I’ve wanted one for a while. Met a gun guy a few weeks ago, bought a 3” S&W 657 from him, great gun. Mentioned to him that I was looking for an 1894 in 41 mag. Well last weekend he calls me. Dealer at a gun show has one marked NIB for $2k.
Now normally I wouldn’t drop that kinda coin on something I haven’t touched, but I felt okay because it was NIB.
The guy I know buys it for me and we meet later that night, show is about 2 hours from me. Open the box, gun is in a sock. Take it out of the sock and know I’ve got a problem. There are a handful of cosmetic issues, marks from mounting a scope, wear on the loading gate, a few dings in the stock the front sight had been removed and reinstalled, the finger lever screw was slightly buggered. It was dirty, my guess is fired maybe 100 rounds. My guy had never taken it out of the sock and looked at it because, NIB. At that point I decided that the right thing was not to put my guy in the middle, I’d overpaid for it based on condition, but I’d get over that eventually.
Well I go to clean it the next day and see the real problem, the bore looks like someone went at it with a stainless steel brush on a hand drill. The grooves are full of copper. Not believing what I’m seeing I clean it out, and it is what it is. Took some pictures.
The next day I called the gun show organizer, tracked down the dealer and called him. He said that he never said or put on the display that the gun was NIB, he just said that it was “in the box.” He said that all his money is tied up and he can’t take it back…but maybe later if things work out he would. We all know that’s ********, but isn’t much I can do on a cash transaction.
I have a borescope coming tomorrow, going to see if the damage runs the length of the barrel. I’m guessing that it does, but if it’s just a few inches deep I think I might be able to have it bored out and be good.
I’ve talked to a few custom barrel guys, haven’t found one doing lever guns except Turnbull. Sara Turnbull was helpful, and they’ll do the work, but at a cost where it makes more sense to just buy another gun. She did point me to a few other guys that do restoration and also suggested that I look into having it sleeved.
I have emails out to JES, Dewey Vicnair, Tyler Gunworks, Oregunsmithing, Wild West Guns. Jim Finch at Long Hunters was a pleasant guy, very sympathetic, but they aren’t doing lever action work. Dan Wynne at McGowan’s was professional, they are not doing lever gun barrels either prefit or full custom.
So, if I can find a barrel it shouldn’t be too bad getting it installed, and if not I hope that I can get it sleeved.
There is my story of misfortune. It’s a combination of an unscrupulous dealer and a couple of trusting guys. We’ve all learned a lesson, hope that any of you that haven’t already learned this one can learn from my expense.
If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I’m willing to call any parts supplier, I know that there must have been spares made, and I doubt that many got used. Somewhere wrapped in VCI paper in a cardboard tube is a barrel I need.
Thanks for listening,
Jim