Though I do not know the date of the conversion, when I purchased it in 1970 as a companion for my .357 revolver, the high gloss varnish type finish was already cracking and the wood was dented and scratched, indicating that it had been used hard in the .357 reincarnation. It shot well though, so I used it for target shooting, plinking, training the kids to shoot, and a little hunting, until the old black powder firing pin had worn such a hole in the bolt face that primers were flowing back around it and sometimes rupturing.
Nothing left to do but have all the problems fixed at once, so off to Doc's Gun Shop it went (details of the bolt repairs and such were covered in previous posts). Now, after a complete disassembly and cleaning, stock refinishing, and the repaired bolt with smokeless firing pin and hole installed, it is back in my hands. It looks like a new rifle and I hope that it shoots like the old one!
The butt stock before:
After:
The forend before:
After:
The checkering was only cleaned, not recut and looks fine to me:
This time, no varnish! Just hand rubbed oil finish and a coat of wax. I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Maybe I can get out to the range soon with the chrony and some new ammo and have some fun.
Oh, yes, that is a Lyman sight with an after market brass ghost ring insert.
Just look at the wood tones on the forend!
Update - Today, test fired the repaired bolt and new firing pin with a .38 load and it worked fine leaving a nice dent in the primer. Now I am ready for .357 loads.
