"New" Project: 1873 Winchester Rifle in 32-20, 1887 Vintage

[Bobster]

"New" Project: 1873 Winchester Rifle in 32-20, 1887 Vintage. Probably hasn't been fired in 50 years!

Went to the beach with the kids the other day and to visit my uncle who lives near the beach. About a 1.25hr drive... We hung out with him for a while before we headed back.

Talk turned to guns and I showed him an AR I had with me and a couple other trunk guns. We determined that a date will be set for a full-day outing at the range, just he and I. We also talked about some "fixers" he's had in a storage unit and that he should let me work on them with a possible purchase option. The guns belonged to his brother, or my uncle, whom I was named after. I've been trying to get them for years, one is a K98 sporter, '43 vintage and the other an 1873 Springfield Trapdoor with a broken stock. There is also the 1873 Winchester that he doesn't want to part with and it would be out of my purchasing range, anyway.

As we were getting ready to go, he shows me the Winchester, which was not in storage and asks me to get it ready so we can shoot it next time we meet. He did not "give" it to me but I suppose it is on "loan" until I see him again.

Pics show it as I received it. Many years of neglect and surface rust but it was mostly there and functional. First thing I did was give it a good rub down with Ace Lub-E and rags to give it some patina.

Cleaned the bore which has good rifling but also minor pitting. The chamber also has minor pitting. Only rounds through it will determine if the barrel is shot but I think it will be a shooter.

Took it apart for cleaning but it was not really necessary. It was enjoyable to see how everything works! Smoothed a couple items like the firing pin while I had it apart and did a detail cleaning.

Did a punch list of needed parts, mainly mag tube spring, follower, cap and screw. Also needs a mainspring tension screw and I'm getting another mag band pin because the original is F'ed and I don't think I'll ever get it back in once I pull the band off for repairs. Parts will be a little over $50 which is well within my "budget" (ie: PayPal balance). UPDATE: parts are on order from Homestead Firearms and were under $50 and I will re-use the mag band pin since it came right out...

One considerable issue remains and that is that the barrel was loose. Hand-tight it is about 5-10 degrees past 12-o-clock. Does anyone know of a source for a small round shim that would work? I might put some metal-displacing divots on the shoulder of the barrel where it contacts the receiver to see if that will work, then once it is "right", I'll loctite (blue) the barrel into the receiver. I'm open to suggestions...

Another issue is that the magazine band has come away from the barrel. Hence the new pin then probably some work on the band where it goes into the dovetail. Although externally rusted, the mag tube is like new inside. UPDATE: pin is out, band is off and the tube cleaned up well with 0000 steel wool. I'm going to have to do a little metal displacement to the barrel and/or band to get the band to stay on. It is supposed to "twist in" then the tube is slid inside until it is in the receiver. Then the pin is inserted, holding it in place. The follower, spring and cap are installed with a screw holding the cap to the tube. The tube will need some "brown" on it as it has lost its original finish but the barrel cleaned up very nicely with only mild pitting in a couple areas.

Does anyone know a good, cheap source of 32-20? Preferably "low-power" rounds but inexpensive is the main concern...

 

[John A.]

Oh wow.

My Great Grandfather bought a Marlin 1894 in 32-20 expressly to kill a man with after the guy threatened his kids (My grandmother and a few of her brothers) and then the guy killed his dog that was in his yard right in front of him to make his point.

Great Grandpa Will told him he'd better make things right between him and God because he was gonna meet him that day and he kept his word. He served 2 years in the state Pen because the judge went easy on him.

Anyway, My Uncle still has the gun. It was the first rifle I ever shot matter of fact and it's a family treasure.

While 32-20 has been obsolete since probably the 50's, it'll still do the trick.

I've found a few places online that still sells them, but they're not really all that cheap. My uncle still has a partial box of ammo that my Grandmother gave to him with the gun.

Here's some ammo if you're wanting to buy some.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/productlist/ammo-shooting/rifle-ammo/32-20-wcf-ammo?d=121&c=96&s=991

 

[MikeD]

Nice looking gun.

 

[SHOOTER13]

Awesome score...

 

[Bobster]

UPDATE: Almost Ready...

As of this writing I have cleaned the gun and received and installed missing parts. Reconditioned metal surfaces with 0000 steel wool and Lub-E and with a purple Scotchbrite pad in a couple spots. Still waiting for some shim stock from Enco to properly secure the barrel in the proper orientation. And also need some ammo.

First and second pics are of the mag tube band. It "twists" into place--I used the Al rod as a tool for this purpose. Supported barrel on some padded blocks, peened the edges of the mag tube band "dovetail" back into shape, twisted band into place, peened the edges of the dovetail again to snug the band even more. It still twists in and out of place, if necessary.

The Al rod is out of place as there is NO aluminum in or on this gun--it wasn't "invented" yet! Well, it was, but was more expensive than Au! Nor is there plastic...

Next pic shows the misalignment of the barrel. It is hand tight. Bolt will not close as the extractor does not line up with the cut in the barrel. I'm still waiting for shim stock to make a shim to correct this. ENCO had an assortment for $20 and after coupons from "retailmenot.com" I ended up paying $16 with free shipping. Everybody else wanted near $30 for an assortment. I figure I'll cut it with scissors and have enough extra if I screw up. One issue with ENCO is that I don't know if they shipped or not. I did get an order confirmation. And the shims ship via UPS...

Goodies are shown, received 3 days after I ordered it. Everything fit perfectly although the spring had to be cut to length.

The "brown" of the barrel really cleaned up nice with only a few pitted areas. The pictures do not do it justice. The plated steel parts cleaned up nice. The mag tube could use a browning treatment as no finish remained after cleaning but it will do for now.

Assembled, the barrel and mag tube are "loose" and sloppy. Although the gun would probably fire in this condition, I can wait... Need to get ammo, anyway.

 

[Bobster]

More pics...

 

[Bobster]

UPDATE 2: Ready for the Range!

Received the shims from Enco after 4-5 days. The tracking info with UPS was available when I accessed my account and the order. I forgot to take a pic of the packaging but is was thus: 13"x10"x5" box with a package of 12"x6" shim stock in a variety of sizes floating in some wadded paper.

The steel shim stock was ensconced in a folded piece of cardboard, encapsulated in a plastic wrapper and there were thicker pieces of shim on the periphery of the "stack" of shim stock. I cut the end of the plastic and slid the stack of oil-coated shim stock out and cut a ~2" strip from the .001" shim to work with and slid the stack of shims back into the plastic.

Cut a piece of .001" as shown. The slides may not be in exact order as a few .001" shims were cut out. The one .001" shim was not enough. Two .001" shims were just a little bit too thin. The shims did not survive repeated hand tightening and loosening.

Cut a piece of .0015" and another .001" as the first .001" shims were not reusable. Hand tight was just a bit shy of "perfect" and a tweak with a vice and wrenches the barrel tightened up to near perfect, and if I had a block to clamp the receiver in I probably could have got it perfect. A "good" eye can tell the barrel (and sights) are the tiniest of bits off. The extractor goes in fine so this is just a minor detail.

Now to get a box of ammo and it is ready to go!

PS: I should mention that the .0015" was noticeably more difficult to cut than the .001" The compass was able to accurately deform the metal for cutting. A "cutting" wheel on the compass would have been PERFECT!

 

[John A.]

I am very much looking forward to hearing how it shoots.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the low recoil.