I'm thinking of having a barrel made for my 1882 model 15. Who do you suggest? Can you use  makers like Douglas and have someone machine the under barrel lugs and weld them onto the barrel? What cartridge would you suggest and why?

Don,

     I agree with Jon on this.  I lean toward John Bly for barrel making when he is available, as that is his specialty, but have had very satisfactory dealings with Larry Romano as well.  I find them both to be fine gentlemen to work with.  Both have been most helpful with small parts I have needed for resto work, and of course John's cartridge rings to make cases for the 1873 Maynards are the only game in town.

     As to what caliber(s) to consider, I am finding that the .40 series of calibers from Maynard are most attractive.  The fact that you can form brass from cheap and readily available .303 Brit or .30-40 US cases is a major plus on them as well.  Be aware that a case with the external dimensions of a .40-40 (the shortest Maynard) will actually hold about 50-55 gr or more of GOEX CTG, and as the length of the case increases, so does the increase in capacity; therefore, a nominal .40-60 should be the greatest of plenty for Eastern Deer hunting, Metallic Silhouette, etc.

     Stay in touch and maybe we'll be able to get some more of these great old Maynards up and shooting at some ASSRA events.  They were winners in their day and there is no reason they couldn't be again! 

Froggie

   Merwin I've shot the 25-20ss in a Maynard and in a friends 44 1/2 but, only at 50yd It was a trip. It reminded me of a 22 mag. I was using 7gr of 2400 and I think 86gr lead bullet. Some of the old guys I talked to said they used to like it for turkey hunting years ago when it was legal to hunt them with a rifle. And, one guy said he had even killed a deer or two with one. I imagined he was shooting with one hand on the rifle and the other one on a flashlight. 
   Charley do you have info on John Bly I lost all the notes I had taken by the time I got home from ft, Shanandoah. I was thinking of maybe getting a 38-55 or a 40-60 Maynard and using it for an all purpose gun. I don't know how to breech seat bullets and shoot schuetzen style. Does it take a special type chamber. If breech seating the 40-40 maynard might be the right stuff. I don't know how much lead and subsequent soreness I want to be throwing down range with that light maynard.

Hi Hen Pecked Too Much: 

I want to suggest that you be in contact with Bobby Hoyt of Fairfield, Pennsylvania for the work you are considering having done RE: Maynard rifle barrel.  Bobby Hoyt is a skilled gunsmith who has many years of experience making and fitting up rifled barrels to antique firearms.  If you are within driving distance to his machine shop, a personal visit to discuss your project with him would certainly be worth your time and effort.  Should you care to telephone him, his shop number is (717) 642-6696.

I think the oversized screw would be the same as shimming it.  Look carefully at yout existing barrel. Is it one that was screwed in by the factory? if so. it can (maybe) be taken apart and a new bbl screwed in place. Look just ahead of the forward end of the lump for the joint. May be very hard to see. If you put in a new bbl, then the headspace can be set in the conventional way using feeler gauges thickness equal to the case rim plus a skoshi. I had a bbl relined (it had already been messed up) and the reliner left me lots of insert sticking out to get headspace correct. 
Having said all that, I can recount the following:  A friend who has 3 Maynards of varying kinds and I who have two, carefully looked at them and did some crude measuring. Turns out that alll the frames are leftover civil war percussion frames from the gazillion or so that were ordered by the govt and not bought. The tip-off was that all the frames we looked at had plug screws in the tapped holes for the sling bar that can be seen on the percussion carbines. All the models we have had the top of the frame milled off, as well as part of the percussion breech face. Then a block was screwed on, and drilled for  the firing pin. Hammers were adapted or new. The kicker is that the distance from the front of the lump to the breech end of the barrel was the same for the very thin head cases, the thick head cases, and the "conventional" or later cases. That is, the headspace was adjusted not by the barrel dimensions, but rather by the breeck block that was put in place on the frame. Interesting, no?  It would be most interesting to see if there are any Maynards out there without the sling bar screw holes in them.
Don

  Buffler I believe you are right as far as I know all the 82 models that I have looked at are made from 2nd model frames. And, I have noticed some barrels that have 2nd model breaches on them about 5 inches long. And a barrel with a liner breach screwed thru the 2nd model breach. 
   Merwin, if your barrel is made like that why couldn,t you just shorten and square the breach face a little to give you the extra headspace you need ?
  I wish my excess headspace problem could be corrected as easily.

I have had luck and now have my brass fitting the gun! It was not very far off at all. Let my qualify by saying, I have bertram fitting, my RMC is still too tight. But if I am going to alter for experiments I will use the bertram and sve my precious RMC brass until it HAS to be altered.

I find the screw hole issue very interesting. I would like to know if anyones 82's DON"T have the plug. What ever mine is it has the plug. Mine was not a factory conversion. It was an old gunsmith job I believe f the era. The sling hole is plugged and the takedown screw area was changed to take the scroll shaped piece instead of the screw used on the civil war guns. For a guy who worked in Washington D.C. Dr. Maynard WAS smart!!
MerwinBray

A couple of random thoughts and observations;

1)  I haven't been able to locate parting lines on any of the 3 barrels I own in the Maynard line...two of which are definitely associated with 1873 Models.  A small sample, but...
2)  The breeching of Models 1873 and 1882 involves a hook at the front where it acts against the axis pin (a screw actually) while the lugs of the 2nd Model percussions I have seen have a full loop requiring the axis screw to be removed to unbreech the rifle.  
C)  All of the admittedly few '73s and '82s I have seen show the joint in the breech piece (behind the standing breech) where a wedge was taken out and replaced to contain the firing pin assembly while removing the part which held the percussion nipple and the flash tunnel beneath it.  They also have the filled holes for the saddle ring and staple.
IV) All of the firing pin holes I have seen on '73s and '82s were waay big for modern primers, especially small rifle/pistol size.  

All of that being said, I still would like about another half dozen to add to my personal stash!  A 1st Model percussion would be nice, and one with a Hadley device, and of course a Model 1882 Number 16 in .25-20 SS, and maybe a Creedmoor for longrange, and... and... and...

Froggie