 to 458 Lott. There are two families of barrels 16 mm and 19 mm. Some stocks are only available inlet for the larger pipes. As you'd expect from someone with a name like Mauser to honor  the stocks are something to behold, with interchangeable variations offered in the finest grades of old school walnut (priced from 'cold sweat' to 'emergency resuscitation required') and a series of synthetics with a steel chassis.

The Stutzen (with a twist - it's a two piece): Two trad european looks for a weekend with Count Jägermeister  and Countess Von Jägerin?

Perhaps something more Utilitarian?

Or on a Professional Hunter tip:  

Ideal for a trip to see the Hippo or after the big hawgs with the Chief Chronicler 

Or short and to the point - the Trail with an 18 inch barrel for the Battue or as a handy  hillside gun for Italy?

Come on Santa Baby - hook a Bushwacker up. I've been awful good. Pleeeeeaazzee.
SBW


The Pix are from Pete Moore's review on Gun Mart (also see his videos there) and the Mauser site


The barrel options are listed here as a PDF.

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt15

Sorry to start the new year with the plaintive wail of unfulfilled consumer lust, but really, $200 for this is! That's awesome.
All the way back to 1888 - every issue. I wonder how many years it'll take F&S to do something as simple and cool as this?

Your pal
SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt14

From pommel to tip 9 5/8" With the blade 5" of that. Ground from Crucible's 5/32" D2 hardened to 60Rc.

Handled in Green Canvas Micarta with white liners and stainless steel pins.

The price? $495

I've got a whole drawer full of knives so I guess the $500'll probably be going somewhere else in the foreseeable, but tiz luv-er-lee and I do WANT ONE!

If you're feeling flush you can get in touch with the man himself.

Charles May
Charles May Knives
10024 McDonald Rd.
Aberdeen, MS 39730
662-369-0404

Catch you soon
Your pal
SBW

I want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt13

I just, stone cold want one. End of.

Click here to learn more about the team who are bringing this and a few other bikes into production. Good Luck guys.

I want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt12.0

It's always good to get a new angle on things and just after i posted the 'I want one ' about these binos, quoting David Petzal a new copy of Field and Stream landed on the door mat. Whadda you know he was doing a feature on optics.

Last time he said

MYTH: Thousand-dollar binoculars are a waste of money.
TRUTH: I can’t tell you how many guides I’ve met who owned the clothes on their back, a pickup truck, and a pair of thousand-dollar binoculars. There’s a reason for that.

This time it was

'I don't know how many guides I've met who dressed in rags, lived on wallpaper paste and government cheese but who owned a pair of $2000 binoculars"

That's inflation for you, but it's good to see I'm not the only one taking recycling seriously!

See ya soon

SBW

I want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt12

“MYTH: Thousand-dollar binoculars are a waste of money.

TRUTH: I can’t tell you how many guides I’ve met who owned the clothes on their back, a pickup truck, and a pair of thousand-dollar binoculars. There’s a reason for that.”

David E Petzal

Well it must have been a while back the The Gun Nut wrote that, because you aren't going to see a lot of 'high end' for a thousand bucks these days. This pair'll set you back £1500 which is the best part of $2500! Ouch.

Did I mention that they have a built in laser range finder!

I was mad about The Six Million Dollar Man as a lad and while lifting engine blocks with one hand and running a 60 mph are both cool, my favorite of his powers was where he'd 'close one eye to scope in on a target and be able to see how far away it was.

Obviously $5,997,500 is a lot of change but do they make the Der Der Deh noise or do you have to make that yourself?

SBW

I want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt11

How bushcraft is this!

The site is well worth having a look at, lots of cool ideas.

Your pal

The bushwacker

I want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt10

This time it's a boat! And what a boat. The Alpacka Raft is a fantastic idea, a boat that you can backpack with.

The boats weigh only 3.1 to 5.5 lbs. (1.5 to 2.5 kg) each, plus paddles and bits and pieces. I was rather taken with their 'Moose boat' the Fjord Explorer not the smallest of their output but big enough to take a friend, or transport that moose you've invited to dinner!

Beats taking the lift (elevator)

I doubt my (or your) weekend will be this exiting, but here's a-hopein' an a dreamin'

Your Pal

The SUBURBAN Bushwacker

Picture credit Alpacka Raft & Tom Evans

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt8

Reading Holly's blog is always thought provoking (best comments section on the web - end of), but this time she's been provoking further attacks of the avarice that's afflicting this blog for a couple of posts!

As ever I've been thinking about a time [soon to come] when finances improve and I'll be able to buy myself a rifle of my own. Up until now I've mostly been thinking Swedish. But nothing's set in stone.

This weekend I've been looking at the Blaser 93 in all its myriad incarnations, including this conversion to rimfire.

The design is a modular marvel where every stock fits every action and every barrel.

Who says AR15 owners should have all the fun. And if I were to suddenly win the lottery how about their unique take on the double rifle?

