Bad Bore Cure?
I have an old Winchester 1890 pump w/oct. barrel in .22 short that is in very good condition except for the bore which looks as if it came up from the Battleship Arizona. The rifleling is all but gone due to corrosion/leading(?) but still shoots pretty fair out to 20 yards, considering. Is there any way the bore can be relined and if so what would be a general cost? Also, have seen replacement oct. barrels advertised for the Win. 1890's, are they any good? This rifle was recently given to me by an elderly family member and probably has more sentimental value than what it is worth. Is it worth fixing if a bore cure exists or leave as is? Thanks.
Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.
Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.
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You certainly can re-line a 22 cal. rimfire barrel. It's usually done to save a historically or personally significant rifle. Brownells sells the liners and the drill used to make the hole for them. If you want someone else to do it for you, contact Redman, the company that manufactures the liners. They are good people and very professional.
Regards.0 -
gunpaq; Any Winchester 1890 rifle in operating condition is going to have some kind of collector value...no matter how beat up it looks. Once you replace the original barrel collector interest diappears, as does any premium that exists. Nononsense' suggestion of having the original barrel relined is excellent advice and I recommend that you use that route. The worn rifleing is usually a result of using "Lesmoke" (loaded with a mix of BP and smokeless propellent)or early smokeless ammunition which had corrosive priming. Interestingly the original black powder loads were just as corrosive, but they left behind so much fouling that you had to clean the guns often during shooting. Often enough that most of the corrosive compound was pushed out of the bore with the fouling. Smokeless killed a lot of .22's until non corrosive priming compounds were developed.
My question however is why even fire this old rifle at all? Most of these old classics have worked hard their whole lives and have out lived a lot of their owners! I always suggest a well earned retirement to the gun cabinet to ensure that it will continue to be passed on to future owners. Just my opinion.
Mark T. Christian0 -
I would just clean it up the best I could and shoot it. Some of these old rifles shoot pretty well with some nasty looking bores. It's not ever going to be a competitor but it could be a really fun player. Just shoot it and enjoy it. Mark C. has some good points, don't mess with it other than a very basic cleanup. Even relining the barrel will hurt collectible value.
wundudnee-1890 luver!
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Old? First you forget names; then you forget faces; then you forget to pull your zipper up; then you forget to pull your zipper down.0 -
Thanks for the info. I think I may keep her just as she is. She does a little better than a 6" group at 20yds and pops tin cans at 10yds with that ugly bore, good enough I suppose. Looks pretty on the wall and will probably be shot only a few times a year. Thanks again for the info.
Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.0
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