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New member here, just picked up a nice 85 in .22 short. The wood is pretty nice and bore looks good. I have a couple of questions, before I dig into it. The hammer cocks intermittently with the lever, most of the time not sometimes it will. I assume it’s supposed to cock like my Miroku 1885 in 38=55, also it has a Lyman side mounted peep sight on it that I can’t adjust. I assume the lever on the unlocks the sight for vertical adjustment, but doubt it also locks windage as well. The lever is stuck and I don’t want to damage anything. I’m recovering from rotator cuff surgery and can’t work on it yet. It’ll make a nice companion to my BSA Martini .Thanks in advance.
April 15, 2005
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The first thing that needs to be cleared up… the original Winchester Model 1885 action has nothing in common with the Japanese (Miroku)made reproductions.
Based on your limited description, you appear to have a 3rd variation Winder Musket, and if that is the case, the coil-spring action that it has does not work the same as the older flat-spring actions. The flat-spring actions leave the hammer at full cock when the action is closed, whereas the coil-spring action was designed with a special fly that leaves the hammer at 1/2 cock (actually more like a 1/4 cock). For the coil-spring action, you must manually pull the hammer to full cock after completing the loading cycle.
The vast majority of the 3rd variation Winder Muskets were purchased by the U.S. government and delivered to the U.S. Springfield Armory. Does your Winder Musket have a “U S” and an ordnance bomb stamped on the top of the receiver just behind the hammer? What is the serial number?
The rear sight you describe is a Lyman No. 53 and is attached to the right hand side of the receiver with (4) 6-48 screws. The lever unlocks the elevation adjustment knob when you turn it counterclockwise. The windage is adjusted with the thumb screw located on the left hand side of the sight.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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