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Why did winchester make the model 61 Long Rifle only, when as far as I can tell it had the same bore and rifling as a S,L, AND LR?
thanks, doug
Good question. As far as I can see both chamberings had a bore diameter of .217, a rifling diameter of .223, a groove width of .080 and a twist rate of 1-16.
The chamber was the only difference but I don’t have the spec difference from the LR and the S, L & LR at my fingertips, I only know they were different somehow.
I am interested to hear the answer to this one.
Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
As far as why some rifles are chambered for lr only. I was told a long time ago that it was for accuracy. That is for the maintenance of accuracy. Shorts have a tendency to leave a carbon ring which can effect accuracy when shooting lr. Longs and shorts may cause errosion of the initial rifling. Plus shorts need different spin rate than lr to be accurate looking at it that way. I’m sure someone actually knows the reason.
Vince
Southern Oregon
NRA member
Fraternal Order of Eagles
“There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.”
Teddy Roosevelt
November 7, 2015
Offline
Vince’s explanation makes sense. In a past life as a PPC competitor I fired hundreds of thousands of 38 Spl rounds in an “L” frame S&W .357 revolver. I knew I was giving up a tiny bit of accuracy to the “K” frame 38’s but I figured the larger frame gave me a durability “advantage”. OTOH one of the most accurate S&W revolvers I’ve seen is my stock 586 .357. I think, in theory anyway, that a chamber that closely matches the cartridge will deliver the best accuracy. I’m just not sure most shooters will be able to measure the difference.
“I’m just not sure most shooters will be able to measure the difference.”….
Well it only takes 1 writer (remember how many gun mags used to be read cover to cover by the multitudes of enthusiast back in the 30’s) to pick up on a inaccurate trait to start the grumbling.
Vince
Southern Oregon
NRA member
Fraternal Order of Eagles
“There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.”
Teddy Roosevelt
November 7, 2015
Offline
A bit of a moot point these days anyway, doubt much of anyone will pay the price for shorts unless he has a firearm that won’t fire anything else. Suspect that goes double for longs. I used to shoot shorts because they 10-15 cents a box cheaper than long rifles.
I don’t know about the ’30’s but back in the 70’s and 80’s I spent a lot of my spare time reading gun rags. Now I won’t even pick one up at the barber shop.
Academy had shorts last week for $7 /50 no shipping. Almost bought some but couldn’t figure why I should.
Vince
Southern Oregon
NRA member
Fraternal Order of Eagles
“There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.”
Teddy Roosevelt
November 7, 2015
Offline
Quite honestly don’t know why, Vince. I do suspect they only run shorts now and then. If you buy a “Short Only” rifle six months from now it’s a safe bet they won’t be on the shelf.
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