Evans Repairs

[hawkeye2]

Is there anyone out there who can repair or rebuild an Evans?  I know parts are almost impossible to find and broken Evans rifles are quite common.  I seem to remember seeing reference to someone who was working on them professionally some time back on a forum but I can't recall where or when.

[ndnchf]

Have you looked here? There might be some leads.

https://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php?topic=21226.0

[Pettifogger]

I don't know anyone that has ever worked on them "professionally" as there are simply not enough that are being shot to make it worth-while to specialize it fixing them.  The Evans is basically an Internet research project to glean any info you can from any source.  I wound up using, if I remember, .445 Super Mag brass that was shortened and sized for the Evans and had a custom bullet mold made.  The one guy that I know that did some work on the Evans, as he enjoyed shooting them, was a guy whose cowboy name was Happy Trails.  He made a new mainspring for mine abot 20 years ago but he retired years ago.  He still has a website called The Smith Shop" and sells some parts (not Evans parts!) but does not do work anymore.

https://www.thesmithshop.com

[Major 2]

Kenny Howell did the one(s) for Cross Fire Trail

[Bunk Stagnerg]

If you can find some one that is capable of doing the repair, and will try to do the repair, then pardner you better have a bucket full of large denomination bills ready to plunk down, 'cause it ain't gonna be a cheap fix.
Just sayin'
Good luck
Bunk

[Trailrider]

One thing you didn't mention was what's broken? That will influence what will be necessary in the way of parts, forming them, heat treating as necessary, etc. At one time I had an Old Model Evans that had been loaned me by a friend.  It had a crippled, as opposed to completely broken main spring.  I had another friend who does that sort of thing, make up a new one.  Never did make up ammo or shoot it before the owner took it back and moved away.
Give us details, please.
Stay well and safe!

[hawkeye2]

I didn't have the gun in hand when I posted so I couldn't guess what was broken.  I was looking at a New Model online that was described as functioning but finicky.  I bought it and when I got it I found it was far more than finicky, actually a disaster, so I sent it back.  It was rough but the price was reasonable if it had been as described and there was a chance it might have been repairable.  Springs wouldn't have been a big deal but this one needed far more than that.

Pettifogger had you posted years ago about Happy Trails repairing yours?  That may have been what was sticking in the back of my mind.  I didn't expect to find an Evans specialist but had a forlorn hope there might be someone out there who had some experience with them.  Given the lack of parts and their complexity I could understand that it would have to be a major labor of love to repair one which is too bad as so many of them need fixing.

Now if someone were to announce they were going to reproduce them and ask for deposits I'll bet we could run the topic out to almost as many pages as the Merwin & Hulbert revolver thread from years ago.         

[Pettifogger]

I don't remember what I did yesterday, let alone years ago.    I may have posted some photos as I still have some on my hard drive.  They are OLD.

[hawkeye2]

The seller sent me a return label and it went back.  I got an e-mail the day after they got it saying a spring had broken between the time it was written up and shipped and the piece had jammed the action.  They offered to repair it or give me a refund.  I wouldn't have felt comfortable with the gun even if repaired so I asked for a refund.  That was in the evening and the money was back on my card by 11 AM.  Full refund and free return shipping, no hassle.