project rifle

[shooter575]

Picked up a new to me and interesting rifle the other day.A Colt lighting in 32-20.Mfg in 1888. No finnish but all there.Wood is pretty good shape.Tore this thing all down [not a easy task] and removed 1/2 pound of dirt and crud.Bore is a bit rough but I plan on shooting it a bit to see if it clears up.Plan B is to have ol Bobby Hoyt reline it if not.
Never would of consitered getting one except at 150 bucks I could not pass it up.
Anyone have any experence with one?
BTW a LOT of machining went into one of these babys.

[thewanderingmind]

Photos? They don't exist without photos...

I think a .32-20 Lightning would be a heckuva nice little shooter... Relining is one option, or even rebarreling if you can halfways match the barrel profile. Wonder what one of these would be like rebarreled in .327 Federal Magnum?

[longhorn]

I load some for a '73 Winchester in .32-20. I suggest very light loads and a bullet shape as much like the originals as you can find. That Lightning ain't no magnum--and I'll predict it's picky about bullet shape, OAL, and feeding.

[Buckshot]

BTW a LOT of machining went into one of these babys.

.............Just got done working on my cousins old M1912 Remington 22 pump. Ain't no plastic or aluminum to be seen All forged and machined steel, and those guys could do some machining

..............Buckshot

[Wayne Smith]

I picked up one of the original Winchester molds off eBay a while back for my revolver. Casts like a dream. I've seen several of them since. Might be worth taking a look.

[shooter575]

Met a guy that shoots a 73 in 32-20 at the range. He loads 777 with the mold on a old tong tool
looks to be a 90-100 grain.
I thought about the 32 mag reline but I wonder if down the road some idiot after me wouldn't blow it up. So I will just keep it original.
Now a revolter in 32-20 may need to follow me home in the future.
Guys first thing I did when I got this thing is tear it all down.I will post pic when it is together.

[Pavogrande]

At $150 you got a real bargain ! -- I have a colt .22 "lightning" which also needs a reliner -- I would keep it as original as possible -- The action is considered fairly weak, about the same as a 73 winchester.