help with a Dave Scovill article

[mark348]

hello, i was wondering if someone could scan and send me a copy of an article dave wrote in rifle #210 nov 2003,,,its about the winchester tang safties,, iam building my usrac 405, and wanting to eliminate the rebounding hammer,, at this point iam gathering information and this article was referenced several times, i'd like to read it, and since i cannot locate this issue in my collection at this moment,, i was hoping someone could help me out. many thanks, mark

[junkbug]

I will look for the magazine when I visit my folks. The gist of the article is that he used a Browning 1895 for "His" conversion. So he did nothing to the hammer or safety; the Browning remake built (by Miroku) in the 1980s had not yet been equiped with such devices. He had it rebarreled and restocked. The article also covered the later 1990s and beyond USRAC rifles. These rifles have the tang safety and rebounding hammer, he did nothing about it other than report it.

I honestly do not know if you can do a simple, inexpensive parts swap like you can with a Winchester 94. There were so many Win 94s made, as compared to winchester 95s. Vintage Winchester 95 parts are exteremely expensive.

Looks like you would have to contact a custom gunsmith suck as Z-Hat, or Taylor's Machining, to see if they are even willing to try to alter that configuration for you.

Sean

[stocker]

Scovill did an article about modifying the lower strut to prevent soft hammer strikes. Basically shortened the lower arm of the strut about 30 or 40 thou. I made that change to my 86ELR repro. This has the effect of lowering the hammer somewhat when uncocked. Can't recall one about replacing the unit pieces though. Perhaps you are thinking about the former?

[alamogunr]

I have the issue you are referring to but I don't have a scanner. If you want, I can copy the article and mail it to you. PM me if this will work.
John

[muskeg13]

I've successfully made the modifications to both my USRAC 1886ELW and 1895. The hammer falls were sluggish before, and I had a serious misfire problem with the 1886 before shortening the lower strut. The lock times of the rifles seem much faster now, and I get good strong hammer blows with the 1886. Be careful and follow Scovill's directions closely. I shortened the wrong leg of the 1895's strut the first time around and had to wait a while for a replacement. If you aren't careful, it's not hard to flip the strut upside down. Study your rifle's components closely before you begin to disassemble. You may want to take notes.