Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Any love for Miroku-made Winchester lever guns?

OK, buckle up and I will attempt to illustrate the difference of original Winchester, Miroku Winchesters and Miroku Brownings...

First of all, I have owned, shot and hunted with every generation of these guns and continue to look for and buy the right model when I see one. I have loved these guns since I was a kid and haven't grown tired of them. I have found, however, that there are significant differences between several models.

Starting with Winchester, there is a distinct difference in how the original guns were made and how Miroku made them throughout the 80's, 90's and how they make them now.

Original Winchesters are a work of art that can be used, unlike paintings and sculptures. I have quite a few and they continue to impress me with the quality of their manufacture compared to what we have available now. You can still find original Winchesters that aren't too expensive and use them like they were meant to be used. I have shot all sorts of big game as well as small game with them and will continue to do so into the future.

Compare the original to the Browning guns of the early 1980's and you will see that the Browning guns are every bit as good, if not better made than the original Winchesters. If you ever hold a B92 or one of the Browning marked 1886's, you will notice just how good they look and feel. This is not true with the later Miroku made Winchesters.

I bought one of the Winchester 1886 SRC in 45-70 when they were first introduced, and they were excellent in the fit and finish, but if you tried to open the action just a bit to check to see if it was loaded, it would jam and you couldn't close the action back up like you could with the originals, or the Browning.

That may seem insignificant, but it happened and it did that with every Winchester I tried. I talked to Winchester, they didn't have a solution, I had a gunsmith polish the action and it would still jam. Again, that may be insignificant, but it happened...







The current and most recent Winchester offerings have been a disappointment. The 92's are not the quality that the Browning B92 was for a number of reasons. Whether you like it or not, the tang safety is a poor idea and worse is the rebounding hammer. Fit and finish isn't what it was with the B92 either. If you can't see the difference, you haven't looked close or you have never seen a B92.

The modern Winchester 1886 is not the quality of the Browning guns either. The wood is bland, the dimensions are wrong for the forearms and the wood to metal fit is only average. Because of that, I have not and won't own the current Winchester 1886. Compare the Browning to the original and you can see the same quality...




I do have a modern Winchester 1873 SRC in 38/357 and my wife shoots it in Cowboy Action matches. It works with her Uberti 38's that she also shots. It is OK, but still not as good as an original. You can see the wood isn't in the correct dimension on the forearm and the finish is unfinished. Wood to metal fit is only so-so. You can also see the gap of the magazine tube and barrel isn't right either. It doesn't have the rebounding hammer or safety, so it is still a decent Cowboy gun and still better than a Marlin.






As far as the Winchester 1895's go, they suffer from the same afflictions mentioned before. The original 1895's are still affordable and shooting an original will always beat shooting a reproduction, especially in the true 1895 calibers such as 38-72 and 40-72. There is a cool factor there that no modern gun can replicate...






All said and done, the modern Winchester replica will work, but it just isn't a Browning or original Winchester by a significant margin. Many people still like them and shoot them with good results. The choice is yours, but there is a difference, you have to decide for yourself...