I thought I'd share a little project just completed with the board...

I found this little rifle several years ago at a local shop. Condition was quite good for a 1919 made rifle save some bluing loss, but not so high I felt bad about refinishing. Everything was complete and there was no pitting, wood issues and lock up was tight. The bore is absolutely pristine and when I got it home saw that it would keep all 15 rounds in a quarter at 25 yards.

I disassembled it and cleaned everything and then put the pieces in Ziplock bags. It sat until last summer when I finally decided to get it squared away. I talked to my friend Thierry Duguet about doing some engraving. We agreed on medium scroll and as a bit of fun, a gold inlaid rat. I don't generally go for gold on rifles, but Thierry is known for his inlay work and I figured I'd let him run with it. I think it was a fun break for him from his routine work. The barrel and metal furniture was rust blued and the action French greyed after the initial gold inlay; Thierry later went back and did the detailed stippling.

The old oil was bled out of the butt stock with whiting compound; it has since been built back with linseed oil over time. The stock is completely sound and was not at all "punky." As you can see from the pics the stock has never been sanded and the wood remains proud of the metal throughout with excellent fit of the original furniture.

The take-down feature is great for packing the rifle along on camping trips and I have had an absolute blast with this little toy! Shooting .22 Shorts, it's cheap to feed and great for plinking at cans. I've enjoyed "parlor shooting" after dinner in my living room using an old paint bucket filled with sand and some of the Aguila priming compound cartridges. The carrier won't pick these up as the dimensions differ slightly from the .22 Short, but they single load okay and are finger snap quiet. I've intended to make a dump run with it and a light taped to the barrel for rats, but haven't had the time.

Here are a few pics. I'm sorry that they don't do better justice to Thierry's work, but you can get the idea....

I like these little rifles. I have an 1895-vintage beater with a relined barrel and Win M62 lifter that will shoot S-L-LR interchangably like the 62. It's fitted with a Scout scope in QD lever rings on a quarter rib along with a Lyman tang peep.

I recommend the Scout-type scope for this rifle if you prefer a scope, and of course a good vintage tang peep sight is always A Good Thing on an early rifle.
Regards, Joe

Thanks for the tips Joe.
I've got Ned Schwing's book on the Win rimfire pump somewhere and will see what it would take to convert so it'll handle the range of 22s. Is it a simple drop in of the later carrier only? That would be handy for sure.
I'd like a Lyman tang sight, but unless I can get it shooting LRs, the short is too anemic to bother!

It's a simple drop-in, and in fact your original carrier can easily be converted if you have the tools and an example to copy.

However these rifles DO vary somewhat in their internal dimensions and I had to adjust some minor things when I used the M62 carrier and the cool M62 grooved trigger.

Your rifle is a beauty, I'm saving my engraving money now....
Regards, Joe

Very Nice! Looks like a bull rat, for sure!

My late girlfriend had a Page Lewis that had a buckhorn (IIRC) sight on the barrel and a flip-up tang peep.

Any chance that the flip-up peep was a diopter, rather than a sight? I've often wondered...

Could that be another option on a neat little gun like this?

Also, can anyone provide info on the french grey finish? What it is, durability, etc.?

Thanks!

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure re the French grey, but think it is a chemical hardening process. I got a great rate on the engraving; if we weren't friends I doubt I would've sprung for it as the expense exceeds the value of the rifle. That said, I really like it and plan to pass this along someday.

The French Gray or coin finish can be done in several ways. Plating, acid etch, brine quench, color-case and then polish, sandblast and maybe others. Some excellent instruction detail can be found in Brownell's Gunsmith Kinks.
Regards, Joe

Thank you both.

Lets see if I can make a long story short.
My first project in gunsmithing school was to rescue 2 of these rifles. They knocked down a house and found them wraped in burlap between the walls, lord knows how long they had been there. Burlap was welded to the guns, cut out what could be cut and the work began. Lots of fileing and stock sanding, linners installed, so on. They turned out rather nice and work and shot well.
Neat little rifles and I had forgot about doing the project, you got me wanting one again! Nice looking rifle you have...ENJOY!