Help With Evans Rifle

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fishlures
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Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Hello all, I am new to the community. Did my best to search for info on the Evans Repeating Rifle but did not find anything on the forum, my apologies if I missed a posting. I am a collector and amateur shooter. I have (2) Evans rifles, both are the newer versions shooting the long .44 cartridge. My goal is to get one rifle shooting. First problem is ammo. I gave up trying to find it, maybe someone knows someone who is making it? I have half a dozen original cartridges but will not shoot them for obvious reasons, but have used them for sizing purposes. I was able to get brass, bullet mold, and loading dies from Buffalo Arms. Made my first bullets today. Have some minor problems firmly seating the bullets in the case, but they spec out pretty close to what they need to be and are only loose going in the out of the case direction. I loaded a few pieces of brass without powder or primers and began to test the rifle(s) functioning. Unfortunately, one rifle has a broken extractor and had to take apart the rife in order to remove the brass, not sure if I will be able to get it back together but at least have one functioning rifle as a example. The second rifle with working extractor functions up until the round gets ready to chamber, the fit is too tight and I didn't want to force it. Went back to the rifle that was taken apart and tried to push a round into the barrel chamber, same problem - too tight, the original ammo is fine looks like Buffalo Arms brass is 0.004" wider at the base than the original ammo, waiting on answer from Buffalo. So I guess my questions are; is anyone shooting the Evans, problems with or acquiring ammo. My thanks to all in advance.
BigSky56
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by BigSky56 »

I cant help you with the evans except to give you a lead in to a article on the forum. And a welcome. danny
http://www.leverguns.com/articles/blancard/evans.htm
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Many thanks Danny, this is the only reference that seems to have the correct case specifications for this cartridge. I am also working on a reproduction ammunition box and will be happy to share the completed label with any interested members. Have a gear week.
perry owens
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by perry owens »

The Spencer Shooting Society web page has some links to Evans information
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index. ... 226.0.html

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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by hfcable »

brass can be made from 303 british, and dies are available from CH4D; i have loaded for one i used to have and got it shooting. the problem is that the bore diameter is usually 427 but cartridge loaded with 427 bullets wont chamber.
probably needs a soft lead bullet and maybe a healed bullet
with 422 diameter bullets my rifle just keyholes every time at 25 yards.

i gave up and sold it. they are neat rifles. i would like to have one again and try to have another run at it.

i will try to remember where i got the brass, it was already cut down.

i think i got my brass from buffalo arms, though they are out of stock right now:

http://www.buffaloarms.com/44_Evans_Lon ... x?CAT=3839
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Borregos »

I can't help you, but welcome, you will enjoy it here :D
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FatJackDurham
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by FatJackDurham »

What kind of extractor does that rifle use? Maybe you could post a few pictures? Especially if you have it apart, you could kind of post a parts diagram.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Lefty Dude »

Last Year at our local CAS/SASS monthly Match we had a visitor shooter from Pennsylvania. He was shooting an original Evans. He and his Wife both shoot with Evans Rifles. The cases he used were made from 44 Mag brass. The piece functioned and cycle perfect. He sure was slow, not as slow as a Spencer.

He has several Evans, the one he uses for CAS/SASS it took 10 years to find.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by hfcable »

the 44 evans short brass can easily be made from 41 magnum or 44 magnum brass, but i think he has the evans long and not sure it will work. it might work with bullets seated out a bit.

i would love to know how he got reasonable accuracy considering the bore / chamber dimension problem. probably used soft lead or a healed bullet.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Lefty Dude »

Bullets were not healed. I know he cast his own bullets.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by hfcable »

i bet he was using pure soft lead, with black powder, which then bumped up the base of the bullet to bore size.

i suspect that is how the factory rounds worked.

thanks
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

Hello Gents,

I have forgotten most of what I knew about Evans rifles. I had 3 of them 25 + years ago and shot one of them quite a bit. The article referenced by BigSky56 above was written by me about 28 years ago when I was getting hot and heavy into them. Subsequent to that article I had custom .44 Evans Long dies made by Huntington and made brass from .303 British. I acquired an original Evans mould and cast some bullets with it. I then sent the bullets to Richard Hoch and had a custom nose pour mould made to duplicate them exactly. I don't have my loading notes in front of me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure the bullet diameter was .419" from 40:1 alloy. I shot them out of a New Model carbine. I don't recall the groove diameter right now, but it was much larger, either . 427" or .431", I'll have to check my notes.

