Post by Thumper on Oct 10, 2014 9:28:14 GMT -5
I have really enjoyed the Single Action "blueprint" thread, and didn't see something similar for lever actions. I have seen some beautiful lever guns on here; warhawk's Gallagher .444, that the photos are no longer available, was my favorite. I have a number of lever action rifles, some of which are in desperate need of some work and others are just right for what I wanted.
My next lever action project is going to be rebuilding a badly corroded Marlin 1894. A friend found it in an old steamer trunk that he had forgotten about nearly thirty years ago. I always wanted a .44 lever action, but find I'm carrying my .45 Colt revolvers more in the woods than my .44s now. Since it needs a new barrel, I haven't decided whether to keep it .44 Magnum or swap to .45 Colt or .44-40 to go with my old Colt New Service. I'm going to have to media blast the action and whatever I keep of the magazine tube; parkerizing or cerakoting are the two finishes I'm leaning towards since I could do them myself. I'm not opposed to color case hardening and bluing if the surfaces come out alright after rust removal, or even electroless nickel on the receiver. A little stripping and oil and the wood should be good. I'm leaning towards an 18"-20" barrel with half or 2/3 magazine tube.
Another project that I would like to tackle is a Winchester 1886 that was originally .38-56 and has been rebored (how well, I don't know) to .45-70, barrel and magazine tube hack-sawed, some extra dovetails put in and the old ones lead-filled, and looks like it was drug the whole length of the Oregon Trail. I had originally wanted to do a restoration to its original configuration, but I really don't think I would use a 26" octagon-barreled rifle with a full length magazine much. I have a Model 71 .348 that is a much better balancing rifle, and have thought about a tapered, half round barrel and short magazine tube. I also thought about changing from a crescent to a shotgun butt, like my friend, who gave it to me, had originally intended to do.
Here is my 1973-vintage Marlin 1895 that John Gallagher rebuilt for me. It's about a 16.5" barrel with LPA adjustable rear sight and a white ramp front that John fabricated. It has had the WWG loop and ejector installed. The aluminum magazine follower kept binding, so I went back to the original plastic. I need to strip and refinish the stocks; apparently they're a bit sun damaged on one side.
My next lever action project is going to be rebuilding a badly corroded Marlin 1894. A friend found it in an old steamer trunk that he had forgotten about nearly thirty years ago. I always wanted a .44 lever action, but find I'm carrying my .45 Colt revolvers more in the woods than my .44s now. Since it needs a new barrel, I haven't decided whether to keep it .44 Magnum or swap to .45 Colt or .44-40 to go with my old Colt New Service. I'm going to have to media blast the action and whatever I keep of the magazine tube; parkerizing or cerakoting are the two finishes I'm leaning towards since I could do them myself. I'm not opposed to color case hardening and bluing if the surfaces come out alright after rust removal, or even electroless nickel on the receiver. A little stripping and oil and the wood should be good. I'm leaning towards an 18"-20" barrel with half or 2/3 magazine tube.
Another project that I would like to tackle is a Winchester 1886 that was originally .38-56 and has been rebored (how well, I don't know) to .45-70, barrel and magazine tube hack-sawed, some extra dovetails put in and the old ones lead-filled, and looks like it was drug the whole length of the Oregon Trail. I had originally wanted to do a restoration to its original configuration, but I really don't think I would use a 26" octagon-barreled rifle with a full length magazine much. I have a Model 71 .348 that is a much better balancing rifle, and have thought about a tapered, half round barrel and short magazine tube. I also thought about changing from a crescent to a shotgun butt, like my friend, who gave it to me, had originally intended to do.
Here is my 1973-vintage Marlin 1895 that John Gallagher rebuilt for me. It's about a 16.5" barrel with LPA adjustable rear sight and a white ramp front that John fabricated. It has had the WWG loop and ejector installed. The aluminum magazine follower kept binding, so I went back to the original plastic. I need to strip and refinish the stocks; apparently they're a bit sun damaged on one side.
I don't shoot this one often, but my normal load is a medium charge of powder behind a heavy cast bullet... think the tube holds 11 or 12, depending on how much bullet pokes out the brass...
