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...
