Loose forend on Winchester/Miroku 66

[KidCactus]

Long time lurker, first time poster here, hoping to get some advice. I recently bought a new production Miroku/Winchester 1866 in .45 colt.
I examined the gun upon arrival, but didn’t notice that the forend wood was loose (moves back and forth slightly along the barrel) until I got home and had the chance to handle it more. After doing some research it looks like this happens a lot with lever action rifles, and some even claim it helps with precision to have a loose forend, but seems to me for a high end lever action rifle, the parts should fit snug without affecting aim. I’m not an experienced gun smith, but hoping to get advice on a fix. Your help is appreciated!

 

[Coyote3855]

I currently have a dozen lever guns, mostly Marlins but couple of Winchesters and a 66 replica from Cimarron/Uberti. None of them have a loose forend nor have any of the lever rifles I've handled in 10 years of cowboy action shooting and two years of work with a local museum on their collection of lever guns. I question if this happens a lot with lever action firearms. I also am not convinced that movement of the forend would have much effect on accuracy, but that's just my opinion. Others may differ and I'm always willing to be educated.

Have you taken the forend cap off? On my 66, the cap is held in place with two screws that tighten into a unit that straddles the magazine tube. That unit is not attached to the tube but somewhat free to move slightly. Might be possible to tap that unit towards the action and get a tighter fit.

I agree that for the price of a Miroku, everything should be right.

Let us know if you fix this.

PS. If you remove the forend cap, make sure you use a good gunsmith screwdriver so you don't bugger the screws or scratch the cap. Ask me how I learned this.