IMA Gahendra untouched rifle

They put these on sale for $100 off and free shipping for the 4th of July and I took the bait and ordered one. I don't normally do this sort of thing sight unseen and even on sale it was still $225 which is a lot for a rifle that is probably never going to work. They tell you all sorts of worst case scenarios so you know not to expect much.

It arrived today and I have never been so afraid to open a cardboard box before. It came right at 3:45 and I just put it up against the wall and left the house. I had a good reason, my Astra 400 was delivered to Cabelas and I had to make a quick run for it before Bible School started at 6:30 but that's another story. Went direct to Bible School, got home at 8:45 and sat down to eat and watch TV. I have photo documented the box, which arrived in great shape and the packing which was excellent and the rifle as taken out.

It is complete. I can find no missing pieces. It appears to have an original cleaning rod which is not rusted to pieces. I attempted to take out two screws and they both came out easily. The bore is clear, not obstructed like many are. It has rifling but can't tell how much or how much of what is in there is dirt and how much is rust. The lever moves some, the loading gate moves some, the trigger is locked up. The exposed barrel looks great. It does look like pitting starts at the wood line. It is covered with old dirty grease that cruds up your hands real quick. It is very dry. The stock has no missing pieces but I can see three cracks in the fore stock. Butt stock looks OK. Can't tell if there is rot or not yet. Really haven't done much except look at it so far.

In summary, I don't believe I got a horror story, but time will tell. Might get something nice out of this yet. Not much is going to happen until Bible School is over at the end of the week. I need to so some research to get it apart etc in the meantime. I understand the entire action comes out which will hopefully make it easier to unfreeze the trigger, etc.

Looks like you got a good one. Mine is supposed to be delivered Thursday and I hope it is as good as yours. Wish me luck.

Good luck. Let us know how it looks.

The action is working better but still not opening or closing fully. Trigger is also working now. Rifle cocks and fires so springs working. Seems to be a lot of hard packed goo in there more than rust.

When Atlanta Cutlery still had rifles at their warehouse (I'm about 45 mins from them) I bought tons of Martinis and Gahendras from them. About six years ago, I made a trip there to get two more Gahendras...the pallet they took me to produced two of the so called 'improved' Gahendras that, after cleaning, turned out be darn near mint.
I always found the quality of these to be very impressive, considering the source.
I could kick myself for selling them.

Nice, mine isn't anywhere near that nice. I decided to run some cleaning cloths through the bore last night and was surprised that they went through smoothly. After pushing four through I looked it over and it is bright and shiny with no pitting. Kind of a shame because I expect the exterior to be pitted badly enough under the wood to prevent any interest in firing it.

I got home early today and decided to attack it as wondering what the barrel looked like was bugging me. I got the action out, the rear stock off and the forestock off. It does have some bad pitting in a few areas but I don't think it is bad enough to not shoot it but Id like to hear your opinions when I get time to get some photos posted. Most of the pitting is confined to right at the wood line. A couple areas drop down in further and these are the questionable ones. It doesn't look worse than my Swedish M38.

I also found out why the action would not fully open or close. There was a square flat piece of metal with a hold in the center floating loose in there. Not sure what it is but suspect it may have something to do with the forestock. That area looks like it is missing some wood and I think there should be a piece of metal there with maybe two screws holding it. All missing.

Action is in great shape. The internals of this are in very good shape, almost no rust, just that heavy thick hard old grease. Butt stock is also in good shape. No rot at the attachment point that I can tell, just some light stuff right along the edge. Two of the three stock pins will have to be replaced. They are pretty much gone except for a very small section in the middle.

So I think I got lucky. Even if I never shoot it, it looks like it will be functional and display OK.

Photos will come, I just don't have time right now.

I think the small metal piece goes on the end of the forestock with a screw and there should be two of them.

Light loads of black powder should do it.

I'm thinking the lever is bent. It won't go up tight like it should. It also looks straighter than pics of others.

Today I cleaned a bit more and bent the lever back into its original shape. It does have an issue that I'm not sure how to resolve. The loading gate will not stay down far enough to load easily without holding the lever. The rifle cocks fine but I believe it is worn enough to allow the lifter to lift as the lever is released. Can't tell if it is the trigger or the firing cocking piece. Slight chance dirt build up is causing it but I feel this is unlikely. I also found some pitting in the barrel at the very last two inches of it. Kind of a blind spot area for my eyes. It's not bad and the rifling is still strong but it is there. What I thought was rust on the cleaning rod turned out to be dirt.

If I remember reading right, the plate acts like a stop for the cleaning rod and was held in place by some screws.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jamie5070

If I remember reading right, the plate acts like a stop for the cleaning rod and was held in place by some screws.

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That would make sense. I have another issue now. I figured out why the action would not stay open. The spring is not original to the rifle and it is a very poor fit. Part of the original spring is there which holds the bad one in. Discovered this by watching some disassembly videos.

So if anyone has an extra Gahendra hammer spring, I'm in need of one. I may try fashioning one if I can't locate a replacement.

I washed the stock last night. Butt stock is in excellent shape. There was a big gouge in it which disappeared completely during the cleaning process. Must have just been a dent. Forestock is going to need several wood replacements and three cracks glued. Will probably have to epoxy the end where the metal plate will go.

Photos Here: https://www.facebook.com/StevensMHphotos/ I guess that's where they will be until I find an alternative to photo bucket I like.

The box and packaging were pretty good in my opinion. Shown are as received and after disassembly but before any serious cleaning.

A preview:

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...08146548-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...10236465-1.jpg

Tried my hand at "armorers" stock repair. Dug out the rotted wood around the rear stock pin and inlaid pieces of walnut in each side. It's in the clamps now and I'll have a lot of filing and sanding when it's dry. Fine work like that is not my cup of tea but I think they will come out OK.

Made three stock repairs. I think they came out OK. Color matching not happening but that's alright. Replaced the rusted out pins with drill bit shafts. Things coming along pretty nice. Next task is making a metal plate for the end of the forestock and repairing that area. Bayonet for it came yesterday. Got a full length one in fair condition, cleaned up well. Ordered a sling for it last evening.

Wondering what happened to the other fellow who was getting one last Thursday. Curious what condition he got.