doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Pictures posted for Whitey

Whitey, I have a couple dozen 25-20 Single Shot brass that's been formed to R-2 Lovell or something VERY similar. It's headstamped 25 WCF and I haven't sectioned one to see if it's still good or not. I'll section one and check the others, and if the brass is good I'll mail it to you. Sorry no dies or shellholder though.
Good luck with your new toy, Joe

Joe thank you very much. Whitey

Please allow me to resurrect an old thread.

I purchased this Krag from Whitey (thanks again, pal), and there are some interesting features that were heretofore undiscovered.

First, stamped on the bottom side of the barrel is "HLOVELL", leading me to believe that old Hervey Lovell at least barreled it. (And due to the level of workmanship elsewhere on the gun, I suspect he did the whole thing.) I have yet to do a chamber cast but it does appear to be a .22-3000 or one of its variations that Hervey developed. In the write up about Hervey Lovell in Landis' book on .22 wildcats, he states that Lovell made a few guns on Krag actions. Here's hoping.

The cryptic markings under the stock furniture lead me to believe that it too might have been turned out by Lovell.

As for the triggers, they are definitely set triggers. The reversed forward trigger isn't there to take the slack out of the rear (main) trigger. It definitely sets it. It is a neat design the likes of which I have never seen. (But then, I have never looked at a Newton set trigger.) I'll get some pics up showing it in detail. It utilizes a kicker much like a standard Mauser set trigger, and only fires when set.

Safety works fine, but it is missing the magazine cutoff which is a moot point as the entire magazine assembly is eradicated. Whoever did the work was no slouch.

Lastly, can anyone here shed anymore light on the life of Hervey Lovell? Aside from the brief bio in Landis, I can't find much about him. It seems I'm a magnet for unusual .22-3000's. My first was a High Wall barreled by Lovell. Then came another HW R-2 barreled by Jerry Gebby.

Gary you are welcome. And as I knew how bad you wanted this rifle. And with my present health situation. I wanted you to have it to restore. Whitey

Gary,
I have a .219 Lovell Imp Zipper on an M-98 action that was given to me by the original owner. He had it re-barrelled by Lovell in 1948. I had done a bit of research on Hervey Lovell, and found brief biographies about him in the American Rifleman from 1934, and again in 1960. His original shop was in Indianapolis on Gale St.until late 1945 when he moved to Port Townsend, Wa. His shop there was located at 925 Water St. on the 3rd floor of a building that houses a restaurant/hotel that is still in business today. I think he was still working from that site until the mid-late '60s. He supposedly retired because his hands were crippled with Arthritis. I think he passed away around 1975-76. I had read someplace that when he retired, he sold all of his reamers and other tooling to someone in So. Africa, and that guy used them to build a few more rifles.
I have some correspondence from Lovell that came along with my rifle, and I can say that from the looks of his penmanship, that he probably did suffer with Arthritis.
If you want more detailed info, The two articles I mentioned from A.R. are good. My memory says Mar. or Apr.'34 and Apr. or May '60.
Regarding your Krag; the triggers resemble the Adriance set triggers that were in my Dad's Rem. 30-S circa 1936. I will have to get them out for a look. My Dad also had a Krag in .22-3000 that he had Lovell build in 1943. He actually visited Lovell's shop in Indy at that time. Unfortunately Dad sold that one in 1965,and by that time it was chambered for .25-35 Ackley. He was never happy with the .22-3000.