David LaPell
Blackhawk
As usual, I ran into a gun I found interesting. The gun shop had a Winchester leaning in the corner, and when they showed it to me, it's obvious that the gun has had a hard life. It's a Model 1894 in .38-55 and the serial number puts it at being made in 1895. According to the shop owner, the guy who brought it in to sell it was as old as the hills and he was still using it up until a couple years back.
As you can see from the photos, it's spent some time outdoors. The barrel has a lot of pitting, as does the receiver and the lever. The shocking thing is that the rifling is excellent with almost no wear at all. The action is still slick and the inside of the receiver has no pitting at all. The wood, not sure where that came from, the forearm looks like a Marlin, the buttstock, don't have a clue, there's no holes drilled for a butt pad at all.
So the real thing is, what to do with it?
I talked to Bobby Tyler at Tyler Gun Works, and it would be way beyond what the gun's value to bring it back to what it was. The other thing is, would the barrel be safe to shoot with the pitting the way it is? The inside is fine, but there's the outside. I found another barrel to be on the safe side so I can have it put on. Wood is ok, I can get that. Any ideas? I paid next to nothing for it, the shop owner wasn't all that thrilled another employee bought it in the first place. We'll have to see what becomes of it.
As you can see from the photos, it's spent some time outdoors. The barrel has a lot of pitting, as does the receiver and the lever. The shocking thing is that the rifling is excellent with almost no wear at all. The action is still slick and the inside of the receiver has no pitting at all. The wood, not sure where that came from, the forearm looks like a Marlin, the buttstock, don't have a clue, there's no holes drilled for a butt pad at all.
So the real thing is, what to do with it?
I talked to Bobby Tyler at Tyler Gun Works, and it would be way beyond what the gun's value to bring it back to what it was. The other thing is, would the barrel be safe to shoot with the pitting the way it is? The inside is fine, but there's the outside. I found another barrel to be on the safe side so I can have it put on. Wood is ok, I can get that. Any ideas? I paid next to nothing for it, the shop owner wasn't all that thrilled another employee bought it in the first place. We'll have to see what becomes of it.