cute little thing

[kingsax26]

so I picked up this little dandy in a trade a while back. Its an Ardessa .36 cal rifle. over all its in good shape . the aluminum ramrod is bent all to hell and the bore looks ok, it does have some pitting in t he grooves but the rifling seems sharp. Havnt shot it yet, but i was thinking I might restock it. The LOP is only 12 inches and is so short I cant get a proper sight picture so it needs a new stock. I am also thinking of converting it to flint.. But im open to all ideas! Im looking for some suggestions on style of rifle. this is not intended to be an accurate portrayal of anything and I am not looking to change barrels. I know its rather short..its just gonna be a fun gun/ squirrel getter. so throw some ideas out there

 

[azmntman]

well if yer gonna re-stock it yer not shy of spending more money so why not have it bored out to a .40, then you will have a new stock and a barrel in excellent shape to start with? :hmm:

 

[kingsax26]

would ahve helped if i included a pic i guess

 

[kingsax26]

i dont want a .40 cal...had one and I sold it. I ahve been looking for a .36 so id loike to keep it as is...I am going to shoot it before hand ...so i know for sure how it will perform...but if I got another barrel id keep it the same caliber I think. Also Im looking to keep cost down as much as possible

 

[Billnpatti]

By the time you do all of that, you will have more money in it that it is worth. Why not clean it up, make it look nice and then sell it. Take the money and buy the gun that you want from someone on this forum. it will be a lot cheaper in the long run. A new stock will run you in the neighborhood of $200 and up. A decent new flint lock will run you around $125 and up. I don't know what a gunsmith will charge you for the conversion from percussion to flint barrel b ut by the time you get through, you will have the original cost of the rifle plus something around $450 in upgrades. That makes that little no-name rifle pretty darned expensive. Nope, I'd sell it and buy what you want. It will be a lot cheaper.

 

[F.G. Ford]

A pig's ear is a pig's ear no matter how you dress it up.
A cheap little rifle is just fine, but it will always be a cheap little rifle, even if you put a thousand dollar stock on it.
It's kind of like buying a Skoda car, and then putting a Vette motor, fancy wheels, with an expensive paint job on it.
Fred

 

[necchi]

Instead of butchering it all up,
Why not sell it as the youth/ladies model it was intended to be, then take the money and buy what you want.
It's always a shame to see a youth model destroyed.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Wat others have already said. Not worth trying to make into a different rifle.
Never heard of that model. It looks kinda TC-ish.

 

[William O.]

You might want to contact some builders and see what they'd charge to make you a new stock with the proper length of pull. I had that done to a Lyman Trade rifle since the LOP wasn't long enough for me and it was well worth the price.
Contact Mike Lange if you decide to go this route; http://www.chooseyourweapon.net/Pricing.html

 

[mageckman]

I know there used to be several companies that made rubber butt cushions for rifles and shotguns. Some of them extended the butt end of the gun 1 to 3 inches. That could extend the LOP out to a tolerable length for you with something that wasn't permanent. If you could find one of those it would be a far cheaper alternative than replacing the stock. Hope this helps.

 

[satx78247]

AGREED 100%.

yours, satx

 

[nit wit]

Bryon:
Make up a leather butt pad to increase the lop.
Keep it and shoot it.
NW

 

[Ken Cormier]

Just my .02 I would keep it as it is.and use it as a small ladies or childs gun to intro them to shooting.. Our m/l club Has a youth 40 cal for kids that a menber made it has got a bunch of kids into shooting with there Dad's. Way cool

 

[zimmerstutzen]

CVA sold two different 36's as I recall. Both were produced in rather limited numbers. One built on the Frontier rifle "platform" and one on the Bobcat "platform"

As I recall one was called a "Varmint" rifle.

Those old CVA Squirrel rifles are bringing two to three times what they sold for new.

I agree with keeping it intact. Worth more than trying to "gussy" it up with lots of changes. No sense taking a $150 gun and spending $500 to make it a $175 gun.

 

[CFCE]

Do a web crawl and you can find leather butt pads with inserts to increase LOP