Bonnie And Clyde Ambush
- Thread starter jimmyj
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22lrfan
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I believe that. The recoil of mine in .35 Rem is terrible.
DWalt
Member
I have two M81s and two M8s, essentially identical except for cosmetics. The M8s are both in .30 Rem, while the M81s are in .300 Savage. The M8s are tolerable to shoot, but the M81s are unpleasant to fire with full power .300 Savage loads. For that reason, I make up lighter .300 Savage loads for them. Ammunition is not a problem, as it is fairly simple to form .30 Rem brass from .30-30 cases, if you have a lathe (which I do) to machine the rim off and cut a new extractor groove. Takes about two minutes per case to do. They can be reloaded using .30-30 dies. It is a snap to make .300 Savage cases from .308 Win brass. Just FL size in .300 S die and shorten the neck.
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I had an 81 in .300 Savage. Shot well even with cast bullets. However, about every third or fourth empty would land square in the middle of my forehead. You didn't want to fire that gun without wearing a snugged down cap or hat.
You need new springs , mine is pleasant to shoot.
DWalt
Member
My .300 Savage reloads normally use gas check cast bullets, and loaded just enough to function reliably. Cases usually land a few feet to the right so I don't have to hunt for them. My load is 23 grains of IMR 4227 with a 170 grain cast bullet. My favorite is a Grade 2 M81 with peep sight on the rear of he receiver. Shoots very good groups at 50 yards. I would like to have one of the special police/FBI rifles with extended magazine capacity.
FBI guns were unusual. They were set up with a lighter recoil spring and used a more lightly loaded .30 Remington cartridge. Not sure why. I have seen a couple of Texas Ranger marked M81s. Also popular for prison guard service through the 1950s.
Teddy Roosevelt took one in .35 on his famous African Safari for the Smithsonian. Very cool guns with a ton of history. Not seen too often today.
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charlie sherrill
Member
We had two Thompson's in the Hattiesburg Police Department when I started in 1969. I used to check them out and take them to the range and shoot military surplus ammo in them. The Bouie River ran behind the range. There is a bridge about a mile upstream. We would drop empty freon bottles off the bridge and be back before the bottles floated by. Occasionally one of the bottles would still have some gas in it and would come spinning out of the water when hit. Lots of fun. Our bean counter sold the Thompson's, model 97 Winchester shotguns, some 351 rifles and other stuff for stupid low prices back in the 80's to purchase new equipment. We also had a wooden box containing over 20 Victory revolvers that disappeared when the long time chief retired. I did manage to get a Ithaca mod 37 trench gun (with 16" bayonet) but had to buy it from the dealer for $40.00 who took them on trade for some other stuff. It was never carried and in very good condition. I've owned it for over 50 years.
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