Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

Winchester .22 WCF

3rd.soprano
Was going through some guns with dad last night and he told me a story about his grandpa. Then he shows me his gun and I flipped out. We took it outside and I put a round through it for kicks, then had my 6-year old put two more through it. I explained to my son that his Great-Great Grandpa shot the gun and now each generation in the family have put at least one through. He was excited. I was more excited than he'll ever know. Definitely framing the pic mom took of us!
Enough of the that....I did some googling this morning and I guess now I'll wait for Herb to reply!!
It is obviously marked 'Pat. Oct 7th 79', but what more can I determine given the S/N is 79035?
I read someone's blog who said not to shoot it (after we fired three .22 hornets through it last night) and to hang it on the wall. I'd like to determine its date of manufacture and value if possible. Also want to know if I can still buy the .22 hornets.
Thanks. Tony
0

Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    Don't push your luck. It's chambered for a low pressure black powder cartridge, not the latter high pressure smokeless .22 Hornet. Best thing is to hang it on the wall as the family heirloom it is. And for god's sake don't let your kid fire it. The pressure difference between the old .22 WCF's and the modern Hornet is considerable.
    0
  • MIKE WISKEY
    while the outside dimensions of the .22 wcf and the .22 hornet are similar like Rufe said the pressures arn't. I hate to see old guns 'hung on the wall' they should be shot (regularly) but only with proper ammo. If you rifle is (as I suspect) a Winchester 'low wall' is can be fired safely with 'down loaded' .22 hornets (not factory ammo). how about some pictures of it ??
    0
  • Bert H.
    Who is Herb?

    What you have is a Model 1885 Single Shot rifle, and it was manufactured in the mid part of the year 1897. If you want the exact date, I recommend contacting the Cody Firearms Musuem and purchase a factory letter for it (use the link following my signature line).

    Most likely your rifle is a low-wall, with a 26-inch No. 1 barrel.

    Caution... you should not shoot that rifle with 22 Hornet ammo. The 22 W.C.F. and 22 Hornet are very similar cartridges dimensionally, but they are not the same or interchangeable. The 22 W.C.F. has a larger bullet diameter (.226 versus .224) than the 22 Hornet, and it was originally a black powder cartridge loaded with a 45-grain cast lead bullet. Shooting high velocity undersized jacketed bullets through the bore will damage the barrel throat and rifling.

    The value can only be determined by a visual inspection of the rifle.
    0
  • 3rd.soprano
    Here is a link to some images I took.....

    http://pbckt.com/s1.Zu5

    Thanks again!

    Tony
    0
  • Hawk Carse
    As usual, Herb is right.
    A nice looking 1885 "Lowwall."

    The action is strong enough for .22 Hornet, but the firing pin is too big for smokeless powder loads - risk of a pierced primer and hot gas in the face. And the bore is too large for .223-.224" jacketed bullets, leading to poor accuracy and then erosion.

    A proficient handloader could use Hornet brass to load .22 WCF with cast bullets of the right diameter and light smokeless loads. It does not have to be limited to black powder if you know what you are doing.
    0
  • Bert H.
    That is a very interesting low-wall due to the fact that the left side of the receiver frame has an extra screw & hole in it. In the serial number range that your low-wall was made, Winchester manufactured a substantial number of Light Weight Carbines (low-walls with a saddle ring). The frame on your rifle was factory drilled & tapped for a saddle ring stud, but instead of being assembled as a LWC, it was made into a standard Sporting Rifle. Your rifle is the second one I have seen with a plugged saddle ring stud hole.

    If you would like to continue shooting that rifle, you can easily reform 22 Hornet cases to the proper dimemsion for 22 W.C.F. The next step is to find a proper bullet mold, or a resizer so that you can resize .224 cast bullets to a minimum of .226 (you really should slug the bore to determine the exact size bullet that will work best). Light loads of 2400 will work quite well, and should give reasonably good accuracy (providing that the barel/bore is in good condition). Finally (and as was mentioned), you need to have a smokeless powder (small point) firing pin installed. I can help you in obtaining the firing pin.
    0
  • SP45
    I just came up with a batch of original 22 WCF ammo. Looks to be about 1920s vintage
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity