Gun Digest 2011. Dan ShidelerЧитать онлайн книгу.
Although old and used hard by a previous owner, with rust outside and inside, our test Model 88 still had some life left in it. Co-author George Dvorchak fired two groups at 100 yards. The first shot was low, then with a few clicks up and left, three shots with Winchester 168-gr. BS ammo printed a 1.25-inch group. The second group fired with Remington 180-gr. CLPSP ammo grouped two inches with two shots touching each other. For a once rusted-up old rifle, it still shoots well!
Shown is some of the increased complexity which greatly contributed to the manufacturing cost of the model 88.
The original Model 88 with its hand-cut checkering but topped with a modern scope, a Buris 3X-9X Fullfield II and Millett ScopeSite rings.
Back in the mid-’50s, shooters were also showing an increasing preference for bolt-action rifles that were not only ideally suited for high pressure cartridges with pointed bullets but were also readily adaptable to the use of scopes. This was also the era when scope sights were becoming increasingly popular since they were now better made and affordable. The management at Winchester must have anticipated that the generation who just witnessed the development of the jet plane and atomic bomb would be ready for a rifle that was every bit as powerful and streamlined as the new high performance cars that were selling in ever-increasing numbers. Certainly the public would want something more advanced than the already half-century-old lever action designs then available. To maintain their dominance of the lever action market, Winchester would fashion a compact rifle that included just about every new feature available.
While this is usually the formula for a technically advanced but impractical disaster, the Model 88 was one of those rare cases where everything fit together just right!
A TRULY UNIQUE DESIGN
Like the most advanced bolt actions of the time, the front-locking, rotating bolt of the New Model 88 featured a recessed bolt head with a plunger-type extractor. This would not only fully support the cartridge head, but also simplify manufacturing by eliminating the need to cut and index the extractor groove in the rear face of the barrel. The bolt head also offered the then-novel feature of three locking lugs – this before bolt action rifles offered this feature. This would not only reduce the amount of rotation necessary to operate the mechanism but was also significantly stronger. It offered a larger restraining surface than a conventional two-lug Mauser-type bolt action rifle and was more stable, just as a tricycle is steadier than a bicycle.
These three lugs were also cut with a slight pitch at the rear surface to provide the necessary mechanical advantage of “primary extraction” in removing a swollen case. Now, combining the rotation and recto-linear motion of a bolt action with the perpendicular motion of a lever is actually easier than it sounds. This can be readily accomplished with the use of a cam and bolt carrier mechanism and of course, the extra lever travel necessary to operate the cam and bolt carrier. But that’s not how Winchester did it! They did it with a short lever travel of a mere 60 degrees. To achieve this seemingly impossible task, they relied on additional levers and of course the necessary linkage along side the main lever to multiply the motion of the main lever. The Model 88 may thus be more accurately referred to as a “levers-action” rifle.
The Model 88 was chambered in the following four calibers, from left to right: the big .358 Winchester; next, the versatile .308 Winchester; then the good but underrated .284 Winchester; and last, what has become a first caliber for many young hunters, the .243 Winchester. This Rifle, along with the Model 70, was used to introduce these then new calibers.
Integrating this train of levers and their linkage into the already tight spacial constraints of the 88 is perhaps one of the greatest feats of engineering in lever-action rifle design. Despite this complexity, this rifle is surprisingly smooth in operation. However, like other lever actions, it is best operated briskly to ensure smooth, reliable feeding. For those interested, this feat of engineering can be readily appreciated by visualizing the lever train, located along side the main lever, and exposed during the normal routine operating of the lever. Unfortunately, what the engineers achieved through ingenuity most shooters undo with unfamiliarity. In actual practice, many shooters still un-shoulder a lever action Rifle and operate the lever from the hip before re-shouldering and re-sighting the Rifle for a follow-up shot.
These photos show the large opening in the stock as required by the design as well as a close-up of the grooved magazine catch conveniently located to the front of the magazine well. The large rectangular opening required by the design was also a weakness of this rifle, which was partially compensated for by the recoil block discussed in the article.
At this point, it’s worth noting the presence of a pivot between the finger loop and the trigger guard portion of the lever. This does not function as a grip safety as in, say, the model 336 Marlin but as a catch to keep the lever closed. There is a small hook along the top hidden surface of the finger lever that locks into a catch within the receiver. Another novel feature of the 88 was the location of the trigger pivot within the lever itself. The trigger thus remained in close contact with the shooter’s finger throughout the course of operation. With other lever actions, the trigger remains attached to the receiver and is thus prone to stabbing the shooter’s trigger finger when chambering a round. After the first time you get pinched, you soon learn to reposition your finger when using those systems. It’s one of those mistakes you make just once! Now, with the hammer remaining in the receiver and the trigger mounted on the lever, some sort of additional sear or interrupter mechanism was required between the hammer and trigger. To prevent accidental firing while reloading, the 88 was fitted with an interrupter mechanism that required the trigger to be fully released forward before re-firing. All of this complexity does have its cost, both in terms of manufacturer’s cost and quality of trigger pull. It’s one of those things that you might notice initially but quickly adapt to, particularly on a rifle designed to hunt big game and not varmints.
The quality of the trigger pull is fortunately aided somewhat by a trick used by the Winchester engineers on their Models 50 and 59 shotguns. By maximizing the distance from the trigger pivot point to the sear surface, they were able to minimize the amount of trigger travel and hence amount of “creep” transferred to the shooter’s finger. In reality, this is something you are aware of but quickly adapt to during actual use and is therefore no problem, at least to us. The Model 88 we evaluated had a trigger pull measuring a crisp 5.5 pounds.
The internal hammer arrangement of the 88 does prevent the use of the conventional half-cocked position of the hammer as a safety. While some will prefer the external hammer safety arrangement, this system is also prone to accidental discharge when operated with cold or inexperienced thumbs. The 88 was fitted with a crossbolt safety conveniently located along the anterior bow of the trigger guard/lever. This was similar to the safety mechanism used on pump action and other shotguns and hence was familiar to most shooters. A less obvious safety feature was a cam machined into the rear surface of the firing pin that prevented the firing pin from projecting past the bolt face until the bolt lugs were fully engaged and the action completely locked.
The Model 88 was also the first lever action rifle offered with a one-piece stock. This, in conjunction with the interior hammer, certainly contributed to the overall streamlined and modern appearance of the rifle. It also contributed to the overall light weight of the 88, which generally weighs between 6-1/2 and 7 pounds. In addition, many agree that a one-piece stock is more conducive to accuracy and tuning for accuracy then a conventional two-piece stock. This one-piece stock arrangement did, however, require a very large rectangular opening to accommodate the trigger mechanism and box magazine. This is one of the weaknesses of the 88. Because of the length of this opening and the thinness of the sidewalls of the stock, they are prone to cracking, particularly about the rear of the receiver. This probably