Winchester 1897 Black Diamond Trap - Page 4

Stepmac · 08-16-2012, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Zachow

2of my favorite .22short guns are a Winchester model 1890, and a Browning semi-auto take down rifle. The Winchester is deadly on golden rod galls up to 25 yards using a Lyman peep sight. Those galls are about 3/4" in diameter. The Browning is not as accurate, due to its small size and light weight. Back to 93 pumps for a moment--a damascus 1893 would be even rarer than a model 61 shot--even rare than the pre-war 61 with the matted receiver like the model 12.

Oh, in that case I probably did not see one, but only read about them. Getting old you know. I've only been going to gun shows since the 50's and I've seen a few guns you see! LOL

Funny, but it seems to me that I did see one once and picked it up. Sorry, not sure. Sometimes, I wish I was 25 again. I was better looking, too.

Stepmac · 08-17-2012, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Zachow

2of my favorite .22short guns are a Winchester model 1890, and a Browning semi-auto take down rifle. The Winchester is deadly on golden rod galls up to 25 yards using a Lyman peep sight. Those galls are about 3/4" in diameter. The Browning is not as accurate, due to its small size and light weight. Back to 93 pumps for a moment--a damascus 1893 would be even rarer than a model 61 shot--even rare than the pre-war 61 with the matted receiver like the model 12.

Didn't Browning make their little .22 auto, the one that loaded thru the butt and had the bolt on the bottom, in 22 short only too? I always liked how that little rifle worked, but it was like shooting a pretzel.

Researcher · 08-16-2012, 02:50 PM

Nash Buckingham and/or his family had a couple Winchesters. The 1893 that Nash and/or Miles won, supposedly upgraded to 1897 specs --

Apparantly, Harold Money left his Winchester Model 1897 with Nash when he returned to England circa 1910, and then went off to manage a rubber plantation in Ceylon. After serving his King in The Great War with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, where he advanced through the ranks from 2nd Lieutenant, to Lieutenant, and then Captain, Harold returned to the U.S. in the 1920s and worked at A & F in New York. He apparantly got his Model 1897 back from the Buckinghams at that time, as Charles Wicks mentions him having it.

There are several pictures in Nash's books of Irma with a Model 1897. Whether it is one of the two previously mentioned guns or another, I don't know.

charlie cleveland · 08-16-2012, 07:23 PM

a nurse ask my grandfather one time how he kept looking so young he was 93 then...he told her that beauty fades away but ugly only gets better... charlie

Stepmac · 08-17-2012, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlie cleveland

a nurse ask my grandfather one time how he kept looking so young he was 93 then...he told her that beauty fades away but ugly only gets better... charlie

Or, "beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clear to the bone".

Bill Zachow · 08-21-2012, 07:54 PM

Browning .22 autos (takedown) were made caliber specific as either .22 long rifle or .22 short. Shells were not interchangeable. While originally manufactured in Belgium at the FN plant, production was moved to Japan for cost control reasons. Noy too long after the move, the .22 short version was discontinued. They were never very popular (think .410 Parkers) and currently bring significantly more bucks than the long rifle version. The last production of the .22 short variety from Belgium was in the late 90s for the Browning Collectors Group. I have one and it is a beautiful gun, comparable to a grade 2 in engraving and a grade 3 in wood and checking.

Stepmac · 08-21-2012, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Zachow

Browning .22 autos (takedown) were made caliber specific as either .22 long rifle or .22 short. Shells were not interchangeable. While originally manufactured in Belgium at the FN plant, production was moved to Japan for cost control reasons. Noy too long after the move, the .22 short version was discontinued. They were never very popular (think .410 Parkers) and currently bring significantly more bucks than the long rifle version. The last production of the .22 short variety from Belgium was in the late 90s for the Browning Collectors Group. I have one and it is a beautiful gun, comparable to a grade 2 in engraving and a grade 3 in wood and checking.

Thanks, Bill! I thought that I had seen .22 Short Browning autos. I'd like to have one. I do have that little lever Browning .22 which is Short, Long or Long Rifle. I guess I can just dump half a box of shorts in it and go to town!

I am a great fan of the .22, but aren't we all?

charlie cleveland · 08-21-2012, 09:54 PM

seen a box of 22 longs for sale lately...other than on collector ammo sites... charlie

Stepmac · 08-22-2012, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlie cleveland

seen a box of 22 longs for sale lately...other than on collector ammo sites... charlie

Of course we used to shoot longs when we didn't have the extra dime to buy a box of LRs. I don't know if the ammo companies still make them. I think they shot the same bullet as the short, but delivered it a little quicker.

Bill Zachow · 08-22-2012, 06:52 AM

All in all, .22s are my favorite guns, even more than Parkers, truth be told. Winchester made the finest, in my opinion. I have a large number of their guns and have never found one that was innaccurate. All are deadly, from the little bolt actions to their semi auto model 63, and all the pumps in between. Charlie, Winchester made the model 1890 in .22 long, but they are hard to find--.22short and .22WRF are more commob--.22 Long Rifle are scarce, too. My finest for pure accuracy is a 1935 model 52 with a Unertl 12 power scope. I have shot bugs on my target butt with it--off a bench, of course. Before I got as old as I now am, I would walk my farm with a .22 almost every day.