H The Lincoln air rifle Part 1

[Huttles94]

Recently I paid £25 (not including fees and shipping) for a very tired, very rusty looking old BSA/LJ air rifle.

The auctioneer only had one photo of the rifle and it showed that is was missing the trigger and trigger guard, but the advert stated everything else was there. I had no idea if it was a LJ or a BSA as no serial number was stated but from the pictures I could see it has an early tap and there was no BSA logo on the right side of the stock, so unless it was worn away or a replacement stock, it had to be a Lincoln Jeffries made rifle.

So with the estimate being between £25 and £35 I thought I would chip in a max bid of £30 and see what happens. Well of course in the end I won the auction.

I was originally going to use it as parts for another gun (I only really wanted the piston from it) but between winning the auction and it arriving at my door (which considering the current situation, I am surprised it got here on time!) I had already managed to fix the other rifle I was hoping to cannibalise this one fo.

So I thought I might just sell it as I could easily get more than what I paid for it (in total I paid about £51, that includes the £25 bid, the auction fees, packaging fees and shipping fees). But when it came this morning and after I ripped it out of its packaging, I found that it is in fact a Fourth batch Lincoln Jeffries made air rifle, serial number 8474.

I have owned plenty of BSA made variants in the past but never a Lincoln Jeffries made one. Added to that, that the stock was in fairly good condition (one small crack near the trigger block on one side but that is it). I have decided to keep the rifle and see about getting it back to its former glory.

Now it is rusty but I have cleaned up worse looking guns.

Well lets start and here are some photos:



Here is the rifle in all its glory. Rusty, tired and missing the trigger guard and trigger. But maybe a diamond in the rough?



Original springs maybe?



Rear sight came off ok, had to wack it with a copper mallet a couple of times.



Rear sight is seized and full of gunk. Will need a nice long bath in some WD40



Front sight is missing its bead (quite common) and was a bit harder to get out compared to the rear sight.



But nothing is impossible with the power of a hammer and swearing!



Oh great, seized screws. Oh boy do I love seized screws....



Butt plate is rather rusty and guess what? More seized screws!



WD40 to the rescue!



Cant have too much WD40 is what my dad used to say...



Springs, front and rear sight enjoying their long soak.



Serial number 8474 making it a fourth batch Lincon Jeffries from the end of 1906.



Stock is in nice shape considering what the rest of the rifle looks like!


Overall I must say I am quite happy with my purchase. And for a punt, it has turned out not too bad. I cant get the piston out since the screws are all seized but I would guess it needs a seal. Though I have some laying around that should work.

All I need now is to source a trigger guard, trigger spring and trigger.

Will make another post when I get the rest of the rifle stripped, though that might be some time but as of late, that is something I have a lot of on my hands!

Cheers all

Jake

Here is a link to all the images I have taken thus far:

https://imgur.com/gallery/rNBfoVG

[Abasmajor]

Hello Jake,
It just goes to show that nice surprises can still be found when you have the courage take a punt. Thanks for sharing the story so far and look forward to following progress with the restoration. This is just the sort of condition that nobody could object to serious restoration without worrying about originality and which will hopefully breathe new life into a wonderful old air rifle.
Brian

[pjbingham]

Fantastic find Jake well done I confess to a small pang of jealousy reading your thread Keep us updated

[WebleyWombler]

Very nice find Jake, but if I were you, I'd put that foul WD40 back in its cupboard , warm the sight a little and leave it in a cup of diesel oil for a few days. I now use Diesel in one of those cheap jewellery cleaning ultrasonic cleaners for small parts like that. Works wonders compared to many much hyped products.