I have a Marlin 1894M 22 magnum. It's a bit short and I replaced the thin, hard plastic recoil pad with a thicker one. Length of pull seems better for my long arms. Am I OK with the NRA Cowboy Rules?

Rule 3.1.3 (2): A rubber butt plate may replace the original butt plate but must conform to the style of the original.

Updated rule as of 2006:

3.1.3 Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette Rifle -
...
2. Barrels must be original or may be relined. Original barrels rebored to a larger caliber are allowed. Any safe trigger is allowed. Stocks must be of original configuration. Recoil pads or replacement buttplates are allowed.

Summary: Yep, you're legal. Got the >1" thick Limbsaver pads on my smallbore and 22 mag pistol cartridge rifles both for just that reason. I'm not allowed to make wooden spacers that follow the lines of the stock because that wouldn't follow the letter of the "stocks must be of original configuration" rule, but I can put a big honking recoil pad on there when it's unnecessary and make the rifle extra ugly and be legal. Oh well.. at least the gun fits me better now and there's a way to get closer to my 14.5" LOP.

My rule book is dated 2005, Guess I better send for a new one!!

If anyone figures out how to make sense of the decisions made by the Rules Committee of the NRA, please contact me!!

I'm not sure if the books themselves have been updated. What I quoted was from the PDF file of rule updates I got from the NRA website. I think my book is a 2003 or 2005 one, too.

Did I read that rule quote right? Any safe trigger? Does that mean we are going to see 5 oz triggers in the cowboy classes?

Yeah.. if you can take any of the acceptable cowboy rifles and make them safe with a 5oz trigger, it's legal. I have my pistol cartridge rifle at just over 1.5lbs and safe. My smallbore rifle needs a lot of stoning and smoothing to make it safer at 2.5lbs, though.

Yeah, I dont think you are going to see many SAFE 5 oz triggers, 1 lb to 1 1/2 lbs is hard enough to accomplish with the very basic trigger setups found in lever guns. My 39a is about 1 1/2 pounds, my Uberti 44-40 is around 2 1/2 as are my Marlin 32-20 and my Winchester 1886 .33 WCF. The rule is working fine right now and I dont see any reason to change it and, for instance, start weighing triggers.

Okay, I did not think about the ability to get a trigger down that low. I was wondering because my wife and sister in-law bought me a marlin 336 in 32 spl for Christmas. Yeah, I am loving it. She also bought me a Cannon safe. The inside is so sweet.

Now, I just recently tried to buy a trigger/hammer spring kit on Brownells but could not get the web site to accept my order. I guess I can call it in.

What is "relining" a barrel?

Relining is drilling a barrel out enough to stick a new rifled tube down it, then polishing/blueing it up to try to get it to look like the original barrel. A guy at our range had it done to an old beater cowboy rifle and whoever did it did a hell of a job. That thing shoots great now and even looking at the muzzle knowing it was relined it's hard to see the liner.

A friend of mine is a gunsmith and has does many of these relines. They all shoot exceptionally well. It doesn't seem to matter if its a rimfire or centerfire. Thay just shoot phenominal.