Struck gold...I think

[lovedogs]

Just bought a NIB Winchester Centennial 66 rifle from an estate sale for only $200...I think I struck gold, literally. Sure is a purty thing. Anyone tried one? Only tried a few shots with factory ammo so far and it looks like it'll be a shooter. Have a Williams receiver sight on order to do a better job of testing accuracy. Comments?

[Mauser48]

Anytime you get a winchester for 200 you know your doin good!

[TXGunNut]

Congrats! Commemorative Winchesters that don't quite catch on as collectors' items are quite often undervalued as shooters. Most have nice wood, above average fit & finish and may are like new or unfired. Passed on a Wells Fargo comm tonight because I hate what WF has become and I quite honestly can't justify another rifle at the moment.

[John Allen]

I got one myself they are nice.

[retread]

I have one and it is a shooter. I also have a pre 64, Model 94. The Centennial is markedly more accurate. Paid $87.50 for it in 1966 so I would say considering inflation you got a real deal.

[jlchucker]

Those octagon-barrel commemoratives are generally good shooters. So many things were "commemorated" by Winchester during that era that lots of models (actually 94's in tacky-looking disguises) that most never really made it to valuable collector-item status (yet?). They all seem to be very good when actually loaded and shot, though. Too bad Winchester never did see fit to just come right out with a plain old "1894" version, minus all of the glitter, with the shooter in mind. They were close when they came out with their "Classic" models for a few years, but couldn't resist adding little touches like "golden" loading gates and cast-in designs on the receivers. Tasteful style didn't seem to be a hallmark of Winchester during the late 1960's. At least not when it came to rifles. :?

[osteodoc08]

Theres a Canadian Centennial I have been eyeing for some time at my LGS. Problem is, its a post '64 and he wants pre 64 money for it. It is a beautiful gun though. Love the octagonal rifel length barrel. It's been sittgin there for almost 2 years. He hasnt moved it and refuses to come down on it. He'd rather die with it in his shop than turn it I guess.

[TXGunNut]

He'd rather die with it in his shop than turn it I guess...osteodoc

I'm pretty sure most commemoratives on LGS shelves today do indeed come from estates. Original owners went to their graves thinking they were worth much more than the market would bear. The Canadian Centennial is a nice rifle, hope he wises up and lets it go for a fair price. OTOH i've seen more than a few overpriced guns go for the asking price, with enough traffic he will someday sell it for what he wants. I considered doing the commemorative/collectible thing years ago, couldn't make sense of the "values" assigned many of the pieces and gave up. Just as well, precious few lived up to the hype. I remember when the John Wayne commemorative was hot stuff, a coworker crowed every time the "value" of his prized rifle went up $20. I doubt he took it out of the box for years after he bought it. Even had a box of the commemorative ammo. I doubt it's worth as much now (in constant dollars) as it was 30 years ago.
Commemorative safe queen rifles make as much sense as the clear seatcovers of the 50's and 60's...who the heck are you saving them for? The next owner? You paid for them and deserve to enjoy them.

[762 shooter]

Commemorative safe queen rifles make as much sense as the clear seatcovers of the 50's and 60's...who the heck are you saving them for? The next owner? You paid for them and deserve to enjoy them.

Truer words were never spoken.

762

[76 WARLOCK]

My 66 Centennial is being used, but I found that it will not chamber a .311 boolit. I am going to try lapping just the neck portion of the chamber, the .309 is just a little small.

[dubber123]

I bought a Centennial '66 a few years back for $300 in the box with the oversleeve, paperwork, tag hanging off the lever, etc. . I traded it for a Teddy Roosevelt commemorative with no box as I like the longer octagon barrel. It was a 45 minute ride back from the gunshop, and another 5 minutes until I shot that one. :) They are worth much more to me as a shooter. They made a TON of them.

[Dan Cash]

I too have a Canadian Centenial, unfired but the box got wet and was in the way. The gun is in my way too and will either get rebored to .38-55 or get out the door. They are a snazzy looking rifle but are shooters, not collectors.

[John Boy]

My Centennial sat in the box with the hang tags for several decades waiting for the value to increase. Didn't happen. Now, with a William peep & globe front, using Ideal 311413 bullets it's my Match rifle, shooting out to 500 meters. Yes, 500 meters producing 7" groups on the silhouettes

[smkummer]

A older friend of mine has a Canadian centennial and with a tang peep sight with cast bullets shoots almost an inch at 100 yards. My personal gun WAS going to be the 30-30 NRA musket. I have seen these for $400 and I was going to immediately shoot one if I found one. I stumbled on to a pre-64 94 30-30 made in 1962 so I am good now but it still cant outshoot that Canadian centennial. Maybe if I change the sights.

