Author Topic: Nelson Lewis rifle  (Read 2541 times)

Offline albert

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Nelson Lewis rifle
« on: November 17, 2013, 10:06:48 PM »
I have had a chance to study the Nelson Lewis rifle that I bought a few weeks ago on here and made a few observations. ( 1 ) the bbl. is gain twist,I pulled the plug,and it starts out almost looking straight,then rotates quick about 1/2 way up the bore. ( 2) I slugged the bore and it has 8 equally spaced lands and grooves , the land is .504 dia. ,and the groove is .530 dia. ( 3 ) .555 L is stamped on a flat  on the lest side of bbl. ( hope someone on here could figure  out what that stands for ) ( 4 ) The gun originally had a rib attached to the underside for ramrod ,the pewter nosecap has been filled in where the ramrod groove was with pewter , and the stock has also been filled in with walnut to match the contour of the forearm. ( 5 ) the set triggers have the name of "Steiner" stamped on the side .they are fairly good quality ,but not a good of the ones on my Ben Mills rifle. ( 6 ) the lock seems to be made well also ,the internals are highly polished like the English lock on the Mills rifle. the pictures of this rifle are on the antique section of this forum.when I get time I will make a bullet starter and a swedge to make picket bullets ,but for now will have to use some roundballs
j albert miles

Offline Acer Saccharum

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    • Thomas  A Curran
Re: Nelson Lewis rifle
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2013, 06:11:45 AM »
I've got an N. Lewis relic, gain twist, .480 across the grooves, muzzle turned for a starter. I suspect this was rifled for a pickett bullet. Hollow under rib, end is lead or pewter filled.

The stock is missing its buttplate, lock missing its Lewis hammer, completely stripped of finish.

Tom
Tom Curran's web site : http://monstermachineshop.net
Ramrod scrapers are all sold out.