indy1919a4
Member
Went to a nice little auction in the country and found a Winder Musket, It is really a Model 1885 Winchester. Around 1904 Col Winder wanted to produce a training rifle for the Army. He wanted a small bore rifle that had the weight of a full size military arm. So he got Winchester to take the model 1885 and to chamber it in 22 Long Rifle.
They made almost 13,000 before they stopped production in 1923. They were made in both High wall & Low wall models chambered in 22 LR and 22 short. The Government paid about 20 dollars each for these and then surplused them to Boy scouts and NRA shooting clubs for about 1.25 in the 20s & 30s.
The cool thing abouts this rifle is it reeks quality. Its heavy duty and looks like you could use it as a pry bar. When you drop the block to load the shell it drops the trigger and block together and when you bring the block up the hammer is cocked and ready to fire. A real nice feature that many trainers and boys guns of later years do not have. Also it ejects the spent shell nicely another feature that alot of military trainers and Boys guns come short of.
The Enfield trainers may be the best because it deposes the spent case nicely in the empty hollow magazine shell. (I Say old chap, very civilized of you)
This one was made in 1916, It is a low wall, chambered in 22 short. And it does have the the "US" and flaming cannon ball acceptance stamp on the Tang.
They made almost 13,000 before they stopped production in 1923. They were made in both High wall & Low wall models chambered in 22 LR and 22 short. The Government paid about 20 dollars each for these and then surplused them to Boy scouts and NRA shooting clubs for about 1.25 in the 20s & 30s.
The cool thing abouts this rifle is it reeks quality. Its heavy duty and looks like you could use it as a pry bar. When you drop the block to load the shell it drops the trigger and block together and when you bring the block up the hammer is cocked and ready to fire. A real nice feature that many trainers and boys guns of later years do not have. Also it ejects the spent shell nicely another feature that alot of military trainers and Boys guns come short of.
The Enfield trainers may be the best because it deposes the spent case nicely in the empty hollow magazine shell. (I Say old chap, very civilized of you)
This one was made in 1916, It is a low wall, chambered in 22 short. And it does have the the "US" and flaming cannon ball acceptance stamp on the Tang.
