Winchester 88

C

chrispbrown27

Beginner
Sep 12, 2011
94
0
Found out tonight that I am the winning bidder on an 88 in .308. They gun isn't in the best of shape but the action and bore are solid from what the seller has told me. The barrel is rusted up and the stock has seen better days. The plan is to start a refinishing project on the rifle and at least keep it for this deer season. If I don't care for it I will put it back up for sale and use the proceeds to buy a Savage 99.
First question.....anyone have any experience with 88's? Any tips on dis-assembly or anything else I should know?
Second question.....what are your favorite .308 loads?
 
In my opinion the 88 Win is s much better rifle than the Savage. It has a shorter throw & is a great little deer rifle. I have shot the 88 in both the 308 & the 243 in my opinion the best lever action.
I have been advised that they have manufactured a 284win in the 88 as well but I have never personally seen one.

Blessings,
Dan
 
I keep reading that the 88 in .308 has a stout recoil, but no one ever mentions the .358 being bad. I would think that both the .358 and possibly the .284 would kick more than a .308. I do like the looks of the 88's but nothing is more beautiful than a 99. Depending on the exact shape of the 88 and the refinishing job I can work out on it I might keep it and somewhere down the road buy a 99.
I have read that the .284's are especially hard on the small stocks of the 88's but I have no first hand knowledge if this is true or not.
 
sask boy":1tz25pm4 said:
In my opinion the 88 Win is s much better rifle than the Savage. It has a shorter throw & is a great little deer rifle. I have shot the 88 in both the 308 & the 243 in my opinion the best lever action.
I have been advised that they have manufactured a 284win in the 88 as well but I have never personally seen one.

Blessings,
Dan
Click to expand...
I agree.
My first centerfire rifle was an 88 in .243. I wish I still had it.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 
chrispbrown27":28maqg3n said:
I keep reading that the 88 in .308 has a stout recoil, but no one ever mentions the .358 being bad. I would think that both the .358 and possibly the .284 would kick more than a .308. I do like the looks of the 88's but nothing is more beautiful than a 99. Depending on the exact shape of the 88 and the refinishing job I can work out on it I might keep it and somewhere down the road buy a 99.
I have read that the .284's are especially hard on the small stocks of the 88's but I have no first hand knowledge if this is true or not.
Click to expand...

This was my grandfathers m88 .358, then my fathers now it is in my possession. Grandad shot a lot of western Colorado elk and deer with that old rifle. The recoil is not bad and I shoot the gun once a year with factory ammo.

358win003jpg.jpg
 
That rifle represents quite a family history, Owenv. Should I ever find a Model 88 that was originally chambered in .358 or in .284, I will be tempted to secure it as though it was "a pearl of great price."
 
There isn't much love for the 88 on GunBroker right now. Don't know if the asking prices or what, but very few bids on the ones that are for sale. That might put a hurting on my refinishing mine and selling it to buy a 99.
 
It seems that sellers are very optimistic in their expectations. The rifles tend to be highly over priced, at least in my opinion.
 
Can't disagree with you there. It seems odd how some sell and some don't sometimes for no reason that I can see. I think the key is setting no reserve and keeping your starting price low to get people bidding, but you are taking a chance on selling the gun for too cheap. I had someone try to bid me up twice before the auction ended but still ended up getting it for less than I thought I would. It seems like sometimes the competition of it gets to people.
 
I was just reading last night that the .358's did not sell when they were released. The story I read said that Winchester even went so far as to allow gun shops that had them just sitting on the shelf could send them in to be re barreled in one of the other more popular calibers. This is supposed to be the reason so few .358's are around now days. I had also read that the .284 was a little hot for the design and that accounts for them being so had to come by. I agree, value is in the eye of the beholder.
 
The last one I saw in .358 had been rebored, but it was being sold as original chambering.
 
