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I was successful in obtaining sustenance for my family again this year. I acquired this 1894 vintage octagon barrel model 1886 in 40-65 from a friend of mine about 1 month before season. The receiver has some traces of case color left on it but it looks dark in the photo. I worked up some handloads consisting of 43.0 grains of IMR 3031 powder topped by a 265 grain gas checked lead bullet from the Bull Shop. A few shots at about 125 yards ( few extra for insurance) sealed the deal. The nice thing about moose is that they offer a generous target. I had to stalk this bull three separate times over the course of two days due to the ultra-dry ground. He was on me like a radar dish the first two times as I tried to creep through the crunchy ground cover. The second time I even hiked a half mile in just my socks to no avail. The third time was charm with a little luck when the bull left the thick cover to move to another drainage.
It gets harder to find bull moose every year in my corner of the world but I still enjoy hunting with my Winchesters. The old rifle still brings home the meat.
Sounds like you had a fulfilling hunt with your 1886. Great Bull! Great picture!
WOW!! That thing is huge. Where did you hunt if I can ask? Good job! Peter
I live and hunt on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. This is my 29th bull moose. I’ve shot one every year except for one since I’ve moved here. Many with my old Winchesters and eight with handguns. I only used a scoped rifle on the first one. But our moose population is in serious decline.
Three good hunts on him, and with a fine rifle. That appears to be a look of satisfaction on your face.
This Fall, I plan to hunt with old Winchesters for deer and elk. And Bull Shop gas-checked bullets–most of the cartridges are ready to go.
Grant,
From a non-reloader, did your round differ very much in velocity and weight from the original 40-65 caliber made for the 1886 ?
Bill
I’m not at home now but previously I looked up loading data, if I recall correctly, in both Cartridges of the World and Williamson’s Lever Legacy. The latter reference can be a little overzealous with powder charges in my opinion. I believe the published velocity as I loaded the 40-65 cartridges is around 1,700 fps. I surmise that’s faster than the original black powder load. I didn’t check in on a chronograph. The rifle grouped reasonably well (3-4″) at 100 yards and I could adjust the existing rear sight to point of impact. As I said before, a moose offers a lot of real estate for stopping bullets so I just went hunting. Somehow in transporting the rifle in a padded hard case on an ATV, my rear sight got pushed a little to the right. My initial shots were grouped nicely at the distal portion of the rib cage, thankfully not in the gut. But the bull went down quickly, and I placed a coup de grace to the back of the skull from about 10 feet. A few 265 grain bullets placed into any North American mammal’s torso is likely to be effective. Handguns with lighter weight bullets and at slower velocities have proven to be quite capable of performing the job at out to 100 yards. But it usually requires more than one hit if you want to put a bull moose down quickly.
I attached a photo of the wheelers laden with the spoils of the hunt. It looks like the Clampetts on an outing. Don’t let the bushes fool you, they’re higher than a moose’s rack. The ride back to the road was 18 miles.
If I get the opportunity and the weather cooperates, I may go hunt for a grizzly this weekend. We have lots of bears but a guy doesn’t want to punch his tag on just an average one. In 2012, I shot a B&C grizzly with a model 71. In 1998, I used a vintage 1886 in 45-90 to kill a real brute. I’m pondering which Winchester to take this time. Contrary to what one reads in gun magazines, a 30 WCF would probably get the job done at levergun distances; but it’s fun to use the cartridges with more horsepower.
-Mark
Mark,
Thanks for the information, the story, and especially the photo.
What a great place for a Winchester !
Bill
Outstanding!! I love to see old Winchesters doing what they were originally designed to do. Thanks for including a few photos as well. I especially liked the part where you stalked him for a half mile in your socks.
Yes, the sock stalk was a bonus. Next hunt though, we want bare feet on the hunter and bear feet on the critter!–with photos.
dimrod said
I was successful in obtaining sustenance for my family again this year. I acquired this 1894 vintage octagon barrel model 1886 in 40-65 from a friend of mine about 1 month before season. The receiver has some traces of case color left on it but it looks dark in the photo. I worked up some handloads consisting of 43.0 grains of IMR 3031 powder topped by a 265 grain gas checked lead bullet from the Bull Shop. A few shots at about 125 yards ( few extra for insurance) sealed the deal. The nice thing about moose is that they offer a generous target. I had to stalk this bull three separate times over the course of two days due to the ultra-dry ground. He was on me like a radar dish the first two times as I tried to creep through the crunchy ground cover. The second time I even hiked a half mile in just my socks to no avail. The third time was charm with a little luck when the bull left the thick cover to move to another drainage.It gets harder to find bull moose every year in my corner of the world but I still enjoy hunting with my Winchesters. The old rifle still brings home the meat.
This story is perfect for an article in The Winchester Collector! Wonderful photos Mark………
November 7, 2015
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Good job! Nicely done and a great hunting story well told. I’ll be hunting with a couple of vintage Winchesters this year and this story is rather timely as I just installed a peep sight on one of them, will be using my own cast bullets. Dan (Bullshop) makes a great bullet, glad it worked out for you.
I agree with tsbccut, I’d like to see stories like this in our magazine.
I checked my reproduction of the Winchester 1896 catalogue. It lists the ballistics of the 40-65 as a 260 grain bullet at 1,325 fps some 50 feet from the muzzle, so the muzzle velocity was probably closer to 1,375 fps. It also lists it as available as a ‘smokeless cartridge’ in addition to the black powder version.
November 7, 2015
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win38-55 said
I checked my reproduction of the Winchester 1896 catalogue. It lists the ballistics of the 40-65 as a 260 grain bullet at 1,325 fps some 50 feet from the muzzle, so the muzzle velocity was probably closer to 1,375 fps. It also lists it as available as a ‘smokeless cartridge’ in addition to the black powder version.
Sounds a lot like the 38-55 I’ll be hunting with this year…in a 1904 vintage 1894.
Nice moose! Do you know why your moose are in decline where you are? Here in New England winter ticks are sucking the life out of the calves, New Hampshire says that they’re losing 2/3 of the calves to them before they’re a year old.
I well remember the picture of your grizz. That was certainly impressive.
No one can say exactly why our moose are in decline. Historically they are not native to the Seward Peninsula but reportedly moved westward in the 60s when the interior experienced a large wildfire. According to legend, the moose found prime habitat generated by the destructive gold mining practices of the previous 50 years that promoted willow growth. Whether this is true or not, I haven’t a clue. I do know back in the late 80s to late 90s if you couldn’t find and shoot a bull moose then there was something wrong with you. Our season used to run from August 1-Dec. 31. I used to go out every weekend and see anywhere from 10-15 bulls. It was like shopping. We’d count brow tines and estimate width, looking for a bruiser. The season was also during the rut and you could call that big ol’ bull right to you. Now we have a two week season with a quota. It’s like a race to get yours before the quota limit shuts the season down early. I was in the field for four days this season (in some remote country) and only saw four bulls. One was a paddle horn. I rarely see any calves now or many cows either. Everyone likes to blame the bears. We do have an abundance of bruins, but we have for the past 20 years. What’s new is wolves. They used to be a rarity in these parts. I was told that over 60 were shot last winter and sealed. So the moose reduction may be due to bears, wolves, declining habitat (plants not as nourishing?), or some other unknown factor.
I just returned from grizzly hunting with my junior partner. We saw four altogether on this outing, although some were far away on ridge lines . He shot at an average bear at about 100 yards with his 30-06 with 220 gr. bullets and knocked it over. He fumbled with the bolt on the reload and jammed the cartridges. He quickly cleared that but then failed to find the fleeing bear in his scope set at high magnification. The bear made it to the dense alders never to be seen again. All I had was a handgun in case things got close and personal. I left my model 71 on the ATV rack over a mile away 
. I didn’t take it on the stalk as I didn’t want to shoot another man’s bear. I know now that he would have appreciated some assistance. I’ll sort that out beforehand next time.
I’m headed out to a village to work for a week. My place of employment blocks all firearm websites including the Winchester Collector forum. We wouldn’t want to promote violence in the workplace, now.
May everyone else have good luck with your hunts. I know I get a lot of satisfaction using my vintage Winchesters in the field. I know you do too.
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