Rebarrelling a Win Mod 1885

[Sasquatch807]

An shooter I know just picked up a Winchester mod 1885 in .38 wcf. Its very early manufacture with a 4-digit serial #. Some idiot had drilled out the barrel and chambered it into a .410 bore shotgun. He`s looking to rebarrel it in .45-70 if possible. My question is, were the .38 wcf and the .45-70 mod 1885 built on the same frame? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Killer Kanuck]

If it's a high wall, I think 45/70 would be a posibility. If it's a low wall, don't even think about it.

 

[Winnipeg Toymaker]

if it is a high wall receiver....can the barrel not be done out to a 45-70 bore? the .410 is smaller in diameter than the 45-70. Depending on the barrel thickness though.

 

[ben hunchak]

Highwalls are all basically the same size and are perfect for the 45/70, they did come in many different versions of wall thickness and top contour(rounded or hex). Barrel shank should be 15/16" which is why it wasn't factory chambered for any of the .50 cals. Many of these were converted to shotgun (.410) in Great Britain, like my Lowwall made in 1901.

 

[trevj]

What's the barrel profile ? Look on the underside of the barrel, just forward of the fore end, it should be stamped there.

Most common profile is a 3, but they were available from a 1 to a 5, normally.

If there is enough meat left on the barrel, it may be a good candidate for a rebore.

If the barrel is a 1 or 2 size, it is likely to be a small shank, if a 3, probably large shank, but remotely possible that it is small, and over that, probably large shank.

Note the "weasel words". Winchester would make just about anything the customer wanted, on the 1885 action. Winchester made a lot of small shank barrels on the High Wall action.

Small shank barrels are .824"/.825" x 16 v threads per inch.
Large shank barrels are .935" x 16 v threads per inch.

This per Campbell's books "The Winchester Single Shot" and "The Winchester Single Shot Volume II"

Good books, too! Very well written, and a lot of neat info covering the 1885.

Cheers
Trev

 

[Sasquatch807]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check the shank/thread size. As for the barrel diameter, it looks fairly small to me and the serial # puts the year of manufacture as 1886.