Winchester 1885 22 short 'low wall'

[SWANEEDB]

My latest 22 'Winder' added to my safe, just was very hard to believe to have this rifle offered to me. Is 'US' marked with the 'bomb', is one of the later mfg'd, would put it in the late teens, condition is superb, think in the 80's would be about right. Took it to the range, fired 10 rds through it, shot great.

[Bigslug]

You're a daring man Swaneedb. I'd be hesitant to our shoot modern, high-velocity .22 shorts through that gun. I'm not sure that old 1885 action is strong enough.

Seriously. . .if we were to have a contest ranking "Most overbuilt firearms for the task", an '85 in .22 short HAS to be up at the top of the list.

[stubbicatt]

Yep. I love my Winder. Solid rifle, probably a little too heavy given the cartridge she shoots. Bore is nice and bright and it shoots where it is pointed. The rear sight is a superb bit of engineering.

[JHeath]

i have a .22 i shoot out the winder at coons its a mossberg .22lr i dont think a .22 short can carry crosst the holler

[lobogunleather]

I have had a Winder .22 Short for about 25 years. When I received it the bore looked to be in terrible condition, heavily fouled and dark. Metal and wood show many years of honest wear, but complete and fully functional. Took a new bronze bore brush and patiently worked it through the bore several hundred times, just about wore out the brush, then wrapped the brush with a bit of 0000 steel wool and repeated the process. The result was a clear bright bore with sharp rifling lands and no visible pitting. That rifle will repeatedly shoot postage stamp sized 10-round groups at 50 yards from the bench. Keep intending to take it out for small game, but haven't as yet.

I am always on the lookout for .22 shorts, which have been very hard to find throughout the ammo shortages of recent years. Easy enough to rechamber for .22LR, but decided it is best to keep the old musket in original form. So I continue scrounging for .22 shorts, stock up every chance I get, and I kind of ration myself at each shooting session (easy to shoot a couple of hundred, but not when I only have a few boxes on hand and no guarantees of finding more when I want them).

Great old rifles with an interesting history.

[Alan in GA]

Curious, try and see if a LR cartridge will fully chamber (easily, don't force). Wondering if LR chambers were cut in factory Winders or done later by gun hacks. Suupposedly a 40 gr LR bullet won't stabilize in the 1:20 or 1:24 twist rate.
I've had a few Winchester 56 rifles in 22 SHORT and they had what I describe are 'match' 22 SHORT chambers being that a 22 SHORT bullet would actually engrave a bit into the rifling lead!

[stubbicatt]

The 22 Long, not Long Rifle, is a 29 grain bullet at a pretty zippy velocity. If I were to rechamber mine it would be in 22 Long, as I can feel confident that the slow twist will stabilize that bullet, as it is the same bullet as is loaded in the short. At least that's how CCI does it.

[Alan in GA]

I would never cut a SHORT chamber out to anything, preferring the origional SHORT chamber. However I have one Winchester model 56 in 22 SHORT (of three) that a previous owner re reamed to LR and I do the same - shoot 22 LONG ammo in it as well as 22 SHORT ammo.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I have an 1885 Winder that I acquired in a collection of seven rifles. It is also chambered in 22short. A previous owner chambered it to long rifle. When I fired a few rounds I found it was a NO-GO. The bullets turned sideways. I then tried some CCI Mini Mags. They grouped very well. I assume that is because they had 29 grain bullets. The rifle is in great shape except for the bore which resembles a sewer pipe. This is one of those guns which I enjoy looking at but never shoot. I have other .22 single shot target rifles that shoot better and also look great.