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Aug 25th The Mistress – Update 2025

It’s been awhile since I’ve spoken of the Mistress.

A fair bit has occurred in the last couple of years.

I shortened the buttstock by 1.5 inches (approximately 30-40mm).
This improved handling hugely.

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The Mistress now comes up to the shoulder much easier, and fits me better when cold weather clothing and equipment straps are worn.

I used citrus paint stripper and removed the factory finish. The buttstock was refinished with about 8 coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-oil.

I simply love the results.

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I tried the Midwest Industries M-Lok hand guard. It’s a very lightweight alloy forearm that provides a lot of modularity.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find that hand guard useful due to the effect its mounting system had on flexing the magazine tube which added inconsistencies in torque to the barrel.

A wandering zero occurred at the best of times.

With the release of the ELG (Enhanced Lever Gun) forearm into the market by Magpul, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I’d get one.

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It’s not a simple drop-in replacement for my Mistress, since it’s a Whiskey model, using barrel bands to secure the forearm to the rifle.

The ELG requires the other attachment system used by Marlin, which utilizes a tenon on the barrel.

Thanks to the wonders of the interwebs, I was able to get a Midwest Industries hand guard tenon intended for the Model 1895.

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A local gunsmith here in Brisbane (Kingston Bros here in Brisbane) did a great job of cutting the required dovetail in my barrel.

I fitted my preferred accessories to the Mistress: BlueForce Gear adjustable sling, Aimpoint T1 and Surefire M300 WML (Weapon Mounted Light).

So far, I’m really liking the ELG forearm. I’ll be upgrading my Cheerleader (1894C in .357Magmum) to match when funds allow.

That way, I’ll have my backup/training rifle setup exactly mirroring the primary rifle.

Test fire and zeroing at the range demonstrates the Mistress is back to being a serviceable, accurate rifle.

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Seen above is the target at 100 yards. My point of aim is the black dot. Point of impact is at the intended 4 inches higher than point of aim  for a 200 yard zero.

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Seen above is the 200 yard target. My point of aim is in the middle of the two black dots. It can be seen that my elevation is spot on for Point of Aim/Point of Impact. I’m not sure if it was me or the breeze that caused the windage spread.

I’m damn pleased to have The Mistress back up and running.

The next big job for me will be to round off the hammer spur and then hit it with some cold blue. We’ll see if I can properly use a Dremel…