Holy grail Ballard

[marlinman93]

I was fortunate today to be able to obtain one of those grail guns for me. An Arthur Hubalek striker fired Ballard .22 rifle. The rifle started life as a #8 Union Hill model that Hubalek fitted one of his Hubalek Special barrels to. It appears the Ballard also got a #6 ball & spur style lever with checkered inserts also. The barrel is a heavy #4 weight full round 30" barrel. Double set triggers as the #8 Union Hill came with and typical Union Hill buttplate. The seller said the forearm was junk, and he had someone make up a new forearm and checker it to match.
Hubalek was one of the finest .22 barrel makers in the US in the early 1900's, and his unique striker conversions to eliminate the hammer on Ballard rifles are very rare and desirable!

Seller was just 4 hrs. away, so we each drove a couple hours to meet up and do this deal. Both of us happy with the deal, but I think I am beyond happy on my end!

[Griff]

A range report should be in the making! Congrats on a desired acquisition.

[wvfarrier]

That is AWESOME

[Bill in Oregon]

Vall, how many times am I allowed to swoon over your wonderful Ballard finds?

[Tycer]

Thanks for sharing Vall

[yooper2]

Very cool! Is there anywhere to read more about the striker conversion? Certainly gives the rifle a bit of a Borchardt look.


Eric

[Scott Tschirhart]

Gorgeous!!!!

[GunnyMack]

Unless you hang out here you dont see Ballards often. You certainly dont see one that's been converted to striker fire !

[samsi]

That is neat, I'd enjoy a range day with that.

[marlinman93]

Very cool! Is there anywhere to read more about the striker conversion? Certainly gives the rifle a bit of a Borchardt look.


Eric

Had a nice 3 hour discussion with Gary Quinlan yesterday who is the expert on all things Hubalek related. He mentioned the fact that the smaller Worn striker actions are more often found vs. Marlin Ballard actions converted to striker. I asked him how they were converted and he said Hubalek usually used the original breech block halves and cut the top off the blocks to weld on his new striker block pieces. He said surveys revealed there were 52 Hubalek/Worn reduced size actions with his striker system, and a much smaller number of Ballard blocks converted to his striker system.
I decided to drop the block out and see how mine is done and it's very obvious where the new striker housing was grafted to the breech block halves. After it was welded it was machined smooth, and then the full sides were engine turned to make a very smooth surface. After that they were casehardened again before being assembled. Can't even imagine how much work and time it took him to do such a task?
Gary also told me that Hubalek barrels were graded by him after they were tested. He grouped them into 3 groups, and all shot excellent, just within certain parameters. He put a dab of paint on each barrel, using different colors to indicate how he would stamp the barrels. The highest grade shot 1/8" groups in his 75 ft. basement test range and got "A Hubalek" And "Special" below his name. Those that shot 1/4" groups just got the A Hubalek. Those that didn't fit into those two categories got sold to other gunsmiths and never made it on rifles he barreled, nor did they get marked.
My Ballard has the A Hubalek Special marked barrel, so hopefully it shoots those 1/8" groups. Heading to the gun range this morning to see how close I can come to those tiny groups he mentioned! Will post pics when I get back and hopefully if I do my part they might be close to what Hubalek got from his machine rest.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Very nice, bet you have some satisfaction in finding that.

Wonder how it will shoot with some Tenex, Midas or CenterX?

What ammo do you plan on trying in it?

[GunnyMack]

1/8" groups with peroid ammo is saying something!
Granted he was shooting in his basement so you can bet outdoor groups will vary!
Still it's apparently rare as hens teeth so no matter how it shoots it's a great ol iron!

[marlinman93]

1/8" groups with peroid ammo is saying something!
Granted he was shooting in his basement so you can bet outdoor groups will vary!
Still it's apparently rare as hens teeth so no matter how it shoots it's a great ol iron!

Hubalek's basement was below two buildings he owned. He broke out the wall between them so he could have 75 ft. to shoot tests in.


Made it to the range this morning. It shoots better than this old guy can hold. I put a 10x Targetspot on it, and I think I'll change to a 15x-20x as it was tough to tell dead center on these air rifle targets.




Very happy with how well it shoots. The chamber is a snug match chamber, and I had to keep my pocket knife handy to finish extracting cases once the extractor backed them out.

[GunnyMack]

I'd say it's a winner Vall!
What ammo were you using?

[marlinman93]

I'd say it's a winner Vall!
What ammo were you using?

Started with an old box of PMC target, then tried Aguila Standard velocity target. The 10 shot group was PMC, and the 20 shot was Aguila. It seems to just shoot well with both. Next time out with a higher power scope I'll shoot 100 yds. and see if that makes a difference in ammo?

[GunnyMack]

I've always considered 75 yards to be a good distance for rimfire accuracy. Knowing most will shoot great at 25, good at 50 but a better idea of just how accurate a rifle can be at 75 before the dreaded breeze starts blowing or they run out of steam at 100.
BUT that's my protocol here near sea level.
Out in CO at 6000' I sighted in for 100 and would shoot out to 300 on the prairie dog towns. So much fun to dope wind, figure hold over. Man I miss that !

[marlinman93]

I've always considered 75 yards to be a good distance for rimfire accuracy. Knowing most will shoot great at 25, good at 50 but a better idea of just how accurate a rifle can be at 75 before the dreaded breeze starts blowing or they run out of steam at 100.
BUT that's my protocol here near sea level.
Out in CO at 6000' I sighted in for 100 and would shoot out to 300 on the prairie dog towns. So much fun to dope wind, figure hold over. Man I miss that !

I've shot some of my best shooting .22 single shots out to 500 yds. and love stretching the .22LR out farther. At 300 yds. a .22LR is similar to shooting one of my big bores at 1000 yds. and equally fun. I'm sure I'll eventually push this one further and further if it continues to produce good groups as the distances increase.

[.45colt]

Just incredible All Around! It never fails to amaze Me what We can learn here on Leverguns.

[marlinman93]

Just incredible All Around! It never fails to amaze Me what We can learn here on Leverguns.

Thanks. This is a great site, and one of my favorites to learn new gun stuff.