Strange "Navy Arms 45-70" Need Info!

[XxWINxX94]

I inherited this gun awhile back and have not figured anything out about it. Its a Navy Arms Co. Ridgefield, NJ USA. S/N 1078. However there are strange markings or proofs on it that look like symbols or something. It doesn't look very old, the stock is cracked, blueing on the barrel is OK, and It shoots/functions fine. Here are some pictures:

 

[Shear_stress]

Converted Arisaka?

 

[thebigc]

converted Siamese Mauser probably

 

[XxWINxX94]

I don't think so, the barrel is really heavy. Its fat and short, The markings don't look Asian either.

 

[XxWINxX94]

Siamese? did mauser even make barrels that are that short and heavy?

 

[Shear_stress]

I stand corrected, Siamese Mauser is correct. The marking on the side of the receiver fooled me.

Siamese? did mauser even make barrels that are that short and heavy?

Aftermarket barrel.

 

[Cosmoline]

Yes that is one of the Siamese Mauser conversions from a few decades ago. It may be the carbine version, with an aftermarket barrel put on in the Italian factory Navy Arms imported from. It's a prized piece in its own right, and one of the strongest .45-70 actions. In old load books you'll see .45-70 loads for trapdoors, then for leverguns, then a special class for Ruger No. 1 and Siamese Mausers. The wrist crack is likely a result of some brutal handloading. You can imagine the recoil from an amped up .45-70 out of that size firearm! But it looks repairable with a pin and some glue.

 

[Shear_stress]

Looks like it was originally serial number 20311:

http://www.castle-thunder.com/datasheets/siamds.pdf

 

[Jim Watson]

Siamese Mauser.
They have their own writing, not Chinese chicken tracks.
Not much left of the original but the action and bottom metal.
Fat and short is due to the way Navy Arms's sweatshop converted milsurp to sporters. But that is the way nearly everybody converted Siamese Mausers, I have seen very few made up as the well proportioned medium sporters so common with other Mausers. Clunky. I think a barrel taper about like a lightweight Winchester '86 would have been nice.

The trefoil in the second picture of the bottom row is the symbol of the Koishikawa Arsenal in Tokyo which contracted the manufacture of most of the rifles for Siam in the 1903 time frame.

 

[XxWINxX94]

Interesting, the chart answers alot of questions. Thanks!

Any idea about a going price or value?

 

[Cosmoline]

As a collector's item it has basically no value, but it does have value as a brush buster and specialty rifle for hot .45-70's. They aren't easy to find these days. I've seen them sold locally for around $350. The busted stock knocks the value down of course. The action alone is probably worth $200.

 

[Hud]

The stock might have faired better if it would have had a recoil lug or the action bedded.

 

[Float Pilot]

Yeap Siamese Mauser converted to 45-70.

When I was in High School I worked for a gunsmith and we did lots of these in the early 70s. Although we did a much better job, since we used real tapered sporter barrels and it was my job to buff the heck out of the actions and then rust blue the whole thing.
The sweat shop made Navy Arms imports were a slap in the face to real gunsmithing.

Toss that barrel, clean up the action and install a sporter bolt, install a nice sporter barrel in 45-70 and then bed that baby into a nice laminated stock with a couple of cross bolts. Then you will have a sharp looking bear rifle.

The 45-70 loaded in a Siamese Mauser action can be loaded VERY HOT...

 

[e_vgarte]

Greetings,
I just bought a Siamese Mauser action for about a hundred-bucks. Serial number 33316 type B, chamber type B, floor plate latch is on the front of the trigger-guard, and it has the numbers 732 under the receiver and on the left side of the magazine well. I don't know what caliber it is, although some mentioned it was a 8x52... I compared the bolt-face to the rim of a .45-70 casing, and the bolt-face seems to be a smidgen too small to accommodate the casing. My goal is to construct a nice guide-gun sized, bolt- actioned bear-gun. I'm thinking putting the action on a straight-gripped stock, adding an octagonal or semi-octagonal barrel no longer than twenty inches or so. Iron peep-sights, and a forward-mounted scope.
If anyone has any suggestions, comments, and recommendations to where I can find parts, accessories etc... please let me know. I'll post pictures soon.
Thanks.
Esteban Ugarte.
[email protected]

 

[e_vgarte]

Also- I'm considering chambering the rifle to .40-65... anyone's reckonings on the matter would be appreciated.