The Evans Rifle

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

I've read that the Evans isn't CAS-Legal because there's no external hammer... Hmmm. If you look at the Lever, you will notice a "dog-leg"-like projecting part; that is the Hammer. When the arm is cocked, this will project farther down the lever, and revert to the position shown when uncocked/fired.  The small knob between it and the receiver is a locking device. When pressed in while pulling back on the Hammer, it will engage a recess, locking the Hammer and Lever.
To load an Evans: 1. Turn the muzzle down and open the loading port on the buttplate. 2. Drop one cartridge into the loading port. 3. Cycle the lever once to feed the cartridge into the cartridge carrier. 4. Repeat 2 & 3 34 times for the OM, and 28 times for the NM!
Being that there was no faster way developed to load the Evans, your tremendous momentary firepower was followed by tremendous vulnerability... Unless you had someone "covering" you while you spent a few minutes refilling the magazine; someone with a Spencer, perhaps! This one design flaw is probably what kept the Evans from being a true contender.

 



            Be Well, All!

                                     M.T. Marfield
                                        1-16-06

[Major 2]

Major, that was Kenny Howell.  I had a chance to shoot that very rifle that Wilford used as well as the Keen used by Brad Johnson.  It was neet to watch the movie knowing I had shot the guns.

Will Ketchum

thanks Will

I thought so... Thell was involved I believe , as an armorer on set ... Kenny has done guns for many of Selleck's shows.

I know what you mean, I own one of the Org. Spencer used in "The Blue and the Gray" By G. Peck as Lincoln.
and a few other pieces from films.
Including a rubber flintlock SXS stunt shotgun from the "Alamo the Price of Freedom"
And by the way, I built/cast in FGlas, the Ft. Wagner 32 pounders cannon in "Glory" and the 9' & 11" Dahlgren's , Brooks Rifle , and 32 Pounders in "Ironclads"

[Harve Curry]

Major, that was Kenny Howell.  I had a chance to shoot that very rifle that Wilford used as well as the Keen used by Brad Johnson.  It was neet to watch the movie knowing I had shot the guns.

Will Ketchum

Will,
So did that Evan work OK? When I saw the movie it looked like it malfunctioned for Wilford.
I had been looking for a Evans for awhile, and when the movie came out there was a price increase.
Samething happened when I bought my Spencer, Unforgiven increased the price by $300 but I'd a gave even more for it.

[Will Ketchum]

As I remember it, it was load a few rounds and then work the action a bunch until the first round came  up to be chambered . It fed and shot very well.  I don't recall any malfunctions for any of he people who shot it.

I do remember that Kenny had brought factory 45-70 loads with jacketed soft point bullets.  I thought they were a bit stout for the Keene.  After the first shot I took where I hit a 100 yard gong I couldn't hit it again.  Then I noticed that the horizontal cross hair in the scope had came loose.

Will Ketchum

[klw]

Mine was a new model.  The magazine held 28 rounds.  So you had to insert a round in the butt and cycle the action.  You repeated that 28 times.  You could easily loose count.  Or you could cycle the action without inserting a round which means that the magazine would not have a round at each of the 28 "stations."

However assuming you got the ammunition right and paid attention when cycling the gun it worked just fine. 

Like the Spencer it was sensitive to proper ammunition length somewhat but it wasn't as touchy about this as my Spencer's were.

All in all I liked it.  Kind of wish that I had kept it.  Really fun to shoot!

[Two Flints]

Hi,

Found an interesting article on the Evans Repeating Rifle.  This is the link to it:

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/blancard/evans.htm


Also, this is a close up look at an Evans .44 caliber cartridge.




Two Flints

[Will Ketchum]

Two Flints, thanks for the link.  It was interesting.  I didn't realize that they produced so many rifles.

Will Ketchum

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

Thanks for the great link!

                  Be Well!

                              M.T.Marfield
                                1-18-06

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings, All!

  The February 2006 issue of "The Single Shot Exchange has a brief article on the Evans Rifle; it has some history, and a little bit of loading data.

                            Be Well!

                                            M.T.Marfield
                                              2-3-06

[Two Flints]

Hi,

Found a one page article on the Evans in the November 1961 issue of The Gun Report magazine.  Back issues of this magazine are still available. If anyone is interested, I have the contact person and address where back issues can be purchased.  They have an index that they sell listing all the article from all their old issues that in itself is pretty interesting.

