A guy I know recently gave me a Winchester 1890 gallery gun to clean up for him. He said he’s had it for decades, can’t remember where or when he got it, has never shot it, and it’s just been sitting in his safe. I love rifles like this and thought it’d be a fun project.
The action and slide were so gummed up they barely moved, but after a full disassembly and some scrubbing, it functions almost smoothly. The finish isn’t going to win any awards, but for something manufactured in 1906, it looks okay.
So I took it to the range today to try it out. The good news is that it runs very well. The bad news is that at 25 yards, the group was about four feet. The few that actually hit my paper target all keyholed. This rifle is chambered for .22 short, but just as an experiment, I put a .22LR in the chamber and down the muzzle, and could wiggle it side to side at both ends.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to bring this back to a good shooter? I’ve heard of barrel relining, but only know about it what I learned from Larry Potterfield:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ7sQya7tyk
It doesn’t seem too difficult, liners aren’t too expensive (https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...-caliber-rimfire-barrel-liners-prod10974.aspx), and I don’t think this type of work would destroy a collector’s piece (photo below).
I don’t want to do it myself though – anyone know any gunsmiths that do this type of work well? Or any other options I'm not considering? Thanks.
The action and slide were so gummed up they barely moved, but after a full disassembly and some scrubbing, it functions almost smoothly. The finish isn’t going to win any awards, but for something manufactured in 1906, it looks okay.
So I took it to the range today to try it out. The good news is that it runs very well. The bad news is that at 25 yards, the group was about four feet. The few that actually hit my paper target all keyholed. This rifle is chambered for .22 short, but just as an experiment, I put a .22LR in the chamber and down the muzzle, and could wiggle it side to side at both ends.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to bring this back to a good shooter? I’ve heard of barrel relining, but only know about it what I learned from Larry Potterfield:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ7sQya7tyk
It doesn’t seem too difficult, liners aren’t too expensive (https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...-caliber-rimfire-barrel-liners-prod10974.aspx), and I don’t think this type of work would destroy a collector’s piece (photo below).
I don’t want to do it myself though – anyone know any gunsmiths that do this type of work well? Or any other options I'm not considering? Thanks.