Winchester M1886 in 45/70 - Barrel Re-Lining?

Andy

Andy

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Maybe this is not the correct forum - Gunsmithing?

So I have a Winchester M1886 (made in 1889) in good overall condition, but the bore's worn out - has shine, but very little rifling. Properly fitted cast bullets keyhole.

Do I leave it as is, or do I restore it to shooting condition? It would be great to shoot it, but any money I'd put in it I would want to increase its value, not the reverse.

How would re-lining the original barrel affect its value? What would it cost? Who can do it?

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If it were mine, I would NOT touch it.
That splendid looking collectors piece is probably worth a little mint, AS IS.
 
I'm with H4831....it's a beauty......keep trying diff cast bullets of dif. sizes and mild trail boss loads....if that doesn't do it for you, buy an '86 replica by Browning and have at it, hang the original on the wall as it appreciates in value.
 
What about jacketed bullets? I've heard that they are generally more forgiving of bore size than cast. I don't know for certain, seeing as I don't use cast bullets at all. I realize that the softer steel on those old barrels wears faster using jacketed bullets, but if you just want to fire a few shots and maybe hunt with that rifle, it could be worth a try.
 
Winchester 1886 .45-70

Andy said:
Do I leave it as is, or do I restore it to shooting condition?
Click to expand...

I have a similar vintage 1886 .45-70, a saddle ring carbine, mfg in 1892. Given to me by a family member who had it for a lot of years. They say there were only 5,000 SRC 1886's made. I had a 'smith go over it & give it a 'clean-up'. He pronounced it 'shootable' with visible rifling but the bore on mine is somewhat dark. I haven't shot it yet although I did make up some light loads for it. Mine's got a period Lyman tang site on it as well. I may shoot it some day but I recently bought a modern Marlin 1885 in .45-70 Govt as a "shooter".

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In the case of your rifle if it was me, I'd keep 'er as is and not resleeve the barrel.
 
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I don't believe that barrel will be "nickel steel" yet,(1889) so i would avoid jacketed bullets, I would however "slug the bore".
 
call a smith & see if it can be worked with,freshened?? I'd call Ron Smith and ask. relining etc is going to cost u lots. First to have the work done then the loss of value as a modified gun.
 
Another option is to get a new, modern steel barrel made to replace the original one and keep the old one around in case you want to sell the gun as original (just swap the original back in). Now you can shoot the gun as it was intended and it would not ruin its value.
 
Good advice all around - thanks.

Bore is lead free and slugs to 0.458" 350gr cast bullets of straight air-cooled wheelweight with plain bases, sized to 0.460" over 13 grains of Trail Boss, all keyhole at 50 yds. I doubt there are any loads that will make it shoot acceptably.

I won't mess with the gun. If I find another barrel, I might swap it out and keep the original, but my instincts are to just to keep it as a collectible.
 
ANDY: You might want to try some very soft(30-1) cast bullets sized to .460 before you give up hope on the old girl.With BP I would almost guarantee better results.
 
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