These rounds shot very (and surprisingly) well. The soft bullets bumped up to fill the grooves with the large BP charge. A lot of people don't understand or believe the .419" bullet diameter and try to load these cartridges like a .44-40. It just won't work well. The large difference in bullet to groove size was designed to allow the rifle to continue to load and fire as fouling built up in front of the chamber and bore. These were not target rifles. With a 28 round magazine capacity, they were intended for self defense out on the plains. Rapid, continuous fire was the first priority. But with modern powders and lubes, very good accuracy is possible.

I sold all my Evans rifles and equipment long ago and moved on to other projects, but they were a lot of fun back in the days when NOBODY shot one and very few even heard of them. I'm glad to see more of them coming out of the woodwork.

Steve Blancard
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by hfcable »

i had bullets of 419 and 422 but i believe that were cast way too hard ( i bought them ) thats why they keyholed
thanks for the info
i may get another one and try again
cable
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

I pulled out my loading notebook and looked at my Evans notes from the 1987-1990 period. My best groups were using a 30:1 alloy, but 40:1 worked very well also, but I didn't use 40:1 a lot. The Hoch bullet which was an exact copy of the original weighed 290 gr.. I tried a variety of loads with Pyrodex P, RS FFG and FFFG straight and duplex loads using about 10% 2400 at the base to keep it clean burning. On average my groups ran around 3"-4" at 50 yards. I would occasionally get a flyer when the bullet failed to bump up and engage the rifling, but this was not very often. I have one record for 100 yards. It is a 5 shot group that measures about 4.5" x 5". This certainly is not target rifle accuracy. But it is quite acceptable for self defense use. It shows that when cartridges are constructed using a correct bullet, it will shoot quite well.

On several occasions I have fired a full 28 round magazine as fast as I could. It functioned flawlessly and was an awesome sight. But it got hotter than hades! I had to wear a gloves to keep from being burned. The balance of the rifle changes dramatically as the magazine empties out.

I have an 1890s era Ideal reloading manual. It lists the following for the .44 Evans New Model:
Weight of powder: 42gr
Bullet weight: 280gr
Bullet composition: 1to 40
Bullet diameter: .419"

Hope you find this information useful.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Sixgun »

I can't believe there's a brand of rifle I have yet to play with. Gotta hunt me down one of those Evans.----------6
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Griff »

WOW! Something Sixgun doesn't have!!!! :P :lol: :lol: And the expertise on this board is simply amazing. All I can do is add my
Image to both fishlures and ndnchf and Welcome to THE Forum.

And, of course:
Image
Last edited by Griff on Wed Aug 14, 2013 7:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by FatJackDurham »

Nd,

Amazing. Its like time travel. So cool that you have your load notes still. Awesome.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by AJMD429 »

The magazine is interesting - reminds me of the Calico rifles...

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ndnchf
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

The photo above is an old or transitional model that used the shorter, 1" cartridge. It held 34 rounds (actually only 33 + one in the chamber). Notice how the barrel is simply sandwiched between the frame halves. Kind of scary by today's standards :shock:

I have a few bullets cast from my original Evans New Model mould. I'll take a photo tonight and try to post it.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

Hope these pics come out.

Here is a bullet cast from an original Evans New Model mould.

Image

Here is another bullet recovered from the berm. If you look closely you can see the rifling engraved on the bullet showing that it bumped up from .419" to my carbine's groove diameter of .427".

Image

Steve
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

I don't mean to bore you guys with Evans info, but I'll add one more thing. I found a file on my computer that I wrote up about 5 years ago for another fellow who was interested. Maybe you will find it interesting:

_______________________________________________________________________
Shooting the Evans New Model Carbine

The Evans .44 long cartridge has been out of production for over 80 years and original brass is pretty hard to come by. But with a little ingenuity, quite serviceable ammunition can be made. Here’s how I did it.

