What to do w/ damaged Win 1898 .22 WRF?

[eldon519]

I inherited a Winchester 1898 pump action .22 WRF with an octagonal barrel some time ago. It appears to have a small rupture in the barrel part way down its length. My guess is someone used the wrong ammo in it, but I don't really know.

Anyway, I'm curious about ideas as to what I should do with it. I've been wanting to clean out the gun cabinet a bit, and while it is nice, a broken gun taking up space is hard for me to justify keeping. I've obviously never shot it, so I don't know if it is an enjoyable model to shoot. Any idea how much it might cost to have it rebarreled? Would it be worth it to do so? If I rebarreled it, could it be easily converted to .22LR or .22 magnum?

 

[Coyote3855]

Be helpful to have more information and maybe pictures. Is the "rupture" an actual hole in the barrel? Or a bulge? Hard to imagine that wrong ammunition would make a hole. If there had been a bullet lodged in the barrel and a second round fired, the results could be a bulge but I can't imagine the old WRF cartridge having enough pressure to rupture/hole the barrel.

What's the condition of the rifle other than the rupture? Any rebarreling or lining is likely to cost more than the rifle is worth, so I probably wouldn't unless it had sentimental/family values.

You might check Numrich/Gun Parts Corporation. They might have a barrel. If not, they might be willing to purchase the rifle for parts. Or you can disassemble the rifle and sell the parts individually on an auction site.

 

[tark]

If the "Rupture" is actually just a bulge from shooting out a stuck bullet by mistake; the gun might shoot quite well as is. I had a beautiful K-22 smith with a bulged barrel- that still shot under an inch at 25 yards.

 

[StrawHat]

To the best of my knowledge, there is no Winchester Model 1898. Perhaps a photo of the rifle would help.

Kevin

 

[eldon519]

Sorry you are right Strawhat, it is a Winchester Model 1890 pump action .22 WRF. It's got a nice octagonal barrel but as mentioned it is buldged and ruptured. I think it may still have an obstruction inside as I can't get a cleaning rod all the way through it. It also feels really gritty, maybe rusty inside. Like I said, I'm betting it was fired with the wrong ammo, got one stuck and then kept shooting. I have my suspicions as to who did it and how it happened, but that is a whole nother story.

Anyway, pictures coming.

 

[eldon519]

Sorry can only seem yo attach one photo at a time on my iphone.

 

[Furncliff]

By the last photo the rifle looks to be in very good shape except for the barrel. My gunsmith sources rare parts for me, I'm often amazed at what he can find. Perhaps you can find a barrel through your smith? Since you have zero dollars invested so far, it could be worth doing, these are really fun shooters and seem to be going up in value ( I believe these rifles are a John Browning design).

http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=winchester+1890+pump


Replacement barrels (NEW), here...

http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/Winchester_1890_Winchester_1906.htm

 

[fireman 9731]

Wow, a split octagon barrel. As others have said, since it seems to be in otherwise good shape, a re-barrel may be worth it if you want to keep it. If you just want rid of it, put it on Gunbroker. Someone will buy it for what its worth.

 

[gpb]

This place says they have barrels for the Model 1890. I have no experience with them, so I can make no recommendation.

http://homesteadparts.com/shopcart/Winchester_1890_Winchester_1906.htm

 

[tark]

Wow. what a bummer! There appears to be no reason for the crack, no bulging or any evidence of a barrel obstruction being shot out. But that looks like a nice rifle, well worth the trouble of replacing the barrel. No worries about defacing a collectible here; the gun is worth very little as it sits. I would go for it.

 

[Edarnold]

The only times I've seen a crack of this sort was when a seam in the barrel let loose, in this case from firing with an obstruction in the bore. This happens when a bit of slag gets incorporated in the steel billet, then gets stretched out as the billet is rolled to the desired length. The reproduction barrels look like a pretty good deal, I wonder what the total cost would be to convert to .22 LR?

 

[eldon519]

Well Numerich actually had .22LR barrels for $100 but I read it may require changing the carrier and some other parts too. I'm kind of tempted to see if it'll feed .22LR as is and if so, just sticking the barrel on it. Might also be possible to plug the carrier to reduce its depth as well.

Honestly I barely shoot rimfires though which makes me wonder if it's worth it.

 

[rcmodel]

It's hard to imagine splitting a 1890 barrel like that.

But, if it is otherwise as good as it looks like, it's a $500-$600 gun easy.
Just the tang sight is worth at least $100, if not 2-3 times that if it is original.

You will have to change the carrier, and extractor to work with .22 RF.
The mag tube loading port is cut different, but may work with .22 LR??

So about $325 in parts, plus gunsmith labor to convert it.

Or, you could just re-barrel it and keep it a .22 WRF.

They are fun, and both Winchester & CCI produces ammo for them.

The old .22 WRF ammo was close to the .22 WRM in sound & trajectory.

The new modern ammo is down-loaded to about .22 LR performance.

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/detail.aspx?use=3&loadNo=0069

The other option is have the crack ground out and TIG welded, then refinished.
Then have it re-lined with a new S/S liner.
Relining will cost $275 from Redmans.

http://www.redmansrifling.com/relining_prices.htm


rc