Very cool, love the story. Bet she’s holding that gun.

 

It looks like only the gun on the shooter's left in the photo is nickel-plated. Pretty cool find.

 

That is a gorgeous rifle!

 

Nan Jeanne “Two-Gun Nan” Aspinwall Lambell passed 24 Oct 1964 and is buried at Green Acres Memorial Park and Mortuary in Bloomington, Ca.

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44.... way to dig up a little more info for this project!

 

The Cowgirl Who Crossed America By Thoroughbred: The Story of Nan Aspinwall Gable and Lady Ellen - Diary of an OTTB

At the turn of the 20th century there were a handful of now iconic female figures emerging, many of whom still grace the pages of our history books - Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and Annie Oakley just to name a few. And while many of us have no trouble identifying these 20th...

diaryofanottb.com

Interesting.

 

Ben sir, will you do any cleaning or anything OR just leave it as-is? Neat story and find.

 

That’s an awesome rifle! I just went through the Buffalo Bill Center last week. Lots of history there.

 

I've been able to gently clean it, removing the grim & crud... wiped it down several times with an microfiber cloth with "Snake Oil"... the wood sucked it up. Still lots of tape residue clings to the wood. Most of the surface rust wiped off too after letting the oil soak in. The nickle really looks much better too. I went thru my sight stash, found the right rear sight, unfortunately, the condition is better than the gun. I decided to install it anyway, when I find a closer match I'll switch it. I installed a period Lyman w/ ivory bead. My friend decided that since the pic w/ Nan doesn't show a tang sight, that he didn't want it on the gun. I installed proper tang screws and she snugged together perfect. The real bonus was after the bore snake went thru a couple times, the bore condition was perfect! I have some friends checking their parts inventories to locate the right magazine tube.... I am bringing it to Cody and will have as much information with me as possible.

 

I've been able to gently clean it, removing the grim & crud... wiped it down several times with an microfiber cloth with "Snake Oil"... the wood sucked it up. Still lots of tape residue clings to the wood. Most of the surface rust wiped off too after letting the oil soak in. The nickle really looks much better too. I went thru my sight stash, found the right rear sight, unfortunately, the condition is better than the gun. I decided to install it anyway, when I find a closer match I'll switch it. I installed a period Lyman w/ ivory bead. My friend decided that since the pic w/ Nan doesn't show a tang sight, that he didn't want it on the gun. I installed proper tang screws and she snugged together perfect. The real bonus was after the bore snake went thru a couple times, the bore condition was perfect! I have some friends checking their parts inventories to locate the right magazine tube.... I am bringing it to Cody and will have as much information with me as possible.
View attachment 496138
View attachment 496139

 

Wonderful rifle ,thanks for the details!

 

Nice cleanup on that rifle! Glad that you were able to save it. Such a shame it was allowed to deteriorate to the condition it was in. It really belongs in a museum.

 

Congratulations on your discovery. I was going to sit on the sideline, until I saw "Snake Oil". A combination of carnauba wax and mineral oil according to NOREMF. You're probably going to run up against the calendar to do NOREMF's cleaning a top coat. (Stocks: making, repairing, restoring in this forum). The true mineral spirits should remove the tape residue, and will not harm ANY topcoat. Does anyone in your area have a full rifle ultrasound cleaner? I've been curious to see if it works without damage to plated firearms.

If you do have time before Cody to clean the stock again, get your Rennaissance Wax out....it works great.

Again, Ben, great find, and many thanks for making it ready for the next custodian!

Dave
SvenT2

 

The gun will never be refinished... nor will it be subjected to ultrasound. That would be foolish to risk. I've been in the hobby for almost 50 years, I've used Snake Oil for the last 20... and will continue to do so. Most of my friends at shows across the nation use it as well... on vintage guns worth significant money.

 

Not sure on that rifle but standard 1906 rifles had barrels finished with early dip bluing using low temp nitre bluing with hydrochloric acid I believe. Didn't last very long at all.

The rear sight however was machine blued and generally common to see with a lot better finish than barrel.

 

I've decided to do a "Single Gun Display" with the rifle at this summers Cody show. Vinnie & Heather (Winchester Collector's club president & secretary) were very happy to assist... I hope I can do it justice...

 

“I love rifles with history.”
One trick I use on rust/crud is to heat the gun with my heat gun and then touch it with a bar of canning wax and it ends up spreading out to a very thin coat of paraffin that I buff with a cloth diaper or blue shop towel and it will be brown afterward. I’ve never used it on a nickeled gun or part, but on blued surfaces it really works well. This is something I learned from an old German journeyman gunsmith and my rifles are not museum pieces, so if you decide you might want to try it do due diligence first.

 

I‘m seeking access to Winchester Herald article of Nan with the two 1906’s was provided by someone on this forum. The issue is volume 3. No. 5. The Cody Museum doesn’t have the issue in its archives. Needing a high resolution pic of the articles page and cover. Thanks in advance.

 

http://library.centerofthewest.org/digital/collection/FP/id/2224/rec/19
This one?
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April 2025 Update: I've been able to clean alot of the crud (dried oil & tar) and it looks much better. I've assembled some information that will be part of the display... it should be fun. Here's a pic of the rifle as it sits on my mantle and a close up of the presentation plate after removing the dried gunk...

 

Wow Ben, that’s really nice.

 

My display won the Best Single Gun award at the Cody Winchester gun show. I'm planning to do more research on her and the rifle. I talked with a couple of people at the Buffalo Bill museum, they showed no real interest. They have an engraved Remington 24 in their single panel display for Nan.... I'll add that pic too.

 

Congratulations Ben!

 

I thought your display at the Cody WACA show was great, and it was deserving of the award. Thank you for bringing "Two Gun Nan" (and one of her two guns) to our attention. I find these historical guns and the stories behind them endlessly fascinating.

All the best---

BRP