Whitney Kennedy stripping, cleaning, hand loading

[dexterblack]

After retirement, I was bitten by the shooting bug again, after having put it aside for 40 years. My late father had some interesting guns. Looking through his cabinet, I found his old Whitney Kennedy .38 40. It has a partial octagonal barrel, closed loop action, and a stunningly mirror-bright bore. However, looking down into the open receiver, there appears to be dust, crud, and powder debris in the action. It looks like the gun was stored with a clean barrel, but the rest was not taken-down for cleaning.

I would like to strip the piece to clean it thoroughly, but I have no experience with the Whitney at all. Does anyone know if this is the type of project which, if one does not know what he is doing, is likely to end up as a basket of parts? Or is it reasonably intuitive? I would very much like to shoot this rifle if it turns out to be in good shape -- with a smith's blessing, of course.

Which leads to the next question: My (limited) understanding is that this weapon was designed with black powder in mind. The "Q" prefix suggests a build date around 1884 or 1885 (I think.) But I would dearly like the option of shooting light loads of bulky smokeless powder, as sometimes it is difficult to clean right after shooting. But the conflicting articles I read on whether any smokeless load can be safely loaded leave me in doubt. What are you opinions, please? (In the meantime, I'll plan for BP, only.)

Thanks in Advance.

[Jim K]

That is one gun I have no experience with in dis- or re-assembly. But some general advice. Start with studying the gun. Try to make sure what each screw or pin does or holds before removing it. Do not use brute force unless you know exactly what will result. (With old guns, dirt, old grease and rust often make force necessary, but you have to know when to use it and when not to, and when to stop if it doesn't work.)

If there are pins, get cup end punches from Brownells before driving them out; using a flat end punch will not only flatten the pin but the punch can slip and damage the gun.

And get some good gunsmtih screwdrivers or grind your own with parallel side blades. If you can't unscrew a screw, either use the old trick with a drill press or give up. Don't ruin anything with the idea of replacing the part. There are no parts.

Jim

[dexterblack]

Sage counsel. I am paranoid about doing damage.

[Jim K]

A good lesson is the Winchester 94. Folks want to clean the gun and start by removing every screw in sight. The bolt guides and the loading gate, none of which need be removed, then fall into the action and later the disassembler wonders how they go back in.

One other note: Always keep track of exactly how something comes out; make notes or drawings or use digital photos of how parts come out and what parts are attached to each other and how.

Jim

[coldrou]

Just stumbled on to your question regarding the dissasembly of a Whitney Kennedy. You have what is referred to as a Whitney Kennedy small frame rifle. Believe it or not it is a fairly easy rifle to break down and reassemble. Before you start have good hollow ground screw drivers, and I find that PB Blaster can be a big help in removing screws that have not turned in a hundred years. If I find a stubborn one I usually apply the blaster, wait overnight and then try the screw.

Step one: Remove the dust cover screw. This passes through the dust cover and threads into the cartridge extractor. Then press down on the hammer at full cock and slide the dust cover back off the rifle.

Step two. Then remove the screw at the bottom of the frame that screws from the left side to the right. It is the screw that retains the floor plate and is located on the lower part of the frame towards the rear. Do not confuse it with the small screws at the very back of the frame that hold on the lower tang. Once this screw is removed, you can work out the floor plate downward from the frame. This may require some gentle prying with a knife plade of thin lever.

Step three: Remove the screw located midway up the left side of the frame that the cartridge lifter rotates on. This may be one of the harder screws to remove. It is threaded into the lifter. The lifter can then be removed from the bottom of the frame.

Step four: The lever and breach bolt may now be removed out the top of the frame.

You are basically done with the dissasembly unless you want to further break down the breach bolt and firing pin. If you do be aware that the long firing pin must be removed before driving out the pivit pin in the breach bolt.

Reassembly is just the opposite. If you put the lifter in incorrectly, the action will lock up and not function. The tang of the lifter must be to the rear of the pin that holds in the long firing pin.

PM me if you have problems.

[American Leader]

welcome coldrou, I notice this is your first post, how about sticking around you can obviously be of great assistance here.

[dexterblack]

Thanks, coldrou. I'll give it a try. Best regards...

[whirley]

Just a suggestion and something to consider. Today there are untra sound devices that will shake loose all the internal crud of anything that is immersed in a light lubricant. There's little need to disassemble complicated parts. Look around your area. There are companies that offer such a service to industry. Knock the crud loose with ultra sound vibration, then blow it away.

[coldrou]

Dexterblack, One correction to my previous post. On re-assembly of the rifle, the tang of the lifter goes to the inside of the pin on the lever. If it is to the outside, that is what locks up the lever and stops the action from working. I was giving you my previous post from my faulty memory! The rest of the post was correct.