doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com What Do You See?

I feel like it's the first day of school....again.

"Being a mere novice at these classic rifles I don't know the maker but I think I might now recognize one of his rifles."

That's all I could ask for, If you could do that my job is done.

I need to say that I have learned a lot from this little thread. Of all the rifles I have seen by Mr. Lion only one has a cheekpiece and there in the picture are at least three. Most of Mr. Lion's rifles are unmarked so I will need to spend some extra words trying to explain how to ID his work when I write my first article about him.

Might be that I don't see many cheekpieces on his rifles because they are not the most attractive ones I've seen.

Michael, What did Mr. Lion like to use on the butt and front sight? Anything common to the known rifles?

I notice that no 4 and 6 look to have slight gaps behind the top tang. Is this age or inletting that wasnt quite perfect. I ask because I noticed in your book that you comment on the quality of the inletting of a number of the makers covered.

The slight crack at the back of the tang on Rifle #3 is why it's a good idea to leave a small gap at the rear tang of most any gun. Shows professional work. Wish he'd of left more gap on that one.

I wish I could see the comb nose on all of the rifles, the one's I can see appear to be closer to parallel with the top of the comb than many rifle stocks. This is an area for individuality. I really like that detail and the schnables, small and well formed, just the way I like them. The large size cheekpiece also shows in the workbench photo, not my favorite.

Most of the butt plates are the typical German ones found on other custom rifles of the day both with or without trapdoors with a few Winchesters. The front sights on the 1903's are Armory Issue, the one Mauser has a Winchester mail order Model 95 30-06 barrel on it with Winchester front sight.

I don't know about 4 but 6 I'll be able to tell you in a week or two. I would say that about 80% or more of the pre-war American custom rifles I get to look at have a chipped or cracked stock at the tang. Like Steve said they should have relieved it, but did not. The English were very well informed in this area and you seldom see a crack even on some of the biggest calibers.

A knowledgeable friend said about the above cheekpiece "Now we know why we seldom see one on his rifles."

In the next week or two the rifle with the cheekpiece will find it's way to Alaska where I will take some better pictures and post them.

I'm sure by now several folks know who Mr. Lion is. If you can hold out until the rifle arrives here I'll spill the beans and the reason for all this silliness.

Michael and all, At first glance I notice the chord line in the checkering (Alvin Linden) but you would see that on the bottom of the grip not the top. So its not him. There are other reasons it not Linden also. Then at least to my eyes it's easy(no offense to others here) to rule out the others mentioned here. Then I narrowed it to two makers and as you know one of the guesses is correct. What hasn't been said is why this exercise is valuable, at least from my own perspective. I have been fortunate to have you as a mentor in recognizing these makers. These skill will help you make decisions on new aquisitions quickly. I have let some very nice "unmarked" rifles slip from my grasp while I studied them. So I am keen on developing these skills. We should try to do this as much as subject material comes forward. Thanks to all, gary duffey

Michael, thanks for posting this thread. Some of us need more silliness like this. I look forward to more like it.

Art

I'll try to find a couple overall pictures to give you a better idea of his work.