deerhunter said

That is an 1886 extra lightweight model.  The ramp front sight is correct on the lightweights.  Lightweight models did not have a lot of meat on the barrel to accept a dovetailed front-sight, hence the ramp front sight.

Don  

Don,

It is not an “extra lightweight” model.  The Extra Lightweight Model 1886 rifles were made with a 22-inch barrel, shotgun butt w/hard rubber plate, and were in 45-70 caliber unless special ordered in a different caliber/cartridge.  The rifle is the pictures provided by the fellow asking the questions is a standard .33 WCF Sporting Rifle.  Many collectors incorrectly refer to the 33 WCF rifles as “Lightweights” or “Extra Lightweights”, but they were never cataloged by Winchester as such.

Bert

[email protected] said
Roger, despite having collected and shot rifles for the past 40 years I am still learning about what constitutes “original” especially in the the world of Winchesters.  My understanding is that these Cody letters can often have errors with respect to how a rifle left the factory. I also wonder if back then someone could return a rifle to the factory for modification?  -Jeff  

Jeff,

While there are “errors” in the original factory ledgers, I would not characterize the occurence as “often”.  In my experience (having worked as a volunteer in the CFM records office in past years), the ledger entries in the various Winchester model records are accurate more than 99% of the time.  Yes, I have found what appear to be erroneously recorded ledger entries, but it did not happen “often” or with any regular frequency.

Yes, any Winchester could have been returned to the factory for modification, but in the vast number of instances where that happened, and “R&R” entry with a work order number would have been added to the ledger entry.

Bert

deerhunter said

Thanks for setting me straight Bert.  I mistakenly thought the ramp front sight on the 1886’s was an indicator of a lightweight barrel.

Don  

Don,

All of the 33 WCF rifle barrels were made with the same ramp style front sight base, and with rare exception, they were all 24-inches in length (I have actually seen a small number with barrel lengths less than the standard length, but they are rare).  Larry once owned one that was truly an Extra Lightweight (and lettered as such) that had a 22-inch barrel.

Bert

TR said
 Bert, I owned two Lightweight or Extra Lightweight 86’s, I don’t know which but the butt stock was hollowed out under the butt plate. I was told “they” did it for balance. It made a huge secret compartment, is that something Winchester did or Bubba? T/R  

Winchester made Extra Lightweight Model 1886 rifles, and they have a large hole bored in the center of the butt stock (under the hard rubber butt plate) to reduce the overall weight of the rifle.  Again, there was no such thing as a “Lightweight” Model 1886 rifle.

Bert