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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
Posts: 218
Loc: United States
1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag
      #383071 - 04/03/24 11:07 AM

Greetings all
I wanted to contribute to the forum about a recent rifle purchase. After completing the restoration of my 1893 George Gibbs Steyr, I was on the hunt for another restoration project.
I had been searching online auction sites for a project gun when I stumbled on an 1899 Remington Lee sporting rifle in 30-40 Krag. Research informed me that this was 1 of approximately 1440 rifles in all calibers combined.
The rifle had issues. It was complete with the 5 round magazine. These magazines generally sell for about $350 when they can be located. It had been reblued at some point. The metal was actually in pretty good condition. The wood had issues. This included a thick coating of varnish as well as carved deer and fox tallies in the finger grooves. At some time in it's life, the Schnabel tip ebony insert had been filled with epoxy.
I thought long and hard about purchasing this rifle before I made a decision to pull the trigger. I received the rifle in January of this year and my work began.
I am going to post pics of my progress on the restoration of this unusual firearm. Initial pis will be of ground zero before any work was performed. Pics will follow after I download them on a hosting site.

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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
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Loc: United States
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383073 - 04/03/24 01:10 PM

Posting pics of the rifle as I received it. I apologize for ones that are oriented incorrectly. I have not found any info on Imagebam on how to orient them correctly.

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lancaster
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Reged: 06/05/08
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383077 - 04/03/24 04:59 PM

an absolute rare sporting rifle, you did fine and congratulations

































think its the first time we see this model here in this forum. is it possible to make a british lee enfield magazine fit the rifle?

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
Posts: 218
Loc: United States
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: lancaster]
      #383080 - 04/03/24 10:30 PM

Thanks for reorienting my pic Lancaster. How did you do that? Coincidentally, I live near Lancaster, PA. The Lee Enfield is a double stack magazine. This is a single stack.
Some people would argue that I should have kept the forearm grip tallies, but their crude nature looked unsightly on this graceful firearm. I decided to soak the rifle in lacquer thinner in order to remove all if the varnish. Prolonged soaking was needed to eventually soften the epoxy so that I could remove it. Closer inspection revealed that some of the surrounding walnut had been broken near the inlay. I steamed the stock to eventually remove almost all of the dents and dings. I also steamed the grip grooves to try and raise the gouges as much as possible.
The walnut stock is very pretty. It has a subtle tiger stripe the runs along most of the right side of the rifle.
I will post more pics later this evening.

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lancaster
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383082 - 05/03/24 04:02 AM

safe the pics on my computer, turn them right and post again with https://picr.de/.
with this tool I am able to post pics more or less in real time.try to make it popular here in this forum but only Rothhammer1 became a believer.
don't live in lancaster, hundred years ago the "Lancaster" case was the center fire shotshell in contrast to the "Lefaucheux" or pinfire shell.
what cartridges was the remington lee chambered beside of the .30 Krag what is a perfect simple cartridge for reloading today I presume because die sets and brass are allways available.
the bullet caliber is .308 (?) so a lot of bullets could be used.

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
Posts: 218
Loc: United States
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: lancaster]
      #383084 - 05/03/24 05:07 AM

My research so far shows that calibers included: 236 USN, 7x57, 30-40 Krag, 303 Enfield, 38-55, 405 Winchester and possibly 45-70.
There isn't much info out there on these sporting rifles. Not even much information on the Remington Society site.

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lancaster
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383087 - 05/03/24 05:11 AM

iirc, I see one in auction many, many years ago that was in .405 WCF

--------------------
Norwegian hunter misses moose, shoots man on toilet
.
bringing civilisation to the barbarians

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93x64mm
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: lancaster]
      #383092 - 05/03/24 06:58 AM

fjrdoc
Can you give us a bit more info on the Remington Lee action please?
Looks similar to the Lee Metford/Enfield in some ways, but then very different in others.
Was this a parallel development?
I didn't think the 405Win could fit in a 303 mag - would make a handy conversion if it did?

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Marrakai
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Reged: 09/01/03
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Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: 93x64mm]
      #383096 - 05/03/24 10:14 AM

What a coincidence! My fine example of this rifle was on the table at a local Collectors meet just last night! Its chambered for the .303 British cartridge.

Funny anecdote: when I first acquired that rifle many years ago (before Google), my Dad and I spent about a day and a half trying to figure out how to remove the bolt from the action.
Those of you who own one will likely sympathize...

While I am unashamedly an Anglophile when it comes to sporting rifles, I really like the 1899 Remington Lee in its sporter configuration.

Quote:

this was 1 of approximately 1440 rifles in all calibers combined


...and I had no idea so few were made! We should feel very privileged.

Keenly awaiting pics of your resto progress, fjrdoc.

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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fjrdoc
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Loc: United States
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: Marrakai]
      #383097 - 05/03/24 11:58 AM

The damages.

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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
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Loc: United States
Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383098 - 05/03/24 12:03 PM

Hi 93x64mm. I don't know much about the Lee Medford but it is my understanding that it utilized rear locking lugs. The Remington Lee uses 2 front locking lugs on a removable bolt head. As Marrakai alluded to, the a latch needs to be rotated to remove the locking pin. The bolt is then withdrawn rearward and the head is removed out of the action. The action is a cock on closing type.
Marrakai, please share some pics of your Lee.

