doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Martini a la Hoffman

Dennis, I once had a fine stock with a bit of sap wood on the side of the butt next to the pad. I tried every stain I could with no help...then out of desperation I soaked it with somewhat boiled down coffee...was a perfect match for the rest of the stock and held up with finishing. Worth a try on some of the cut-of if you cannot get rid of all of it when shaping the stock.

By the way, I started the wx office on Kodiak in '73. Twelve years of great memories of Kodiak, Afognak, Woody, Raspberry and Long Islands.

Sam,
Thanks for the suggestion on staining. I can't tell yet whether the sap wood is avoidable but should know after the through-bolt hole is in.

I've taken elk and deer on Raspberry, Afognak and Whale Islands and the hunting was always much more comfortable with a substantial rifle in hand. Also a bear on Fraser Lake in '83. Great country and envy your twelve years there. Always encounters with bears and the only one I didn't mind was the Fraser Lake hunt.

I have to apologize for this primitive photo that goes back to the very beginning of digital photography. This is a genuine Hoffman Arms .22 LR Martini that I used to own.

I got the through bolt hole drilled this week for the butt stock and it is now inletted.

The BSA Martinis have a thick and heavy bolt. I put a reducer into the action and then make a 1/4" bolt with a 1/2" head to replace the original. The hole through the butt stock is 5/16" and 5/8" and the double boring was done with drills made from drill rod. Here are the hardened drills I made.

The action has been surface ground and taken to 220 on all major surfaces. The trigger guard/action housing has also been taken through 220.

The lever is forged to shape and inletted into the butt stock.



Got a Biesen uncheckered butt plate and a Fisher medium grip cap that will be installed after the first barrel is fitted and the final stock dimensions can be established.

I'm undecided about how to finish the end of the lever. The Hoffman has a simple forged curl but I got a late 20's to early 30's Griffin and Howe Martini recently that has a checkered and engraved cylinder installed at the end of the lever. A very nice treatment but the lever cannot be removed from the action housing without the retaining screw being removed and the cylinder lifted off. It is fitted very closely (pre EDM--how did they do that?) so I can't see precisely how it was done. I've also seen lever ends that are a graceful sweep rearward below the pistol grip then checkered.

Here is the G&H, the current project and the Hoffman for reference.

Not that my vote counts, but I love the stock and lever treatment on the Hoffman. To my eye, it is far superior to the G&H.

The Hoffman has a grace that is hard to improve on

The Hoffman has a grace that is hard to improve on

Griffin. I'd love to see both the G&H and the Hoffman in side by side, full length pics as well as detail pics. A lot to be learned there.

I vote for the G&H treatment, perhaps hollowed out and a walnut filler added?

As an aside, has anyone here done (or seen one done) a conversion built on a Model 15 BSA Martini? The rear sight dovetail incorporated into the rear of the receiver would be a stumbling block in the quest to make an elegant arm out of it, to my way of thinking. (Or perhaps incorporating the original P-H sight into the final design?) I have one of these that I've been casting a covetous eye on in regards to a sporter similar to the one taking shape on this thread.