Options for 1910 1899 resto? - 04/19/10
Greeting all,
New to the forum but have already learned a lot by lurking here. Some time ago I acquired a rather "Uniquely" (to put it mildly) butchered 1899. Not sure what (if anything) is original on the rifle, but the serial # is 99XXX, and the barrel is stamped "30-30." There appears to be a very faint, small "s" stamped on the front of the trigger guard, and a "5" stamped on one side of the front of the receiver. On the other side of the front of the receiver there appears to be a faint "R" or "B" stamped. The barrel is 20" long and quite tapered, and the bore is beyond rough. After thorough cleaning, I can see pitted rifling in the barrel, but a 30-06 cartridge slides into the muzzle all the way to the shoulder.
In addition to a cut / rewelded abortion of a lever modification, "Uniquely" modified / brazed brass sights, and hand-carved (using that phrase loosely) mahogany stocks (I'm not making this up), it appears to be missing the breech bolt stop & screw (looks like the old screw sheared off). The remainder of the internals appear to be in decent condition, and everything appears to function OK.
My guess is that the collector value in this rifle is gone, but I got it for next to nothing, and I kinda like it. I don't have a huge budget to do so, but would like to restore this rifle to shooter status. After much searching, I have located a replacement lever, and the rifle will likely get a new hot-tank bluing when completed. I have no idea what the original configuration of this rifle was (guessing a straight stock), but I will probably replace it with a pistol grip stock and plain forend.
My problem, it the barrel. A search for a replacement barrel has been completely fruitless, and I'm pretty sure that turning down and chambering a blank will put me well outside my budget. I've thought about reboring & rechambering the existing barrel, but am not sure what caliber might work with the existing internals, or if the cost will be too prohibitive. I would like to have something usable for deer at woods ranges, staying in the pressure range of the 30-30. 7-30 Waters would be ideal, but I am not sure what factory barrel would accomodate this chambering (.22 high-power?).
I would be fine keeping it a 30-30 if I could locate a decent barrel, but those seem to be somewhat rare now. 32 Winchester Special or even 35-30 might work, but bullet selection in .32 is sparse to say the least, and I'm not sure if there is enough meat on the existing barrel for .35 cal (I'd rather avoid having to form my own brass too).
Any ideas? I have found this place to be a fount of knowledge for this rifle and appreciate any assistance.
New to the forum but have already learned a lot by lurking here. Some time ago I acquired a rather "Uniquely" (to put it mildly) butchered 1899. Not sure what (if anything) is original on the rifle, but the serial # is 99XXX, and the barrel is stamped "30-30." There appears to be a very faint, small "s" stamped on the front of the trigger guard, and a "5" stamped on one side of the front of the receiver. On the other side of the front of the receiver there appears to be a faint "R" or "B" stamped. The barrel is 20" long and quite tapered, and the bore is beyond rough. After thorough cleaning, I can see pitted rifling in the barrel, but a 30-06 cartridge slides into the muzzle all the way to the shoulder.
In addition to a cut / rewelded abortion of a lever modification, "Uniquely" modified / brazed brass sights, and hand-carved (using that phrase loosely) mahogany stocks (I'm not making this up), it appears to be missing the breech bolt stop & screw (looks like the old screw sheared off). The remainder of the internals appear to be in decent condition, and everything appears to function OK.
My guess is that the collector value in this rifle is gone, but I got it for next to nothing, and I kinda like it. I don't have a huge budget to do so, but would like to restore this rifle to shooter status. After much searching, I have located a replacement lever, and the rifle will likely get a new hot-tank bluing when completed. I have no idea what the original configuration of this rifle was (guessing a straight stock), but I will probably replace it with a pistol grip stock and plain forend.
My problem, it the barrel. A search for a replacement barrel has been completely fruitless, and I'm pretty sure that turning down and chambering a blank will put me well outside my budget. I've thought about reboring & rechambering the existing barrel, but am not sure what caliber might work with the existing internals, or if the cost will be too prohibitive. I would like to have something usable for deer at woods ranges, staying in the pressure range of the 30-30. 7-30 Waters would be ideal, but I am not sure what factory barrel would accomodate this chambering (.22 high-power?).
I would be fine keeping it a 30-30 if I could locate a decent barrel, but those seem to be somewhat rare now. 32 Winchester Special or even 35-30 might work, but bullet selection in .32 is sparse to say the least, and I'm not sure if there is enough meat on the existing barrel for .35 cal (I'd rather avoid having to form my own brass too).
Any ideas? I have found this place to be a fount of knowledge for this rifle and appreciate any assistance.