.44 Mag Night Scout

Welcome to the Leverguns.Com Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here ... politely.

Moderators: AmBraCol, Hobie

Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.

Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
AJMD429
Posting leader...
Posts: 31933
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Hoosierland
Contact:

.44 Mag Night Scout

Post by AJMD429 »

You've probably seen the previous 'Night Scout' projects (http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=31062), so this is nothing especially new, but it's the third and probably final one.

First one was a Marlin .357, since I had a 'rough' one of the 'CSS' series that needed some work to look presentable, and I wanted to experiment with some holographic sights. I felt the idea of a 'grab-and-go' gun was a good one for folks who live on a farm and have livestock to protect, but the common mind-set of having a battle-rifle or assault-rifle handy just isn't very practical, when the 'bad guys' are merely a possum in the chicken coop or a couple coyotes trying to go after the baby goats. No sense going deaf shooting an AR-Shorty, and turning loose high-ballistic-coefficient bullets at night that can go for miles.

Anyway, the end result of the first project was nice:

Image


Soon, I decided I wanted to do the same thing in .45 Colt, and not having a Marlin to deface, I used my Rossi:

Image


Well, I liked the Rossi's light mount best, durable and not bulky, but I liked the simple and uncluttered, centered, scope mount of the Marlin. In the interim, I had tried to JB-Weld a scope rail onto a Marlin .44 Mag, but it came off with the first shot (still don't know why). So I hunted around, and found a steel one, so I could solder it directly to a magazine tube. I had some Cerama-Coat from Wheeler Engineering, so I decided to try it and see if it would match the old parkerized finish on the Marlin. Not too bad. Now I realize the 'green' light is a bit of a clash, but the varmints will have to just deal with it... :twisted:

Image

(Sorry I forgot to include slipper-tips in the first two photos - I'll try to do better in the future :wink: )
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
User avatar
Blaine
Posting leader...
Posts: 30495
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:22 pm
Location: Still Deciding

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by Blaine »

:D A bit too tactical for me, but I'll bet they are practical as heck :idea:
The Rotten Fruit Always Hits The Ground First

Proud Life Member Of:
NRA
Second Amendment Foundation
Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms
DAV
User avatar
jeepnik
Advanced Levergunner
Posts: 6831
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2007 1:39 pm
Location: On the Beach

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by jeepnik »

I like it. And it looks like the light comes off pretty easy for daylight use. You know, I've got a WWG light mount for my GS floating around somewhere. Bought it when I picked up the Happy Trigger and Bearproof ejector. Never got around to putting it on. I've got some time, so maybe this week end. Thanks for the push.
Jeepnik AKA "Old Eyes"
"Go low, go slow and preferably in the dark" The old Sarge (he was maybe 24.
"Freedom is never more that a generation from extinction" Ronald Reagan
"Every man should have at least one good rifle and know how to use it" Dad
User avatar
GonnePhishin
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1952
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:23 pm
Location: Bodecker's BBQ Bar & Grill

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by GonnePhishin »

Nice looking weapon. Who says you can't "tactical up" a lever rifle (as long as its in good taste) :mrgreen:
"The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." - Thomas Jefferson

"I know not what course other men may take, but as for me, Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" - Patrick Henry
wecsoger
Senior Levergunner
Posts: 1244
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 8:40 am

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by wecsoger »

I'd sure like some more info or a close picture or two as to how you did that magazine tube light mount......the rail I see, how you got it to stick to the rifle is the interesting part.
User avatar
Ysabel Kid
Moderator
Posts: 27790
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:10 pm
Location: South Carolina, USA
Contact:

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Y2K really wants to do this with the Winny 94 he got last year. Can't wait to show him! :D
Image
User avatar
Ysabel Kid
Moderator
Posts: 27790
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:10 pm
Location: South Carolina, USA
Contact:

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by Ysabel Kid »

Just showed him. He's in love! :lol:
Image
User avatar
AJMD429
Posting leader...
Posts: 31933
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Hoosierland
Contact:

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by AJMD429 »

wecsoger wrote:I'd sure like some more info or a close picture or two as to how you did that magazine tube light mount......the rail I see, how you got it to stick to the rifle is the interesting part.
If you follow the >link in my post at the top of this thread, it leads to more information.

I forget the model of steel rail I used (I can check), but I wanted to find a steel one so I could solder it to the steel magazine tube, instead of having to fasten an aluminum one, which from what I understand would not be able to be soldered to steel very well. The Rossi one (follow the links) I used JB-Weld on, as it was an aluminum one. It's held fine, though I only shoot 'cowboy' loads 90% of the time. The .44 Mag one I made the same way, but it fell off after the first shot, so I looked around for a steel mount. It took longer to shape to the proper concavity, but a combination of Dremel tooling and corse emory paper wrapped around a tube (smaller than the magazine tube, to correct for the thickness of the paper), did the job.

I really need to do a modification to the forend or something to make it easier to reassemble, as well.

Anyway, hope the threads provide some useful info. The 'sweat soldering' I didn't take any pictures of, but basically just cleaned and roughened the surfaces with files and coarse sandpaper, degreased it with brake-cleaner, then used a kit from Brownells that came with the 'proper' flux (not sure I couldn't have just used the same stuff I use on copper plumbing pipe, but decided not to risk messing it up).

I coated each piece with solder over the 'bonding' area, separately, using a propane torch for heat. Then re-sanded the soldered surfaces, cleaned them, reapplied flux, then clamped them together with a vice-grip and heated them together until the solder melted and they fused a bit. I tightened the vice-grips a bit (the solder melting allowed the pieces to nestle closer together), then I re-heated them and applied solder all around the periphery to make a nice 'cove' bead all around the joint.

Hasn't fallen off yet, but I do worry that there was still the occasional 'bubble' popping through the solder as I was heating the final time; it seemed hot enough that all the flux would have been long gone, and I'm assuming the bubbles were just 'boiling' of the solder, but I have these nightmares of little zinc chloride or whatever islands under there that will erode through the magazine tube someday and screw things up...
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
1894c

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by 1894c »

i really like your stuff...i really like your set-up...nice pics too...for me i would like a scout lvergun in .357mag or 30/30, but that's just me... :)
User avatar
AJMD429
Posting leader...
Posts: 31933
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:03 am
Location: Hoosierland
Contact:

Re: .44 Mag Night Scout

Post by AJMD429 »

1892m wrote:i really like your stuff...i really like your set-up...nice pics too...for me i would like a scout lvergun in .357mag or 30/30, but that's just me... :)
Thanks.

I thought about a .30-30, or even a .444 Marlin or .45-70 Guide Gun, using cat-sneeze loads, but then I figured if I was going to load it down (so I don't have to wear hearing protectors when I go out to pop a possum in the henhouse, or just check the livestock), I may as well stick with a 'pistol cartridge' levergun.

Of the .44 Mag, .45 Colt, and .357 Mag, the .45 Colt is the easiest to get full-length cases and mild loads for in factory ammo, but the .38 Specials cycle through most .357 leverguns pretty well, and are dirt cheap. I suppose one should de-crud the front of the chamber after shooting tons of them and before shooting .357 Magnums in it, but I've not had any problems. The .44 Mag version I think should be fed .44 Specials if you're really using it for ranch/farm purposes, unless you're in bear country (in which case maybe a Guide Gun version would be pretty useful).
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws
"first do no harm" - gun control LAWS lead to far more deaths than 'easy access' ever could.


Want REAL change? . . . . . "Boortz/Nugent in 2012 . . . ! "
Post Reply