Winchester 1886 Extra Light

Jeff Higgins · 03-28-2018, 03:23 PM

You guys might remember that back around Thanksgiving time last year, Rickysa started a thread about lever guns. We had a fun little discussion. In that thread, a few of you asked me what I would choose if I could only have one Winchester lever action. I replied that I would like an 1886 Extra Light in .45-70.

Well, I'm sure you all know where this is going - I'm the proud new owner of a new in box, unfired Miroku made example of this wonderful rifle. It's old enough to be marked U.S. Repeating Arms, rather than Browning (like my recently acquired Model 71).

I went to my local gun shop innocently enough, looking to pick up a little Weihrauch HW30 .177 caliber pellet rifle that I had had my eye on for some time. Well, it didn't work out that way - the rat bastard that owns the place (actually a very good buddy of at least 30 years) had this ear to ear, sheet eating grin on his face. "Wait here" he says, as he heads for his back room. I knew I was in trouble. He knows me too well.

He came walking back out saying "I just got this in, like this morning. It's 'used', so I have to sit on it for 30 days, but it's yours if you want it...".

"If I want it." Uh-huh. Well, today was 30 days since that fateful day. I just picked it up. Here she is:

Here she is with her sister, the Model 71. The only real differences are the straight grip vs. pistol grip, the barrel length, the barrel contour, and the weight. The '86 weighs about a pound and a half less:

The barrel on the '86 is shorter, and has a heavier contour, but it has a lot bigger hole in it:

Funny how things go sometimes. These rifles, while not especially rare, just don't show up all that often. Here we were, just talking about them, and one just falls in my lap.

I'm kinda afraid to go back for that air rifle...

Scott Douglas · Scott Douglas's Garage

Congrats!
That looks like a lot of fun.

Arizona_928 · 03-28-2018, 04:16 PM

love lever spoons.
45-70 is my favorite caliber. easy to reload.
I have the run of the mill 1895 marlin guide rifle... Added a picatinny rail, but I don't like optics on her.

dmcummins · 03-28-2018, 04:21 PM

Nice

dmcummins · 03-28-2018, 04:23 PM

Makes me want to pull out the old 1886 and seeing how it would do. It’s also a 45-70 but it’s definatly not light.

Jeff Higgins · 03-28-2018, 06:10 PM

I'm pretty excited. I love the .45-70, and I have not had an '86 for way, way too long. The last one I had was a standard rifle with a full length magazine tube and a crescent but plate. The darn thing weighed over ten pounds and just never shot all that well. Plenty good for hunting at iron sight, .45-70 ranges, but I got tired of lugging it around and always fussing around to find a "better" load for it. Finally sold it and bought a standard Marlin 1895 half magazine, pistol grip, 22" round barreled full sized rifle. The Guide Gun had not yet come out, nor had the Cowboy, so this was all Marlin had. Great rifle. I still have it and still occasionally hunt with it.

This 1886 Extra Light is almost exactly the same size. It feels a bit lighter than the Marlin, but not enough to make any difference. The cool thing about the '86 is that it is a real, full length action meant for the .45-70. It's actually long enough for the .45-90 as well. The Marlin is not - the new "1895" is really a revamped 336, meant for the .30-30, .35 Remington, and stuff like that. As such, it's too short for original length .45-70 ammo.

Funny, though, its popularity has spawned a whole new "standard" for the .45-70, with everyone now making ammo short enough to cycle through it. Bullet molds are now made with the cannelure place to accommodate the Marlin, jacketed bullets have had their cannelures placed to support the Marlin, and stuff like that.

With the '86, I can shoot full length ammo normally reserved for my Sharps and Ballard single shots. That opens it up for 500 grain bullets, something the Marlin is too short to cycle. Might be kind of "interesting" in such a relatively light rifle...

03-28-2018, 06:24 PM

Sweet!

Jeff Higgins · 03-30-2018, 05:04 PM

Well, I got her out to the range today for some load testing, and just to get a general feel for her. I think I decided before I even went that this was going to be pretty much a black powder shooter, but I brought my one smokeless load anyway, just for good measure.