Making .44 Evans Long cartridge cases
Start with .30-40 Krag or .303 British brass

1. Cut off to a length of 1.582”
2. Ream inside of neck to .412” (I had Forster make a custom .412” inside reamer for my Forster case trimmer). Ream to a depth of .525”
3. Deburr and chamfer mouth, Anneal the upper part of the case
4. Turn rim to .510” diameter
5. Turn (or swage) base to .450” diameter

I had Huntington make a forming die and a set of reloading dies based on a chamber cast I sent them. These worked great. Currently, the Buffalo Arms Co. sells both .44 Evans Short and Long reloading dies and reformed brass. I have not tried these, but from the quality of their other reloading products, I’m confident they will work fine.

Bullets for the .44 Evans Long
I pulled the bullets from 2 original cartridges and sent one to Hoch Custom Moulds to have a nose pour mould made to duplicate it. This bullet has a diameter of .4195” when cast 30:1. It weighs 284 gr. When cast 40:1 it weighs about 289 gr. It has two wide grease grooves.

The Evans rifles I’ve examined had groove diameters running .427” - .431” and land diameters running .421” - .423”. At first glance the bullet seems too small for the bore. But upon further consideration, it seems the Evans brothers designed it this way. They realized that the fouling build up of 28 cartridges (or 34 in the Old Model Evans) being fired successively could cause dangerous pressures to build inside the barrel if a bullet of groove diameter or slightly larger were used. They determined that an undersized bullet of soft alloy that would expand to fill the grooves would be better suited to this rifle. An 1890s Ideal handbook recommends an alloy of 40:1 for this cartridge.

Cartridges assembled with cases made as described above and bullets from the Hoch mould loaded, cycled, fired and ejected flawlessly from the Evans New Model Carbine that was my shooter.

Sample loading data

I spent several years shooting the Evans with varying results. Because of the undersized bullet used, it was never a tack driver. But with care and experimentation, reasonable accuracy was obtainable. I will not detail all the loads I tried, but will describe a few that showed the best accuracy in my rifle.

Load #1
Powder – 25.5 grains (weight) of Pyrodex R/S
Primer – Remington large rifle
Cases – Modified .30-40 Krag as described above. Full length resized.
Bullet – Hoch bullet as cast, 30;1, weight about 284 gr.
Lube – Vaseline/Paraffin 50/50
One thin card wad was placed between the powder and bullet. Bullet seated to an overall length of 2.00”

This load produced 2”- 3” ten shot groups at 40 yards with no cleaning of the bore.

Load #2
Powder – Duplex load - 32.0 grains of Goex FFFG, 3.0 grains (weight) of Hercules 2400 on the base
Primer – Remington large rifle
Cases – Modified .30-40 Krag as described above. Full length resized.
Bullet – Hoch bullet as cast, 30;1, weight about 284 gr.
Lube – Vaseline/Paraffin 50/50
One thin card wad was placed between the powder and bullet. FFFG poured through 36” drop tube. Bullet seated to an overall length of 2.00”

This load produced a four shot group of 1-3/4” at 50 yards, the fifth shot went a bit wild and made it a 3” five shot group. In another group I got a 1.0” three shot group – (Really!, no kidding I have the target tracing to prove it). At 100 yards this gave about a 5” group for 5 shots.

Load #3
Powder – 27 grains (weight) of Pyrodex P
Primer – Federal large rifle magnum
Cases – Modified .30-40 Krag as described above. Full length resized.
Bullet – Hoch bullet as cast, 30;1, weight about 284 gr.
Lube – Vaseline/Paraffin 50/50
One thin card wad was placed between the powder and bullet. Bullet seated to an overall length of 2.00”

This load produced consistent 3” ten shot groups at 50 yards with no cleaning of the bore.