Two side-by-side barrels and receivers. With each cycle of the bolt two cartridges are loaded simultaneously, like a classic side-by-side double rifle. But better. The magazine contains six cartridges and two in the barrels. Ideal for the really big pigs.

Albert I thought of you.

Maybe I should go German?

Your pal

The Bushwacker

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt7

'You can tell gentleman by his shoes and his watch' - Unknown

The two most predictable questions to ask a returning adventurer are:
Q 'Why?' 

A 'Because it's there' [I know what you mean but couldn't you find a new way of saying it?] 

From my earliest days reading about adventure, and adventurers, the intrepid adventurer has always had certain bits of kit that are; if not actually indispensable, at least touchstones. Those pieces of craft that can take us places, especially when we've taken ourselves places. Yes I'm including myself in the adventurer category now that I've led an intrepid solo expedition to the frozen north. Well Leeds anyway.

Predictable Question 2 

Q 'What's the one thing you'd always take?'

As ever Eric Newby had the best answer. 

A'Wanda!' (his Mrs).  

Apart from his beloved the other thing Newby  always had with him was his Rolex, bought on route to the hindu kush. Lacking his wit and good fortune lots of adventurers  seem to go that most pedestrian of answers ' a swiss army knife'. 

Don't get me wrong. They're OK. I've owned a few of them myself but i can think of better options; a stack of $100 bills'll solve most problems, from lighting fires to calming traffic cops. While it cant light fires, when the Benjamins are gone a Rolex can always be swapped  for a ticket home from anywhere.

I've been a fan of Rolex since I first saw them advertised in an ancient copy of National Geographic as a teenager, and how many dreams were born between those pages?  The trouble with Rolex is that every fourth Essex wide boy's got one, and the other three are wearing 'Bangkok rolys'. In order to reestablish some of the exclusivity they once had there's a now a fashion for coating Rolex sports watches in a variety of black finishes - the same sort of coatings people use to weatherproof rifles. Way cool, and there's a certain cache to not-for-sale. 

Then there's the real deal - IWC - The International Watch Company of Schaffhausen Switzerland. Every model is a thing of great beauty in its own way. To my eyes, especially the the sports watches from the 1970s. My friend Nurse Kate has one of the coolest examples. Her stepfather saw her eyeing it up on his wrist and gave it to her in a fit of pique shouting 'Stop waiting for me to die'.  She's spent the price of a Tikka T3 on servicing it and it still doesn't tell the time. Cool paperweight though. 

You can see where this is going. A hand made watch is possibly the ultimate boys toy, completely useless - your phone keeps better time, but some how way cool. In fact the more you spend the less good a watch is at its stated function. If you don't 'get' watches you'll be queuing up to leave pithy comments at the end of this post. If you do get them you'll be too busy following the links to comment. 

So here it is. The latest 'I Want One' its totally customizable, and its a hell of a lot cheaper that even a new strap for an IWC, it combines the time keeping qualities of an phone [almost] with the machinists craft and the cache of super low volume manufacture.  The Swiss assembled models have a few choices. But it's the assembled in the USA models that interest me. Completely custom, you make yours up from an options list that include choices of case, bezel, faces, and hour, minute, second and second time zone hands. All to your own exacting taste. Corr!

MKII call my favorite the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (pronounced "LuRP") which if you include the short walk to school and back is a pretty fair description of my lifestyle.

There's a 'seeker' born every minute - and two to sell him must have accessories.

Your Pal 

SBW (that's Sucker Boy Wants)

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt6

The season approaches and a Suburban Bushwackers thoughts turn to; Trout, buying stuff he don't need, and milled aluminum for milled aluminum's sake.

Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. 

Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary. 

Patrick F. McManus

Sex on a stick (sticks in carbon, fiberglass or bamboo) from Halo Reels

Your pal

The Bushwacker

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt5

This time it's a rifle. Seeing as the Tikka T3 (£700ish) i shot at Rangetastic was so good strait out of the box, it set me wondering. As Sako and Tikka are both part of Beretta. What are Sako offering for the extra £600 ?

The current offering is the 85 series, a refinement of the highly rated 75 and available in the usual range of calibers, stocked with a choice of wood, laminate or synthetic (£1300ish). The most obvious difference is that the actions are caliber-specific; cartridge length determines the length of the action. Giving new meaning to 'use enough gun'. This looks far nicer, saves a few grams, and means the bolts travel is matched to the effort needed to cycle your cartridge.

Worth the extra cash? Depends how many sewage pipes you had to clear for it, I suppose.

Off up north
Your pal
SBW

I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series Pt4

I haven't done a 'I Want One - A Not So Occasional Series' posts in a while, but you know how it is, one moment your working on your business plan, the next thing you know you've accidentally started surfing British Blades and your head has been turned . I like the rivet placement on the Cocobolo [left] but the Thermorun [right] is more practical.
Perhaps if I got the wooden handled one, and re handled it in G10 I could add a pair of hollow rivets.................Hmmm
The price? Don't ask.
Your pal
SBW

PS The knifes are a Fallkniven TK5 and TK6
PPS My review of the Fallkniven F1 is here