70's Kit Pistol

[Shovelbuck]

A friend picked kit this up at a garage sale last year and gave it to me. I remember seeing these decades ago and wasn't impressed then. Anyway, I had some time after the holidays to see what could be done with it. Whoever had it before had started inletting the RR pipes and had them really messed up, and besides that, they were cast and about 1/8 thick. Ugly didn't describe them. So, instead of trying to repair that mess, I decided to take a different route with it. Lopped off about 6 inches of stock and made a horn nose cap for it. Made new pipes and reshaped the lock panels and grip. I was on a mission not to spend any money on this so I made a wood under rib for it also. Finish is Fiebings medium brown leather die with Minwax antique oil finish over that. Overall, I feel it turned out pretty good considering what it was supposed to look like.

[t.caster]

So, you can make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I wouldn't have known it came from that old kit!

[smylee grouch]

Dramatic improvement. Nice recovery.

[bgf]

Nice.  I'm always tempted by these in fleamarkets and the like for $20 or so.

  I like these little old kits, just for nostalgia and fun if you do something different with them.  4-5 years ago, I helped a friend finish a Tower pistol that he started in the 70's.  Some of the parts were in a bag, some were missing.  Made pipes and adapted a trigger guard, made him happy, though we couldn't do much with the lock which is about the worst mechanical device I've ever seen...he decided just make it a momento, otherwise I would have insisted on rebuilding it completely before it was usable.

[Hadden West]

That's the kind of things, that I like to do,.......except you did it much better. Very creative and well done.

[JPK]

A dandy job on a simple kit. Here's a couple of Lyman kits, one pretty standard and the other using a bit more imagination. Not a in the class as yours but fun to do.



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[mountainman70]

Jim dandy job on all of these pistols. I like to do jobs like this,too. Not much invested, and usually can only get better.
I redid the same pistol-CVA several years ago, all iron work, guard. Turned nice enough to attract a buyer,and that is good too. Keep up the good work. I might have to buy the next one of those I see. Dave

A pair of these in a case would be a real deal,with the proper accessories 

[Shovelbuck]

JPK......those are good looking Lymans!

[Curtis]

Dramatic improvement. Nice recovery.

+1!

Curtis

[n stephenson]

Shovelbuck ,JPK, Nice job! on all. Shovelbuck, I like the wood rib and different pipes. Your reshaping of the lock panels really helped it out. JPK , You also did a nice job on your shaping and panels. All were finished nicely !! The small details add up. I will briefly mount my soapbox to use these pistols as an example. I constantly tell new builders to build projects like these. Not a lot of money laid out ,to make you too  afraid to start cutting. While some of these have fairly severe limitations , the pistols posted , prove that with a little creativity and skill , you can make something nice. Every skill used in these builds , will carry on to the builder`s next project.       Nice Job!!    Nate

[Old Ford2]

Lyman pistols are very well made and strong.
The horrible front sight detracts largely from design.
A small blade or round post is much more in period.
I am not really sure if the front sight as supplied is supposed to be sharpened to gut game or the owner, but it does NOT belong on a pistol like a plains pistol.
My most humble opinion.
Great job on the above pistols.
Fred