This one is an old, odd, original lever gun cartridge of 40-60 WCF. 
Looks like a 32-20 on steroids, has that same type shoulder you can feel but barely see. It may well receive a liner later, but I want to shoot it as is first. I’ve installed a couple dozen liners over the years, so that won’t be an issue. 
I would have preferred to leave the barrel original length, but the offset hole at the muzzle would have made shooting a spray and pray proposition at best, and possibly dangerous.
Nothing personal, but I’d rather not get into cost/price on a public forum. It was Sunday, and the seller was ready to make deal, cut his asking price nearly 50%. I’m into it low enough that even with a  $175 liner, I’ll still be happy.  jimmy wrote on Apr 6^th, 2022 at 2:42pm:

Thanks to all who have replied and thanks for the suggestions. I decided to try the least expensive method for cleaning first. I tore down the rifle, took the lever and lower tang to a sink of hot soapy water. Steel wool and a soft carding brush for mechanical advantage, and the gunk peeled right off. I went outside with the stripped barreled action, a bucket of hot soapy water, this time with a scrubber I got from @ssrifles while visiting with him in Tulsa. A long hour later the crud was gone, the bare metal exposed. Careful scraping with a dulled wood chisel removed the rust that was standing proud of the surface. The barrel is pitted a bit, kind of brown, mostly silvery. The receiver is in excellent condition except for a few small dings, case colors gone to silver, and barely visible. The wood received an acetone bath with steel wool scrub. Changed the acetone, scrubbed again, finished with a soaked rag wipe down. Cut some stock finish 75/25 with mineral spirits, painted it on with a brush, keeping it wet for 5 minutes or so. It didn’t take much hand rubbing for it to soak it up like a sponge.
PS- I applied for a letter for this rifle from the Cody museum on Monday.

48 hours in and still no target results posted.

Worse yet, no way to know the accuracy effects of removing patina.

Crown-C- Excellent shooter? Not yet, but getting closer. Still need bullets and a way to seat them. I’m going to borrow a set of 41 Mag dies to see if they will accomplish that task. St. Mary’s, KS? I live in Leavenworth in the NE corner of the state.

Dellet- still no targets for the above reasons, along with constant wind since I got back @ a steady 20-25 with gusts to 40+.

jimmy- I have plenty of pictures, but I still haven’t figured out the best way to post any on this site with the need to shrink to a usable file size. There has to be a simple way, but I don’t know what it is.

cellargun wrote on Apr 7^th, 2022 at 3:10pm:


This may be helpful for sizing pics
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Depending how you have them stored, many email software programs Have a choice when you send them of the file size. You can email them to yourself at a reduced size and store them. Then use the “attach file”  box.

Here’s a 3 MOA bore photo sized at 146 KB.

It is somewhat difficult to find double edge razor blades these days, but agree that both the above methods work exceptionally well. I have found also, that soaking metal parts in Hoppe's for a few days prior helps. Too, I find that old blades seem to work better for me than new made ones. More flexible.

I agree that careful, gentle scraping with a new razor blade and plenty of oil is often very effective.  But in my opinion. OOOO steel wool, when applied carefully and with plenty of oil, has its place, too, especially with "new"/active rust - the red, powdery stuff.

Also, you can easily pull the aluminum stiffener off of a single-edge razor blade if you want flexibility.

Bill Lawrence

My "go-to" for removing old oxidized oil, varnish, and grime on steel is Gumout carburetor cleaner.  Scraper if needed can be the mouth of an old brass cartridge case. No matter how much scraping you do it will not scratch metal in any way. Smear of brass left on a surface will wipe away with a touch of oil or solvent on a rag. 

Kroil is another oil-based solvent that removes garbage well, though not as quickly as Gumout. Addad advantage to Kroil is it can also go to work loosening potentially stuck screws while the cleaning process is ongoing.