Prior to getting the gun I ordered Skinner peep sight in the black gold finish. Being a first generation gun, it was not factory drilled & tapped so I also ordered the 8-40 tap set with a dovetail blank and a new front sight. Installation was relatively straightforward and was done on the milling machine in under an hour.

 

Moving my attention to the muzzle, I used a flat file to remove the damaged area then recrowned the barrel using 90˚ and 45˚ muzzle facing tools with a sulfur-based cutting oil. A little cold blue solution finished the job and the barrel now measures approx. 12.8” versus the factory 12.9”. I also removed the rear buckhorn sight and tapped in the dovetail blank. I still need to order some 8-40 plug screws to cover the scope holes on the barrel but as a final touch installed a factory saddle ring found on ebay.

My favorite outdoor range is closed all month for turkey season so I haven't been able to give it a thorough workout but I was able to shoot it this morning to test for function. I will need to get some new fingerprint cards at the sheriff’s office tomorrow but plan to submit my Form 1 application this week. My last submission took about 7 months to come back so at this point it is just a waiting game.

 

While cleaning the shop I found a set of 2-piece Warne steel scope bases that were removed from a Marlin 1895 I bought last year. I was going to sell them but realized they fit the factory drilled & tapped holes on the Henry barrel exactly. I have an American Defense quick mount for my Burris Fastfire III so had to mill the slot slightly wider but a little touch up blue and viola. Now I can install or remove the optic in only seconds.

 

Great work, I am truly impressed. Also, a great idea. Looking forward to the finished product.

 

Wow, that's nice, impressive work.:beer:

 

Love it.

I have a Rossi Ranch Hand in 45 Colt. I consider it a great Jeep gun. I don't care for the factory sights so you just gave me the solution. I love Skinner sights so I will replace the stupid Rossi factory sights with Skinner sights.

Nice one!

Update: Skinner makes a peep sight just for the Rossi Ranch Hand. Order placed.

Again, thanks for sharing your beautiful work.

 

Thanks. Did you get the barrel mount or bolt mount version? I thought about those but wound up drilling & tapping my gun for XS ghost ring sights instead: http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/t...orum/tactical-leverguns/355594-project-stainless-rossi-357-lever-scout-sbr.html

 

Barrel mount. The bolt mount would not work well on a Rossi Ranch Hand which is a top ejector. I am keeping my front sight which has a nice gold bead and I decided to bling it up a bit with a brass barrel Skinner mount.

Val

 

Nice project and now another idea launched in my head. LGS I was in tonight has one of these Mares legs but I didn't pay much attention to the price or caliber. Never thought of doing an SBR with one. Until now.......

 

John, I need to stop viewing your threads, nothing personal mind you. I've never been fond of Henry's brass receivers nor Rossi levers but after viewing your two threads I'm warming up to them. Not to mention a bunch of equipment such as you have in order to perform some mods that are rattling around in my head. Of course, that means spending more bucks and my wife is going to ask me where the hell all these ideas came from, which, I admit it's all your fault.

Again, excellent work and I bet this is a hoot to shoot. Sure looks awesome!

Jack

 

Lol my apologies guys, lever action SBRs are not for the faint of heart or light of wallet. Just wait until I start work on the two stainless Marlin SBRs... If anyone is interested here's where I actually got the idea for this build from:

 

With turkey season over I was finally able to get to the range this weekend for testing with some favorite cowboy loads. For fun I took my 24” JM Cowboy and a chronograph to see just how much velocity the 11.2” difference in barrel length actually makes.

Although this is not an apples-to-apples comparison, the shorter barrel does give up some velocity as expected. Regardless, the little gun is still potent enough for anything I would want to shoot, especially with either of the MP hollow point loads.

Unfortunately I found the gun shoots 6” high at 50 yards despite lowering the rear sight all the way so will have to swap the front sight after all. Groups were nothing to write home about but I am confident things will tighten up once I can add a buttstock and get a good cheek weld.

 

I thought that there were some A.T.F. issues when converting a handgun to a rifle.

 

Nope, there is a lot of misinformation out there but this perfectly legal with an approved stamp.

 

Thanks Kingstrider. I know that it's a lot of $$$ transfer fee for a fully automatic rifle etc. and it must be paid again when the gun goes to a new owner. My late friend had a few Thompsons all fully auto.

 

Kingstrider, thanks for the thread. Fun to watch this work. I have a few SBRs myself. Yours is begging to have the mag tube trimmed down a bit so you can thread the barrel for a suppressor. That's when the real fun begins. Subsonic rounds will be stupid-quiet.



The transfer fee is $200. That doesn't qualify as "a lot of $$$" in my book.

 

Just a quick follow up but I finally replaced the front sight with the one I bought from Skinner. To say it was difficult would be an understatement but I was able to force it into submission with a large brass punch and a big hammer. I nearly broke a finger in the process but at least it shoots closer to point of aim now lol.

I will say the gun is easy to take apart and is similar enough to a Marlin that I didn't need instructions or a go-by. The only thing that threw me off was the magazine set screw on the receiver but that wasn't hard to figure out. Anyway once I dial in a load for the gun I'll file the new sight down if needed.

On another note I found a used lever from a Big Boy Carbine in 357 magnum. This part is a direct fit and suits me more than the factory big loop, especially here in the deep south. Gloves? Don't need 'em.

 

wow. mad skills

 

Well after a relatively short 3 month wait the stamp came back so I can finish the build. I wound up ordering a figured stock set from Henry which is intended for the carbine model. The forearm will need to be modified to fit my gun but I'm planning to strip and refinish the stocks anyway.

 

This one has been on the back burner for a while but I finally stripped the forearm and spent a couple hours fitting it today. I was going to cut a new tenon for the barrel band but wound up cutting it from the receiver end because I liked the grain more. After masking I cut it a little long and sanded it to length then set up a bit on the router table to remove most of the waste. I still have a little fitting to do but plan to wrap this up over the weekend before I strip the buttstock.

 

Great build thread, looking really good.

 

Well, that stock certainly has some nice figuring. Looking forward to seeing this build completed.


Jack

 

Finally got the forearm fitted then sanded it down nearly flush with the receiver. Still have to do some final sanding by hand but plan to strip the buttstock tomorrow and refinish the stocks over the next week.

 

Looking good, John. What finish are you planning on?

Jack

 

Jack I had planned on tung oil but may use tru-oil on this one instead. I might use the cutoff from the forearm to experiment on and see which one looks better.

 

Good idea to experiment to eliminate any regrets. FWIW, I'm thinking satin tru-oil finish might be just the ticket for that stock.

Looking forward to seeing it all done.


Jack

 

Yet another Kingstrider project I can’t look away from haha! Beautiful work as always; you should consider getting a manufacturers license. A lot of folks would line up for a nice handy hunting SBR.

 

I have to admit...I'm not a Mares leg kinda guy... I find it rather hideous...so...when I saw you were making it a project gun....it peaked my interest as to what you were going to do with it. I love what I'm seeing. You do excellent work. Looking forward to seeing the finished SBR.

That stock is gorgeous.

redhawk

 

Great thread, and like everyone else I am following with great anticipation of the next step towards completion. Thanks for sharing this project with us! Beautiful work as always!