Ok, picked the rifle up tonight...finally! The gun is in better shape than I thought in some ways and worse in others. The good: The stock is in fairly good shape. It needs to be refinished, but other than possibly losing some checkering (if I do it myself of course) it should come out good. The action is smooth and the bore is good. The pitting on the barrel and receiver aren't nearly as bad as the pictures looked. The bad: Part of the pitting is over one number in the serial number. The gun will never be a collector but it should make a good hunter. I am planning on cleaning up the pitting as best I can but not sure how to handle it around the serial number. Obviously, I taking it off would be bad so I am not sure what I should do with that. The rest of the info on the barrel, with the exception of the caliber, I don't mind losing since it isn't a collector. Any advice on the serial number?
At this point the plan is: Get the rust off with evapo-rust or possibly some naval jelly, then work on smoothing out the pits as much as I can. Then, if it smooths out enough, a cold blue job. If it doesn't smooth out enough I might go with dura-coat. Sanding the stock down and refinishing it. And break it down and clean the heck out of it! After that, get ahold of some go-no go gauges and check the headspace and then hopefully put a deer or two down with it toward the end of rifle season. There are a few minor parts that need to be replaced on it but nothing that will keep me from shooting it, so those will come in time too.
 
One additional question for those that currently or have in the past owned one.....Does the forward swivel screw in to the stock? Thats what it looks like to me but on the parts schematic it looks like it fits into the stock not screws in.
 
http://www.gun-parts.com/index.html/
I have done business with these guys and it's been a while but I would use them again in a heart beat! They blued an old shotgun for me years ago when they were doing this type of work back years ago but good guys!

Check gun broker just type in Winchester Model 88 it has some fastners for 10.00 $ !
 
Had a couple of 88's. Sold them down the line. I despised the trigger! Pretty cool lever gun though.
 
I finally got a chance to put some rounds through the 88 and I am fairly happy. Being this close to season and not having the dies for it yet I am stuck using factory ammo. I refuse to pay the prices they are asking for the premium loads so I have limited myself to the basics....corelokts, power points, vital shoks and hornady interlocks. Decided to try the hornadys and they will be adequate for this year. At 100 yards I can put three in a 3 inch circle. The cheap scope I have on there, which will be replaced next year, and my crappy eyesight coupled together make that grouping pretty good! ha ha
I was really looking for the gun to kick a lot worse based on reviews from people saying they kick like a mule. Who ever thinks this should shoot some 12 ga. shotgun slugs! That .308 is a pussycat compared! ha ha
 
Have never loaded for an M88 in .308 but for a couple of the .284s. These guns seem to like flat base bullets at factory velocities in my experience. I have two Savage 99's and one is a .308 and it shoots the 180 grain Remington Corelokts (Pointed and Roundnose) so well that I have only found one handload that would best them. It was a 150grain Sierra Pro-Hunter on top of 45 grains of 4064 with R-P brass and 9.5 primers. I have since been able to replicate that 180 grain Remington factory load with 45 grains of H414 or W760 and Remington 180 grain bullets.

Being as I use that old .308 for elk in the brush, I prefer to just use the 180 grain Corelokts which are getting about 2550 fps out of the 22" barrel.

These old .308 lever guns are a coveted item indeed. I worked for a farmer in Oregon who had lived in Alaska for nearly 25 years when I was a younger man. He owned 3 of these (two M88's one of which was a carbine, and one Savage 99 E.) .308 Leverguns. He used 180 grain factory loads and had taken everything except griz up north with that load.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

filmjunkie4ever
Winchester Model 88 magazine
Replies
1
Views
964
Blkram
B
S
Afganistan
Replies
6
Views
280
Johnly
J
B
Other rifles for today's range day
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
SJB358
S
S
Shotgun fit.
Replies
18
Views
428
IdahoCTD
I
N
The Family That Hunts Together ....
Replies
15
Views
951
DrMike
DrMike
AMMUNITIONAmmunition BULLETSBullets BRASSBrass FirearmsFirearms GearGear
Back
Top