When I originally got this Winchester 1885 it came with the old mounting setup from the Browning B78. Essentially this rifle is just a Browning 1885 Low Wall
with Winchester markings judging from photos I've seen of the old Brownings. Anyway, the supplied mounting system sucked big time, really limiting your
mounting options.
This first picture is of the rifle using the supplied B78 mounting rail and rings with a Bushnell Elite 3200 2 - 7 x 32mm scope. As you can see the Ocular bell
is something you have to navigate around to chamber a new round, which definitely detracts from the usability and experience of the rifle in my opinion and
can peel more then a little skin off the back of your thumb. I wasn't very happy with it.
After considering the very few base and ring options I could find on the internet (basically Leupold), I came across a picatinny rail made by Farrell Industries
specifically for the Browning/Winchester 1885 Low Wall. And while the rail did hold promise, I could see that it would not allow me to forward mount a scope
so that the ocular bell was no longer such a nuisance. So I contacted Farrell and asked about extending their existing design by 2.5 inches and having
picatinny slots run the entire length of the rail. Their answer was "No Problem" and the result is what you see below: OAL of 7.5 inches rather then 5 inches
and picatinny slots running the entire length.
Now before you ask "Why an extra 2.5 inches?", I'll admit it was a bit of a guess on my part as I had not yet found a scope that would meet my requirements.
So I opted to keep my scope mounting options as open as possible, rather then ending up with a rail that was too short for whatever scope I found. So far I'm
glad I did.
From the start, my primary objective has been to mount a scope in such a way that the ocular bell did not interfere with chambering a new round and to operate
the hammer manually didn't require fore thought, or bandages. Achieving some Scout Rifle configuration was never considered - not that I have a problem with
Scout Rifles. Below is a TC 1.5 x 20mm scope that I picked up on the EE, it has an Eye Relief starting at approximately 8.5 inches and it works very well as you
see here. Scopes with an Eye Relief of approximately 8 to 10 inches would seem to be ideal for my purposes, unfortunately there are not many scopes that have
those specifications - but there are some. The Leupold FX II IER 2.5 x 28 mm has an eye relief of 9.3 inches (or so they say), but from what I understand there is
no focus adjustment so I'd want to see the scope first hand before committing another $380 into this project.
As the rifle is configured below it is still quite light, compact and easy to handle. I'm thinking a good load for a 140 grain Nosler Partition would make for a nice all
round woods setup - although the scope might need an upgrade.
Below is my long range plinker. The 1885 may only be 40 inches OAL, but it's got a 24 inch barrel and when combined with the capabilities of the 6.5x55 swede I'm
hoping she might be a good 600 m zapper. Here I've got a 4 -16 x 50mm Vortex PST (MRAD) mounted on low rings almost as far back as it will go (about a 1/8 inch
gap) and it seems to work pretty well. Surprisingly, getting my thumb caught between the hammer and ocular bell isn't a problem either. What kind of a load I'm going
to set it up for, I haven't decided, but I'm thinking 120 to 130 grains in whatever works best from a fairly substantial list of potential choices - any suggestions would be
appreciated.
To this point I'm very happy with the flexibility the new rail has given me with respect to my scoping options. It's infinitely better then the piece of crap Winchester supplied
with their $1400 gun - I really do wonder what those people do in their spare time - but believe it, or not, I have yet to fire a single shot with it, so I still have some work to do
before I can pass final judgment.
with Winchester markings judging from photos I've seen of the old Brownings. Anyway, the supplied mounting system sucked big time, really limiting your
mounting options.
This first picture is of the rifle using the supplied B78 mounting rail and rings with a Bushnell Elite 3200 2 - 7 x 32mm scope. As you can see the Ocular bell
is something you have to navigate around to chamber a new round, which definitely detracts from the usability and experience of the rifle in my opinion and
can peel more then a little skin off the back of your thumb. I wasn't very happy with it.
After considering the very few base and ring options I could find on the internet (basically Leupold), I came across a picatinny rail made by Farrell Industries
specifically for the Browning/Winchester 1885 Low Wall. And while the rail did hold promise, I could see that it would not allow me to forward mount a scope
so that the ocular bell was no longer such a nuisance. So I contacted Farrell and asked about extending their existing design by 2.5 inches and having
picatinny slots run the entire length of the rail. Their answer was "No Problem" and the result is what you see below: OAL of 7.5 inches rather then 5 inches
and picatinny slots running the entire length.
Now before you ask "Why an extra 2.5 inches?", I'll admit it was a bit of a guess on my part as I had not yet found a scope that would meet my requirements.
So I opted to keep my scope mounting options as open as possible, rather then ending up with a rail that was too short for whatever scope I found. So far I'm
glad I did.
From the start, my primary objective has been to mount a scope in such a way that the ocular bell did not interfere with chambering a new round and to operate
the hammer manually didn't require fore thought, or bandages. Achieving some Scout Rifle configuration was never considered - not that I have a problem with
Scout Rifles. Below is a TC 1.5 x 20mm scope that I picked up on the EE, it has an Eye Relief starting at approximately 8.5 inches and it works very well as you
see here. Scopes with an Eye Relief of approximately 8 to 10 inches would seem to be ideal for my purposes, unfortunately there are not many scopes that have
those specifications - but there are some. The Leupold FX II IER 2.5 x 28 mm has an eye relief of 9.3 inches (or so they say), but from what I understand there is
no focus adjustment so I'd want to see the scope first hand before committing another $380 into this project.
As the rifle is configured below it is still quite light, compact and easy to handle. I'm thinking a good load for a 140 grain Nosler Partition would make for a nice all
round woods setup - although the scope might need an upgrade.
Below is my long range plinker.
The 1885 may only be 40 inches OAL, but it's got a 24 inch barrel and when combined with the capabilities of the 6.5x55 swede I'm hoping she might be a good 600 m zapper. Here I've got a 4 -16 x 50mm Vortex PST (MRAD) mounted on low rings almost as far back as it will go (about a 1/8 inch
gap) and it seems to work pretty well. Surprisingly, getting my thumb caught between the hammer and ocular bell isn't a problem either. What kind of a load I'm going
to set it up for, I haven't decided, but I'm thinking 120 to 130 grains in whatever works best from a fairly substantial list of potential choices - any suggestions would be
appreciated.
To this point I'm very happy with the flexibility the new rail has given me with respect to my scoping options. It's infinitely better then the piece of crap Winchester supplied
with their $1400 gun - I really do wonder what those people do in their spare time - but believe it, or not, I have yet to fire a single shot with it, so I still have some work to do
before I can pass final judgment.
