TMC4232
02-18-2009, 02:17 AM
Hey guys, this is my first post on this forum and I would like to share an exciting modification that I came up with for my Miroku 1886 Winchester Take Down 45-70 that goes beyond the rebounding hammer fix. I don't think anyone has done this so far.
I never did get used to the "rebounding hammer" thing on my Winchester and never understood why the same Browning model did not have it. I guess somewhere along the way, lawyers must have been involved. In searching the internet about this oddity I ran across the excellent articles with photos from "Steveb" at http://reloadingandlevergunning.blogspot.com/2007/02/winchestermiroku-86-mods.html and SAA Jim at http://web.tampabay.rr.com/jimstags/win1892/index.htm.
As they suggested, I first removed the long arm of the hammer strut that was causing the rebounding action and was happy to see that the rebound was truly gone, but also discovered that the hammer could still be made to operate from this "half cock" position with a firm pull of the trigger. Not good. After more research I received an email from a gentleman, Mike D in northern California, who told me that I could replace the politically correct Winchester hammer and it's two piece trigger / sear with the correct Browning hammer and one piece Browning trigger / sear. I could not call Midwest Gun Works quick enough. The two parts were about $115 if I remember correctly.
The parts arrived and I happily commenced removing the Winchester parts and installed the Browning parts, only to discover that the Winchester tang Safety bar was now preventing the Browning hammer to fully cock. Soooooooo, instead of considering to remove the Safety or to have it welded up and re-stamped with the correct period wording, especially in this economy :shock:, I spent about an hour thinking how I could salvage the Safety since it was already there. I removed the Safety bar and realized that the Safety could still work if part of the Safety bar were removed to allow the hammer to pass in it's arc to full cock. So, I placed the Safety bar in my bench vise, and filed it in such a way (at an angle) that when installed and in the "Fire" position the Safety bar does not obstruct the movement of the hammer at all, and when in the "Safe" position, the Safety bar moves over in the path of the hammer and PREVENTS the hammer from moving any further back than the half cock position. Therefore, when the hammer is resting on the inertia firing pin OR when the hammer is in the half cock position, the Safety can be easily engaged. When it is engaged, the hammer will not move back nor can the loading lever be actuated. The gun is essentially LOCKED and SAFE. When the Safety is moved to the "Fire" position, the hammer glides all the way back into full cock without obstruction.
The whole job took a couple of hours only because I would file, test fit, file, test fit, etc., plus I like to take my time on my gunsmithing. Once finished I used G96 Cold Blue on the Safety bar so it would blend in with the rest of the parts, then applied some GI surplus M1 Garand grease to all moving parts.
My 1886 Winchester now has a true half cock and a Safety which is the best of both worlds. I thought about welding up the tang and having it re-stamped with the "Model 1886", but afterall it is what it is, my design works, and I can put that kind of money towards another rifle, maybe even an original 1886 someday.
A final note, I also stripped all of the polyurathane off of the stock and refinished it with Watco Natural Danish Oil which really brought the wood to life and gave it more of an original look. I also added an excellent Smith Enterprises 1886 marked Ladder sight graduated to 1,000 yards. The Smith sight is milled from bar stock steel and is absolutely beautiful. My 1886 Winchester now functions and looks like it is supposed to and I LOVE IT :-D .
If anyone needs any help on this or if I can answer questions, let me know.
Here are the "After" photos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0014-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0023-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0020-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0036-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0041-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0042-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0047-1web.jpg
I never did get used to the "rebounding hammer" thing on my Winchester and never understood why the same Browning model did not have it. I guess somewhere along the way, lawyers must have been involved. In searching the internet about this oddity I ran across the excellent articles with photos from "Steveb" at http://reloadingandlevergunning.blogspot.com/2007/02/winchestermiroku-86-mods.html and SAA Jim at http://web.tampabay.rr.com/jimstags/win1892/index.htm.
As they suggested, I first removed the long arm of the hammer strut that was causing the rebounding action and was happy to see that the rebound was truly gone, but also discovered that the hammer could still be made to operate from this "half cock" position with a firm pull of the trigger. Not good. After more research I received an email from a gentleman, Mike D in northern California, who told me that I could replace the politically correct Winchester hammer and it's two piece trigger / sear with the correct Browning hammer and one piece Browning trigger / sear. I could not call Midwest Gun Works quick enough. The two parts were about $115 if I remember correctly.
The parts arrived and I happily commenced removing the Winchester parts and installed the Browning parts, only to discover that the Winchester tang Safety bar was now preventing the Browning hammer to fully cock. Soooooooo, instead of considering to remove the Safety or to have it welded up and re-stamped with the correct period wording, especially in this economy :shock:, I spent about an hour thinking how I could salvage the Safety since it was already there. I removed the Safety bar and realized that the Safety could still work if part of the Safety bar were removed to allow the hammer to pass in it's arc to full cock. So, I placed the Safety bar in my bench vise, and filed it in such a way (at an angle) that when installed and in the "Fire" position the Safety bar does not obstruct the movement of the hammer at all, and when in the "Safe" position, the Safety bar moves over in the path of the hammer and PREVENTS the hammer from moving any further back than the half cock position. Therefore, when the hammer is resting on the inertia firing pin OR when the hammer is in the half cock position, the Safety can be easily engaged. When it is engaged, the hammer will not move back nor can the loading lever be actuated. The gun is essentially LOCKED and SAFE. When the Safety is moved to the "Fire" position, the hammer glides all the way back into full cock without obstruction.
The whole job took a couple of hours only because I would file, test fit, file, test fit, etc., plus I like to take my time on my gunsmithing. Once finished I used G96 Cold Blue on the Safety bar so it would blend in with the rest of the parts, then applied some GI surplus M1 Garand grease to all moving parts.
My 1886 Winchester now has a true half cock and a Safety which is the best of both worlds. I thought about welding up the tang and having it re-stamped with the "Model 1886", but afterall it is what it is, my design works, and I can put that kind of money towards another rifle, maybe even an original 1886 someday.
A final note, I also stripped all of the polyurathane off of the stock and refinished it with Watco Natural Danish Oil which really brought the wood to life and gave it more of an original look. I also added an excellent Smith Enterprises 1886 marked Ladder sight graduated to 1,000 yards. The Smith sight is milled from bar stock steel and is absolutely beautiful. My 1886 Winchester now functions and looks like it is supposed to and I LOVE IT :-D .
If anyone needs any help on this or if I can answer questions, let me know.
Here are the "After" photos:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0014-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0023-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0020-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0036-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0041-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0042-1web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/snayper/DSC_0047-1web.jpg