John B. Per our telephone conversation of this A.M. In the first photo (#95) if you look carefully just in front of the "standing breach" you may see the adapter piece that had been added and attached to the barrel end by the gunsmith and accomplishes two things.  It is a conversion to accept the rim of a 38-55 WCF modern case and it has an extractor "half moon" at the 6:00 O'clock position that is pulled rearward by means of a "thumb latch" to extract the spent casing. 

The other thing is the spring loaded catch that engages a "cut out" in the lower tang which keeps the action "locked up" in the battery position.

I surmise the stress fractures that I witnessed to be from some clueless prior owner firing modern 38-55 ammunition (possibly smokeless) which was way in excess of what the converted/updated (to 1873) 1851 frame could handle.

Best regards for the New Year to Maynard collectors , shooters, and enthusiasts,

C.M.M.

   Good morning John:

   Thanks for your observations and input on the curiosity Maynard.

    You are correct in that the finger lever does not place the action "over center" in the closed position ergo the spring loaded latch which engages into a newly cut hole in the lower tang piece.  If you look at the up-close photo viewing the gunsmith's locking latch you can see the little coil spring sitting there and the small slotted head screw is the "pivot point" for the hook latch that catches onto upper (wood) side of the lower tang.

John, I looked the piece over thoroughly before I called you and could find no I.D.'ing gunsmith's marking on the barrel, which had been shortened to 20 inches, and I believe bored out and cut rifled to .38 cal. and chambered for the contemporary 38-55 WCF.

I did not bid on it for the fact that it had little, if any, collector's value having such radical alterations applied.  The deciding factor for me not bidding was the stress lines bordering on frame cracks and I saw no future for the piece as a "shooter".  It sold for $550. and I would have gladly given more, but for the poor condition of the frame integrity.

Thanks again for your advice.

Webb

   Grad. Peep :
                     I got there early and went over the piece very carefully before I talked to John Bly on the phone.  I had not seen the catalog photos, just the write up portion nor your posting prior to the sale date, so I was starting from square one at 7:30 A.M. at the sale site.

I hope John didn't mind me phoning at that hour on the morning after New Years eve. If you have any questions, please let me know.

If I can find the time, I will sketch up the adapter conversion piece for reference.

C.M.M.

This particular Maynard had three dates impressed into the action 1851 and 1859 patent dates and then the 1873 patent date when it was back at Mass Arms for updated modifications.  It was an early Civil War era arm of the percussion cap style originally and later converted to the firing pin style for Maynard head primed style cases.  The Serial No. is 20XX, so that would indicate that it came home from the battlefield with some soldier or it went to the government auction as war surplus.

The barrel was most likely a replacement when it became a 1873 conversion.  I believe what this is about is a '73 sporterized owner visiting his friendly gunsmith with a complain that he could no longer find Maynard "pan head" cases for his beloved Maynard, and the gunsmith indicating "no problem", I can solve that.

The process being, the barrel was shortened at the breech end and a spacer piece was made in the correct thickness in order to set the head space.  There were no pins nor screws attaching the new spacer, so it was silver soldered in place.  
Next a chamber reamer was used to cut the new chamber and the rim recess, thereby eliminating the need for the old style Maynard dish pan head cases which were no longer available.

Of course, the gunsmith then realized what he had done and being a bright young up-start, said to himself, "Self, what's going to keep the breech closed?" So wallah, the finger lever catch mechanism comes to life.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.   

C.M.M.