Price/procedure for building yourself a lever 22LR?

[huntingfish]

Hi guys!
I just saw the thread on the guy (sorry, forgot the name, woodchopper maybe?) who carved out a stock for his enfield and I was amazed! I decided that I wanted to do something similar. I was also wondering what would the potential price tag be for the various options offered to me... Mind you, I wouldn't want to do any of the "low level" work, such as drilling into the bore or stuff like that.

I was wondering what would be involved in finding "everything but the stock" for a .22LR (lever action) and assembling it myself, then carving out a stock. I currently use an old beater (my father in law's) 22LR, single shot rifle when going perdrix hunting, but would to eventually use my new creation instead in the future.

I wouldn't mind finding an old levergun, throwing out the stock and re-using all the rest.

I love to read, but I like my reading to be directly related to the work I would have to do. I wouldn't mind buying a book on "DIY rifle building", but I wouldn't be so incline to read an entire bible on gunsmithing to get the job done. With that in mind, is there a particular book that you guys could recommend that would get me started? I recall seeing someone mention such a book in a thread, but dang it, I can't recall which thread it was in!

Also, what price tag would I be looking for:
1) a piece of wood such as walnut?

And for either option:
1) Lever gun parts (barrel, receiver, action, mag, more(?))
2) Old lever gun + reconditioning (blueing if needed)

I think I'd be more incline to go for option #1...

Cheers,

Fish

 

[fiscus]

I think you will be much better off getting a complete rifle and modifying it to suit your tastes as the individual parts will probably be more expensive.

 

[trevj]

Get a Brownells catalog. Start adding it up, and start saving your money now, not later. You'll need a lot to build anything close to what you can buy already together. Except the chances are, if it is already together, it'll work like it's supposed to.

A decent Marlin 39 is under $500 in the EE. You can't build one for anywhere near that cheap. Not even counting in the hours of work, and the $$$ spent on refinishing materials, if you don't want it to come out looking like a hack job.

Poor way to save money, buying it one piece at a time, or even as a wrecker gun, unless you already have all the stuff on hand you need to do it up.

Cheers
Trev

 

[BCRider]

It sounds like you're looking for a gun that had an accident of some sort that only destroyed or damaged the stock. I suppose it's possible but you'll be waiting a long time I suspect.

 

[huntingfish]

Hmm, I think you've sumed it up well. Buying bits and parts might be too expensive. I might have to wait for one that has a pretty beaten up stock... when I'm ready to get one, I'll go around and check pawn shops and what not. I might get lucky ;-)

Thanks all!

Fish

 

[mooncoon]

I think the basic questions you are asking cover too broad a range of options to answer and the answers will vary considerably depending on your ability and the facilities available to you. Walnut for example can vary from $8 - $10 per board foot for american walnut up to several hundred dollars for a choice piece of european walnut. There is a small book by Frank de Haas (out of print) with drawings of two types of single shot rifles that can be built by a home builder. You may be able to find a copy on abebooks.com
More importantly the ability to build a gun, at least as I understand the term, is something that most people develop over a number of years of much smaller repairs and gradually developing their abilities and understanding. Also lots of reading on related subjects

cheers mooncoon

 

[BCRider]

Oh, there's no doubt about it at all. Buying bits and pieces will cost HUGE money. Also all the models won't be compatible in the same manner as a 1911 and its clones so you're stuck looking for the parts for only one or two models that share the same reciever design. That idea is truly a non starter. At best you'll be looking around for old rusty receivers at gun shows and similar in the hopes of buying enough of them to put together a gun. At best you'd end up having to make a few bits to make it all work and at worst all the same parts in every action will have suffered in the same way.

Just keeping vigilant for that lucky find that comes with the hacked or badly damaged stock would be the way to do it if you have the patience.

Another option is shop for a youth length stocked gun. I've seen that these seem to go for considerably less than the regular adult sizes. In one case I looked at the barrel and magazine tube was slightly shorter along with the shoulder stock. With a bit of wood working you could make your adult length stock and have a .22 lever carbine setup..... like they aren't already short enough....

 

[huntingfish]

Another option is shop for a youth length stocked gun. I've seen that these seem to go for considerably less than the regular adult sizes. In one case I looked at the barrel and magazine tube was slightly shorter along with the shoulder stock. With a bit of wood working you could make your adult length stock and have a .22 lever carbine setup..... like they aren't already short enough....

Ohhh, what an amazing idea!

I was starting to be a little down from the answers in this thread (none of you guys' fault, perhaps I just had high hopes lol). But this might be a very efficient. I wouldn't want to spend several hundred dollars for the stock's wood, but I'm sure any investments in the wood will add to the look of the rifle.

Cheers!

Fish

 

[mooncoon]

I wouldn't want to spend several hundred dollars for the stock's wood, but I'm sure any investments in the wood will add to the look of the rifle.

You need to balance the cost of the wood with your level of skill and with your intended use of it. American walnut is plenty good enough for a Steven's Favorite for example while with lots of experience and an expensive english shotgun you might want to go with an expensive piece of wood.

In terms of repairing a hacked action, I would work on the basis of making the missing or worn pieces yourself rather than buying them (assuming they were available) That implies a moderate amount of experience and skill, hence my comment that your original question has many answers depending on how a person interprets the original question.

cheers mooncoon