Two Flints

[Jamieson]

Good evening everyone,

My name is Scott Jamieson and I'm working towards a full length book about the Evans Rifle Company and very recently my attention was kindly drawn to your web site. 

I have published BULLARD ARMS in 1988 and BULLARD FIREARMS in 2002 that detailed the work of James H. Bullard and his Bullard sporting rifles that were produced from 1883 to 1891.  During the time from 1974 when I began research on the Bullard company I also began research on 2 other gun makers that intrigued me.  The Babbit/Adirondack Firearms Company which produced the designs of O.M. Robinson from 1870-74 when Winchester bought them out and of course the EVANS rifle.  My manuscript for ADIRONDACK ARMS is nearly complete and when it goes to the publisher I can start my EVANS work in earnest.  I have already collected much data and photographs but much more remains to be done.  You may contact me via email if you wish to fill out a survey sheet on your EVANS for my book, please provide a mailing address.

In the meantime for anyone who wishes to know more about the EVANS rifle I can highly recommend Dwight B. Demeritt, Jr.s book MAINE MADE GUNS AND THEIR MAKERS which has been revised and reprinted.  His book has a wealth of info on the company itself therfore my book will focus more on the guns themselves, how they worked and all their internal details and numbers manufactured as I have no interest in reinventing the wheel.

The OLD MODEL did indeed have immense fire power as it held 34 rounds in the buttstock (had the term assault rifle been coined back then it surely would have qualified).  However the OLD MODEL had only one buttstock that was attached to the upper portion of the magazine leaving a lot of cold steel to rest against the cheek on a cold winter's day which is why I believe the TRANSITIONAL MODEL or improved old model was produced.  It had wooden butt stocks on both sides of the magazine to eliminate the cold steel problem on the shooters face but beyond that only detail changes were made to the guns.  The biggest drawback to the rifles was (as far as the military was concerned which was the market the Evans brothers had originally hoped to sell to) the slow loading cycle.  The various military branches that looked at these rifles feared that with the slow loading times of the EVANS rifles, entrenched positions could be over run by the enemy and taken.  Both the OLD and TRANSITIONAL rifles are serial numbered which makes research much easier, the NEW MODEL is not serial numbered.  The NEW MODEL in my opinion came about for several reasons; by increasing the dimensions of the receiver the gun was able to handle a longer cartridge giving it more velocity and shocking power (The NEW MODEL now held 26 rounds).  By adding a sliding cover over the ejection port the rifle could be single loaded easier through this port with the magazine held in reserve. 

I know of NO TRANSITIONAL MODEL Evans rifles that can handle the NEW MODEL cartridge-I do not believe it to be physically possible as the N.M. round is 1/2 inch longer than the O.M. round.

All in all these are very interesting firearms and they deserve to be better known than they are.  I believe many saw service in South American conflicts in the 1870-80's.  Ballistically they were every bit as good as the Winchester Model 1873 was and given the great number of EVANS rifles in the Winchester Museum in Cody, Wyoming the Winchester Company feared them as aggressive competitors with a very saleable product.  Any questions I can answer for anyone I wll try and do so-just be patient as my work load at the moment is high.

Best regards,

G. Scott Jamieson             

[Two Flints]

Scott,

Thanks for visiting the Spencer Shooting Society.  Your comments are very interesting.  I do have one question for you that I have not been able to find the answer to...to what extent , if any, did the Evans find its way out West, perhaps to be used during the Indian Wars in any way?

Thanks,

Two Flints

[Will Ketchum]

Scott, welcome to our forum.  It is always nice to have knowledgeable people here who can answer questions we might have.

Will Ketchum

[Harve Curry]

...to what extent , if any, did the Evans find its way out West, perhaps to be used during the Indian Wars in any way?
, Two Flints
________________________________________________________________________
I might have posted it earlier but a Evans barreled action was found at Nate Champions burned out cabin remains. It was found during WWII, held by the Johnson County Sheriff's dept. and was sold at auction a year or so ago. Apparently when Nate Champion held off all those invading Texans during the Johnson County War he had a Evans and did some good shooting with it.
Thats the only Evans I've heard of in the west besides Wiford Brimley's.

[Two Flints]

Harve,

Thanks for the info...need to find an accurate description of what a civilian army scout wore back in the 1870's for my persona...any suggestions?  I have clothes from my mountain man Fur Trade Era persona that will carry over, but not everything.

