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Update M1895 Lee Navy Rifle


1917Corpsman
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Gentlemen,

 

I originally posted in the Splendid Little Wars forum about a reproduction Model 1895 Lee Navy rifle in 6mm being reproduced by Norton Firearms in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I was supposed to have the replica rifle brought to me on June 2nd and 3rd of this year at the VA Medical Center during the Reclaiming Our Heritage event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin however the owner I had made the prior arrangements with who assured me he would be there never showed up. This disappointed event museum staff members who caught wind that the rifle was going to be at this event. On November 5th of this year I set up an appointment with Jeff Norton who is the owner of Norton Firearms Inc which was approved for Friday November 9th. On Friday via email I had an appointment reminder stating that the appointment was still to occur. I traveled over 130 miles to the office in Kenosha with a friend of mine and according to the person at the front desk he had left early Thursday morning out of the country. I then asked them about the Lee Navy rifle project because I had brought my camera to take a photo of the rifles I was told by him were done prior to June. Nobody in the office was aware of any Lee Navy rifle being reproduced. I told the secretary I had traveled over 130 miles to make this appointment and she apologized and not sticking to her story told me he was called out of the country Thursday afternoon instead of early morning like she said prior. We both then realized they were just lying to our face and I'm pretty sure Jeff Norton was just in his back office while I was being talked to by his employees. I then thought maybe he didn't have any rifles reproduced in the first place and was just hiding from the fact he was way over his head and didn't want to man up and admit he didn't reproduce them. Going forward to Tuesday November 13th I called Norton Firearms over the phone and talked to a gunsmith there inquiring about the Lee Navy rifle project. Over the phone he said, "Well to be honest with you, we ran into some milling problems and Jeff called the project off the year prior in December. There was only one rifle that was 1/4 of a way reproduced." So if the project was canceled back in December last year why did Jeff Norton continue to advertise that replicas were being made as far as February 26th of this year? I haven't been the only one inquiring about the Lee Navy project. There have been numerous others that have asked about it and there were no replies to their questions. Being the guy is the owner of the company and never called 24 hours in advance for a cancellation of the appointment I found a complete lack of professionalism there. Oh well I guess this company missed out on a huge opportunity for making money. There was a large interest by both museums and reenactors alike for these full reproduction rifles. I was told that even Jerry of What Price Glory was in the process of reproducing the M1895 Lee Navy cartridge belts for these replica rifles.

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  • 3 weeks later...
nortonfirearms

1917Corpsman,

First let me say I am sorry you drove 130 miles and I missed you. I was in fact out of the country and unavailable when you came in on a emergency trip that was schedualed the day before. I was in fact on a plane when you came in.

 

I am trying to figure out who you spoke with? Please contact me via phone or email so I can get to the bottom of that conversation.

 

I will review our confirmation system to see where the mixup was. We have always spoke via email or even on the phone.

 

Now for the Lee, We have three in the back, one as a protoype with our new bolt release and two in their original configuration. We are still waiting on our insurance company to ok and the UL tests to be completed on the new configuration. We are also waiting on a determination letter from the BATF. They have valid concerns about us reproducing these firearms for the public. You must remeber this rifle has a history of killing its shooters because of poor design and bolt issues. We have a huge hurtle to overcome before we can sell it.

 

I think this is a great example of miscommunication. I will own the appointment system and fix it. I am also willing to drive to Greenbay because I truly feel bad, to show you the protoype that we sent for testing and that we are basing our application on to the BATF.

 

Also please remember this a project between you and me. I have not included any staff on this nor can they answer any questions because it is not a product that we would normally produce.

 

Jeff Norton

262-925-1390

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Jeff,

 

Since you have three complete rifles why not share some photo's with us? I would like to see your product, how are you producing these? lost wax castings? CNC ? I am trying to picture the expense involved in a project that may have limited apeal to the collector market depending on final cost,

this is the first time I have heard of a firearm being U.L certified what division of U.L. does this come under? the company I work for Makes force protection vests for the navy with both flotation and ballistic armor all testing is done at our facility a U.L. inspector comes by every so often check our records and our equipment and does some testing with us.... so I am wondering how the process works with a firearm?

 

Allen <><

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