Winchester 1886

Winchester Model 1886 Cal 38-56

There is a very easy fix for this.
This rifle can be relined to the original caliber by:

541-533-0907

beinke & beinke liners,
24550 sprague river rd. ,
sprague river , oregon ,
97639

The cost is abouot $360. Mark has done 4 jobs for me and I am very happy with him.
 
.38-56 brass can be made from .45-70 or I believe .40-65 Winchester. Someone, but I'll be darned if I can remember who, is selling new brass.

The round was apparently touted as an improved, more powerful version of the .38-55 Ballard/Winchester.

Fat chance.
 
Get some soft scrub and some non abrasive scrubbing pads and go to work. It'll take some elbow grease but will clean off the rust without scratching the metal. I've cleaned Civil War relics with this method and it works. I had a saber with a very rusty blade and it turned out to be a 63 Ames with etched blade. After it's clean you might be able to read the caliber stamp better. To make a chamber cast, plug the chamber about an inch into the rifling, get some cerro safe or you can use melted crayons but crayons are more fragile. Pour it in from the breech, you'll have to wedge the loading gate open to easily do this and fill the chamber. When it cools drive out the cast and plug with a wooden dowel down the muzzle, make sure the carrier isn't in the up position when you drive it out. You can now mic your cast and find out the caliber or take it to someone who can.
 
Model 1886 .38-56

Hello, everyone
I live in south Louisiana. I acquired a Model 1886 Winchester .38-56 S.N. 7764 from my mother a few years ago. I know the gun is approximately 120 years old. The lower buttplate screw is missing, but the gun seems to be in good working order otherwise. I let a friend take it down and clean it. When I got it back, the hammer does not always lock in place when cocked with the lever. You can apply light pressure to the back of the trigger when working the action, and it will set. Also, you can work the action holding the gun sideways and it will set,without any assistance. He says it is because he did not get the trigger spring set correctly. However, I am leary of letting anyone else have the gun. I would like a reputable person to clean and reset the mechanism. The gun is in what I would call good condition. I would not be afraid to shoot it if I had ammo. Can anyone advise as to a reputable gunsmith in the Baton Rouge area, and where to get .38-56 ammo.

I have been told not to do anything but adjustments, such as above, other than normal cleaning and oiling. That it is worth in the vicinity of $4k.

Thanks for any other info. Also, how can I get a manual or such on the gun?

Gerald

Since I posted this I have found that the gun has been bored to shoot .410 shotgun shells. I realize that this has seriously affected the value of the gun as a collector's item, but I still like it. When I think about the fact that, probably when the gun was re-bored, it was far more useful at the time, and considering that .38-56 was not the most popular round. I think that the rebore was probably done out of necessity. However, it still looks nice and makes for a great conversation piece.

Thanks to all.
 
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