Winchester 1887 spotting

[Marko Kloos]

Local gun shop put a Winchester 1887 out on the shelf while I was milling around in the store today. This thing looked like it rolled off the line at Winchester last year...near 100% finish. This is the stock-less variant with the short barrel, very "Terminator 2". The "pistol grip" stock nubbin looks like a challenge, especially since this puppy is the 10 gauge variant.

Anyone know if that little monster can utilize smokeless 10ga. shells, or would the user be in danger of grenading the gun with anything but blackpowder loads? It looks like a pretty intimidating home defense option. Genuine 1887s are rare birds, and I don't think that this shop knows what they have...I could probably talk them out of it for five or six bills.

 

[buzz_knox]

I don't think it would hold up at all.

Which shop was this, by the way?

 

[Marko Kloos]

Craig's out on Chapman. They also have a sweet little Browning .22 autoloader of Japanese manufacture for $240-ish, and a cherry .357 Coonan for $500 and change.

 

[buzz_knox]

Crap. The problem with Craig's is that when they are open, I'm at work. And it's too much of a hassle to fight Chapman at lunch.

 

[BigG]

Marko, i believe they are BP ONLY and usually shoot a shorter shell than the monster 3 1/2" Mags we see today. 2 7/8, mebbe.

 

[Detritus]

if it's a 10ga take a close look and see if it is not in fact a m-1901, if so it IS proofed for smokeless.

other than ALL 1901's being 10ga (when built) they look the same as a 1887, i know there are some different markings, so they CAN be told apart, but am not currently aware fo what those are (a 1901 patent renewal or similar, maybe??)

also i never can remember if any of the BP-only 1887s were chambered in 10ga or if they were all 12's.

but if the gun is as you say a 10 and int eh shape you describe, then it is highly posible that it is safe to fire Smokeless loads of the proper size (does 10ga have teh shell length differences that 12 does?) through it.

 

[MrAcheson]

Ummm don't the '87 and '01 Winchesters have damascus barrels? If so you should probably have a smith check it out to make sure corrosion won't cause a future kaboom.

 

[Dave McCracken]

While I'm sure there's folks out there somewhere that shoot these, I hope and pray it's not common.

Besides the century or more of time since these were proofed, the 12s are chambered for the 2 1/2" or 2 9/16" shells. The 10s are for the 2 7/8" hull,

To cautious ol' me, these are more artifacts than shooters...