model 88? Help please! UPDATE!!

.223Rem

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Hello,
I've been looking into getting a .243 for yotes and deer.
A co-worker said he has one he'd sell me, but he's not sure what model it is.
He said it's an older gun, .243, leaver action, Winchester and has a scope on it. To me, it sounds like a model 88 but of course I can't be sure until I see it.

In any case, would you guys recommend the 88? (Obviously condition dependent). He said he'd let it go for $200 because he hasn't shot it in years.

1. Sound like a model 88 to you guys?
2. Would a decent condition 88 be a good deal at $200?

Thanks! Sorry I don't have any pictures.
 
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I would say a model 88. At $200 with a scope it is a steal! Buy it, try it out and if you don't like it easily double your money when you sell it.
 
If it is working that is a good price. Some will pay that just for the parts value... Parts are extremely hard to find or non existent, a long discontinued rifle...
 
While it could be a Winchester 88, it could also be a Savage 99 in 243 Winchester. More than once someone has contacted me with something for sale and quoted the calibre suffix as the model.
Regardless, $200 for either is still a fantastic price.
 
In 243 IF it is a Win lever, it can only be a mod 88, make sure it has the clip because without it 200 bucks ain't such a great deal.

Even if a detach mag is a brown one, I sure wouldn't let it get away.
My few years on this planet and the gun shows I've walked and on
Nutzs here, I have never seen a Model 88 in 243.
 
Even if a detach mag is a brown one, I sure wouldn't let it get away.
My few years on this planet and the gun shows I've walked and on
Nutzs here, I have never seen a Model 88 in 243.

They are out there, but I have never seen one, either.

"The Winchester Model 88 Rifle

By Chuck Hawks

Winchester 1962 catalog illustration showing Model 88 rifle courtesy of Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
Introduced in 1955 for the then new .308 Winchester cartridge, the hammerless Winchester Model 88 was entirely different and technically more advanced than any previous Winchester lever action rifle. In fact, its combination of modern features has never been equaled by any other lever action rifle except the more or less contemporary Sako Finnwolf, introduced about 10 years after the Model 88. Within a year the .243 Winchester and .358 Winchester cartridges were added to the Model 88, and in 1963 the .284 Winchester cartridge became available."

Here is the whole article, if you want to read it.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/winchester_88.htm
 
In 243 IF it is a Win lever, it can only be a mod 88, make sure it has the clip because without it 200 bucks ain't such a great deal.

why not? a hun for a mag only makes it 300 hun total, still a good deal, I believe. I've seen a couple 88's in 243. Ain't never hugged a 358, though!
 
I purchased an 88 in 243 when they first came out. It was my only "decent" gun for quite some time, regret I sold it to finance an up-grade, heavy barrel Sako I believe. $200 sans clip, let me put it this way "where is it" - in any reasonable shape it would have a new owner, me. A ?, didn't Browning and Savage also produce (with clips) lever 243s? --- John303.
 
Well, I want to say thanks to everyone who helped, but sorry to say, it wasn't an 88.

Turned out to be a Savage 99. I'm still really happy about it for $200
It had some surface rust and bluing wear on the receiver and leaver and some bluing wear on the barrel.

Nothing that wasn't mostly cleaned up with some oil and scotch bright. I might see about getting it re-bluing but I'll have to look into it.

Anyways, here's a few pictures, let me know what you think :)

(sorry to everyone who was lining up to buy the 88 :p )

IMG_5416.jpg


IMG_5417.jpg
 
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