Winchester 88 re-sassembly, WHOOWE

[Depreacher]

A friend hired me to clean 15 guns for him. One was a nice lever action 88 Winchester in .308 that was gummed up with 50 years of wd-40 sprayings and other trash. Leaves a yellowish/brownish film on parts that is tough as glue to get off. Some rust was inside too. I carefully disassembled it with the help of my Brownells Gun Encyclopedia (thank THE LORD for that book), and cleaned the parts with Gas, and Rem-oil soaked 0000 steel wool (removes rust, but not blue, if used carefully), compressed air, and wearing Nitrile gloves, of course. WHEW, what a job it was. Even though I carefully noted the disassembly procedure, and followed the re-assembly directions and pictures, it was the Devil [smilie=b:putting that thing back together. It takes 2 ea. 3/16" dia. slave pins, 3 hands, and both feet to put that beast back together. I didn't get any scratches on it, and it looked and shot great afterwards.
Surely others have had trouble with this particular rifle. Years ago I was in the gun repair business, on the side, 7 years and never encountered anything like this. This was my first, and LAST 88. Am I alone for having this much trouble????????? I charged him $60 because he was a friend. A stranger would have paid me $100. Bet I had 4 hours total in it. Depreacher

[Frank46]

I had a win model 100? in 308. That sucker was a beast to take apart. Was really gummed up. Maybe it had the same friend that you did. Buddy gave me a shotgun with missing extractor. Numrich had spares so replaced both. I don't know what he sprayed inside the receiver but it was like tar. Gave it back and about a year later he calls me up to do some work on it. Never again. Didn't charge anything the first time around. After Katrina I did get some calls but folks down here don't want to pay what it would take to completely disassemble, clean and reassemble. One guy actually had pieces of gravel inside a 870. Found that he just threw it in the back of the truck that he had hauled gravel in. Frank

[Char-Gar]

I have two 88s. Thanks for the heads up. I won't take them down unless there is a real problem inside.

[Mk42gunner]

I have never taken a Model 88 apart, but I did have a Model 100 that was suposed to have the firing pin mod and hadn't been marked (I bought it at a farm auction). So I took it apart to clean it and make sure the mod had been done, once.

Then the d&*% thing went click on the second deer, it had chambered a round and cocked the hammer??? So I took it apart again. Two days later it went click on the second coyote. I took it apart the third and last time. I never could find anything wrong with it.

It went bye bye at the next gunshow. Shame really, I like the way they handle and mine shot pretty good.

I would still like to have a dependable Winchester 88 or 100. A Remington 742 just isn't the same.

Robert

[marshall623]

I have a 88 carbine in 308 I wouldn't touch it unless something was wrong. They handle and shoot great.

[Ford SD]

If you thought that was hard

One Day I got a call from a friend who said can you come over and give me a hand

When over walked in to the Kitchen and he had a Win Model 100 on the table

PART WAY APART -- parts on the table -- parts on the floor -- parts just sticking out
and i had never even shot one and had NEVER TAKEN one apart

1-1/2 hours later it was cleaned and back to gether after trying different parts different ways

A week later he called me again after he went to the range and tried to take it appart again----So appart and back together 30 min this time

[JIMinPHX]

I never messed with an 88, but I did have the displeasure of trying to disassemble a 100 with a frozen gas piston. Apparently, that was a common problem with them.

Here's the catch 22 - In order to get to the frozen parts, you need to remove the stock. In order to remove the stock, you need to pull the action back, which you can't do when the gas piston is frozen. The book solution is to break the stock, fix the problem & then replace the stock with a new one. The big problem, there are no new stocks available.

It is possible to recock the hammer if you have already pulled the trigger before disassemble. You just need a bent piece of heavy wire or a really strong little pinky finger. It is possible to get a frozen piston unfrozen without breaking the stock too, but it takes a lot of careful work & patience.

Winchester isn't the only company with a corner on the market when it comes to PITA firearm reassembly. NEF Handy Rifles can be a bit tricky. Old German pocket pistols can be a bit strange as well.

By the way, I really like the Winny 100. I'm hoping that some day I'll stumble across one in .243 at a reasonable price. It just never seems to happen.

[JIMinPHX]

Muleequestrian, that's a nice video. I wish that I had seen that before I started messing with the 100.

[Char-Gar]

Mule... Everything is easy once you have learned how to do it.

[JIMinPHX]

[QUOTE=JIMinPHX;1278402] The big problem, there are no new stocks available.

Uhhhh...... actually Sir, there's a link to find brand new Winny 100 and Winny 88 stocks

http://www.gun-parts.com/winchesterstocks/

They have plain walnut for $ 150, and laminated go for about $ 175.


Thanks for the tip. I was unable to find any of those when I went looking about 3 or 4 years ago.

[mroliver77]

The NEF/H&R are not bad if you make up the slave pins and take 10 mg of Valium before commencing. ;)

The Ruger Mark 1 are a pain if you have never done it and have no directions!
Jay

[La Dano]

I know this is a old thread, but I just had a Mod 100 given to me. It had gone through Hurricane Katrina and never cleaned properly. Guess I got my hands full now. Hehe

[nekshot]

If it was free I can take hands full of those anyday!

[La Dano]

I promise I'm not complaining, hehe. Gonna bring it to my smith to have the receiver checked out. When & if I can get it apart.

[nanuk]

... Even though I carefully noted the disassembly procedure, and followed the re-assembly directions and pictures, it was the Devil [smilie=b:putting that thing back together. It takes 2 ea. 3/16" dia. slave pins, 3 hands, and both feet to put that beast back together. I didn't get any scratches on it, and it looked and shot great afterwards.
... charged him $60 because he was a friend. A stranger would have paid me $100. Bet I had 4 hours total in it. Depreacher


and the best part is you can sell the left over parts on Ebay and double your money!

[La Dano]

The bolt is froze and the charge bar is broken along with the stock. Might be better to part it out.