I bought a set (Redding) from Midway just a couple years ago. $34.95. Wait a sec, now that I think about it they are just straight 6.5-06. I just use them to neck size only. I have loaded and shot the same 50 cases for 5 or 6 reloadings now.
I had an old 1917 Eddystone action and a 28'' heavy Douglas barrel. One of those guns my grandpa never got around to building. He ordered the barrel back in the mid 60's. The stock is a "custom" thumbhole. And a brand new B&L Balvar 6-24 power. You know the kind that has all the external adjustments! Barrel, stock, trigger, buttstock and scope. Had not seen the light of day until a few years ago.
Which reminds me of a funny story about my rifle.
I remember clearly, it was a crisp fall day back when I was 10 years old. I was helping grandpa route in the trigger guard/floorplate. He had it nearly all set up and he had to go into the house and pee. Well thinking that I knew everything at the time, after all I was ten years old. I proceeded to turn the router on and have at it. Well things did not go as planned. The router hopped out of the fixture and landed up on the forearm about 8'' ahead of where the floorplate is suppose to be.
I thought to myself, Hmmm it's ok if the empties fall out up in this area! I think I can do it freehand without that fancy fixture I just watched my grandpa make. Afterall by the age of ten I had decided that I wanted to be a machinist / gunsmith.
I got almost one full pass around, at about 3/8 of an inch deep when I saw granda running out of the house pulling his pants up. He was hollering something blankety blank..
I could tell by his colorful language, that something was wrong. But I could'nt make it out with the router running at 10 zillion rpms, so I looked back down and proceeded with my work. I remember thinking that grandpa always talks like that when he is talking to grandma......He traveled the distance (100 yards or so) from the house to the shop in just a matter of seconds. He looked at my handy work and started laughing.
He said that he was going to leave my handy work on the rifle and go ahead and complete it. He got it nearly all together and started having some health problems and then never completed the project. It sat for some 20 years and then grandma reminded me that grandpa wanted me to finish "our" rifle. I used everything that he had bought to build it. It turned out awesome!
It's a sweet shooting rifle with a little custom wood work on it from when I was ten!
