Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots 1885 Winchester Find

I thought you guys would appreciate this. Some years ago I had a 1911 that I got on another trade that a LGS owner wanted. He had this modified original 1885 Win that he was told was a 22-250 but nothing was marked on the barrel although clearly it was a .224 barrel. The finish was flaking but it looked like nice wood under the varnish. Anyway for my 1911 and $200 I got the 1885. It had an old Lyman Jr. Target Spot that someone had dots placed in it for shooting out to about 400 yards. I shot a couple of 22-250 rounds from it and it was okay but nothing great. I was guessing this rifle was built in the 1950s so the 22-250 was not standard then. I got some 250 Savage cases and just kept sizing them down a little at a time until the action would close. Here was the first 5-shots then out of the rifle.


After redoing the stock, here is the rifle now and a shot of the stock. I am keeping this one!

Looks like a nice find. I really like that old style scope. Goes perfect with an 1885.

Wow, thats pretty cool. Thanks for sharing.

Saleen, Nice looking 1885 and a great group. Can you tell me how tall your shooting bench is? I'm going to build one and am toying with different heights.

WOW, what a fabulous piece of history. Even better, it shoots!!!

Thanks for sharing.

The bench top is 33" and the seat is 14.25" below the top. I am 5' 10" and the size works good for me. Hope that helps.

Thanks to all for the kind comments about my Winchester.

thanks for the info.

Great find.
I have had many rifles over the last 50 years and the Winchester 1885 22-250 is the most accurate out of the box rifle I have ever owned. 5 shot 1/2 " groups on a consistent basis.

great looking rifle. I have one with a Lyman Target 20x in .219 Donaldson Wasp. Fine old rifles..

WOW, what a gorgeous rifle. Thank you for sharing.

Cool set-up all around. Georgeous walnut, and shooting like a champ. Definitely a keeper if it were mine. Did you slug the chamber or just "guessed I'll try" a .250 Savage?

Scope rifle combo is as perfect as it gets.

The LGS got the rifle when he bought out another store so he did not have any history on it other than he was told it was a 22-250. I could verify the barrel was a .22 caliber and a 22-250 chambered okay. I loaded a couple of light loads to try. They shot okay but the primer did move back some. The rifle was chambered before Remington standardized the 22-250 (I think that was in 1964). The most common version was a wildcat that J.E. Gebby made reamers for and called .22 Varminter. Cases back then were made from .250 Savage necked down so I just got another set of 22-250 dies, set the resizer for the 1885, and keep them just for that rifle. I marked the dies .22 Varminter so I don't have to adjust each time. I guessed that it was most likely chambered from a Gebby type reamer plus now I can tell the cases apart from my 22-250s as the 1885 uses .250 brass. I could have fire-formed 22-250 rounds in it but I think it would work the brass more that way than how I did it and it would be too easy to mix the brass up with my other 22-250s. It is a keeper.

Great looking rifle

Dad had a .22-250 built on a Mauser action in the early 60's, before Remington standardized it. His dies are marked .22 Varminter. He told me that the shoulder angle is 3� different from the standard .22-250 Remington.

Depending on how much you shoot it, you may want to get custom dies made for it

Beautiful wood & great looking rifle. Good Luck