November 7, 2015

Three day inspection report is drawing to a close for my “new” Winder Musket so I took advantage of a beautiful day to drag a few newly acquired or recently repaired guns out to the range. The Winder was a bit disappointing in the accuracy department. I don’t think it likes the Remington HV 22Short ammo, neither did my 74. I couldn’t corral five rounds into two inches @ fifty yards with the 87 and the 74 didn’t do that well. Oh, well, at least I got the sights regulated. Love that trigger on the 87! From what I’ve read I wasn’t expecting much from the trigger on this 87, apparently someone who knew what he was doing worked it over sometime in the last 100 years. 74 was a pleasant surprise. Fed flawlessly and trigger was quite good, just wish it liked the ammo I was trying to feed it. Hope it likes match ammo….if I can find some.
My minty 69A with factory peeps was very impressive, put five rounds into a nice little cluster and then I blew it with another five quick rounds. It really likes the Norma Tac Match ammo. This poor rifle has been to the range with me four times now and I finally got around to shooting it. I really like this little rifle. If it wasn’t such a nice little gun I’d put it in my regular shooter stable. I may anyway.
The twist rate in my 87’s like standard velocity shorts, they don’t do well with HV stuff, especially the CCI HV.
The CCI Match shorts seem to do better than the HV stuff.
Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
November 7, 2015

JWA said
The twist rate in my 87’s like standard velocity shorts, they don’t do well with HV stuff, especially the CCI HV.The CCI Match shorts seem to do better than the HV stuff.
Regards,
Thanks, was looking at the CCI Match shorts online a little while ago. Pretty reasonable. I bought the HV stuff for the 74, was all I could find at the moment and figured it would cycle the 74 better. Think a Lyman 17 may find it’s way on to the 87 in the near future. I can’t see the top of the factory sight well enough to shoot it accurately. Shot it and the 69A again today with pretty much the same results. Really like that 69, may have to invest in a trigger job.
Mike
November 7, 2015

Hmmmm…today’s range trip featured wonderful weather and remarkable performance from my latest 69. Last night a big brown truck brought a low Lyman 17 (.404″) front sight and some CCI Target 22 short ammo for the Winder. Installed the Lyman front sight after coffee this morning. Sight-in went very well but groups @ 50yds still hovered around 2 inches with the improved sights and ammo.
I’m thinking muzzle crown issues but didn’t have adequate lighting or magnification to see any burrs. Any other accuracy secrets for the 87?
Mike
I don’t know if I would be too disappointed shooting 2″ groups with iron sights @ 50 yards with 22 shorts and a 100 year old rifle. How is it doing from the 25 yard line?
If you spin a Q-Tip in the end of the muzzle it will leave fibers hanging on a burr. (make sure you spin it both directions) I have found on these old 22’s lots of old timers like to poke things with the muzzle and dings are more common than burrs. Just as detrimental to accuracy.
Hope you can find an obvious problem and increase your accuracy. I don’t know what the potential for a Winder is. Hopefully someone with a pristine example can give you some #’s to shoot for. (pun intended)
Best,
Erin
November 7, 2015

I’m not sure what to expect either, Erin. I know the 69A I checked out recently is easily capable of an inch at 50 and my 75 can do half that so I was expecting an inch or less. I’m not a good iron sight shooter but I’m trying to learn. I suspect either rifle can shoot much better than I can. With all the 87 has going for it I have reason to believe it could outperform my 75 IF I find ammo it likes. It’s not like the 22LR where you have 7-8 brands of target ammo to choose from. I haven’t tried it at 25 yards, that may be helpful.
I’d forgotten about the Q-tip diagnostic procedure, thanks.
Mike
TXGunNut said
With all the 87 has going for it I have reason to believe it could outperform my 75 IF I find ammo it likes.
One reason not to believe it: 75’s one-piece stock. Another reason: better support for rim where firing pin strikes. Another: probably faster lock-time.
November 7, 2015

clarence said
TXGunNut said
With all the 87 has going for it I have reason to believe it could outperform my 75 IF I find ammo it likes.
One reason not to believe it: 75’s one-piece stock. Another reason: better support for rim where firing pin strikes. Another: probably faster lock-time.
Good points, Clarence. Thanks. Muzzle crown passed the Q-tip test so need to look elsewhere for the accuracy I seem to be missing. I hadn’t given the two-piece stock much thought until you brought it up. Front rest placement and cheek pressure affect some rifles with two-piece stocks more than most rifles with one-piece stocks, I’ll be moving the front bag around a bit to see if I can find a sweet spot next time out.
Can’t do much about the striker/ejector situation other than keep the area under the ejector clean and dry. Main spring doesn’t seem light so I’m guessing lock time is what it is.
Mike
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