Two Flints

[doc cable]

Two Flints, i am certain sure i once read about buffalo bill using an evans to hunt buffalo from horse back;  will see if i can find that reference.  the incident was when he was still a scout.

[Two Flints]

Thanks Doc,

This is a reply I received from Scott Jamieson in response to my question about Evans' Out West:

In answer to your query 'if Evans rifles were used in the Indian Wars' I would say that some probably did find their way into the hands of the Indians.  Allegedly one was found at the scene of the battle of the Little Big Horn, Buffalo Bill, Texas Jack and Pony Deal (a badman) all used Evans rifles at one time or another.  Buffalo Bill liked to be paid to use a maker's rifle in his shows so perhaps Bullard and Evans did not pay as well as Winchester did hence the dearth of photographs showing Cody with either a Bullard or Evans. 

Many Evans rifles went to S. America via Merwin Hulbert who also sold revolvers of the same name in S. America by the proverbial 'boatload.'  As well the US eastern seaboard and the Canadian east were certainly decent markets for the Evans rifles too as I have quite a few really fine photographs emphasizing the hunting prowess of etc of the eastern gentlemen.  Even the OLD MODEL could take down large moose!!!  But I think the company's main thrust was to supply military contracts with civilian sales for back-up and fill-in between contracts.  Both Spain, Britain, and possibly Turkey and Russia all looked at the EVANS with a view to adopting it as their military rifle of choice.  You'll see many NEW MODELS that were obviously meant to be muskets, civilianized but still retaining the 30 inch round barrel and sling swivel recess in the front of the receiver.  In short the EVANS rifle 'got around'.

Thanks for your interest Doc,

Two Flints

[Jamieson]

Good evening everyone,

I'd like to ask any of the Evans' owners who wish to have their rifle statistics inclued in my book to contact me at scott.jamieson@sympatico.ca and leave me a mailing address so that I can mail them an EVANS survey sheet. 

I'd like to ask anyone who does fill out a survey sheet to do so very carefully in regards to all the questions but most especially to the markings and serial numbers of the guns.  Now the New Model is not serial numbered but often has all types of numerals and symbols stamped, penciled or otherwise marked in various places on the rifles.  I'm trying to find some pattern with the assembly numbers in hopes of shedding some light on actual production figures.   

Evans Arms will contain hundreds of photographs of the EVANS rifle with many showing ALL the component parts in minute detail.  The book itself is still some years away as I wish to include as many Evans rifles as possible in the book along with the known reloading tools, bullet moulds and reloading information as well as a comprehensive dissassembly and re-assembly guide as per my BULLARD books.  If you wish to gain some insight into where I'd like to take this project take a look at BULLARD FIREARMS (Schiffer publishing web site) to get a better idea. 

One question I've seen on your web site was one concerning the weak extraction of the spent rounds from the rifle.  I believe that like most lever action rifles the EVANS' lever should be manipulated with some 'gusto' to allow it to fling the spent round from the rifle with some force.  Most rifles of that era that used an elevator really gave the spent round a solid kick out of the rifle as the carrier rose in its' mortise.  The EVANS has to rely solely on a bellcrank acting on the fluted cartridge carrier to spin it 90 degrees to throw out the round therefore moving the lever through its' cycle in a lazy manner will exacerbate the problem.  Actually from some of the pictures I will reproduce in the book you will see that the bellcrank and the area of the flute that it contacts for rotating purposes often shows a lot of wear on the flute which may also contribute to weak ejection from the rifle of the spent round.  Comparisons would have to be made between a rifle with an unworn flute and one with for a proper study.  I also have no idea how many rounds would have to fired through these guns to exhibit this wear pattern.

All for now.

Best regards,

Scott Jamieson         

[4570]

Hello everybody,
My dad wanted me to ask you a few questions because he doesnt speak or write english himself
Could anybody tell me if the evans liver action riffle showed on www.falcon-arms.com is in the original condition?
Second of all , should there be a lid or something on the place were the bullets go into the riffle?

Thanks,

P.Thijssen
Holland, Europe

[Two Flints]

4570,

It looks to be in original condition.  Try this link for more information about the Evans:

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/blancard/evans.htm

We have a member, Happy Trails, who repairs Evans; send him a PM with your questions.

Two Flints