All three of the loads produced good accuracy most of the time, but I did occasionally get flyers. I attribute this to a bullet not expanding to engage the rifling completely. Then again it could have been my fault too. The duplex load showed good potential, but I was concerned about the pressures developed. I never had a problem with them, but the design of the rifle always concerned me. The duplex loads kept fouling to a minimum, but the Pyrodex did too.

Recoil in these rifles is moderate, which makes shooting a real pleasure. One drawback of the Evans design is that as each cartridge is loaded into the magazine, the cocking lever must be cycled. Each cycle of the cocking lever brings the first cartridge one position closer to the breech. In other words the rifle must be cycled 28 times to get the first round to the breech.

Another consideration is weight of the cartridges. A fully loaded .44 Evans Long weighs about 400 grains. With 28 rounds in the magazine this adds up to a little over 1.5 lbs. of additional weight in the butt stock. As cartridges are fired, this weight will progressively lessen. This can have a notable effect on offhand shooting.

Steve Blancard
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Griff »

Bore us? I don't think so! We're handy enough at that ourselves! :lol: :lol:
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

First time uploading pics, hope it works, should be the extractors, one compete the other broken. Interestingly enough, it seems this may have been a common problem as other rifles have missing or broken extractors.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Priceless info, very much appreciated. I was just getting to the actual cartridge loading, after sizing my brass it is still a little bit tight in the chamber, but extracts none the less. A good cleaning will probably improve the fit. I got my mold and brass from Buffalo Arms, using 9-1/2 magnum rifle primers....
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

The amount of information the members offer is amazing! Being a newbie, it is so very much appreciated. I will be sure to post pics (assuming I can do so, just tried and didn't see them) now that I have the rife completely disassembled and update as I progress with this project. I feel a bit more confident that I will get one of these rifles shooting.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by Griff »

Griff,
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

Fishlures - are you having trouble chambering loaded rounds or just empty resized brass? What bullet are you using - weight and sized diameter? I didn't see anything even close to the original bullet on the BACO web site, but maybe I missed it. I don't know what brass BACO uses for cases, but they may need to inside reamed if they are a little too thick at the mouth. I look forward to seeing your progress.
Steve
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Cartridges are tight after resizing with and without loaded bullets, not material difference either way. A good chamber cleaning might make for a better fit. When I say tight I mean they do not gravity drop as to the original rounds do, a gentle push puts them into place and I can extract with my finger nail with very little effort, they are just not lose like the originals. The cartridges I made are exactly like the originals with the exception of the cartridge base which seems to be maybe 0.001" to 0.002" wider on my reloads. I am using a .419 bullet made from mold from Buffalo, its 280 grains. It has two grooves but once pushed into the casing the grooves disappear like it needs the room to fit properly, if I extract the bullet it looks like a mushroom. I have a lube press that I have never used but don't think it would make sense here? The bullet is flush with the casing, as are the originals. I am using brass from Buffalo, yes they are sold out, I bought all they had (250 cases) about a year ago. They are 44 mags that are cut down. Looks like the base was turned on a lathe to make it a bit smaller. Reamed or not does not seem to make a difference when loading the bullets, I think I have a good fit and they do not move like the first ones I loaded.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Thanks for the help posting photos, looks like mine were too large to post so I used the link via photobucket. You can see my reloads next to the original cartridges, the next two photos show the extractor, one of which is broken...
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

fishlures wrote:It has two grooves but once pushed into the casing the grooves disappear like it needs the room to fit properly, if I extract the bullet it looks like a mushroom. I have a lube press that I have never used but don't think it would make sense here?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean in the above statement. Do you mean the lube grooves are inside the case when the bullet is seated? That's normal, your loaded rounds look ok. The bullet looks like a mushroom? Can you explain this better or provide a photo of just the bullet? Are your bullets made of a soft lead?

