one for the cowboys

**brian** · February 22nd, 2009, 12:19 AM

when you wrap the lever of your lever action, do you just pull it as tight as you can. or do you shrink the leather after wrapping?

**schr8er2000** · February 22nd, 2009, 08:31 AM

A few friends have done this and they wet the leather, ( put a good coating of oil on the lever ) and wrapped snug... let dry SLOWLY and everything shrunk up very nicely.....

Hope this helps....

**phill** · February 22nd, 2009, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by brian

when you wrap the lever of your lever action, do you just pull it as tight as you can. or do you shrink the leather after wrapping?

If you are going to wet and stretch the leather it will have to be bark tanned. Most of the leather strips that you can find are alum or chrome tanned, it will not stretch any more when wet. The chemicals used to tan leather are not gun finish friendly, chromiam salts and tannic acid are the most common.

**brian** · February 22nd, 2009, 08:35 PM

i pulled the wee out of it when i wrapped it. for now i think i'll just let that ride, and see how that works out.

**phill** · February 23rd, 2009, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by brian

i pulled the wee out of it when i wrapped it. for now i think i'll just let that ride, and see how that works out.

Good gun grease and a dry wrap is probably the best idea in my opinion. Have seen this done but do not understand the purpose.

**brian** · February 23rd, 2009, 01:15 PM

black powder gums up the works after a bunch of rounds, and that lever gets to making the back of your fingers sore. or if you really start jacking rounds through it.
the leather just acts as a cushion of sorts.

**phill** · February 23rd, 2009, 03:37 PM

We do not shoot cowboy shoots and was curious because one of the locals had wrapped his with rawhide. The rawhide will dry almost as hard as steel and is not going to be smooth. Probably a newby who thought it would look cool.

**RoyJackson** · February 23rd, 2009, 04:11 PM

In "Brokeback Mountain", didn't that one guy ask that other guy this same question about leather?
Or, was that camping?

**Jim1911** · February 23rd, 2009, 10:54 PM

Damn this brings me back. A hundred years ago I did that to my 30-30. I used almost cured strips of deer hide soaked in hoppe's.

I don't know why I did it because every time I took that gun out, I only fired it once.