Well after the hunt was over, I got a box from the UPS. Sure enough, there was the 76. Well, it had a 28 in round barrel and was in pretty good shape. It looked like someone already tried to restore it at one time with cold blue, but didn't look good. The bore was a sewer and their was some wood shrinkage. So I decided to get her restored.
Now, I looked at Turnbull, but didn't want ( or couldn't afford)to put that much money into it. So I shopped around and found Wind River Rifle. The same company that makes rifle barrels for Brownell's and others. I checked them out and really liked their work. What can I say, I took it at face value. I talked to the owner on the phone and email to let him know what I wanted. I was clear. I wanted just the metal done with new barrel, hammer, lever, internals and receiver Color Cased.
Well, I was reading on the forum one day about JDad and his problems with Wind River Rifle. Over a 10 month period, I was told it just need to be assembled and it would be ready. I got the same asnwer over and over everytime I asked. I decided enough was enough and contacted them. My only concern at this point was getting my rifle back at all cost. I repeatedly emailed stating that I want my rifle back and a 19 month was enough time. Never heard a word. I called and finally got someone to answer. I stated I wanted the darn rifle back by 24 Dec, or we are going to have problems.
Well, today the UPS man arrived and there was a box . I was happy asa a little boy on X-mas until I got all of the bubble wrap off. I ordered a new round barrel just like the original. It now has a octagon that has an unfinshed muzzle. There is no blueing on the muzzle end and it looks like a couple small specks of surface rust is starting.
I ordered a color case receiver (really upset about this) and got a blued receiver. Everything else including the butt plate is CCH.
I wanted the original ladder site and got a full buck horn.
Lets just say I have smoke coming out of my ears. 19 month wait and $1200 dollars and all I get is disappointment.
I will give them credit. The edges are all still sharp and so is the lettering. Thats about it. Needless to say, they will be getting a phone call on 26 Dec stating that they will refund my $$$. I will have to wait and see how far I get. I sure as hell will never do business with them again and they will never touch that 76 ever again. Some may say I brought it upon myself for not doing more reasearch. But it still makes me mad.
So if you ever get the desire to have something like this done, I would stay clear . Here are some pic's. There is still alot of oil on it, its not rust. The wood is also the original and has shrunk. It to is getting replaced.
