I have disassembled the LeFever as far as it will go.
It was my intention to try to clean up the receiver and possibly refinish it, and in the process I figured I’d have to sand it and polish it, but as I began I looked at some of the deep scratches on it and thought, I can make this look really gorgeous.
And then I thought, all those scratches have memories associated with them. I could get rid of them, but it would be as if I were denying all those memories. SO I have decided, make it functional, get it clean, and leave it alone. The new stock and forend will insure it can be used for a long time to come, something I could hand on to my grandchildren, if I have any. I would rather keep it’s memories- and battle scars- intact, and let future generations guess at each scratch and dent. I will buff it some to give it a bit of color, and let time and handling turn the reciever a nice plum color.
I have a repro LeFever buttplate coming for it tomorrow. I hope to have it finished by the end of the month- sanded and a couple dozen coats of Antique Oil. And a new friend has promised me he will help me get my trap skills back up to par.
You might take a tip from the owners of K31 Swiss rifles and put a card under the buttplate with information that your kids/grandkids will be happy to discover years from now.
Pictures, man, need more pictures and the info card as described previously is a great idea
There are times to dress everything down and refinish completely; and there are times to clean it lightly, replace what’s needed and then leave it alone.
Indeed, mr Evans, and Chris, pictures will follow soon.
Firehand: I reassembled everything tonight, dryfit, and it works like a new one- I need to get some snap caps, but otherwise everything functions properly
Excellent
Don’t know it this will work for shotgun shells, but I’ve made snap caps for handguns by drilling and tapping the primer pocket and then inserting a nylon screw from the case mouth. Screw in until bottom of screw is flush with case head.
That sounds like a cool idea. I will buy caps so I have a pair to put in the case with the gun, but I may well make some like you describe for my 357.
MKL, that’s freakin’ brilliant.
And I’m going to use it.