Any Info About the Westerfield .30-30

[24thMICH]

Hi guys!

I just discovered this weekend that sometime around the end of this summer I'm going to inherit my late father-in-law's Westerfield .30-30 leveraction. I got a chance to take a look at it: it looks like a Marlin 336 with what seems like an 18" barrel and a pistol grip lever. It looks like it may have had at most a box of shells shot out of it before it was put in a gun bag, shelved and forgotten. If you hook a tow truck to the trigger and put the truck in low you can pull the trigger (I'm exaggerating, but just a little).

Any of you have any idea what this thing is or what the history might be? It looks like I probably am also going to inherit a WWII samurai sword my father in law got when he was stationed in Tokyo, as well as a well-used Japanese bolt action rifle from WWII with an attached bayonet. Also a Mossburg 12 gauge that's lacking a floor plate for some reason.

Thanks for any input!!

Larry

[Tycer]

It's probably a M72 Western Field. It was a re-labeled Mossberg 472, sold by Montgomery Wards and Western Auto. Looks similar to a Marlin, but entirely a different critter. Decent gun, your great-grandchildren will be dropping deer with it.

[airedaleman]

Levergunner, what's with Guevera?

[24thMICH]

Re: the Mossburg 472, I did a search on that and found that when you work the lever, the trigger on that firearm travels down with the lever. The trigger on the one I'm likely to inherit stays with the receiver. This is getting interesting.

Re: the Che picture: it's supposed to morph into an almost identical picture of B. Hussein Obama--not exactly my favorite candidate this time around (although after checking out the GOA review of McCain, I'm not exactly sure he'd be any better. I may end up voting libertarian just to express my preference for pro-gun issues).

Because of my slow dial-up, my pic of Che-into-Obama doesn't play well here either. I guess I'll do to the picture what covert forces did to Che. Into the trash heap of history!


.

[airedaleman]

24th, I feel the same way; I'm much concerned about the Republic surviving this next election cycle...

[mescalero1]

I have the Mossberg lever gun as well.
It is the only one of my centerfire levers that I can COMFORTABLY work the action from the shoulder.
I do not know why, but speculate it is the crecent butt.

[24thMICH]

This leaves me virtually certain that this "Westernfield" lever action is actually a Marlin 336 in drag.

It doesn't have a crescent butt, and the trigger stays in place when you work the lever.

All I can say is, I'm looking forward to "inheriting" it come late summer. I'll certainly have to do something about the trigger, but other than that, it seems like a keeper. It feels particularly heavy in the front. I noticed I could keep the sights steadier than I typically can the .308 when I aim it offhand. The 18" barrel makes it look like a precursor to the Guide Gun.

I guess another reason I think I'm going to like this gun is that it harkens back to the days when you could just walk into a place like Monkey Wards and buy yourself a firearm. I remember as a kid the local hardware store sold .22's and shotguns. Just walk in and pick one up.

Would that we could go back to those times, I think to myself occasionally.


.

[Jayhawker]

Marlin did make a model 740 under the Western Field name in the 60s and 70s that, I believe, were marketed by Montgomery Wards. They were similar to the Glenfield line in that the metal work was pretty much regular Marlin stuff with inexpensive stocks attached. Still overlooked by collectors, they remain a good value if not abused.

[mescalero1]

24thmich,
I think the crecent butt on mine is am anomoly, I believe that most did not come this way, my trigger assy travels WITH the lever.