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I’m experiencing an issue with one of my Winchester 1890s. The carrier isn’t reliably lifting the round into place. It seems to operate fine if I load a single round or two into the magazine, but if I load more than that it becomes problematic. Should I be looking at the carrier lever spring as the culprit, or does this sound like it might be something else?
In that scenario, the carrier lever spring is usually the culprit, and is the cheapest part to replace 😉
As a trouble-shooting measure you can usually re-bend it and see if that helps function (but it won’t last long).
Good luck, let us know if that doesn’t work.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
The old spring that was in there looked a bit improvised.
Got it swapped out, but it didn’t solve the problem. Is the spring supposed to reach that little lip in front of it on the right, or does it look correct?
Any suggestions of where to go next?
Your new spring looks like it is correctly installed.
Is your lifter the correct one for your rifle caliber? The cartridge depth on the lifter is different for the 4 calibers in the 1890.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
I agree with JWA. It bears repeating that the chambering on the 1890 was only ONE of the following:
.22 SHORT
.22 LONG
.22 LONG RIFLE
.22 WRF
They are not interchangeable. The rifle will only function properly with the one cartridge for which that rifle is chambered. Attempting to feed 22 Long Rifle ammunition in a rifle chambered for 22 WRF might cause the problems you describe.
I have also encountered several 1890 rifles over the years that had the carrier altered by the DPO (dreaded previous owner) to attempt to turn the rifle into something that it was not (trying to turn a 22 Short or 22 Long into a 22 Long Rifle, or trying to turn a 22 WRF into a 22 Magnum.) That never ended very well.
One hopes that the carrier in your rifle has not been altered and that you are feeding it a diet of the ammunition for which the barrel is marked.
Good luck getting that old rifle functioning properly again!
BRP
It does have an LR marking on the side of it, and this is a photo of it with a 22 LR snap cap inserted. Is this how it should look?
Is there something stuck or jammed in the back of the cartridge recess in the lifter? It does not look like your .22 LR snap cap is going back quite far enough.
If someone wanted to shoot .22 Longs (.888″ OAL) from a .22 LR (1.000″ OAL) all they would need to do is stick a spacer (like a pencil eraser, etc.) in the lifter to make up the .112″ difference. It looks like your .22 LR is not going all the way back about just that amount. Just a guess but worth checking.
Is this a recently acquired rifle or one you have been shooting regularly and now it is malfunctioning?
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
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