Way to go, Otto

The breath of life has come again to one very fine Maynard arm.  Nice going and it shoots "right on"  I wish you were back East closer so that you could join us later this year for an "All Maynard" day of shooting with like minded Maynard descendants and aficionados. 

Could I ask for one favor of you?  Do you have a close up photo that shows the details of your repair/rebuild to the standing breech area?  If so, would you mind adding that photo to your gallery?  I also very much like your butt plate adaptation, which I am assuming is a brass casting.

Keep the Maynard spirit going and I hope you enjoy more time with the fruits of your labor and craftsmanship.
Regards, 
Dr. Maynard

Can I hijack this to ask a question about Maynard rifles? What is a  cocking lever, that some have, while others do not? Does it cock the hammer like, say, a Winchester? With the break open/tip up style, is the firing pin is rebounding? Do they ever cause problems, since they sure look weak with that small standing breech? I've Never experienced one of these contraptions, so I'd sure like to know how they work a little better than I do. Since they come up a lot, and seem to be highly thought of, I figure maybe I'm not the only one here that may be curious.  OK, that's more than one query.Thanks, guys. Pat

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Hello Pat -- We are not trading on formalities here, so yes, please come on in.  We try to share the wealth and help each other, -  -  -  -  almost a "band of brothers" if you will.

I prefer to call the Maynard a "tilt-up" action rather than a break open, as others often call them.

Now to your question, there was a separate and distinct U.S. Patent granted for a "cocking device", which is more correctly known as a "half-cocking" device that was utilized on the Model 1873 central fire conversions.  The central fire (C.F.) carbines and rifles were actually "percussion style" actions/receivers (Mass Arms Co. referred to the action as the "breech piece").  The conversion, in simple terms, consisted of deleting the percussion nipple, and as a replacement thereof, a spring returned firing pin was installed with a corresponding flat nose hammer.

Now, to the half-cock device;  The replacement C.F. hammer had added, a half-cock notch in the tumbler which was needed as a safety measure in order to move the hammer off of, and back away from, the firing pin at the time of opening the title-up action for reloading.   Obviously, the shooter could just as well have accomplished the retraction of the hammer after firing using his/her thumb.  However, the new patent device (half-cock lever) was added nonetheless to do that very same thing.

The half-cock lever was activated when the barrel was tilted downward on its hinge pin, and by lifting the hammer allowed the sear tip (on the trigger) to engage in the half-cock notch in the hammer tumbler.  At this juncture, with the hammer at the half-cock position the spring loader firing pin automatically went to the retracted position, rendering the arm safe to reload with a live round.  The action is now ready to be closed without the danger of have the primer struck by a recalcitrant firing pin.

Please feel free to ask any question/s you may have.
Dr.Maynard

Thank to all three of you for supplying that interesting tutorial on the Maynard rifles. I've long been aware of the history of these (since my Colt "conversion" days that included the history of all such things.) I just never knew the workings. I figured that there was little space in there to add anything, especially after a firing pin was placed in there. Still looks pretty skimpy to me for anything very powerful. But, what do I know, right? Thanks again, guys. Pat

Otto, I did not notice any numbers stamped on the Maynard, just the dovetail farther back than the factory conversion and set in at an angle. That's what I noticed about the action.

The chambering could possibly have been the 35/55 cartridge. It was definitely an 1882 35 caliber barrel with a groove diameter of .360". The rear of the chamber measured .455. We could not measure the chamber depth well as there was not a definite step at the end of the chamber. A chamber cast is in order and the owner said he'll do one and let me know the results.