Mic McPherson leverguns?

[475linebaugh]

Does anyone else own a levergun built by Mic McPherson? And what caliber? I would really like to see pictures of them.

[Griff]

I think Cowboy Tutt has one... he should be along... if so, he might gladly describe his!

[Scharms]

Precision Shooting magazine frequently runs Mic's articles with pics of his custom leverguns. He does some fine work! Or you could check out his website :http://www.levergun.com/Photos.htm

[CowboyTutt]

What? What? Did someone ask about Mic leverguns? Mine don't look particularly fancy as I did not splurge on NP3 plating on the outside of them, but they are both real shooters. The first is a 454 Rossi Puma that Mic "stretched" the action on to accept cartridges about 1.911 inches long in some cases depending on bullet selection. Aside from that, all the internal parts were NP3 plated, hand fitted and every moving part's function tweaked including the loading gate and well, just everything. There is a "through bolt" conversion on the butt stock and both the stock and forearm are bedded with silicone. Then there is the premium pad and merc tube. The barrel was set back to fix the lousy Rossi head space issue. Let me put it this way, I made a list with Mic of what he did to the rifle one time, and it took me two pages of 8 1/2 lined paper to write it all down. Mic makes the finest triggers of any gunsmith I know. He also refinished all the wood. He's had too many problems with Rossi's quality control over the years now and chooses not to work on them. Our own Steve Young (Nate Kiowa Jones) is also another "world class" gunsmith and stand-up guy. I once had the pleasure of listening to him and Mic discuss how to gunsmith a 454 Puma at a past SHOTSHOW and they went "toe to toe" all the way. At this point, for Rossi work Steve Young would be the one to seek. Mic is best known for his work on Marlin's and for that I don't think there is anyone better. Anyhow, here are some pics for what it is worth:

















I also have a rare limited SHOTSHOW BLR in 358 Winchester that got the "Mic Treatment" with an action/trigger job, NP3 plating of the internals and hand fitting. The front barrel band was relieved and both stocks bedded. The trigger is a particular marvel as its a floating trigger assembly and those are harder to do. Yet it really has the best trigger of any of my rifles and I'm always hard pressed to decide which is better, the Puma or the BLR (the BLR gets the nod but by a hair). Old Savage has seen this rifle and its remarkably well balanced in the hand. I've had friends hit a Coke can at 100 yards with iron sights with it using my handloads.

Sadly, Mic is pretty reluctant to work on BLR's anymore and he only did this one for me as his personal friend. Every rifle that Mic builds is a very unique piece.



I should probably clarify that while Mic and I are good friends that I started out being a paying customer just like anyone else and I was pleased with the work that was done. Over the years, Mic has also been my "handloading guru" and has been a huge amount of help for me in this area. I am lucky to have such good friends.

-Tutt

[Griff]

Tutt,

That's the first time I think I've seen that BLR... That is really nice. Your friends are lucky also. Look forward to our next visit! If this new gig lasts, I'm hoping to make the next FOBD shoot/gathering.

[CowboyTutt]

Thanks Griff. I always miss you when I go back to FoBD. You were a really good fit for the group with your long standing involvement with SASS and your stories. Hoping we can meet up in 2011! The new dates will be posted soon if they have not already. The BLR has been my "go to" gun on my initial pig hunting trips just because it has the best sights and is so handy to carry. -Tutt

[475linebaugh]

I agree with everything you said about Mic. I had him build my Marlin several years ago and have taken several deer and 1 elk with it. The 475 Linebaugh is a sledgehammer. I had Mic load it with all the bells and whistles he could...

[CowboyTutt]

That is one beautiful Marlin! Oooh my God, I'm turning bright green!

Actually, my friend Jim Williamson, who is probably Mic's best friend, has many Mic rifles in exotic stretched calibers and skeletonized to the max. But Jim doesn't do the internet and I don't have any real good pictures of those Marlins. But everyone of them, like yours, is "full zoot"!

Did I say I'm jealous?

-Tutt

[475linebaugh]

Thanks... I love this rifle too. The 2 mercury tubes in the stock make all the difference in the world when it comes to balance and recoil. This rifle loves the Cast Performance 425gr. WFNGC bullets and will group them amazingly if I do my part. And you are correct about the trigger. The cycling of the action is so smooth you can't even feel those beefy 475 round being loaded or ejected. The NP3 plating is amazing and I would recommend it to anyone having one of these built. Mic did an amazing job on this rifle. Your rifles are lookers too. I bet they shoot as good as they look...

