H/F Maynard

[Bullseye54]

I have a Harpers Ferry Maynard that I just can't get to group... It also has a tendency to split cases.. The lands are .509, i sized the bulletsto .510... Can I get the chamber sleeved and the barrel lined and who would do such a job? Suggestions? I already heard "make a lamp out of it".. Joe

[Jud96]

I've never messed with one of theses, but I want to ask. What kind of lead are you using (hard/soft)? Also you may want to size your bullets .002s overbore instead of just .001 overbore.

[Bullseye54]

I'm using a pretty hard lead, a mix of range and wheel weight lead... Never thought to try them unsized... But the cases started to split so I figured the chamber was a bit over size...

[Bullseye54]

Would anyone know the size the chamber is supposed to be on the Maynard carbines? Joe

[Jud96]

Well you have good lead. Maybe your chamber is to large and is causing your casings to swell and crack. You may want to see if you can get your chamber sleeved.

[Chris Sweeney]

Many, if not all of the HF Maynards had oversize chambers - on purpose - so that only plastic tubes supplied by the builder could be used. I had Bobby Hoyt redo the barrel - BTW you usually can't use a std. replacement barrel because the linkage is unique - I tried it, but it seemed like way too much rework would be required.

[Bullseye54]

How did it shoot after Bobby H did the barrel?

[Chris Sweeney]

Not good enough to keep. The trigger would wander in and out of weight, even after a Tri-L job. Very soft material.
The chamber Bobby did was still a tad big for plastic cases, which is what I had. They would blow the bases off! worked better with brass
It wouldn't open up enough with the weird linkage to slide cartridges in straight - always dragging bullet across receiver. This also made it problematic to pull the nipple (which wasn't a std. Maynard, BTW).

It is very happy with its new reenacting home!