1894 from hell

[paul harm]

Well, a number of years ago I paid what I thought was pretty good money for a 1894 C grade. After a bit I noticed the top rib was a little loose at the breach end. Got er fixed. Then the bottom rib came loose. Got er fixed also and while it was in the shop [ Bachelders ] I had him redo the barrels and case colors. Boy, really looking good. Then shooting shortly there after I was holding the stock in one hand with the trigger guard, and the barrels and receiver in the other. Brad said he had only seen this once before : some tiny termite type creature had eaten little lines of wood from under the top tang to the trigger guard. He fixed that also. Ok, I should be good to go. Nope. I'm shooting SC's at a event, and half way through I notice the barrels and extended rib aren't tight against the receiver. Should I say about a 030 loose. Put it away and get out another 1894 and finish shooting. I look it over at home and didn't notice what was causing it. Over to Brads shop and at first he thought it was a burr on the extended rib and have me right out quick. Nope. He comes back after a minute and says: I've never seen this in 40 years of gunsmithing. The under lug was cracked from the back of the notch to almost down to the bottom. He said two weeks and $170 and it'll be fixed [ micro welded ]. I've got four other 94's and about the only problem is a top lever spring once in a while. Damn, that gun sure is pretty, but it must be cursed.