[CowboyTutt]

You have an extremely desirable rifle in that everyone wanted a 475 L levergun but Marlin never put it into production. So while its a definite keeper, you could always sell it pretty easily I think.

I'm not such a big fan of the CP "alphabet bullets". Had some completely shatter when fired into a box of plain copy paper from my Puma years ago before Mike Rintoul took over. And past 300 yards the trajectory gets all loopy and they are pretty much useless. But for short range hunting they are pretty good and leave a very big wound channel.

But personally I think there are better bullet choices for hunting except for thin skinned game. The original CP bullets sort of made a reputation for themselves of being too brittle and my own modest tests seem to support that conclusion. Hopefully that has gotten better with Mike being the new owner.

-Tutt

[475linebaugh]

I've never had a CP bullet shatter or come apart on me yet. The cow elk I shot with the 420 gr. went thru both shoulders. I have never recovered a bullet on a game animal as with even the elk they were thru and thru. One of The deer was taken with a hornady bullet and it also went thru and thru. My next field load I will use is the Speed so we will see how that works. with all my reloading I've done some media bullet tests and haven't had any bullet issues so I think CP has maintained quality. And selling this one of a kind levergun is not an option. I just couldn't bring myself to give it up. If you have other people that have had issues with CP bullets I would really like to know the caliber and loads they used.

[Rusty]

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, so what are the three round protrusions on the bottom of the butstock behind the lever?

[Griff]

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, so what are the three round protrusions on the bottom of the butstock behind the lever?

IIRC, inserts for the peep sight.

[CowboyTutt]

If you have other people that have had issues with CP bullets I would really like to know the caliber and loads they used.

Well, now that you mention it, someone did PM me late last night to say they have also had CP bullets shatter. I don't know what they were using but mine were 360WFLN out of my 454 Puma. Probably about 1800 fps. I will let them speak for themselves if they want to.

As I suggested, perhaps CP has addressed the problem. I prefer to use a jacketed or mono-construction bullet myself.

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, so what are the three round protrusions on the bottom of the butstock behind the lever?

Those are the Twilight Aperture Set from Brownells. Mic makes threaded inserts that go into the stock so you can carry all three with you.

-Tutt

[Tom Richardson]

I have two rifles that Mic has done up for me. A marlin in 44 mar and a marlin in 30-30.
Lots of good stuff on both.
Work is top notch, Mic is tip notch, and Cast Performance before Rintoul had no problems. There were hard cast bullets and could be expected to shatter on a large Arkansas Sex Stone. Other than that the simply made a big hole and broke bone as they passe by.
I have had pre and post Rintoul bullets scrub off the nose in wet news print but by the time the had stopped they had traveled more than the distance through a large animal's shoulders. Both should have done their work by the time they stopped.
I am acquainted with the pre and past owners of Cast Performance and have had no problem with either their product or person. Good people producing good stuff.

30-30




44

[Ysabel Kid]

Andy -

Okay, I am going to display my collosal ignorance (one again) and ask a stupid question. What are the three knurled knobs behind the lever on the stock?

[SJPrice]

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, so what are the three round protrusions on the bottom of the butstock behind the lever?

Those are the Twilight Aperture Set from Brownells. Mic makes threaded inserts that go into the stock so you can carry all three with you.

-Tutt

Here you go Y K Apparently this is a pretty common Mic McPherson upgrade.

[Ysabel Kid]

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, so what are the three round protrusions on the bottom of the butstock behind the lever?

Those are the Twilight Aperture Set from Brownells. Mic makes threaded inserts that go into the stock so you can carry all three with you.

-Tutt

Here you go Y K Apparently this is a pretty common Mic McPherson upgrade.

That's what I get for reading the post too fast! Thanks!!!

[475linebaugh]

I REALLY need to take some better pictures of my levergun. Yours looks really nice...And I had a typo on my last post. Should have said Speer bullet.

[hammerman]

I've got a Winchester BigBore top eject that I had him put a 356 barrel on. I'll try and get some pics up.

[CowboyTutt]

I really like the Winchester Big Bores! I'd like to see that. As to bullets, people are pretty particular about what they use and there's no sense stirring the pot on that. I suspect that for most uses any bullet from a well known manufacturer will work fine. -Tutt