vstarclassic
Member
- Location
- South Shore, Nova Scotia
Hi All,
Happy New Years and all the best for 2023. Awhile ago I picked up a 45/70 1884 trapdoor rifle on GN that had been converted to a carbine. Upon recieving and shooting the gun it would keyhole, I tried every conceivable attempt to correct it ( paper patch, new oversized bullets , reduced loads , full loads, etc)with no luck, just a shot out. I fortunately had a Marlin 1895 micro barrel so decided to try using that. I removed the original barrel and had a local machinist stub the old barrel at the of the reciever, next we turned the Marlin barrel so that just the threads were removed and up to end of the reciever. The stubbed barrel section was then turned to friction fit the Marlin barrel, cut the extractor to allow for 1884 and viola. I had to put the Marlin barrel in the stub upside down because of the extractor placement on a 1895. Filled the dovetails, the site dovetail which was now on the bottom lined up perfectly with the barrel tennon I put in for the carbine stock before. Perfect. I have since fired the gun with full 70 grns BP no issues ( with a string). Today I tried 500 grn cast behind 28.5 grns 4198 and it is showing great potential for accuracy. Just wondering if I should keep loads down to trapdoor levels or am I able to push for Marlin lever pressures on reloads. Any thoughts on the rebuild or loading appreciated. Cheers Greg
Happy New Years and all the best for 2023. Awhile ago I picked up a 45/70 1884 trapdoor rifle on GN that had been converted to a carbine. Upon recieving and shooting the gun it would keyhole, I tried every conceivable attempt to correct it ( paper patch, new oversized bullets , reduced loads , full loads, etc)with no luck, just a shot out. I fortunately had a Marlin 1895 micro barrel so decided to try using that. I removed the original barrel and had a local machinist stub the old barrel at the of the reciever, next we turned the Marlin barrel so that just the threads were removed and up to end of the reciever. The stubbed barrel section was then turned to friction fit the Marlin barrel, cut the extractor to allow for 1884 and viola. I had to put the Marlin barrel in the stub upside down because of the extractor placement on a 1895. Filled the dovetails, the site dovetail which was now on the bottom lined up perfectly with the barrel tennon I put in for the carbine stock before. Perfect. I have since fired the gun with full 70 grns BP no issues ( with a string). Today I tried 500 grn cast behind 28.5 grns 4198 and it is showing great potential for accuracy. Just wondering if I should keep loads down to trapdoor levels or am I able to push for Marlin lever pressures on reloads. Any thoughts on the rebuild or loading appreciated. Cheers Greg
