Winchester 1887
I'll let Butch tell you about this fine old lady:
I see that a 12 bore Winchester 1887 is on your list of grail guns. Feel free to live vicariously through me.Butch was also kind enough to send another shot, with some friends:
Mine has little finish left, a chipped and repaired toe, the barrel is a little pitted and split at the muzzle, and I adore her. Fun fact: the 1887 came standard with a three blade damascus barrel, with four blade available by special order. Mine is a four blade. Once I have a bit of cash, the old girl is going to a gunsmith to see if the barrel can be cut below the split and safely fired. I want to hunt with this thing so badly, my mouth waters. Collectors value means nothing to me, as I am never parting company with Lord Browning's finest shotgun. Feel free to share pictures, and if you or any readers know of a place I could get a barrel, I would be grateful for the info. By the way, Gamebore still loads 2 1/2" shells with black powder.
A, T, *and* F!
Heh. All that's needed are a few firecrackers and we'd have the ATFE covered...
That is all.
4 comments:
I seen one in 10g once, one of the biggest shotguns I've ever seen.
I'd be pullin' that trigger too!! Collector value be damned.
I'd just watch what I fed it. Either low power featherlight rounds, or black powder loads. Don't need the wrong kind of *boom* to ruin one's day.
Thanks for the tip - I have been looking for 2.5" black powder loads for a few old guns myself.
In theory, I bet a good gunsmith with access to a machine shop and welding equipment could probably just fabricate a new barrel (either whole or from parts with a little machining and assembly) for a very reasonable price.
(IE, under a thousand dollars with luck; with a lot of luck for considerably less.)
Good thing about a shotgun in that context is there's no need to rifle it and the pressures are so very, very low that weaknesses that would be deadly in a rifle barrel aren't even issues.
OR! It's quite possible that the barrel from one of the Norinco 1887 copies would be a drop in or minor-modification fit.
That would make it eminently fireable, and probably with any normal modern ammunition; my understanding (which should be checked with a gunsmith before attempting it!) is that the weak point in those old guns is the barrel, and that the action is more than strong enough for modern 2 3/4" loads.
Me, I just wish the gnomes of Beijing would do a 20ga copy of the '87.
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