1957 Winchester 88 Question

Hi all,

My new to me 1957 Winchester 88 has swivel studs with the forend stud being able to rotate. Additional information is that there are no bows attached. I thought that all this meant that someone removed the original sling swivels and replaced them. However, upon inspection, there are no signs of this being performed. Removing the action from the stock shows no discoloration or removal of wood. The forend stud, when rotated, also rotates in the stock section. From the outside, I can barely make out that the section in the wood is knurled.

My question is, could this be original from the factory and if not, how does the forend stud get removed? Is it likely press fit in or glued? I don't want to damage this classic - if the swivel studs aren't original I would like to switch them out with originals.

Thanks

Thanks for the response and pictures. Mine definitely doesn't have the "nut" in the stock although the cutout for it is there. I tried putting finger pressure on the rotating part and turning the stud but it just continued rotating. Here are some pictures.

Laphroaig,
Can you tell if your father's M88 forend swivel has the same knurled insert from the outside? Also, wondering if the M70's round cutout in the stock is the same for M88 because mine is different with a larger cutout.

I appreciate all your effort and agree with your assessment. Looks like I'm not going to try to remove the swivel/stud. Makes you wonder why Winchester would make it like that.

Mine is in .243. If you get a shot, make it count. Don't want to waste precious ammo. Lol!

When I'm able to get to the range, I'm going to tighten the action screw relatively tightly and shoot a group. Then loosen the screw half a turn and repeat until I'm happy. That usually means less than 2 inch groups.

This website "https://precisionrifleblog.com/2013/03/22/rifle-screw-torque-settings-specifications/" indicates that Winchester recommends 25 in-lbs for their actions.

Hope this helps.

ATCDoktor said:

My Model 88 is chambered in 308 and is a fine shooter.

I’ve hunted pigs with it and find it to be accurate and fast handling.
View attachment 991514

Mine dates from 1959 and is far from pristine.

Somebody at some point in its history put a black recoil pad on it and the magazine isn’t original to the gun (it’s a Wiseners reproduction) and it has only one sling swivel attached on the toe of the stock and it has just a sling stud up front on the forearm.

I enjoy shooting it and most probably have fired ten times as many rounds through it than the previous owners combined.

Trigger pull on mine isn’t that bad and while other people complain about the recoil on the 88 I don’t find it to be bad at all (recoil pad probably helps with that).

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Looks great to me. Can't see any dings in your stock. My trigger is a little mushy but the pull weight is good. Apparently not as bad as others.

Trying to replace the firing pin now. Does anyone know if there is a particular direction to drift the retaining pin out? Left to right or right to left?

Laphroaig said:

I was hoping that you said .284 Win. That's what my Dad wanted, but he found the .308 used and it was a good deal so he bought it. $100 including a case and 2 boxes of ammo. I can remember going with him to buy it from an older gentleman who had put less than a box of ammo through it. My Dad was left handed and a dyed in the wool lever guy. Had to sell his M71 to justify the scopeable M88.

Now that I have it out of the stock, anyone have advice as to how tight to make the single action screw? Crazy design, the screw fits into the barrel a fair distance from the actual receiver. I'm thinking pretty tight.

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I replied to your question.