Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Winchester 1885

Are these still manufactured?
Looking for a tradiditional model in 38-55

The Brownings and Winchester replicas are made in Japan - and they did do a few in .38-55. Uberti is making replicas in Italy, but Idon't recall if they've done that caliber.

Here, C. Sharps and the Ballard Rifle Co are also building quality High Wall replicas, and I suspect you can get any caliber you want.

Don't know whether they currently make the .38-55 Traditional Hunter. If not check on Gunbroker, etc. These guns are not rare. I've been shooting one for more than fifteen years using only cast bullets. Accurate and an excellent deer round for shots under 150 yards.

I recommend the C.Sharps version. They are pricey, a bit more than the "Blowning"/"Winchester" version made by Miroku and a lot more than the Italian versions. But they are REAL 1885s, like John B. and Winchester first offered them. And you can get just about anything you want, including .38-55s in any barrel length.

The imported versions all have modifications intended to make them easier to produce. NOT improvements, IMO. And the C.Sharps is self-cocking like the originals; it doesn't have that "fly" that some of the imports (and the last real Winchesters) have which drops the hammer to half-cock on loading. That is NOT helpful on a hunting gun.

It is fun to order the C.Sharps 1885 YOU want and wait a little for it to be made and delivered. Just like many Winchester 1885 buyers did in the 1880s!

Pretty biased little rant there...It's apparent you've never owned an Uberti 1885 and don't know what a hammer fly is, either.


If you don't have the $2,000 that a new C Sharps 1885 Highwall WILL cost you once you pay the excise tax and shipping(not to mention sales tax in some states), The Uberti 1885s are a good second choice. They same basic design as the original rifles and most of them shoot well. So do the recently Brownings and Winchesters.


The single triggered Uberti made 1885s don't have a "fly" in them. Neither do any of the Brownings and Winchesters. And there are NO "Shortcuts" in making them either. In design or materials.

Most of the Browning and Winchester Miroku made guns actually have ejectors which even a C Sharps 1885 rifle does not have. The only flaw with the browning is they do not take down the same way as the originals and don't have the original trigger mechanism. All of them WILL shoot with any C. Sharps 1885 rifle ever made.

A hammer fly is a device to override the half cock notch when using SET trigger. It does NOT make a hammer go only to half cock.Period.

The half cock on closing in an 1885 rifle is accomplished by limiting the downward travel of the hammer/breech block assembly so that the full cock notch never catches at the full stroke of the lever.

I have converted three Uberti made 1885s rifles so far to fully cock on opening. No big trick if you are a decent gunsmith and understand how a 1885 rifle actually works.

Well, if anyone knows where there is one of these for sale, a Winchester 1885 traditional sporter (pistol grip and shotgun style butt) in 38-55, send them my way.

Thanks

I have recently purchased a Winchester 1885 low wall in 223. I am trying to locte scope mounts or a scope base. I am having trouble finding one and would like to avoid machining my own. If you know where I can find something that would be appreciated information. Also if there is an alternative mounts that can be used with a little modification I would consider that. thanks

Here you go: http://swfa.com/Leupold-Standard-2-Piece-Base-P1129.aspx

Well, I seem to have touched a big 'ole nerve. Agreed; I have never owned an Uberti Hiwall, just shot one a lot. Very different from an original Hiwall, at least the early Uberti my friend has had for years. His takes down a little differently and has a coil mainspring like a late Hiwall, but also a vestigial flat "mainspring" that looks like an original Hiwall flat mainspring, but seems have a different function, an odd design to me. (Was this changed in later models?).

Probably NOT using the right terminology for the arrangement that drops the hammer to half cock. My bad--I'm certainly NOT a competent gunsmith (or any kind of gunsmith). But I've never heard the part of the coil-spring hammer that causes the hammer to fall to half cock on cocking called anything BUT a hammer fly. Whatever it is, it isn't right for a hunting rifle. (I have a late Winchester coil-springed Hiwall that has this feature; it's a single triggered "Standard Sporting Rifle". No set trigger, and unaltered. Goes to half-cock automatically every time.).

Not interested in a flame war about C. Sharps vs. Uberti. Agreed that C. Sharps is pricey, as I stated originally. Just happens I'd rather spend my hard-saved money on Montana wages and US taxes than Brescia wages and US import duties. Matter of taste, I guess. (I just got back from Brescia and a trip to several gun factories, including Beretta, the home of Uberti. I have several Italian guns and admire Italy and respect their craftsmen. But when I can get a semi-custom US gun for a bit more--even quite a bit more--I do. As we BOTH say, the Uberti IS a good second choice).

I guess I just enjoyed the whole experience of going to Big Timber, touring the "factory", and ordering EXACTLY what I wanted. Worth a few hundred to me--a priceless experience, really. (As was visiting Brescia, something I have been saving up to do for many years).

