CaptSurly tells us: “Old Glory is the second custom rifle I had built. The first was another 223 built by Bobbie Hart. In choosing 223 it was the result, at the time, of the lack of any familiarity with the BR and PPC custom cartridges. Old Glory is one of a dozen custom rifles I own, 8 of which are built on Bat 6.5″ MF actions, all with Shehane Tracker stocks in 22 and 6mm PPC, 22, 6mm, and 30 BR, as well as 222s and 22-250s built on Rem 700 trued actions. The gunsmiths include: Leonard Baity, Dwight Scott, Kevin Rayhill, Bill Truitt and Doyle Anglin.”

Old Glory is built on a trued Remington SS action. It sports a Shehane MBR Tracker stock, a 1:14″ twist Dan Lilja SS Barrel at 24″, a 1.5 oz. Jewell trigger, a Pacific Tool & Gauge (PTG) bolt, a Leupold 45×45 Competition scope, Davidson bases, and Kelby rings. The chambering is by Kevin Rayhill in Match .223 Rem Match with a .250″ neck. Kevin also pillar- and glass-bedded the action in the stock. The gun is shot with Lapua match brass (.0115″ neck thickness), Bart’s 52gr FB bullets and with Fed 205m match primers lighting off 25.0 grains of VV 133. The gun is very accurate.

CaptSurly tells us: “Old Glory is not shot in organized competition, but competition in absentia. By that I mean I keep track of what is happening in organized competition through PS Magazine and through the IBS web site. Traveling to matches at long distances does not work for me. Extreme accuracy is my passion and I am rarely satisfied with my results regardless of how good they are and more often than not they are good. Old Glory is seldom shot beyond 50 yards due to the range availability here on the island. I shoot on the Florida Keys Shooting Club Range here on Key Largo, FL. While we have 50- and 100-yard ranges, the 100-yard range is available only on Monday afternoons, so I use same for shooting my PPCs and BRs.”

Artwork by Killer Paint’s Mike Lavallee
The amazing paint job was done by Mike Lavallee of Killer Paint Inc. in Snohomish, Washington. Mike is a featured artist on The Discovery Channel in his own right and in association with Monster Garage (Jesse James). Lavallee is famous for his “Tru-flames” paint effects.

Three of CaptSurly’s painted stocks currently appear on the Killer Paint web site gallery and Lavallee is currently working on two more stocks for CaptSurly and his wife — one will feature a tropical motif and the other will sport a buckskin motif.

No Mixing Required. No Heat-Curing Needed.
Perma Fin is a single component, water-based polyurethane resin liquid that provides excellent adhesion to not only metal firearm surfaces, but to plastic and rubber as well. There is no mixing of components, no harsh chemicals, and because Perma Fin is water-based, clean-up is simple and easy. Perma Fin air cures, so no heating or baking of parts is required. As noted above, that simplifies the process of coating large or extra-long gun parts. Perma Fin is available as a kit with an air brush, 1 pair of vinyl gloves, 1 abrasive sanding pad and two 3-ounce bottles of Perma Fin, or in individual 3-ounce bottles. Retail price for the kit is $64.40 and $16.10 for the 3-ounce bottles.

EDITOR’s COMMENT: We haven’t tested Perma Fin™ yet, so we can’t comment on how well it works. But we think a single-component (no-mix) product that air-cures (like normal paint) holds promise for gunsmiths with access to compressed air. And this product also gives stock-painters the ability to finish metal parts (no heat required).