[lovedogs]

With components as scarce as they are I've not been blasting away. I'm waiting for a Williams receiver sight to arrive then I'll start testing the new golden gun's accuracy and working on a cast load. This is my first Winchester lever gun and I can't believe how tight it is. I've been shooting Marlins and they are much smoother when new. I'm thinking of taking the '94 apart and seeing if it needs a little smoothing and lubing. Chamber is really tight. Even some rounds of factory ammo go in tight. Should be fun figuring it all out. I have great hopes for this rifle as I've heard they're usually very accurate.

[451whitworth]

certainly can't go wrong at that price. i bought a NIB, all the paper work, Chief Crazy Horse 38-55 years ago for very little $$$ and I bought it to shoot. Put a Williams on it and have been blasting away ever since. The shop I bought it from had a stack (seriously it was a stack) of the Winchester commemoratives all NIB & they couldn't give them away. They had multiple examples of the same models. This was back in 2000. You could look inside and pick out the one with the best wood. Winchester made 19,999 Crazy Horse models so it's not like they
are rare & worth big money.

[lovedogs]

Been working on that Centennial '66 some. The Williams 5D sight is installed. This was my first time taking a Model '94 apart; it's way different than the Marlins I've been working with. After giving it a good cleaning, polishing a few rough spots, and lubing it things are a lot smoother. Even the trigger is better...good and 3 1/2 pound pull. I'm wondering which bullets some of you are using in your Centennials. With that 1 in 12 twist will it shoot the Lyman 311291 170 gr.? I've got that mould and also a Lee 150 gr. FN. Also thinking of changing the front sight. It's okay but with my old peepers I see the brass beads on my Marlins better than the thin original on the Winchester. Anyone using some of the newfangled fiber optic sights, like Williams Fire Sight? Would like to hear comments on how you like them.

[TXGunNut]

You may need a new front sight with that Williams rear sight, shoot it to determine how much taller it needs to be. Can't say about the fiber optic sights on a rifle, put one on a shotgun 15 or so years ago but haven't tried one on a rifle yet.

[smkummer]

My pre-64-94 loves the lyman 311291 sized at .311 and behind 10.4 grains Unique for about 1500 FPS and it feeds better than the 311041 which sometimes drags when cycled in my gun. With an aluminum gas check I am shooting that gun for less than what scalpers are asking for 22 LR ammo. That is close to max. load with Unique but its accurate and fun to shoot with the recoil of a .357 fired from a rifle. I have to have my factory rear sight second from the top on the elevator and I use the front bead as a post because it completely covers the target at 100 yards if I don't. While I can hit a 16" metal plate at 200 yards all the time, this does not compete with my friends Marlin 336 and a ranch dog bullet that hits a 10" all the time at 200 yards.

[lovedogs]

Thanks, smkummer. I've been working some on the "golden gun". It had a bit of roughness in the rear of the chamber but a kiss from a reamer fixed it. The fit between the bolt and bolt block was also a little too tight. A dab of Flitz and a couple hundred cycles smoothed that. So I finally got to fire a few shots to work up a j-word load. I always try to break in and smooth a barrel some with jacketed then switch to cast. Anyway, I have a lot of IMR4350 so thought I'd try it with that long tube. No way I could get a max load of it in the case so when the case was full I crammed a Sierra 150 gr. on top of it. It wasn't speedy but sure shot good. Even with factory front sight and old eyes it shot three 50 yd. groups into 3/8 inch. Will now switch to a faster burn powder and start shooting some 100 yd. groups. Then it'll get a taste of 150 & 170 gr. cast bullets. So far it's looking like a real shooter.

[SavageMan2506]

nice buy! excellent gun, great price.

[lovedogs]

Guess I've got it all figured out now. Got a good J-bullet load w/ Sierra 150 and IMR4350. The Lee cast 150 and IMR3031 shot great for a hunting w/ cast bullet load. Shoots in 1 1/2 in. @100 yds. w/ vel. of 2085 FPS. But the real shocker was the load with Lyman 170 RN @ 1940 FPS w/ IMR 3031. It shot three groups that were an even inch @ 100 yds. All nine shots into the same 1 in. bull. Now that's consistent. With these old eyeballs I could hardly believe it. Now I've switched from the factory blade sight to a large white bead. Maybe not as good for target work but easier to see and better for hunting with.

[TXGunNut]

Good job! I keep hearing these commemorative rifles are often quite good shooters, you've just proved it again. Let's keep that just among us, OK? ;-)

[smkummer]

Lovedogs, I see your in E. Montana. Lots of big sky, valleys and impromptu ranges in that state. While I am not a fan of tang sights on a lever gun as they get in the way of operating the lever, the accuracy that your getting would have me put one on and start shooting gongs or big AR500 plates out to 500 yards. You might have to switch back to the original post front sight though.