Unfortunately, my one smokeless load that I keep around is my "Marlin load", for the 1895. 410-ish grain bullet from the RCBS mold over 50.0 grains of H322 for about 1,920 fps. Ouch. It's bad enough in the Marlin, with its rubber but pad and maybe a bit more weight, but holy smokes was it ever unpleasant in this new Extra Light with its checkered steel butt plate. I swear I left snot, slobber, and ear wax all over the stock every time I pulled the trigger. They shot very, very well in the Winchester, but I'm afraid these are going to remain "Marlin loads" from now on.

Much more pleasant, and equally accurate, were my loads with the 400 grain Lyman bullet over 7.0 grains of Reloder 7 and 55 grains of Goex FFg black powder. This is known as a "duplex" load, wherein we use a priming charge of smokeless under the black powder to make it burn cleaner. These do just under 1,400 fps and are far more pleasant to shoot.

More good news was I found I could fire about a dozen of these before the bore fouled out and started throwing fliers. A couple of damp (with water) patches through the bore and she was back to shooting again. Plenty good for hunting.

So, anyway, a fun, productive day at the range. The gun shoots well with a couple of my "standard" loads that my other .45-70's like, which is a good thing.

Steve Carlton · 03-30-2018, 06:15 PM

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

That guy had you sold before you walked in the door.

Sweet, love me some lever guns.

Jeff Higgins · 03-30-2018, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

That guy had you sold before you walked in the door.

He had me before I got out of bed that morning. When I picked it up he told me he would have called me had I not blindly stumbled into his shop that day. He's got my number. Hell, I think I put both his kids through college...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

Sweet, love me some lever guns.

Yup. Something about these things. They may not be the most accurate, most powerful, flattest shooting, or any of that - but the fun factor is pegged. That, and these two new Winchesters are very well made, with fit and finish second to none. They are just really pleasing to handle and shoot, in a way that much more accurate, flat shooting, and powerful modern rifles just can't match. Everyone should try a lever gun, just for fun.

KFC911 · 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

....Everyone should try a lever gun, just for fun.

IT'S A TRAP!!!

Ya'll have been duly warned....Higgins will sucker you in like like a Siren's call folks....I can count at least 4 spoons I've purchased because of that ********* (two were Dianas however, another hoot). I purchased my Marlin 336 forty years ago when I was a kid. PPOT rekindled that affection...thank you Jeff

!

The 336 doesn't get out much these daze (ever), but my levers in .22 and .357 do.

How does a modern .30-30 (336) compare with a 45-70...never shot one... oh crap...

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

I blame JM Browning

I sort of wish he was into internal combustion engines instead of firearms.

Jeff Higgins · 03-31-2018, 12:04 PM

As far as Marlins go, the .30-30 and .45-70 share the same platform. I think there is actually a greater variety of variations available in .45-70 these days. New .30-30 sales don't amount to much anymore, but the .45-70 has enjoyed a pretty remarkable renaissance in the last several decades.

The .45-70, with original specification ammunition, is a joy to shoot. We are talking a 400 grain bullet at about 1,300 or so fps. Recoil is quite noticeable but, like other low velocity big bores, not "snappy" or stinging like a modern belted magnum. A little more stout than a .30-30, but not bad at all.

The .45-70 does, of course, have quite the looping trajectory. Most folks would consider it a relatively close range round for that reason. It can be "souped up" substantially in modern, strong actions like the Marlin or the Ruger #1, but you will certainly pay the price in recoil. Lots and lots of recoil. 2,000 fps with a 400 grain bullet is entirely achievable. The rifles will gobble up loads like that without batting an eye; the shooter, not so much. I find it nice to know that I can exceed my limits without beginning to approach the limits of the rifles. There is a really big safety factor there.

But, again, unless you have a real reason for loads like that, there is no reason to punish yourself. These things are great good fun with factory standard level loads.

Hmm... Mr. Browning designing engines... hmm... I think that would be the equivalent of one man having designed our beloved flat sixes, the radial aircraft engine, the American V-8, the Wankel rotary, the Ferrari V-12, and many others. From rifles to pistols to shotguns to machine guns, no one has ever covered as much ground with segment leading designs, that remain so darn near one hundred years after his death. What a remarkable man.