Project: Lakefield Mossberg Mark III (3) Autoloader 22 Cal LR

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moptop

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Chilliwack, BC
I recently pulled this old thing out from under the stairs at my Dad's old place and decided it would make a good first project. I have no experience in disassembling a firearm, except for a field strip, and would love your ideas and suggestions as to what I should do with it. I see some great ideas on this forum and lots of how-to's, I'm excited to start this project.

First thing I'm going to do is completely disassemble the gun and clean out the cobwebs. There is a ton of surface rust on the outside of the barrel but the chamber and bore look to be in pretty good shape from a preliminary look. I wasn't able to find any mags under the stairs, so I'm going to need some of those. I hear Savage makes compatible magazines.

The unique thing I've seen on this model is the fold down front stock for a so-called pistol grip, nice feature for all that recoil! :p

So if anyone has some suggestions or contacts that you feel may be useful, I'm open.

Here are the pics, just how I got it. You can click on the pics to see a larger view.





 
0000 steel wool and some oil on it to lightly polish the fleck off the barrel.
Check the kitchen junk drawer for the mag.
Next, yer pa's glove box.
If you're going to redo the finish on the stock, Circa 1850 works pretty good.
Wear good gloves as this stuff likes skin too.
Keep sanding to a bare minimum.
Find an old iron and a tea towel.
I soak/drench the tea towel in water, wring it out and use it between the
iron and stock. Iron on almost "high" setting and szzzt the wood.
Surprising how most soft dents will come out.
Apply your finish after a light sand.
If you're patient with her, she'll make you smile when yer dun.
Post after photos.........aye?
 
Just a suggestion.
Don't use steel wool on the metal. It can take off some of the bluing. Instead get a stainless steel(not copper) scrubby pad from the dollar store and use with the oil. A friend introduced me to this method and it works better.
Yes do look in the kitchen drawers for the mag. Check all tool boxes to. LOL
 
it is indeed strange to see that semi mark III in the mossy stock with a magwell that takes the New mark II mags.. you can order 5 and 10 shot mags direct from Savage for a Mark II. The semi bolt comes out the back after the action nut is unscrewed. Rest is easy to see what you need done. Sanding is a no-no, it removes wood. use the circa and 00000 steel wool to remove finish.
The stock is actually a Mossberg 142 series wood as they used up old stock after they took over the plant. I have seen only a few L-Field mossys with it and all were Mark II bolt actions , not the semi mark III.
 
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I just finished a MkIII project.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?883216-Lakefield-MkIII-DONE!

My bottom metal n' mag-well look very similar, and use the standard, and popular MkII magazines. (still made new by Savage). Good guns. I don't have the tennite flip down forestock. As Mr. Toymaker suggested, those are from when Mossberg got involved. (I do have a 352 Mossy with that feature)

Take pictures as you go, enjoy the project. Your surface rust will disappear (as suggested) using 0000 steelwool n' oil. When you're done you'll have a fun little shooter! Made in Canada, so shoot with pride.
 
camster said:
I just finished a MkIII project.
Click to expand...

@Camster: I'd love to see some pics!

Thanks for all the great advice, this is exactly what I'm looking for. My dad thinks one of the mags got lost in the fire when their business burned down. And the other is currently MIA. Hopefully it will turn up with a bit of searching.

I'd really love to do something cool with the stock, maybe a charcoal stain or something that really brings out the grain of the wood. Also I saw someone online that took all the bluing off the barrel and left it stainless. Although I'm not sure how that would turn out. What do you guys think?

I'll keep posting pics as the project progresses.
 
Sadly, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures during the process, but will ad some to this, and my thread when I can.

I adore the 'ol 64's, and these are very similar rifles. I can't help but like 'em! I just did a quick check on Numrich's site, but no MkIII refrences to be found. Under "Lakefield" they have the MkI, and MkII. Under"Mossberg" they have only Lakefield MkI.

With your gem(any .22), I'd start with a good cleaning, and testing before putting lots of effort into a refinish. Get it clean n' functional before considerations of form. (my 2 cents in a Penny free era)

Will try to snap some pictures this eve.
 
Home now, and charging some batteries for pictures...

One significant difference between our MkIII's would be that you have a plug at the back of your receiver. Mine is "sealed" like a Cooey's.

Will snap some photos of it out of the stock to see if there are any more differences...
 
Here's a new photo after disassembly. It came apart super easy, basically the upper was held to the stock with the one screw in the bottom of the magazine plate. The bolt handle popped right off after I took the magazine and trigger assemblies off and the bolt slid right out the back as mentioned.

I've started to remove the rust off the barrel, it seems to be coming off quite nicely, short of a large patch near the muzzle. There are still markings where the rust used to be, and I don't want to scrub too hard. The heavy rust areas have removed the bluing underneath, so maybe painting the barrel would be an idea. Anyone have experience with this, or should I leave the markings to give it age and personality?

8534059727_f095c78f84_z.jpg
 
I would certainly leave it as it is. I found that if you put a final coat of Min-Wax over all surfaces of the gun ...both steel and wood, rust does not return and when buffed, it gives a nice luster to the finish. I would rather have a gun in "original" finish than a painted cover-up. But that is just me...let it carry its history for all to see. It will be a great little gun and conversation piece , no matter where it is seen.
 
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Well, I've finished the project and managed to get the gun all back together. I purchased a mag from a booth at the Chilliwack Gun Show, and I'm sure I paid too much, but no mag, no shoot, so it was worth it.

I completely stripped all the rust off everything and lubed every part I could. The trigger assembly wasn't too bad, so I left it intact and cleaned and lubed it as best I could. Everything else came apart and back together flawlessly.

I took your advice and stripped the wood stock finish with Circa and steel wood, it did a great job. I then sanded it with some 320 grit paper to smooth out and dents that were left. The stain I used is called "gunstock" from Minwax, I figured that was appropriate, and then used a semi-gloss varathane to protect it.

Thanks to all the posters for your great advice especially about returning it to original condition, I love the way it turned out. The action is so smooth now, but I haven't fired it yet, so the next step is out to the range for some testing.

Check out the photos below!





Before and After:

 
Not sure what you paid for the magazine, but the Mark 2 uses the same mag and can be purchased new at almost any gun store ranging anywhere from $19-$28 for the Savage 10 round.
22clips_zpscc0d66ef.jpg
 
Oh by the way, can you peoples quit posting the mark 3 anywhere on this sight please......at least until I finally find myself one. lol
 
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