[Okiecruffler]

Went out to the range today, figured I would have the place to myself due to the rain and tornado watch. Boy was I wrong. With Deer season just around the corner everyone and their cousin bubba was out there. So I ended up at the farthest end of the 100yrd range, which was just fine by me. There's an elderly gentleman beside me shooting what I thought was a Ruger lever action. Well his target is 2 feet away from mine, so I can't help but notice that he's outshooting just about every nimrod with a bolt action in sight. Well, he's collecting his brass as he shoots, and one of them rolls under my chair, so I pick it up and go to hand it to him, but then realize that something is different. I've never seen this cartridge before. I glance at the headstamp, and I'll be jiggered, a .284 win. It dawns on me that he's not shooting a Ruger, so I just have to ask. It's a Winchester model 88. He lets me look it over, and I thought it was something new (I've never been a winchester fan, my daddy raised me on Marlins like all good fathers do) but it turns out he bought it in the '60's. Sure couldn't tell by looking at it. Now don't get me wrong, I still think my Savage99 is the finest lever action ever made, but that winchester may be a close second.

[wanderinwalker]

Some of the best bench-rest groups I have ever seen were fired by an elder gentleman at my club with a Savage 99. When I noticed that the holes in his targets were about the size of the ones I was putting in mine (6.5mm) I got interested. Lo and behold, this gentleman was using a .250 Savage. Very cool.

FWIW, some of the worst shooting I have ever seen was done by nimrods with the latest super-duper magnums topped by Hubble-telescopes. It's the trigger jerk that counts folks! :D

[uglygun]

I had a Model 88 in 308Winchester for awhile.

It was passed onto me and sadly was pretty badly beaten having been a family member's hunting rifle.

I wound up selling it because simply put my AR10 out classed that Winchester M88, AR10 had less recoil, more accuracy, and ability to accept more rounds.

Not to say the Model 88 couldn't be made to shoot, the way the bolt head was designed it wasn't terribly much different than how a Mauser action would lock up. The lever simply transferred the bolt into a back/forth movement. Didn't have it in me to dump a bunch of money into the rifle trying to restore it though.

[JohnMc]

latest super-duper magnums topped by Hubble-telescopes.
LOL :) Thanks for the laugh.

JohnMc

[roscoe]

I bought a model 88 in .308 for my leftie dad, and he seems to be able to hit with it pretty well. He's no great shot, either.

I think it is a great rifle - shoots accurately, action is a stout, and looks good. It has a one piece stock, which the Savage 99 and all 94s lack, so you can use a shooting sling. It is magazine fed, which might be an advantage in an older gun (easier to repair than the Savage rotary magazine).

Just don't baby the action - my dad tried to chamber a round quietly while pig hunting a few weeks back and short-stroked it. Result - empty chamber.

[Jim K]

There was nothing at all wrong with the Model 88, except that it didn't LOOK like a lever action rifle is supposed to look. They are accurate and reliable, but never sold well, nor did its semi-auto companion, the Model 100. Each sold around a quarter million units, but they were not as popular as Winchester had hoped.

Jim

[Okiecruffler]

Well it impressed me, and that .284 looks like a pretty interesting cartridge. I'm not going to actively search for one, but If I run into one I might have to pick it up.

[wanderinwalker]

JohnMc,

No problem. I do what I can! ;)

FWIW, many of the die-hard, bring-home-the-bacon-every-season hunters around here use either .30-06s, .308s, or .30-30s with modest sized (1-4x, 2-7x) scopes. The .270 is probably just as popular as well, and there are variations to the caliber trends (mine is a .260, but I'm not a die-hard, yet).

[cracked butt]

I saw one of these two weekends ago. I was working at my club's deer rifle sightin clinic, and a guy came to the next bench over with one of these rifles, from what I understand, he inherited it from his grandfather. The cases were landing next to my bench, and since I didn't have a customer at my bench at the time, I picked up the brass. I asked the guy if he saves the brass, he said no. Not knowing if the .284 was even available anymore, I told he should keep the brass anyhow in case he decides to ever reload or can find someone to reload for him. The cartridge boxes he had with him looked to be 40 years old.

Doing this community service allows me to see all kinds of neat things. last year it was a family of Hmong who had brought an old mosin nagant along. The man who looked to be 80 or 90 years old hled the rifle and a scope together while a man who might have been his sone wrapped the scope and rifle with duct tape. The rifle shot quite low, so they unwrapped the tape and put a piece of wood under the scope to angle it forward a bit. they then rewrapped it with the same tape. To the amazement of all, this setup actually worked, or at least the old man made it work, his shooting was amazing considering the equipment he had to work with. I have no doubt that old man got a deer that year.

[theCZ]

My granfather has a Winchester 88 in 308. I saw it last winter, looks like a fun gun. Being left handed and used to using right handed bolt guns, I have quite a fondness for lever actions. I just might have to get one of those or a savage 99 one of these days. I don't think the 88s look that funny, just different.

[swingset]

The .284 is an interesting cartridge, lends itself well to accuracy.

I have a .284 custom Sako Gold Medal, and also use .284 to make 7.5 Swiss out of, so I'm familiar with it.

[keano44]

It's really interesting how some cartridges catch on and become popular, and some never catch on and just fade away. The .284 Win is one of these. It is basically a 7mmWSM or 7mmRSUM, only it was way ahead of its time. My hunting partner has one in a Browning Micro-Medallion bolt rifle, for which I handload his hunting cartridges. This is a great little rifle.

[cracked butt]

I looked this cartridge up in a reloading manual, Its more like a ballistic twin to the 7mm-08. I recall it pushing a 140 gr bullet to something around 2800 fps.

[J Calhoun]

You may be interested to know that the .284 WinMag is not that un-noticed. There are many long range (1000 yards) competition shooters that use a spin off of it. It is a .284 necked down to 6.5mm making a 6.5-.284 as it is known. It is a very accurate cartridge with a strong following.