At our shoot a couple weeks ago the set trigger failed on this rifle. It wouldn't set, and when I attempted to back the adjusting screw off it broke, leaving the pin that works as a stop stuck in the trigger, and the threaded base in my hand.
I ordered a leftover Remington set screw from their late 90's run that Numrich has, and it came in this morning. I had to grind the end of the pin flush and drill a hole in it in order to relieve the pin, and then punch it out. It was rusted into the trigger from decades of not being moved.
So I learned how a Gove underlever works, and how it's all held together today. And believe me, it's a nice design, but a PITA to disassemble and even worse to reassemble! There are several pins that have to be tapped out, but the action has to be partially disassembled and pins removed to allow further disassembly of the trigger plate, and the block. A 2nd person or third hand would have helped, as it's tough to fight spring tension on the block as it's a whole different spring setup than the standard #1 Roller has! 
And didn't help that once I got it all back together it wouldn't stay cocked, and I spotted the sear laying at my feet, and had to go through the whole process again after reinstalling the sear!
The adjusting screw has a longer pin, so once installed I backed it out until it set. At that point it had maybe one thread in the trigger, so I began shortening it on my 1" belt sander with a 900 grit belt. Took about 10 tried to finally have maybe 5 turns on the screw when it was perfectly adjusted. I then removed the screw and readjusted it with some blue Loctite on the threads so it wont be moving while shooting, but should move if I need to adjust it.
I sure don't want to ever take this action apart again! Even the hammer and breech block pins were individually fitted, and wouldn't interchange! I accidentally swapped them thinking no big deal. One fell in place, and the other wouldn't even start into the receiver! Switched them and they went together with a firm push of my thumb.
5 hrs. to disassemble and reassemble, not counting the time to remove the stuck trigger adjusting pin!

jhm wrote on Oct 17^th, 2023 at 7:25am:


I don't see a lot of work to change a Rolling Block to a Gove style underlever. After milling out the rectangle hole in the trigger plate, and the cuts to the breech block to accept the link, the rest is just the holes in the trigger plate for the pins to accept the lever pin, etc.
Does Rodney's kit come with any instructions and dimensional drawings to locate the pins, and cuts in the breech block?

Marlinguy,


No it didn't come with any. I am sure I could do it as I have seen pictures somewhere of one. Maybe in one of DeHass books? If I remember correctly I bought a Hepburn side lever and it got included in the deal somehow. I have done a couple side lever conversions cause that is probably as close to owning a Hepburn as I will get...


JMH

jhm wrote on Oct 17^th, 2023 at 8:44pm:


If you decide to do it I'll take mine apart to take measurements for you, so you have an idea where to drill holes, and link lengths.