Whether the ejector on the Japanese guns is an advantage is again a matter of preference. I don't appreciate them, some do. To me they seem out of place on a traditional single shot hunting rifle; the main traditional single shot that originally had them was the Martini, and that was for military firepower. I "turn them off" on my Rugers, a nice option, IMO.

No "nerve" touched, I just don't like folks who criticize good rifles unfairly based on ignorance. Which you did.

If you have not shot the Uberti 1885 rifles, or your powers of observation suck. And your knowledge of original 1885 rifles is no better.

EVERY feature and part on the 1885 Ubertis can be found on original 1885 rifles. The basic breech block /trigger group take down is identical to the old rifles. Period.

The only departure is that they have both the early flat main spring to keep the lever closed and the coil spring to power the hammer. Nothing wrong with that. Should the flat spring break, the gun is still able to be fired via the coil spring on the hammer.

None of it affects the basic taken down of the gun and cannot be seen form the outside. There have been NO changes in the Uberti design since they were introduced except to make pistol gripped and double set triggered options available.(the double sets, BTW are not even offered on the C Sharps rifles).

While we are talking about historical accuracy, the C Sharps rifles combine the pre- 1890 Thick side octagonal topped 1885 High Wall actions with late desgin coil spring hammers- something that the Winchester factory NEVER did.

The single set trigger on the C Sharps is only a $100+ option. Just as with the Standard 1885 Winchesters the C. Sharps have SINGLE triggers.

As far as a plant tours, I have toured both C Sharps AND Shiloh (as well as Ballard when they were in Cody) several times. I was a personal friend of Wolf Droege's before he sold Shiloh to the Bryan family in 1990.

While the American High walls are nicely made rifles, there is NOTHING at all wrong from a practical standpoint with the Uberti OR the Browning /Winchester 1885s especially given the fact that they cost less than half the $$- usually under $1,000.

Are Uberti threads American standard, or metric?

Paul

I don't know and really don't give a schit..

" it doesn't have that "fly" that some of the imports (and the last real Winchesters) have which drops the hammer to half-cock on loading. That is NOT helpful on a hunting gun."

I just checked my 2008 Winchester 1885, it goes to full cock and stays there when I drop the block to load and then raise the block back. A very nice rifle in appearance and function.
Chuck

The Browning High Walls also have a turning spring loaded screw at the back of the action that will let you set it to fully eject the empty or stop it at the back of the action. Superior to any original High Wall design that just starts the extraction cycle leaving you to dump it out or pull it out. My 1890 Browning always comes to full cock when the lever is dropped and has no 1/2 cock notch at all. Instead it has a rebounding firing pin to solve the age old problem in converting classic single shots to modern high pressure cartridges of firing pins breaking when the action was opened or locking up the action as the firing pin had no positive retraction method.
The purpose of a "fly", is to prevent the sear from dropping back into the 1/2 cock notch when the hammer is released from full cock. In some target type rifles the fly is used rather than a full cock notch as it can be tapered to produce a light pull and the sear bears on a far smaller area than a in full cock notch.
The following site shows the fly clearly (the third picture) and is shown with the rifle on 1/2 cock.
http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/percterm.html
You can see, as the hammer is drawn to full cock, the fly pivots forward to block the 1/2 cock notch.

Re, Dale 06:
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YES! In the current CDNN Catalog: Winchester ~ U.S. Repeating Arms Co.

~ WINCHESTER Limited Series ~
Very Rare Limited Edition

Lever Action, 1885 TRAPPER, Saddle-Ring Carbine
16 1/2" Round Barrel
Blue Receiver/Steel Butt Plate
Walnut Satin Finish/Straight Grip Stock
Ladder Rear Sight/Brass Blade Front Sight

CALIBERS: 30-40 ~ 38-55 ~ 45-70

PRICE: $899 (single digit serial #'s, Add $100)

$200 Below Distributor Cost.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

CDNN is honest and easy to do business with, just a phone call, a credit or bank card #, and the name of an FFL license holder and FFL # - that they can ship the firearm to. Delivery is almost immediate.

I just went to a Pawn Broker got his FFL # and mailing adress - and paid him a modest transfer fee ... ALL NO HASSLE.

Who in the hell would want a 16.5 " barreled 38-55?

Nobody.

Hence the discount, which even at $899 is still $800 too much,LOL

Yeh ... probably "Nobody", but it is a 38-55. I was also looking at the wrong listing.

However, there is a WINCHESTER 1885 HIGH WALL SPORTER listed
that does have the "Shotgun style butt", a 24" octagon barrel, checkered straight grip walnut stock, Marbles blade front sight, Buckhorn rear sight, drilled and tapped ... but that only comes in 405 Win. and 45-70.

Only 140 mfd. $899

24" barreled Traditional Hunter @ $899..

Much better..

I have seen the pics of the Trapper model with 16.5 inch barrel. There are lots of them available, with good reason.

I'd pay money to see somebody shoot one of those "Trappers" in .45-70 with full-house factory loads. (I can recommend a physical therapist for his shoulder joint, too).