1886 Deluxe Smoothness|Winchester Rifles|Forum|Winchester Collector

Exuma, very nice looking 1886

Are you familiar with the amount of effort required to ‘lever’ a Winchester when the gun is on one’s shoulder? Gently may not be the best way. That first bit of ‘resistance’ may actually be normal as lever actions have to be cycled very, very deliberately in a strong, vigorous manner when the gun is on the shooters shoulder.

I wouldn’t disassemble the gun to clean it as you’ve said it already seems to be pretty clean, just wipe it down and clean what you can from the outside.

If you still feel it needs work just contact Mark Novak

You really need to work the action of the 1886 off your shoulder, it works better that way.

How much did this cost you?  Maybe you got a bargain, you never know.

I definitely would not attempt to take it apart if I paid $10,000 for it

Exuma said
I just bought an 1886 in 45-90 from 1887. I wanted to completely break it down to clean it.

I noticed when I lever the gun, when it hits the first bit of resistance (about 1/2 mid throw), it feels very stiff there. so stiff that when i shoulder the gun, it pulls the gun off my shoulder unless I do it with very, very deliberately.

  

Exuma, first of all, beautiful 86 fancy sporting rifle. Excellent desirable caliber. Now, although not a 86 but very similar, I just disassembled and reassembled a 92 to install a spring cover(loading gate). It’s not a sophisticated ordeal, but it will try your patience, especially reinstalling the breach pin. Issues that you can run into, include fudging the screw heads. Bert has stated many times it’s important to clean the grime out of the screw head and a little Kroil always helps for better removal. My 86’s and 92’s all have a bit of resistance that you mentioned and that is normal. The screw eye is obviously not factory or in the correct location but not sure I would try to fix that unless you know a wood expert who can duplicate that tiger grain oil finish.  

I’m in agreement that I would not attempt to disassemble your fancy sporting rifle unless absolutely necessary. A good cleaning without breaking it down can still do wonders. 

Exuma said
As a follow up question… where might i find load data?

I was excited to check my cast bullet book and was dismayed to see it says this:

This data is only for new or recently manufactured guns recommended for smokeless powder. This data is not for antique rifles originally made for back powder

These are the two 45-70 bullets I had, I was wondering if i could load any of these:

https://www.mattsbullets.com/365-grain-round-flat-nose-gas-check-458.html

https://www.mattsbullets.com/405-Grain-Round-Flat-Nose-Gas-Check-458_p_126.html

  

Chuck and Bryan Austin are the guys for load data. I’m sure they’ll reply here at some point. 

Exuma said

mrcvs said

You really need to work the action of the 1886 off your shoulder, it works better that way.

How much did this cost you?  Maybe you got a bargain, you never know.

  

I’m afraid to say, but I think about $10K including the reserve.

The thrill of buying it was quite exhilarating, and in general I care less about the things I’m sure many other people would balk at. I suppose I care most about the character and whether it speaks to me, more than some kind of mar or ding or combination of features (like that sling eye) which decreases the “market value” or makes it more common. I was maximizing the variables of 1) i want to shoot it 2) a caliber i can reload easily

When I was bidding, I got into a bidding war with 2 other people who were on the auction floor, and I was bidding online. The best part is that I hit my bid cap for being an online bidder… the guy on the floor did not know this, and only had to bid $200 additional dollars to win, but because he didnt know i hit my bid limit he backed out!  

You DEFINITELY want to avoid bidding wars in future.  In my experience, back out, and, later down the road, you usually find something even better for less money.

Sorry when I saw 45-70 I assumed it was a 45-70.  TR is correct you should use a 300 grain bullet.  I load these using 3031, 4759 and 4198.  Each of my loads shoot about 1,550 fps or a little less.  My data is from a highwall with a 30″ barrel.  Mike still has the data in his book.