Of course, you all are right, about keeping the complete rifle intact. When the organ donor rifle came in, it was hard to tell whether I should be joyful that it was complete and a forged frame, or disappointed that I couldn't rob the parts for the Pacific.
The pacific is actually a lot better than it looks like in the pictures. It will clean up nicely, won't even lose the serial #. The lettering will be faint, will have to be recut. Nice thing is that there's no conscience to get in the way of reworking it, there's nothing to keep original there. The barrel is cut off just in front of the second rod thimble. I actually was going to take this on as a total rebuild project, have a correct barrel made, and make a correct stock, thimbles, wiping rod, etc. Definitely a lot more work than it's worth, could just order one from Ballard and spend the effort making monty to pay for it, and come out ahead. But, interesting project maybe.
The only problem with the complete rifle is the barrel is a light weight. I like heavy. Reboring is the right answer to get to a usable caliber for me, but if I remember right, the bore is actually very good, not perfect, but quite shootable. I was disappointed enough to not even look closely when I saw I couldn't rob the parts for my other one. Still not complaining, though, I looked a long time for a double set ballard for a reasonable price, and this one is better than most I see. Mechanically, it's smooth and works perfectly, even the set triggers work and aren't dirty. It's several projects back in the lineup, so don't have to worry about it for now.
dave
