I'm crazy for 16" barreled rifles of almost any sort, especially full octagon ones and I had thought of doing an 1895 for years. Luckily for me Davidson commissioned Marlin to do the STP's. They don't have full octagon barrels but I was willing to live with it, that is until I stumbled upon that pic of a delicious DRC '94 with a 16" stainless octagon barrel. I was doomed I tell ya, doomed!
I just had to have a similar model made up on an 1895 and that's what led me to my recent predicament with a new SBL. I've located a company who will make and install a 16" stainless full octagon barrel on my rifle for a reasonable fee. The SBL fiasco has been resolved and after an exchange of many pictures and reassurances from the dealer that his new STBL does not suffer from any of the problems that my previous SBL had, I purchased it. As soon as it arrives (and if it survives my inspection!) it's off to the barrel company to be converted into my lever dream gun.
The process has already begun, I was lucky enough to find a new midnight laminated stock set from another member and I'll use them on this project. If the walnut stocks that come on the STBL are nice ones, I'll sell them to someone that likes walnut stocks. I've always liked midnight laminate on guns and I've changed several out over the years.
Luckily the STBL already has a big loop lever on it, so I'm going to put it on one of my STP's. Then I'll be installing a DRC big loop lever on my dream rifle. Actually with a 16" barrel it would more correctly be called a carbine instead.