If your cases are .001"-002" larger near the base than originals, that may be the source of the slightly snug fit in the chamber. This can be easily rectified by a little shoe-shine action with some 320 grit sandpaper at the base. But by the way you describe the fit, it sounds pretty good. Annealing the cases may help also. You might anneal 5 or 10 and see if it makes a difference.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Keep us posted.
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

Fishlures - is this the bullet mould you are using?
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx? ... 6&CAT=4157


If so, I think the .432" major diameter may be too large and contributing to your chambering tightness. As fouling builds up with multiple shots, it may get worse. What is the groove diameter of your rifle? You may want to size these to groove diameter or .001" over groove max. Are there grease grooves in this bullet? The BACO image looks like it just has a crimp groove. This bullet is nothing like the original bullet that I posted a photo of earlier. It seems BACO has designed a heeled bullet to fit the case mouth at .419", but have major diameter that exceeds groove size. The early model Evans rifles used a shorter, heeled bullet. But as far as I know, the new model cartridge was desigend for and used the inside lubricated bullet I showed earlier. There is a whole lot I don't know about Evans rifles, but I think this was BACO's well intentioned, but misguided attempt at making a suitable bullet for the the NM Evans. I don't think they understand the how and why the cartridge was desigend the way it was. It may work fine for you and I certainly hope so. If you use a BP sub powder that does not create a fouling build up, it may work fine.

Take a look at this .pdf file from a 1920s Ideal catalog. Scroll down to page 97. at the bottom they show their Evans NM bullet mould #419181.

http://www.castpics.net/subsite/HistMol ... atalog.pdf

This is an aftermarket version of the original Evans NM bullet and would be very suitable if you could find one.

A bit pricey, but here is an original Evans mould for sale:

http://www.joesalter.com/detail.php?f_qryitem=9309
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y42 ... 4da584.jpg

The bullet shown on the Buffalo website is not what is provided in their mould, there is a slight difference in that there are two grooves, but they are so narrow I doubt they were intended for lube. As you can see in my pic once loaded the grooves essentially disappear I think so the bullet fits the mold. The mushroom effect can also be seen as the base of the bullet is smaller than the tip on an extracted bullet, but I think this is correct as my original cartridges have the bullet flush with the case. I apologies for my lack of term knowledge (keyhole, annealing, etc.) not sure what some of these terms mean and will need to educate myself.

I do not think the bullet is causing any of the tightness in the chamber as its the same with just resized brass and with a loaded bullet.

The old bullet manual is very cool, thanks for the post, it will go in my library, it does show a different bullet than what the BACO mould produces
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by FatJackDurham »

Whoa. Is that normal? you must be using pure lead. I've never seen anything like that with 20:1 alloy.

If your bullets are getting deformed that much going into the case, they may be spreading out on the top from the pressure, and that would explain why they are a tight fit.

Do you bell or expand the case neck at all before loading?
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

This is my first attempt casting bullets so the alloy ratios are a little foreign to me. I bought lead from Buffalo based on what they thought would be best. However the tightness is due to the case base, I don't think the bullet is a contributor to this as a sized case and one loaded with a bullet have the same fit. Tightness is relative, the chambers are old and dirty and should be cleaned so that may be a factor. Regardless, they fit with a slight push and can easily be removed with my fingernail, they just do not gravity drop like the originals. Should I be worried that my lead is not hard enough? I know sounds like a personal problem... As far at widening the case I have not been, at first I was having a problem with the round setting tight enough in the case and expanding the mouth I thought would only make this worse.....
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by FatJackDurham »

Well, I am no expert, that is for sure. I don't think you have to worry about the lead, though I'll be interested to see other opinions based on the picture. After all, the other posts mention the undersized bullet compared to the bore, so, a nice soft lead would fill out the bore when shooting.

