Ten + years ago, I spent a lot of time and a few hundred $$ looking for a Lee Navy rifle in collectible condition.  Then one guy was reportedly killed when shooting one (firing pin blew out the back of the bolt & entered shooter's head) and I rapidly lost interest. 

Shortly after that, I read that the USMC came up with an in-service fix to remedy that problem. Apparently some rifles have the fix but most do not.  Fix is a wide external band on the outside of the rear of the bolt.  Does anyone know any of the USMC/USN details?

I had also heard about re-formed Krag brass being involved.  That makes no sense to me.  Quite good LN ammo can be made from .220 Swift brass by turning off the rim flush with the base and expanding the neck.  Or get a set of case forming dies and use NEW .30-06 brass.  Need a sturdy press for that.

Looking at the LN bolt from the back, with the bolt in place and in firing position, on an unmodified bolt, the end of the firing pin assembly is easily seen.  The mod is a heavyish piece of  sheet metal that is somehow fastened to the back of the bolt. Maybe with screws? Or maybe fits into grooves cut into the bolt.  The metal piece is blued.  If there were some sort of case failure with hot gas, the mod should deflect the gas and retain a broken striker.

IIRC, the bolt stop & release is just a plunger on the left side, at the rear of the action.  Push it down & pull out the bolt.

The Changes and Alterations to the Winchester-Lee Rifle were many and eventually involved: the bolt, bolt-stop, firing-pin, safety, and extractor.

Author, Eugene Myszkowski, in his work, "The Winchester-Lee", does a noble job of documenting, explaining, and attempting to illustrate these subtle part differences and evolution. (Still, it is somewhat confusing to me).

IMHO - Myszkowski's works on the Winchester-Lee and Remington-Lee should be in every Krag enthusiast's library. The price of the paper-bound Excalibur Publications is reasonable.

The re-print of the Navy 'ordnance manual' is also fun to have.

As a young collector, I once owned a commercial Winchester-Lee sporting rifle that I bought for $25 from a 'bubba' in Northern Michigan.

I was able to undo most of the stove paint and wood damage 're-finish' that was done to it. However, at $1.00 a round (for original ammo in the late 1960's), I never got to shoot it. It was certainly too advanced a re-loading project for me at that time.

Even in my youth, I realized there were many 'weak' aspects to the Lee Straight-Pull design and parts.

Whoops - I guess these are rare books now!

Amazon is pricing Myszkowski's "The Winchester-Lee Rifle" at $713.52 and "The Remington-Lee Rifle" at $1,200.04. (Pretty good return on my $22.95 investments)!

I am no good at posting 'Links', but, I believe if you 'google' - militarybooks@earthlink.net - you may find used copies of the Myszkowski works for around $35.

(or, I will sell you my pair for an even $1,000)  Good Luck!

p.s. There is a used copy on ebay - Buy Now $39.95.

Wow!  Nowadays, Lee Navy rifles are expensive.  Makes me curious about the details of that disaster.  Good thing the guy survived.

I searched the Internet for the $23 paperback, which I should have bought during my initial search.  Instead, I found this:

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Military pattern rifles were produced throughout the civilian range of 10000 to 15000. The earliest production rifles conformed to first contract US Navy specifications. Most, however, had the latest Navy improvements: a gas shield machined as part of the bolt rather than pinned and brazed on, a sighting groove in top of bolt, a low bolt stop, a roller firing pin lock and sometimes a hardened screw on the side of the receiver for the Navy extractor to contact.

The later production rifles reflect the improvements Winchester implemented in response to problems of extraction and gas leakage. A number of rifles, both military pattern and sporting, were noted as “A” model. This referred to the front-mounted short extractor spring, bolt with two gas holes on top, floating firing pin, and gas vent on the left side of the receiver. Some rifles are recorded as “Style A Except Extractor & Spring last Navy style”.

I have a photo of a USNM rifle. Somewhere.  It shows the USNM number in the normal place and then it shows a winchester number on the right side rail of the receiver.

Just gotta find it.  Could be on a destroyed external hard drive.

Per Eugene Myszkowski, "The Winchester-Lee Rifle", page 88 - Appendix:

"US Naval Militia Purchase

Same specifications as first contract.

Identifying Characteristics:
Hardened screw in side of receiver.
Low bolt stop and firing pin lock.
Gas shield machined as part of bolt.
Sighting groove in top of bolt.
Winchester serial number between 11252 - 14183
stamped lightly on right receiver rail.
USNM number between 1 -186 stamped on receiver ring.
Inspector stamps:
Receiver ring:       U.S.N.M.
                           (anchor)
                            No. xxx
                             X.X.X.
Numbers 1 - 70 inspected by JNJ, 71 - 86 by CAB and 87 - 186 by FHS."

Culpeper's picture enhanced:

Where & when did the USNM & SN marking take place?  At the Winchester factory?  Are the stamps the same as Winchester?  Same for SN stamps?  And how are non-USNM rifles accepted for USN/USMC service marked?

I assume that the USN inspections took place at the Winchester factory?