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383099 - 05/03/24 12:15 PM

To repair the Schnabel wood, I located a scrap piece of black walnut that closely resemble the grain pattern. The repair was made with Acraglass and then shaped to duplicate the contour of the other side. A pattern was made of the void for the ebony inlay and a new piece was fabricated and epoxied. I will be able to blend the color of the repair later to duplicate the surrounding wood.

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383100 - 05/03/24 12:20 PM

Next task was trying to repair the "graffiti" in the forearm finger grooves. I realized that any attempt at trying to fill in the gouges would stick out like a sore thumb. I decided that I would fabricate a scraper that duplicated the groove contour and deepen the grooves. I was very happy with how this repair turned out.

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383101 - 05/03/24 12:31 PM

After all the wood repairs had been completed, I applied a homemade concoction of a brown varnish that I had made years ago. I used leather dyes to blend in the spliced repair in the forearm .My final finish was with an oil-based Spar varnish diluted with mineral oil. These are outdoor photos.

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383102 - 05/03/24 12:35 PM

Indoor photos:

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383103 - 05/03/24 12:45 PM

The butt plate on the rifle was reblued along with all the other metal components. I searched the web trying to research whether these were originally blued or case-hardened. I could not get a definitive answer.
I had purchased some steel dyes that are designed to simulate case-hardening and I decided to polish the metal and give it a try. I figured that I could always rust blue the metal later if I didn't like the outcome or if I found out that it was incorrect.
The process is easy and fun to do. I can't say anything about the durability but I did topcoat with satin clear.
I like the look.... I think that I will keep it.


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Rule303
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383106 - 05/03/24 02:42 PM

That is one great looking rifle. Congratulations on your pick up and full marks on your restoration.

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Marrakai
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Reged: 09/01/03
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: Rule303]
      #383116 - 05/03/24 09:04 PM

fjrdoc:
I'll toss up some pics of the example in my custody when I can.
Nice work on yours BTW!

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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kuduae
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: Marrakai]
      #383122 - 05/03/24 09:56 PM

A video on the M 1899 Remington - Lee:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GdQdJoyxSk

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fjrdoc
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: kuduae]
      #383123 - 05/03/24 10:25 PM

Thanks for the compliments gents. The next step will be load development. The bore is rough on the rifle. Hopefully, I can get decent accuracy with her. My goal is to take her deer hunting this year.

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LRF
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: lancaster]
      #383124 - 05/03/24 11:52 PM

Quote:

iirc, I see one in auction many, many years ago that was in .405 WCF



A friend of mine had one in 32-40 and I also know they were made in 30-30.

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9.3x57
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: LRF]
      #383126 - 06/03/24 12:42 AM

What a great project and very nice work!

I'm really interested in the varnish/mineral oil. What % and how does it dry? I'm guessing it might give better sealing than BLO with a similar look? Anything more on that would be greatly appreciated. Where'd you get the idea?

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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fjrdoc
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Reged: 20/05/22
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: 9.3x57]
      #383128 - 06/03/24 01:47 AM

I forgot about 30-30 and I didn't know about the 32-40. Eight or nine different cartridge chamberings is pretty impressive for 1899-1902.
The 18th century brown varnish was made from a combination of rosin, gum benzoate, turpentine and home made boiled linseed oil. These ingredients were boiled outside. The boiled linseed oil was made from linseed oil boiled and then adding a vinegar/ white lead slurry to the mix. Not a very environmentally friendly or healthy mixture but I wanted to give it a try on my PA long rifle that I was making.
The mixture that i used on this rifle was 2 parts Old Masters oil-based varnish 1 part my varnish and 1 part mineral spirits. This is a wiping varnish. I use a drying cabinet with UV light to help with curing.

Edited by fjrdoc (06/03/24 02:58 AM)

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DarylS
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383131 - 06/03/24 03:18 AM

A jag (probably 7mm) with small square of Maroon ScotchBrite and WD40 for the bore, about 40 strokes will smooth up the bore considerably.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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9.3x57
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Re: 1899 Remington Lee Sporting Rifle 30-40 Krag [Re: fjrdoc]
      #383136 - 06/03/24 04:09 AM

Quote:

I forgot about 30-30 and I didn't know about the 32-40. Eight or nine different cartridge chamberings is pretty impressive for 1899-1902.
The 18th century brown varnish was made from a combination of rosin, gum benzoate, turpentine and home made boiled linseed oil. These ingredients were boiled outside. The boiled linseed oil was made from linseed oil boiled and then adding a vinegar/ white lead slurry to the mix. Not a very environmentally friendly or healthy mixture but I wanted to give it a try on my PA long rifle that I was making.
The mixture that i used on this rifle was 2 parts Old Masters oil-based varnish 1 part my varnish and 1 part mineral spirits. This is a wiping varnish. I use a drying cabinet with UV light to help with curing.



Very interesting. Thanks.

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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