frank wesson

[ian45662]

Saw this at a local gun shop and I have a few questions. Price is what I think is on the high side but it also has an ejector on the left side and being unfamiliar with these guns I thought I would ask the professionals. Bore is in great shape the rest of the gun is pretty good. Action locks up tight. Metal has the normal patina that a gun this age would have. Looks to be correct cal which is 44. Is this version with ejector acceptable for skirmishing and as far as value what kinda ball park price would you put on this. I know its hard to tell with just one pic but as far as I know the only thing that would need done would be the centerfire conversion. Bore is more than shootable. There is supposed to be a picture attached to this so lets see if I did this right

[Bruce Cobb 1723V]

This has a gunsmiths modification to allow extraction, not a factory one. I don't see a rear sight or buttplate and think you picture is a commercial gun, not a n-ssa approvable military one. We need more pictures of sling swivels, sights and buttplate for sure.

[ian45662]

Maybe this will shed some light on the subject

[ian45662]

And here is another..... Pay no attention to the crocs

[ian45662]

Anyone want to take a stab at this? I dont know a lot about these rifles if anything at all.

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

Ian,

I have two Kittredge marked Wessons. I have one that has been modified to shoot 44 Mag and has been approved by the NSSA. This gun had good rifling but the chamber had been messed up by someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing. I had to have this gun relined. The gun that you are considering looks correct except for the extractor modification which would have to be removed. My gun already had the centerfire conversion done to it. At least the 'gunsmith' got that part right. Given the extractor, my PERSONAL OPINION would be to walk away. You will probably wind up spending more money on this gun that it is worth to make a shooter out of it.

[ian45662]

What would have to be done to make it a shooter other than the CF conversion? I should have taken a better pic of the extractor but it is held in by just 2 screws. If the chamber is in its original dimensions then I think buffalo arms sells brass that would fit the chamber

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

Ian,

When I slugged my original bore, it would have required around a .423" or '.425" bullet. Are you looking to shoot it just for fun or in the NSSA? In addition to the centerfire conversion, the gun will have to be rechambered and you may ultimately decide that you need to reline it to get decent accuracy out of it. Also you will need to switch out the sights if you want to hit anything at 50 and 100 yards in competition. Plus these guns have soft iron frames and I would strongly advise against full loads with 3f. I use 2f in mine to reduce the chamber pressure. I also had problems with the screw in the frame that secures the barrel. The frame is rather thin and soft and there isn't much metal to hold the pivot screw, which worked loose on mine. I have a Ballard rifle as well as the Wesson and I have found the Ballard to be a better gun for competition so far. The Wesson will shoot but I find the action on the Ballard to be a far better design.

[ian45662]

Thankyou for the imput!! I have a ballard and It only gets light loads. 26 grains of 2F to be exact. I just saw this and thought it may be a good back up or loaner gun. If I can get it for a good a good price I may spring on it but he has 1200 on it now and I wont touch it for that. What is the chamber similar to do you know? Long 44 mag or smaller or thicker case wall than 44? I was thinking about throwing an offer of 600 but I know they will laugh at me at which time I will walk out and return after a few months and try again.

[Jim Wimbish, 10395]

I have an ID'ed Wesson which I have no intention of shooting and I checked the chamber for you. It looks like it is about .440". I tried slipping the 44 Mag case which I use in my other Wesson in it and the case was way to large to fit. You could rechamber for either 44 Mag or 44/40. Not sure how well the original rifling shoots. Perhaps someone else can tell you that. With the gunsmith mod, I would say that $1,200 is high since it has already ruined the collectors value. I bought mine for $800 a few years ago and I wound up spending about $300 more than I planned to get it in shooting condition thanks to the botched rechambering that I inherited. You should be able to get a correct Wesson in shootable condition for about $1,300 by the time everything has been done to it. By the way, both of my guns have serial numbers under 4100.