I am a little concerned about the rim sticking, though. how did the other extractor break? If one of the brass shells gets jammed in too tightly, your good extractor might break too. I wonder if, like you say, cleaning or honing would help?
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Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

The rifle I bought with the broken extractor was purchased a year ago. I never messed with it, or really knew what a good extractor looked like so I thought it was fine, until I chambered a cartridge and could not get it out. That's when I put my two rifles side by side and realized one had a broken extractor, so I'm guessing it probably happened a very long time ago as there were no "pieces" rolling around. I'm sure someone out there has an extractor for me right? Yeah, right. There was an Evans rifle on gunbroker that sold a couple days ago missing several of its parts, seller never got back to me on whether it had its extractor. Surprisingly it sold for over $600.00, more than what I wanted to spend for parts.
ndnchf
Levergunner
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:37 am

Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

That is a strange bullet, certainly nothing like an original Evans NM bullet. I don't mean to sound like a wet blanket, I really do hope that bullet will work for you. but I'm skeptacle. It may be ok for short CAS ranges and plinking, but i just dont think you will reach the accuarcy potential of the rifle with that bullet. My experience is only with original style bullets, which I have already related. So there is not much more I can add. But I will show a couple more photos for comparison.

Here is a photo of a bullet cast from an original Evans NM mould next to an original Evans NM cartridge. There is no crimp groove on this bullet, nor is it needed. With a case full of BP and the bullet firmly seated on the powder, the case mouth is simply crimped snugly on the bullet. Next to the cartridge is a chamber cast of from my NM carbine. Note the rifling begins just past the point where the bullet nose starts to curve in (ogive). This comparison shows how the bullet/cartridge combination was very carfully designed for the chamber.

Image

Here is a close up of the bullet and cartridge comparison.

Image

I really do hope that bullet works out for you. But if not, you might want to contact Hoch Custom Bullet Moulds.

http://www.hochmoulds.com/

About 25 years ago I sent them a bullet from my original mould. They made me a new nose pour mould to duplicate it. They MAY still have the specs on file and could make one for you.
fishlures
Levergunner
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:05 pm

Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by fishlures »

Thanks ndnchf, I wish I had the original bullet mould. I can extract one from the original cartridges in case a mould is not available through the sources you mentioned and go in that direction. My ultimate goal is to get he gun shooting, so I am not so much concerned with accuracy as having a functioning rifle. But, I want it to be correct and if possible have the rifle do what it is capable of doing. I am more of a collector than shooter, primarily due to lack of outdoor shooting facilities living on the coast in Southern California and time. I'm still putting in 80 hour weeks, arghhh. All the rifles and pistols in my collection will shoot with a matching sample of the original ammunition. The Evans is the only exception. I am up for the challenge but am new to casting bullets and all the other stuff that comes with it. I think my knowledge on these subject's is in its infancy stage, I am in my mid 40's and started collecting and learning about the old west guns a few years ago. I sure appreciate all the members sharing their knowledge, it is a big help and I well understand what peoples time is worth.
ndnchf
Levergunner
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:37 am

Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by ndnchf »

You are well on your way to having a lot of fun with that rifle. It will take a little while to sort things out, but you'll be shooting soon. If you have not done so, you might want to check out the CASCITY spencer forum. Evans rifles are discussed there also. There is even an Evans FAQ thread. You are miles ahead of me when I got my first Evans in 1984. There was no internet and nobody shot them and very few ever even heard of them. I felt like I was on the moon! I'm glad to share what I know and help out if I can.
Steve
tunnug
Levergunner
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:05 pm

Re: Help With Evans Rifle

Post by tunnug »

Hello Gents,

I am new here too. I may be the guy fishlures mentioned who bought the Evans parts gun off gunbroker a couple of weeks ago...but I sure did not pay anywhere near $600, more like $325. I am still trying to get the action apart. It is seized up pretty tight and all of the screw slots were well on the way to being destroyed before I touched it. I am letting it soak while I try to find more parts.

My bore is shot and a definite candidate for a relining but the exterior of the barrel cleaned up fairly nice. I am missing the fluted magazine follower rod that rides down the center of the magazine as well as the pin that supports the lever and the mainspring. There is no wood nor ring that supports the forward end of the butt stock halves.

I have been on a quest for an exploded parts diagram that apparently does not exist. However, I did find a series of photos of a NM Evans disassembled that were posted on photobucket by Bill English/Happy Trails who runs the Smithshop in Rhode Island. I have misplaced the link to the photos but this is Bill's site. http://www.thesmithshop.com/aboutus.html

He apparently does occasional work on the Evans rifles and seems to be the best possible source for info on parts and function.
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