Shooting Century Arms' 1887 shotgun

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I have one of the Century arms imports, and love it. It can hold more that 5 shells. You can load the first five like normal. then add one more to the carrier bar and close. It doesn't transfer to the barrel till you cock it again. If your ready to shoot you can also stuff one in the barrel, giving you a total of seven.
 
I didn't know that a lever action shotgun was made until I saw one in a Del Rio, Texas hardware store in about 1998. This small town store did a little of everything, including gunsmithing. A Hispanic man came in with one looking for a screw that had loosened and fallen out. It was old, worn, but well cared for - you could tell that this man was a working man who lovingly carried and used this shotgun everyday. I didn't speak to him but that gun has always stood out in my mind.
 
Must confess that "Century Arms" and "Made in China" used in the same paragraph doesn't exactly inspire complete confidence....


Willie

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I've had one for several years now, really like it. Fun to shoot, but I'm slower than dead snails with it in Cowboy Action.
 
I want one real bad. I keep deliberating between the 1887 and the SXS they offer. If i didn't recently lose my job (still have my own practice and money from that but not as flush as I was :fire:) I was planning on buying one after I got my fiancee her ever desired Blunderbuss.

When I get back to working sixty hours a week I'll get myself one. I want to make some brass cartridges for it and play with some buck and shot (instead of just buck and ball, buckshot with small shot for turkey hunting that'll still put down a two or four legged predator if need be, no shooting into the air unless it's loose shot for bird).

Oh heck I want another one to make into a SBS, and then make an exaggerated loop for the grip and cut away the trigger guard (no gun twirling while gun is loaded).
 
I want one but all I see with norinco are high shooting and non ejecting. chiappa wants a grand for theirs. I suppose I could cut the stock off and the barrel down to legal minimum so I can say "RUN - GET THE NORINCO" in an arnold voice.
 
Mike,

Thanks for sharing again. I do like your videos.

Did you get a chance to run this gun with modern smokeless loads? I was wondering how it performs with Buck shot and slugs rather than just birdshot as some would have to justify its purchase by having it be a HD gun.

I noted in the video that besides that first set of shots before you began vigorously working the lever that it appears that the last round in every magazine seems to need to be brushed out of the action by hand. Does the next round up serve the function of an ejector on these arms? Will the last round always be standing up on the breech face like a classic smokestack?

Bennett of Winchester was an idiot in some ways, fortunately his stick in the mud attitudes may have given us FN and may have saved Colt by driving JMB to them. And despite its short comings he "gave" us this neat looking shotgun.

-kBob
 
I duck hunted in Mexico. One of the pick-up men had a shotgun that was the same configuration. The gun had split top to bottom through the receiver in the past. He got it and had the village iron worker/blacksmith weld the receiver back together. He had to shoot 2 1/2" shells in it which he reloaded. It was a single-shot after welding.

It was scary looking.
 
I'd love to get one of these and re-barrel it in the mythical .70-150 Winchester. Hand loading would obviously be a must.

Here is a photo and a brief description:
70-150.jpg

If you are wondering why, the answer (as is often the case) is as George Mallory said about climbing Everest, because it is there.

Mike,

Is the pivoting lever lock to keep the breach closed while carrying a new development, or was it also on the original '87s?
 
Does that diminish the significance of his endeavor, or his motivation? Besides, the British are way too cocky with their big-bore Express cartridges. They aren't the only game in town, buddy. Also, few of them have been chambered in repeating rifles.
 
I'm one of those Aussies that bought a Chinese made 1887. It needed a fair bit of work to get it to cycle and eject properly, but ive still got it in the safe. Ive even used it a couple of times in cowboy action shooting with some BP loads.

There is also an engineering place over here that make an extended magazine tube for them so it holds an extra 2 shells... which ive got too hehe. with one up the spout and one in the action it holds 9, so why we are allowed these but not pumps i dunno. But like many gun laws it was probably "Hollywood" based... meh, with the right permits you can still own almost anything.
 
Picked up a used CAI 1887 last week, and fired today, great fun. It would stovepipe the just-fired shells if I didn't run the lever all the way out, so I need to watch out for short stroking. But with the target ammo I had available today, it ran fine, & shot to point of aim. Next I'll run some buckshot through it.

Anyone know of a good book on slicking this action up a bit?
 
Thank you! I'll dig that up. I read Marauder's info on slicking the '87, but I'd need some visual to give me an idea of what he refers to in some places.

Edited to add: LOTS of Youtube videos (some by 243WW) on slicking up the 1887! Thanks!
 
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My grandfather had one in 10 guage in the early 1900s. My dad remember when he fired a shot over a flooded terrace in his field and came back with an armload of ducks.
 
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